Final answer:
The concept of God in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition includes the belief in a supreme, all-powerful, and all-good deity. Philosophical arguments like the Ontological Argument suggest that God's nature necessitates existence beyond our mental conception.
Step-by-step explanation:
When we contemplate the nature of God within the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition, we engage with a concept of a deity that is defined as being supreme, all-powerful, all-good, eternal, and all-knowing. Such a deity is not simply a construct within our minds (intramental), but is argued to have an existence that extends beyond mental conception, into reality itself (extra-mental). This line of thought is influenced by the Ontological Argument, which suggests that because it is greater to exist in both the mind and reality than in the mind alone, and God is "a being than which nothing greater can be conceived," it follows that God must exist outside as well as within our understanding.
However, there are complexities and paradoxes involved with this conception of God, particularly when considering attributes like omnipotence and omnibenevolence in the face of the presence of evil. If God possesses all traditional properties perfectly and infinitely, issues such as the existence of evil become difficult to reconcile with an all-good and all-powerful nature.
The historical development of the concept of God in Hebrew religious tradition also reflects changes in belief. As the worship of Yahweh evolved, particularly after significant historical events like the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel, the attributes ascribed to Yahweh, such as omnipotence and omnipresence, also expanded. This marked a shift from a tribal deity to a universal, monotheistic God.
Ultimately, the question of whether God, as traditionally conceived, can indeed possess all the attributed characteristics is a matter of ongoing theological and philosophical debate. This debate engages with deep and complex questions about the nature of being, the problem of evil, and the concept of perfection that are foundational to theistic belief systems.