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Author | Topic: Can God create another God? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Agobot Member (Idle past 5560 days) Posts: 786 Joined: |
I asked this question in another thread but nobody could come up with an answer. If God is really omnipotent, could he make another God? I am aware that you belive God is outside our world, where there is no time, but I'm thinking if he's really omnipotent he must be able to create another God. I am not interested if it's immoral or degrading, I want to know what could hinder God, should he decide to create another God.
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Admin Director Posts: 13046 From: EvC Forum Joined: Member Rating: 2.7 |
Thread moved here from the Proposed New Topics forum.
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Huntard Member (Idle past 2325 days) Posts: 2870 From: Limburg, The Netherlands Joined: |
The way I see it, sure he could. I mean he is omnipotent, I really can't think of any reason why he couldn't.
In fact, I think it would be rather fun to watch as an outsider, two gods duking it out! Would be hilarious!
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Brian Member (Idle past 4990 days) Posts: 4659 From: Scotland Joined: |
The only thing that can hinder God is peoples' imaginations.
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Phat Member Posts: 18351 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.0 |
This question has a lot of uncharted waters. Of course IF we believe that God by definition is greater than our imagination, more complex than we could ever fully describe, and the Creator/originator of us versus our imaginations being the originator of Him---then lets speculate (for it is all we can do)
1) Could God hypothetically create another God who could then vanquish the original? If so, this seems to suggest that it is, in fact, our own imaginations that have the omnipotent speculation. Its one thing to imagine/write/visualize science fiction. It is quite another thing to speculate the attributes of a God who by definition exceeds the capability or comprehension of our own limited imaginations. 2) As regards the traditional Christian God, all that I have ever been taught about said Deity indicates that there are only two things that said Deity hypothetically cannot do.
Which makes me more confused than ever!
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Agobot Member (Idle past 5560 days) Posts: 786 Joined: |
It becomes a paradox, because if one God can create another, wouldn't the first God wonder who created him in the first place? I know he's eternal(whatever this silly notion means) but if sees a God in the making, wouldn't he ask this same question of himself?
Edited by Agobot, : No reason given.
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Agobot Member (Idle past 5560 days) Posts: 786 Joined: |
I think it's high time some of the theists acknowledged that God cannot be omnipotent. And then follow the path of logic and come to the conclusion that God as they see it is impossible. Or else, they'll meet tough questions as:
1. Can God commit suicide(and die)? If he can, and dies in a suicide he would no longer be eternal. If he cannot commit suicide, he couldn't be omnipotent. 2. Can God create another God and the paradox described in my previous post. Edited by Agobot, : No reason given.
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Phat Member Posts: 18351 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.0 |
Huntard writes: The way I see it, sure he could. I mean he is omnipotent, I really can't think of any reason why he couldn't. Again, its all a matter of perspective. (and belief ) Some folks think that since God is unprovable and unknowable, the basis of definition is entirely a creation of the human mind to begin with. IOW, we ourselves define the attributes of God(gods, god, or spaghetti monsters) as we frame this topic. In contrast, a believer may insist that God does in fact exist and that we cannot know the full attributes behind such a deity. For now, lets go with your hypothesis that we are outside of it all....as observers. Some questions, though.
Of course in traditional Christian Dogma, this has already occurred with the idea of Satan. Satan, remember, (according to Milton and other speculators) was never actually originally created as Satan. Rather, a cool angel was created known as Lucifer, who then decided to "raise up" and be like God...after which there was some sort of war in Heaven. Kinda makes you wonder what God must have been thinking, allowing this foolish cherub to grow and upend the status quo!! Erase all that for a moment, however. Lets not complicate things with existing dogma. We have a God. By definition, (in my mind, anyway) This God is all about love, infinite ability, and infinite fairness and goodness. We don't want to refer to the Bible, for crying out loud, for that book seemingly limits this Gods coolness. OK so far? Since this God can do anything, lets assume that He (She?) created all that is, seen and unseen and that He is big enough that evolution fits neatly within His overall creation scheme. OK so far? Now...having done everything needed to do, this God is now eternally existing outside time itself...and thus will never cease to exist, except perhaps in our puny freewill imaginations should we so choose. IF this God created another God like Himself, I suppose that hypothetically it would be somewhat possible, for the sake of argument. What if, however, God decided to create an infinite pantheon of Gods just as powerful as He Himself was? Would this not throw the whole concept of Monotheism on its ear? I can see it now....a vast cosmic game show.... Will The Real God Please Stand Up?
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Phat Member Posts: 18351 From: Denver,Colorado USA Joined: Member Rating: 1.0 |
Agobot writes:
God can only be impossible if God is limited in definition by our logic, reason, and definition. IF God existed before humanity and was in some way responsible for creation of reality, God indirectly created the very meaning of words and logic itself. Thus, no logical argument can limit God in any way. To be fair, though, God did allow us humans to have brains and minds that can and do ask these sort of questions, so the discussion itself is logical. I think it's high time some of the theists acknowledged that God cannot be omnipotent. And then follow the path of logic and come to the conclusion that God as they see it is impossible. This opens up a hypothetical can of worms. IF God can do anything, God could exist and yet not exist at the same exact point in time. God could be One and yet could be an infinite pantheon. I suppose that hypothetically God could even be you and yet at the same time be omnipotently above you. (I am getting a wee bit pantheistic, I know )
Agobot writes: Good question. I have not yet gotten any definite answers from Him. Lets keep speculating!
1. Can God commit suicide(and die)? If he can, and dies in a suicide he would no longer be eternal. If he cannot commit suicide, he couldn't be omnipotent.Phat writes:
2. Can God create another God and the paradox described in my previous post. Remember though that if God can do anything, He could hypothetically be alive and dead at the same time.
