I began this journey with two posts here and here trying to determine if it is indeed the case that you cannot apply logic to god. I came up with four possibilities to explore and have already addressed the first two. They were, “you really can’t apply logic to god” and “you can apply logic to god but he’s so far beyond our understanding it won’t matter.” The conclusion I came to for those first two possibilities is that, if they are indeed true, then no one can understand god, so those of faith telling us they understand the nature of god are mistaken. They tell us things are true about their god that they can’t possibly know to be true by their own definition of god!
Now on to the final two…
3. You can indeed apply logic to god and he is also omnipotent. Well, to understand anything at all about god, we must be able to apply logic, so the first part is okay. But, oops! The minute we actually do apply logic however, we discover that god cannot be omnipotent without some really twisted attempt to redefine omnipotent to mean something other than “all-powerful” but still meaning “all-powerful”.
Now, if we change the definition so that god cannot literally do anything and everything but that he has some limitations, we actually have case number 4. below. But most of these definitions require that we be able to apply logic to god (something many people of faith reject and I addressed in case number 1. already) and that there are actual, real limitations on what god can do (something most people of faith will also reject).
So, we either hit a logical contradiction or a definition that people of faith will reject, namely that there are things god cannot do. As we’ve already seen, anytime you allow a contradiction, truth cannot be determined as things can be both true and false simultaneously (or neither true nor false, whatever that means). If this is a definition that those of faith reject as not possibly true, then we can reject it, too.
Thus, in this case, no one can know the truth about god at all. It either requires a definition those of faith reject or a logical contradiction. So, those people of faith who contend they “know” the truth about god are, once again, mistaken. They cannot know the truth, or anything really, about something that is a contradiction.
4. Finally, we come to the fourth possibility. This possibility is that you can apply logic to god and he is not omnipotent.
Hmm…
You know, there’s nothing really wrong with this idea. Bet you weren’t expecting me to write that, were you? Despite what atheists would have you believe, this is a real possibility. Now, while there’s still no positive evidence to indicate it is true, there also is no evidence or logic to contradict it either. It simply requires a slight adjustment in the concept from an omnipotent being to one that is not “all-powerful” but immensely powerful. One that is not omniscient (all-knowing) but vastly knowledgeable. And, given some of the current cosmological theories, it is conceivable that some incredibly powerful (but not all-powerful), incredibly knowledgeable (but not all-knowing) being might exist that could create a universe.
For example, if black holes are indeed the starting point for a new universe, it is conceivable that a being or beings of sufficient intelligence and (possibly technological) ability could create a black hole and thus a universe. All they would need to do is gather enough matter together so that it has enough mass to collapse into a black hole or compress a smaller amount of matter enough that a black hole forms. Hell, we had some people thinking that the Large Hadron Collider might create microscopic black holes! If we can (possibly) do it, there’s no telling what a civilization or being hundreds of thousands or millions of years more advanced than we could do. Gives you something to think about, doesn’t it?
However, since this real possibility requires that god not be omnipotent, it is in direct conflict with the concept held by people of faith, namely that god is omnipotent. So, if this last possibility is true (and it could be), then those of faith who say they know god and that he is omnipotent are again mistaken.
So, there you have it. I couldn’t come up with any other possibilities that weren’t some variation on these four. I think I have shown that those people of faith who claim to know anything about god are utterly mistaken. Their own definitions betray them. However, I think I’ve also shown that their belief in some sort of supreme (but not all-powerful) being is not without merit. The current concept of god espoused of those of faith is simply flawed.
But, the idea that there might be a non-omnipotent supreme being out there is an important one to think about. That’s especially true for a few, vocal skeptics out there who have gotten a bit arrogant of late. Because, even if everything science teaches us is 100% true including evolution, even if we could prove all the world’s religions wrong with absolute certainty, even if we discover the ultimate scientific theory that explains literally everything and thus god is unnecessary, it doesn’t mean that a supreme being doesn’t exist anyway. He or she or it or they just aren’t what everyone thinks they are.
I’ll close with a quote from Andre Gide who said, “Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.”
Especially people of faith. Especially when logic is forbidden and contradictions reign. And most of all, doubt your own certitude.
Be well and think well.