- The Concept of God: The Coherence of Omnipotence
- God’s Omnipresence, Eternality, and Omniscience
- The Coherence of the Doctrine of the Trinity
- The Doctrine of Divine Simplicity
Omnipresence
Christians believe that God is an omnipresent Spirit. He is not a physical body, and is not confined by the category of space. Instead, His Being is immaterial, and exists everywhere.
How, skeptics ask, can Christians reasonably believe in such an invisible God? And even if this immaterial God exists, how can an immaterial God miraculously act in a material world at all, as Christians claim He does?
In response, there are many things that are real, even though they are invisible. Wind is invisible, yet it is real. Gravity is invisible, yet it is real. Magnetism is invisible, yet it is real. In fact, only a small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum consists of visible light, but this does not make the rest of the electromagnetic spectrum any less real. It just says something about the limitations of human sense perceptions.
Only a small portion of existing things are visible. So it is unreasonable to dismiss the existence of something simply because it is invisible. It makes perfect sense that an infinite God would not be visible to our eyes. In order to be visible, an object must have spatial boundaries which light can reflect off of into our eyes. If God had spatial boundaries, then God would be limited by space, and thus would not be an infinite God.
We all believe that other minds exist, even though we cannot see them, since minds are immaterial. We just see the actions of bodies, and based on these actions we conclude (reasonably) that there are minds like ours inside these bodies. In a similar manner, it is reasonable to believe that God exists, even though we cannot see Him, based upon what we know about the world and God’s miraculous actions in it.
How can an immaterial God act in a material world at all? This is a very strange objection. It seems to assume that, because God is Spirit, God is somehow less real than physical objects. But in fact, the assertion that God is Spirit means that God is not limited by space, like physical objects are. God is more real than the physical universe. God is omnipotent and has no limitations, so there is no reason to doubt that God can act on the physical world in any way that He wants.
Eternality
Christians believe that God is eternal. God did not begin to exist, and will never cease existing. Instead, God has always and will always exist. God is not bound by the category of time. Rather, time is something which God created. Since God is eternally perfect, God cannot change.
How, skeptics ask, can Christians reasonably believe in an eternal, perfect God, given our experience that everything has a beginning and an ending and changes over time? And even if such a God exists, how can an eternal God interact with temporal beings?
In response, the Christian claim is that the Supremely Perfect Being is not imperfect like everything else which we observe in this universe. Every created thing comes into and out of existence, but, as the Supremely Perfect Being, God does not. Every created thing changes for the better or the worse, but, as the Supremely Perfect Being, God does not; He is eternally perfect. It is simply arbitrary to assume that God must have the imperfections of created things which we observe in this universe.
But how can an eternal God act within time at all? How can God experience all times simultaneously when they are not actually simultaneous? This is a very strange objection. It seems to assume that God’s eternality is a limitation on God. But in fact, the assertion that God is eternal means that God is not limited by time, like we are. Just as God’s omnipresence does not prevent Him from acting on a particular location within the physical universe, God’s eternality does not prevent Him from acting in a particular point in time within our space-time universe. From our limited perspective, all times are not simultaneous, but from God’s eternal perspective, He is able to interact with all times simultaneously.
Some skeptics have argued that the very idea of God being outside time is incoherent; since God created the universe at a particular point, there must have been a time before He created it. The answer is that, since God created time along with the universe, it is simply meaningless to speak of a “time” before God created. God is not eternally Creator; He freely chose to create. But there was no time “before” God created. Since our finite human minds, which experience everything in time, are unable to comprehend eternity, we sometimes speak of “before” God created, but this just shows the limitations of our human minds and language.
Some skeptics have argued that, in order to create and to interact with His creation, God had to change; He had to become the Creator, which He previously was not. Therefore, God cannot be eternally perfect and unchanging.
In response, yes, God freely chose to become the Creator, even though He is not eternally the Creator. But this is a relational change, not a change in God’s essence. To say that God became Creator or Savior is to say that God has interacted with His creation in a certain way, but it does not mean that God has changed qualitatively. God is eternally perfect, and He would still be who He is even if He did not choose to create. God’s choice to create does not change His essence or make Him better or worse.
Omniscience
Christians believe that God is omniscient. God knows everything. Since God is eternal and not bound by time, this means that God knows everything about the future, as well as the past and present.
Skeptics argue that the idea of Divine omniscience and the idea of human free will are incompatible. If God knows what we will do before we do it, then it seems like our actions cannot be genuinely free, since they are predetermined. But if our actions are truly free-willed, then how can God have certain foreknowledge of them?
This objection rests upon a confusion brought about by the limitations of human language. God is eternal; He is not bound by time. Thus, He observes what we do at all times. So, strictly speaking, it is not that God right now has foreknowledge of what we will do in the future. For God, there is no future or past. Rather, God simply knows what we choose to do.
If another human being observes me freely choosing to do something, they know what I am doing, but they in no way are causing me to do it. Similarly, the fact that God knows what we do does not in any way mean that He is causing us to do what we do. God knows what I will freely choose to do in the future, but this does not mean that it is not a free choice, any more than another human being observing what I choose to do means that I am not making a free choice. We do not choose to do what we do because God knows it; rather, God knows what we choose to do because we choose to do it. It is just that, unlike a human observer, God is not bound to a particular time, and so knows all of our past, present, and future choices. Thus, there is no contradiction between believing in Divine omniscience and believing in human free will.