Is God's power limited
God has unlimited power. That’s simply the answer or is it? When we refer to unlimited anything, it would be beyond our brains limit to understand, that's just how we were created! We are limited creatures. For example, who can think about infinity as a number...try and think about it, you're going to blank out. It’s limited so we identify it by using a symbol not a number. So instead of trying to understand God's (The Creator) power or anything else regarding God, try to finish understanding his creations! There are many things that are not understood by humans. Let me demonstrate: Does the whole universe have a limit (boundaries)? Or is it unlimited? If limited, then what is after its end? If it’s unlimited, then where does it go? And many other things, even humans, like what is your soul? In general, understanding the Creator's creations before attempting to understand the Creator Himself will help us but sense we are limited this is going to be a hard thing to grasp.
The philosophers St. Anselm, Gaunilo, and Immanual Kant argued over whether or not God existed. Anselm insisted that God existed because nothing can ever be thought of or created better than God. As God is thought to be the most Supreme Being, the divine creator, an existence of such a being would require that no other being could ever be equal or better.
The German philosopher Immanuel Kant argued with Anselm about an even more specific aspect of his case. Kant said that a person cannot move straight from an idea to something existing. He said that existing is not something that someone can have as property. Kant used money as his illustration: being able to have the idea of money in one’s head is very different from holding a thousand dollars in one’s hand. Gaunilo and Kant were both able to prove that Anselm’s argument in favor of God’s existence was not an acceptable argument. (Philosophy of Religion pages 2-6)
The bible tells us that God cannot do two things, die or sin. If this is to be true then wouldn’t this prove that God’s power is limited? God is said to be omnipotent and to sin is to fall short of a perfect action but if God is a perfect being then wouldn’t he have unlimited power? God’s omnipotence is particularly shown in sharing and having mercy, because in this it is made manifest that God has supreme power, namely that He feely forgives sins. (Philosophy of Religion pages 267)
Faith is defined as, “unquestioning belief that does not require proof or evidence.” Claims of faith cannot be proven; a teacher cannot prove that her student is interested in her class; a parent cannot prove that his child, who attends church regularly with him, believes in his god.There is no way to prove that God’s power is limited or not because this has to do with what someone believes or has faith in. While interesting and thought provoking, an argument like this will never be able to have a conclusion based on facts. We are limited creatures and feel the need to put limits on such things and grasp such things as time, space, numbers and God. With or without the words of Gaunilo and Kant, faith in and of itself is not something that can be proven and neither is Gods power
2 comments:
"My mouth will tell of your righteousness, of your salvation all day long, though I know not its measure."
Psalm 71:15
God bless you, Carl. Even if you don't understand it, proclaim it!
Can God create a mountain so heavy that He can not lift it? Can He make a round square? Does His not being able to do so really entail that His power is limited? No! These are impossible things and though with God all things are possible, impossible things are not in actuality things. If you supposed that things could be assigned the property of existence there would be things that could exist and do exist, things which could exist and do not exist, and a third class of things which not only do not exist but could not exist. The last of these we could call impossible somethings which though like things are not in fact things because they lack the potential for existence. Am I any less in control of my life and decisions because I cannot at one time be both married and a bachelor? Hardly, my power is no less because of my inability to engage in a contradiction. Is God's?
That God can neither sin nor die is not a limitation of His power but rather a definition of His nature. He is not defined as we are...not created in our image, and perhaps that is why He is so hard to understand at times. How can God allow evil to exist the way He does? If I were God I wouldn't let innocents die, accidents happen, etc, etc, etc, it would all be rainbows and puppy dogs. I hear it all the time, people who think they can do God's job better than He does. Their very ideas of how to do things better betray their own character which by definition is flawed (even Immanuel Kant's). God doesn't have to think about things the way we do. He doesn't have to decide that this action is just, or that death is unjust, or any such nonsense (it doesn't seem like nonsense to us, but to God it is): everything God does is just. It is just by virtue of the fact that God did it rather than by some other artificial standard we impose based on our own sense and sensibilities. The notion of a God who sins or a God that could cease to exist is a lot like the impossible somethings discussed earlier. They contradict the definition of God. They are married bachelors. Round squares. God is that which none greater can be conceived. Ask Him. He'll tell you, Ehyeh asher ehyeh. I am that I am.
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