I presented the definition of sovereignty (which is universally accepted) and simply applied the truth of that definition.
Not necessarily...
You stated: "Sovereignty means 'complete rule or dominion over creation.'” The "over creation" part is something that is not germane to the definition. At base, sovereignty means "complete rule or dominion." A king is said to be sovereign over the realm (not everything in the universe), for example. This means the king has complete rule or dominion over his realm. Other examples could be cited, of course, but suffice it to say that the Bible never presents God's sovereignty as being limited to the realm of "creation."
You are hypothesizing that His sovereignty extends only to creation by virtue of His omnipotence. However, that's a philosophical construct; not a statement of biblical theology.
Sovereignty is a temporal attribute because it is contingent upon God's relation to another (his power over creation). God's eternal attribute is his omnipotence. God is not all powerful because he is sovereign, He is sovereign because He is all powerful. You responded to my post as if I deny God's being all powerful instead of engaging with the argument I presented.
The sovereignty of God and the omnipotence of God cannot be separated biblically. God is presented as sovereign. Period. God is presented as omnipotent. Period.
Furthermore, to suggest that His sovereignty is contingent upon something is to say that there is a time when God is not sovereign--which is exactly what you're arguing. However, again, the Bible never describes such a thing.
The Bible never constructs a "contingent" God where any of His attributes (whether they be "temporal" or otherwise) are contingent upon another of His attributes. Biblically, it cannot be said that God could not love if He had not created, etc. So His inner-trinitarian love or the Love that proceeds from Him to His creation isn't contingent upon anything else; it is facet of His Person and Character.
God cannot deny his eternal attribute of omnipotence, but He most certainly has the ability to decide how much rule or authority He will exercise in the temporal world. To deny that is to deny his eternal nature.
Of course not. You're starting with a presupposition--that God relinquishes some of His sovereignty. To support your position, you
must
theorize that sovereignty isn't an inherent part of His character. In doing so, I dare say you've taken one giant leap towards Open Theism.
By the way, your statement above suggesting that God can and does limit his sovereignty in the temporal world glaringly contradicts your own preferred definition which states that sovereignty is "
Complete rule or dominion..."
By your own definition you're de-Goding God because your God (not intended to be a questioning of your salvation) doesn't exercise "complete" authority even in the created realm. According to you, your God (see note above) isn't sovereign because He chooses to limit His sovereignty.
Biblically, however, it cannot be said that He limits His sovereignty. If the evil that men do is super-intended by Him to accomplish His good purposes, which it is, then He is indeed "more" sovereign than you give Him credit for. Indeed, He exercises "complete rule or dominion" at every minute of every day of every moment in eternity.
Please quote the text of scripture that my argument violates and make your case. Thanks
The problem here is the logical fallacy of asking me to provide the burden of proof against your statement. You've made a statement against that which the Bible simply assumes, namely that God is sovereign and that sovereignty is but one facet of His character. So, the burden of proof is on you to make your case according to scripture, not your philosophy or hypothesis.
You've quoted no scripture in making your argument against the sovereignty of God (vis-a-vis your stated definition and the subsequent application thereof). Therefore, you're assuming a contrary argument from silence. What you've asked here is tantamount to asking someone to prove that there is no God from the text of Scripture when the Bible simply assumes the existence of God.
The Archangel
