Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

DetlefK

(16,423 posts)
Wed Mar 27, 2019, 07:44 AM Mar 2019

Philosophical idea. Need opinion.

Assumptions:
1. God is omnipotent and can do whatever he wants.
2. God is omniscient and knows everything for fact without ambiguities.
3. Belief is trust in a divine entity or concept that a claim is true/false.



Can God have a belief?

No, he can't. God does not trust or believe that something is true/false. He knows for fact that it is either true or false because he is omniscient.

If God cannot have belief, he is not omnipotent.

35 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Philosophical idea. Need opinion. (Original Post) DetlefK Mar 2019 OP
You have a hole. You have to link the requirement of belief to be omnipotent tymorial Mar 2019 #1
re DetlefK Mar 2019 #7
Yes Bretton Garcia Mar 2019 #19
Since belief is a quality of a created being, God does not need belief IndianaDave Mar 2019 #26
1. Where does it say that only created beings can have belief???? DetlefK Mar 2019 #28
You are the one who posited that God is omniscient. Refer to your post. IndianaDave Mar 2019 #30
How do you know that God is not supposed to have belief? DetlefK Apr 2019 #32
Some people believe that God encompasses everything. LuvNewcastle Mar 2019 #29
Perhaps this omnipotent, omniscient god is irrational. Mariana Mar 2019 #8
That would explain a lot of the early bible Lordquinton Mar 2019 #15
It's fascinating how many people assume Mariana Mar 2019 #16
Good, wise, sane, loving Lordquinton Mar 2019 #18
Old question zipplewrath Mar 2019 #2
That conundrum is omnipotence vs omnipotence. DetlefK Mar 2019 #6
I don't understand edhopper Mar 2019 #3
It's a contradiction. DetlefK Mar 2019 #4
I see edhopper Mar 2019 #5
One does not create a belief. JayhawkSD Mar 2019 #9
Let's not mix up words. DetlefK Mar 2019 #10
Well, you just want an argument. JayhawkSD Mar 2019 #11
I believe you are wrong. DetlefK Mar 2019 #13
I thought you wanted opinions. JayhawkSD Mar 2019 #14
It would have been nice if your opinion had been rational. DetlefK Apr 2019 #33
Actually, #3 is inaccurate. JayhawkSD Mar 2019 #12
An excellent point. eom guillaumeb Mar 2019 #21
Now you are just mincing words. DetlefK Mar 2019 #24
God is love Major Nikon Mar 2019 #17
The Creator believes that humans have the power to grow. guillaumeb Mar 2019 #20
This is The Creator that no human mind can fathom, right? Mariana Mar 2019 #22
It is only a figment of his imagination, so MineralMan Mar 2019 #23
He has faith. Act_of_Reparation Apr 2019 #34
My faith, and my opinion. guillaumeb Apr 2019 #35
Does he believe that humans have the power to grow, or does he know? DetlefK Mar 2019 #25
I believe what I know. rogerashton Mar 2019 #27
Strike the word "belief" and substitute "faith", and I'm pretty much right there with you. Iggo Mar 2019 #31

tymorial

(3,433 posts)
1. You have a hole. You have to link the requirement of belief to be omnipotent
Wed Mar 27, 2019, 08:36 AM
Mar 2019

I would add that the only way to be omniscient is to have no belief. One simply cannt have belief if they are already aware of truth. I do not believe in rain, I know rain exists because I have observed rain.

DetlefK

(16,423 posts)
7. re
Wed Mar 27, 2019, 09:24 AM
Mar 2019

If God is omnipotent, then he can do whatever he wants, including having belief. But as he is omniscient, he cannot have belief. How can he possibly be omnipotent if he cannot have a belief?

Bretton Garcia

(970 posts)
19. Yes
Thu Mar 28, 2019, 02:49 PM
Mar 2019

You've independently verified a better known example: "Can God make a rock so heavy that God can't move it"? If he can, he is not omnipotent. If he can't, same thing again

IndianaDave

(612 posts)
26. Since belief is a quality of a created being, God does not need belief
Sat Mar 30, 2019, 07:30 AM
Mar 2019

It's not that he cannot believe. It's that belief is irrelevant to His nature, and the lack of belief does nothing to diminish His omnipotence. This is a false argument.

