Philosophy: What Is God Like?
This chapter explores the traditional philosophical concept of the "Perfect Being" across the Abrahamic traditions. It examines the core divine attributes—omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, and omnibenevolence—and analyzes the deep logical paradoxes and puzzles that arise when these attributes are examined closely.
1. Introduction: The "Perfect Being" Paradigm
While much of religious philosophy focuses on arguments for the existence of God, philosophers also investigate the nature of God—specifically, what God is like.
- The Anthropomorphic Trap: Casual questions (e.g., Does God like cilantro? What is God's favorite cartoon?) assume an anthropomorphic, human-like personality.
- The Traditional View: In the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition, philosophers like Augustine and Thomas Aquinas (influenced by Plato and Aristotle) converged on the concept of the Perfect Being.
- Historical Roots: Thinkers such as Aquinas argued that a truly perfect being must possess specific, maximized attributes, even though these exact descriptions are not explicitly listed in scripture.
2. The Traditional Divine Attributes
Philosophers attribute four core "omni-" qualities to the Perfect Being.
3. The Paradox of Omnipotence (The Rock Paradox)
One of the most classic logical puzzles regarding omnipotence questions the limits of supreme power.
- The Dilemma: Can God create a rock so heavy that God cannot lift it?
- If NO: If God cannot create such a rock, then there is at least one thing God cannot do (undermining omnipotence).
- If YES: If God creates the rock, can God lift it? If God cannot lift it, then there is still something God cannot do (undermining omnipotence).
- Core Takeaway: Pushing the boundaries of traditional divine attributes constantly runs into internal logical contradictions.
4. Omniscience vs. Free Will
If God is omniscient, God knows the future. However, many believers also maintain that humans possess free will. This creates a profound tension: If God already knows what you will choose, are you truly free?
The Nature of Knowledge vs. Causality
One proposed solution is that knowledge does not equal causality. Knowing an event will happen does not mean you caused it to happen.
- Real-Life Analogy (The Train Spectator):
Structure & Concept Flow
- The Pecan Pie Dilemma: If God knows you will eat an entire pecan pie this weekend, you still chose to eat it. God's foreknowledge did not force your hand.
The Catch: Fallibility and Choice
- If God is omniscient, God cannot be wrong.
- If God knows you will eat the pie, you cannot decide not to eat it at the last minute.
- If you changed your mind and successfully avoided eating the pie, you would prove God's prior knowledge was incorrect, thereby stripping God of omniscience.
5. Can God Sin? (The Problem of Impeccability)
Another puzzle arises when combining omnipotence with omnibenevolence regarding moral actions.
- The Dilemma: If God is omnipotent, can God sin?
- If God can do anything, God should be able to sin.
- But if God is perfectly good, God cannot sin (a doctrine known as Divine Impeccability).
- Human vs. Divine Capability: Humans can easily sin. It seems strange that humans can perform actions (like minor transgressions) that an omnipotent God supposedly cannot.
Proposed Solutions and Their Flaws
- Sin as Failure: Some argue that sin is inherently a failure or a flaw, and a perfect being cannot fail.
- Divine Definition of Good: Others argue that whatever God does defines what is good. Therefore, any action God takes is good by definition.
- The Flaw (Empty Goodness): This makes God's goodness vacuous. Saying "God did X" becomes identical to saying "God did something good," rendering divine goodness meaningless.
6. Omnipresence and Personal Relationships
Many believers hold that God is a personal being who maintains an active, emotional relationship with creation, listens to prayers, and changes responses based on human interaction. However, traditional attributes complicate this:
- If God exists outside of normal time (omnipresent in all times simultaneously), how can God be surprised?
- How can an unchanging, eternal being change their mind or experience temporal grief and joy alongside us?
The Philosophy of Petitionary Prayer
Contemporary philosopher Eleanor Stump analyzes petitionary prayer (asking God for specific interventions, like passing an exam or winning a game).
- The Logic of Prayer:
Structure & Concept Flow
- Conclusion: Stump suggests prayer may have relational or psychological value, but logically, we have no reason to believe asking God to alter an optimal, all-knowing plan makes a tangible difference.
7. Thomas Aquinas and Analogical Language
Faced with these insurmountable paradoxes, Thomas Aquinas offered a radical meta-philosophical response: human language about God is strictly analogical.
- Beyond Human Comprehension: Aquinas argued that we cannot literalize or fully comprehend divine attributes because God radically transcends human understanding.
- Analogy Over Literalism: When we call God "Father," we do not mean a biological father; we mean God's care is like that of a parent—using the closest mental bridge available to human minds.
Real-Life Analogy (Frames of Reference for "Cold")
- In South Florida, "cold" might mean 50°F (10°C).
- In Alaska, "cold" might mean well below 0°F (-18°C).
- Both frames of reference differ vastly from Absolute Zero (-273°C).
- Yet, we use the single word "cold" as a standard proxy to describe conditions that defy our complete, direct comprehension. Aquinas argued our words for God function similarly—mere approximations for an infinite reality.
8. Modern Alternatives: The "Superhero" God
Modern thinkers point out that none of the traditional "omni-" attributes are actually explicitly listed in scripture.
- The Alternative View: Instead of a classical "Perfect Being," perhaps God is closer to a superhero—vastly more powerful, intelligent, and morally superior to humans, but not logically infinite or metaphysically perfect.
- Scriptural Evidence: This aligns more closely with biblical narratives where God walks in gardens, expresses anger, experiences surprise, and changes His mind.
- Implications: Under this view, God might genuinely dislike cilantro or have a favorite animated character, bridging the gap between philosophy and the anthropomorphic descriptions found in sacred texts.
Summary and Key Takeaways
- The Perfect Being Paradigm: Traditional Judeo-Christian-Islamic philosophy views God as possessing maximized metaphysical attributes established by classical thinkers like Augustine and Aquinas.
- The Core "Omni" Traits: Traditional theology defines God as omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent (everywhere/everytime), and omnibenevolent (perfect goodness).
- Internal Inconsistencies: Analyzing these attributes closely reveals massive philosophical paradoxes, such as the omnipotence rock puzzle and the conflict between foreknowledge and free will.
- The Foreknowledge Trap: Knowing an event will happen does not necessarily cause it, but an infallible omniscient being leaves no room for altering decisions at the last minute without breaking omniscience.
- The Problem of Impeccability: If God cannot sin due to being all-good, it creates a strange scenario where humans possess a capacity (doing wrong) that an omnipotent God supposedly lacks.
- The Prayer Dilemma: Given an omniscient, omnibenevolent God who enacts the optimal reality, petitionary prayer either asks for what is already scheduled or asks God to disrupt the best possible outcome.
- Aquinas's Analogical Solution: Aquinas resolved theological mysteries by arguing human descriptions of God are merely analogical approximations because infinite divine reality transcends finite human comprehension.
- Modern Revisionism: Some modern philosophers suggest abandoning the "Perfect Being" framework in favor of a powerful, scripturally consistent "superhero" model that explains human-like divine emotions and actions.