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Huntard Member (Idle past 2325 days) Posts: 2870 From: Limburg, The Netherlands Joined: |
Phat writes: If the Original God (O.G. ? ) created the second one, why would they even be duking it out. Only a fool would create a potential rival who could upset the throne! That was my imagination going wild. It would be so funny to see them quarrel over who has the most worshippers, and who is the "actual" god. And it wouldnt be just so much as a fool, to me it's innevitable. If a god created another one just like him, how are his worshippers to know the difference? They wouldn't, so one would claim that that particular sacrifice was for him, and the other would do the same, and so on. Hope that made sense
Phat writes: IF this God created another God like Himself, I suppose that hypothetically it would be somewhat possible, for the sake of argument. Which is really all I read in this topic, and that's why I answered as I did. If there is an omnipotent god, he can do anything, and thus create another one (or indeed a thousand) just like him.
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Rahvin Member Posts: 4046 Joined: Member Rating: 8.3 |
Imaginary entities can do anything we imagine. They aren't based on reality, so no further considerations matter.
I can claim that my imaginary friend, "bob," is the creator of the Universe, or that he invented Thursday, that he is the reason lobster is tasty, and that he created and killed the Christian deity 2000 years ago. I can also claim that he can make 2+2=fish, break all bounds of logic, travel faster than light, be simultaneously omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, and benevolent while still allowing horrible things to happen to humanity, or that he sacrificed himself to himself to atone for breaking rules that he wrote himself and then came back to life, in effect sacrificing only a whole weekend. He's best friends with the Flying Spaghetti Monster and the Invisible Pink Unicorn. It's impossible to prove any of these claims wrong (even the logically impossible ones) because "Bob" is not based in reality - there is no objective evidence even suggesting his existence, let alone providing us with a basis to test his actual properties, motivations or abilities. And of course the Christian deity falls into the same category. His properties are described only in a set of ancient texts. There is no objective evidence we can use to test any of the claimed properties of the Christian deity, because there isn't even enough evidence to suggest he even exists at all. So of course God can create another God. In fact, God can create a God more powerful than He is, even though He is omnipotent.
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gluadys Member (Idle past 4993 days) Posts: 57 From: Canada Joined: |
Phat writes: This question has a lot of uncharted waters. Of course IF we believe that God by definition is greater than our imagination, more complex than we could ever fully describe, and the Creator/originator of us versus our imaginations being the originator of Him---then lets speculate (for it is all we can do) 1) Could God hypothetically create another God who could then vanquish the original? If so, this seems to suggest that it is, in fact, our own imaginations that have the omnipotent speculation. Its one thing to imagine/write/visualize science fiction. It is quite another thing to speculate the attributes of a God who by definition exceeds the capability or comprehension of our own limited imaginations. 2) As regards the traditional Christian God, all that I have ever been taught about said Deity indicates that there are only two things that said Deity hypothetically cannot do.
Which makes me more confused than ever! And that adds another wrinkle to the question. Can God create another god without ceasing to be god? I don't think omnipotence per se really has anything to do with the question. It is more a question into the nature of God. Can God be plural and still be God?
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Agobot Member (Idle past 5560 days) Posts: 786 Joined: |
Phat writes: God could exist and yet not exist at the same exact point in time. God could be One and yet could be an infinite pantheon No, I don't think so. If God can commit suicide and cease to exist, he cannot keep on existing at the same time. Otherwise, it will mean that he did not really cease to exist at the point of suicide, and therefore the suicide was illusionary. Which, in turn, means that God cannot commit suicide and so is not omnipotent.
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gluadys Member (Idle past 4993 days) Posts: 57 From: Canada Joined: |
Agobot writes: Phat writes: God could exist and yet not exist at the same exact point in time. God could be One and yet could be an infinite pantheon No, I don't think so. If God can commit suicide and cease to exist, he cannot keep on existing at the same time. Otherwise, it will mean that he did not really cease to exist at the point of suicide, and therefore the suicide was illusionary. Which, in turn, means that God cannot commit suicide and so is not omnipotent. This, however, gives a meaning to "omnipotent" that was denied in classical philosophy. Omnipotence means the power to do anything possible. Not to be able to do what is logically impossible (e.g. make a four-cornered triangle) is not a sign of lacking omnipotence. Some things are logically impossible for God because to do them would mean he would contradict his own nature. Such things do not indicate lack of omnipotence, for God can still do whatever he chooses to do. If God is the source of all life and being, his non-existence is a logical impossibility. It would not happen not because God cannot do what he chooses to do, but because that choice is so alien to his nature, it would never present itself.
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jaywill Member (Idle past 1971 days) Posts: 4519 From: VA USA Joined: |
What occurs in the Bible is God dispensing His life into a group of people so that they collectively become sons of God with His life and nature.
The collective entity, the corporate expression is counterpart and companion to God and is refered to as the Wife or the Bride. In the end of the Bible the city New Jerusalem is God duplicating Himself, not in an individual rival or another God per se, but into a Wife, a Bride as a collective. These are the things that are. I don't find it that usful to speculate on what could be, or why not something else. I give higher priority to what is seen in the Bible rather than to flighty and imaginative speculations on what or could not be - hypotheticals. The closest thing we see to God creating another God is Him producing a city of sons who have His life and nature, to be a corporate counterpart to Himself as a Wife or Bride. The point about Satan was somewhat valid. He was called "the god of this age" in the New Testament. Edited by jaywill, : No reason given. Edited by jaywill, : No reason given. Edited by jaywill, : No reason given.
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