It's like asking if God can build a wall so high that He cannot jump over it. Since God is spirit, He neither needs to jump over walls nor to test His wall-building ability.

These arguments, in essence, are silly because they each set up a completely imaginary obstacle which need never exist in reality. These are mind games and not serious philosophical questions.

DetlefK

(16,423 posts)
28. 1. Where does it say that only created beings can have belief????
Sat Mar 30, 2019, 08:45 AM
Mar 2019

2. If he can believe, give an example what he can believe.

3. You do realize that "jumping over walls" and "lifting an infinitely heavy rock" are just metaphors for exploring the concept of omnipotence?

4. If course this obstacle exists in reality. "Belief" as a concept does exist.

IndianaDave

(612 posts)
30. You are the one who posited that God is omniscient. Refer to your post.
Sat Mar 30, 2019, 10:57 PM
Mar 2019

Omniscience precludes the need for belief.

Belief exists in reality - it is a demonstrable quality of created beings. God is not a created being.

Your reasoning appears to be circular, and you can draw your own conclusions about knowledge and belief.

Best wishes - Enjoy your quest for truth.

DetlefK

(16,423 posts)
32. How do you know that God is not supposed to have belief?
Mon Apr 1, 2019, 04:37 AM
Apr 2019

Created beings have a name. Does that mean God has no name?
Created beings know love and wrath. Does that mean God does not know love and wrath?
Created beings strive for order, justice, morals. Does that mean that God does strive for chaos, injustice and nihilism?

LuvNewcastle

(16,855 posts)
29. Some people believe that God encompasses everything.
Sat Mar 30, 2019, 08:57 AM
Mar 2019

If that's true, then God is always moving because our universe is expanding. What is God/ the universe expanding into? It seems to me that the hardest thing for God to do would be creating space out of nothingness. To build a wall that he couldn't jump over, he would first need a place to put the wall. What is nothingness? Does God have limits? Is infinity real, or is it a human construct invented to keep us from asking more questions?

Mariana

(14,860 posts)
8. Perhaps this omnipotent, omniscient god is irrational.
Wed Mar 27, 2019, 09:46 AM
Mar 2019

In that case, even though it knows what is true, it may refuse to accept reality.

Lordquinton

(7,886 posts)
15. That would explain a lot of the early bible
Wed Mar 27, 2019, 04:44 PM
Mar 2019

All the tantrums, and warring with other gods, that don't actually exist because he is the one true god.

Mariana

(14,860 posts)
16. It's fascinating how many people assume
Wed Mar 27, 2019, 05:13 PM
Mar 2019

that if a proposed god is supposed to be omniscient, that it must therefore also be (pick all that apply) good, wise, sane, just, loving, etc. etc. But there's no reason to believe any of those attributes are related to omniscience.

Lordquinton

(7,886 posts)
18. Good, wise, sane, loving
Wed Mar 27, 2019, 10:23 PM
Mar 2019

They say good is all that, we just cannot understand his reasoning for doing things that hurt us, just to trust in him and have faith that all the pain and suffering he is inflicting is out of love.

Which is what an abusive parent would say.

zipplewrath

(16,646 posts)
2. Old question
Wed Mar 27, 2019, 08:54 AM
Mar 2019

It's the "can god make a rock so big that he can't move it" question.

Have fun working that one. Then you can move on to even more substantive questions like "how many fairies can rest on the head of a pin".

DetlefK

(16,423 posts)
4. It's a contradiction.
Wed Mar 27, 2019, 09:12 AM
Mar 2019

If God is omnipotent, then he can do whatever he wants, including having belief. But he cannot have belief because he is omniscient. If he cannot have belief, then he is not omnipotent.

