Position Paper
For Tuesday, September 2nd, I would like you to produce a short (approximately 3 pages
typed and double-spaced) Position Paper that sets out your views at the beginning of this class.
Consider it a point of departure and a tool to get you thinking about some of the issues we shall
discuss. This paper will not be graded, but will be used later in papers that will be graded. You
will be referring back to it, elaborating on it, perhaps criticizing it, etc., as you assess what you
learn in the course. Accordingly, it is to your advantage to think things through as carefully as
you are able to at this point so that you'll have more to refer back to and build off of later on.
The question is this: What is God? Note that this question does not ask how you
personally relate to God. Rather, the assignment asks about God as God is in God's self. In short,
what makes God God? What kind of being must anything be to be God? You should include in
your paper some response to the following questions: how is God different/distinct from human
beings? (for example, is God perfect? if so, what sense of perfection do you mean?) does God
have parts? does God change? does God experience time as the rest of us do? does God know
everything (including the future)? can God do anything ? (for example, can God do evil? can
God suffer? is God all-powerful?) is God completely good? is God the creator? if so, why
does God create? does God control everything that happens in the world? What purpose(s)—if
any—are human beings meant to fulfill?
These next questions relate closely to the previous set and bear on the way Thomas
proceeds and the method he employs in the Summa: Does human reason have any role in the
study of God and the investigation of divinity? Is reason useful or useless in religious matters?
Why? Can God’s existence be philosophically proven? Is there such a thing as Truth?
Feel free to add your own questions and ideas to these. The more complete you make
your statement right now, the easier time you’ll have writing subsequent papers.
I'm perfectly aware that you might not have settled views about all these issues just yet.
That's OK (and expected). You should by the end of the course. This means that it is acceptable
to say that you don't know how you come down on whether God changes, whether God controls
everything in the world, and so on. For anything you come across that you are unsure of,
however, at least try to say what the issue means to you and what the implications are of
coming down one way vs. the other. You may also add at the end of the paper any other
questions you have about God—things you've always wondered about, etc. I'm sure the course
won't answer all of those questions, but I hope it will address many of them.
To help you in all of this, I'd like you to read the essay by Charles Hartshorne distributed
on the first day of class. The essay, "The Three Ideas of God" makes the claim on the first page
that "There are, indeed, three and only three chief ways of thinking about God." These three
ideas, explains Hartshorne, are that God is "perfect in all ways, perfect in some ways, or perfect
in no way." It's not relevant for us right now whether Hartshorne is correct that there are only
three ways to think about God. But what I'd like you to do in the context of writing your
Position Paper is think about the three ways that he lays out. As you articulate your own view
of God, you might want to locate it in relation to the options that Hartshorne presents. I do not
expect that you understand everything that Hartshorne is saying here, though you should by the
end of the semester. All of the ideas he mentions will be ones we'll take up as the course
continues. You should be able to evaluate the theological costs and benefits of different
conceptions of deity much as you see him doing here. Consider "The Three Ideas of God," then, a
kind of model of what we'll be doing in this class, as well as something that, at least initially, can
be used to give your own ideas found in your Position Paper a context of sorts.
Note also that answering the question "What is God?" does not presume a belief that that
being exists—just as, say, someone who does not believe in Santa Claus could probably write a
pretty fair description of St. Nick. This assignment is merely (!) asking you for an analysis of the
concept of divinity.
Print out and hand in two copies of this paper. I'll mark one up, return it to you, and keep
the other one for my own future reference. Put your name on the back of the last page. Do not
use a title page. Begin writing at the top of p. 1.