 

JayhawkSD

(3,163 posts)
9. One does not create a belief.
Wed Mar 27, 2019, 09:59 AM
Mar 2019

Belief arises from experiences. It is what man uses to replace knowledge when knowledge is lacking. We use it as a crutch to replace knowledge.

Failure to be able to "create belief" would be proof of lack of omnipotence if belief were something that is created, but such is not the case.

DetlefK

(16,423 posts)
10. Let's not mix up words.
Wed Mar 27, 2019, 11:51 AM
Mar 2019

I'm not talking about believing something. "I believe that it will rain, because it always rains in these situations."

I'm talking about believing in something. "I believe in God, the holy trinity, souls, heaven and hell."

We believe in something not because we know from empirical experience, but because we place our trust in some divine authority who claims that this is true.

As God is omniscient, he knows for fact. He doesn't place his trust in somebody else's claim. He knows for fact.

 

JayhawkSD

(3,163 posts)
11. Well, you just want an argument.
Wed Mar 27, 2019, 01:15 PM
Mar 2019

"I believe in" vs "I believe" is hair splitting. The "in" is a filler word.

One does not "believe that it will rain, because it always rains in these situations." One "thinks that it will rain" because one is, in that case, using logic to reach a deduction.

You're trying to differentiate between thinking and believing by adding "in" to the phrase.

You are engaging is meaningless and useless sophistry. As a friend of mine said, "If you could understand God you would be God."

 

JayhawkSD

(3,163 posts)
14. I thought you wanted opinions.
Wed Mar 27, 2019, 04:24 PM
Mar 2019

If all you wanted is confirmation of your wisdom you should have said so.

DetlefK

(16,423 posts)
33. It would have been nice if your opinion had been rational.
Mon Apr 1, 2019, 04:45 AM
Apr 2019

Believing something and believing in something are two different things.

We believe something because we lack information, but this is our best-possible guess based on factual experience and statistics.

We believe in something because we trust some figure or concept of authority. We don't believe in a certain precisely defined God because our best-possible statistical guess is that this certain precisely defined God is the most likely answer. We believe in this very special God who is unlike all the other gods because we accept its authority.



There are no statistics in religious belief, there is no guess-work in religious belief. Believing something and believing in something are two different things.

 

JayhawkSD

(3,163 posts)
12. Actually, #3 is inaccurate.
Wed Mar 27, 2019, 01:28 PM
Mar 2019

Belief is the acceptance as truth of something that has been told to you without you knowing as fact that it is true. If all things are known to you then the term "belief" is simply irrelevant. It does not exist.

It's not that God cannot do it, it's that for God the term does not exist.

DetlefK

(16,423 posts)
24. Now you are just mincing words.
Sat Mar 30, 2019, 07:13 AM
Mar 2019

"Belief" as a general concept exists, whether God can have it or not.

Ponder this: What could God possibly believe in without compromising his omniscience?

guillaumeb

(42,641 posts)
20. The Creator believes that humans have the power to grow.
Fri Mar 29, 2019, 07:32 PM
Mar 2019

But the Creator also knows that humans are not perfect.

Mariana

(14,860 posts)
22. This is The Creator that no human mind can fathom, right?
Fri Mar 29, 2019, 08:24 PM
Mar 2019

Yet, somehow, you understand it well enough that you know what it believes and thinks.

rogerashton

(3,920 posts)
27. I believe what I know.
Sat Mar 30, 2019, 07:45 AM
Mar 2019

Modern philosophy (usually) defines knowledge as justified true belief. Since God is omniscient, whatever he believes is justified and therefore known. Correct conclusion is that for God, belief and knowledge cannot be distinguished. Now, what you seem to mean is that God could not have beliefs based only on faith, without other justification; but faith does not imply a lack of justification based on evidence -- once again, in the case of an omniscient being, I don't think faith can be distinguished from knowledge and belief. Finally, you could say that God cannot believe anything that is false, but that does not conflict with omnipotence as you define it.

Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Religion»Philosophical idea. Need ...