Assuming the premise that there is a superhuman God, the notion, that God is everywhere, doing *everything * in a practically infinite universe is simply silly. We need to acknowledge that God is busy with “God stuff”, and take care of the smaller things that concern our day to day existence. I think we need to jettison the notion that God is intimately and personally involved in our personal everyday lives. This level of conceit is silly and counterproductive.
God paints in broad strokes and we fill in the outlines. God isn’t ignoring us, God simply does not have time for all the piddly stuff we busy ourselves with. We need to understand the limits of God’s attention and be responsible for ourselves to the extent we are able.
A Philosophy Prof is giving his lecture, and decides to challenge the existence of God. He does this by calling out loudly:
“God, if you exist, I want you to knock me off this stage by the end of the hour”.
Nothing happened, and he continued the lesson. At the half hour, the Prof repeats the challenge:
“I’m still here, God. If you exist, knock me off this stage by the end of the hour.”
Nothing happened, lesson continues.
Five minutes left in the hour, and the Prof calls out God yet again…
“C’mon, God. Show yourself. Knock me off this stage before class is over”
This time, a young marine leaves his seat, walks deliberately to the front of the class, and knocks the Prof flat on his ass. The Prof is stunned, and in some pain, but stammers:
Why should we assume a superhuman God has to have limitations?
And why should we assume that we are not among his Godly things to do?
And why do I have the sinking suspicion that your question was basically just you pointing something out in a condescending manner?
You still haven’t given any hint as to where you think those limits lie.
I’ll grant that I cannot wrap my mind around what God is capable of, but that’s a limitation on my ability to understand God, not on God.
Sure God can do anything if s/he sets their mind to it, it’s not omnipotence that seems implausible, it’s omniscience, especially if it’s required to be applied to monitoring every little thing in the universe. That tips the scale from plausible God to silly God.
Isn’t omniscience sort of contained in omnipotence? If one is omnipotent, it hardly seems that one is likely to strain onself keeping track of a few billion humans.
Oh, there’s some silliness here, all right, but it isn’t in the idea of an omnipotent God. It’s in the idea of a “superhuman” God, as if God is just like us, only bigger and better. Stretch your mind to the idea of a being outside of time and space, outside of physical being completely, and maybe it won’t seem so silly.
You are right, though, about God not having time to do or keep track of all those things. He doesn’t have time at all. Time has nothing to do with him.
What I see here is simply, “I don’t understand the concept, so it must not be possible. It’s beyond my imagination, so it’s just silly.”
Ummm… stretching … stretching… no… still silly, too many data points to keep track of in order to be truly universally omniscient. If God is intelligent God’s got to focus, and being focused requires some degree of exclusion. Situationally omnipotent OK, universally omniscient, no.
How can the skin of a rat or a mouse hold
Anything more than harmless flea?
The burning plague has taken my household
Why have the Gods afflicted me?
All my kith and kin are deceased
Though they were as good as good could be
I will out and batter the family priest
Because the Gods have afflicted me!
My privy and well drain into each other
After the custom of Christendy
Fevers and fluxes are wasting my mother
Why has the Lord afflicted me?
The saints are helpless, for all I offer
As are the clergy I used to fee
Hereafter I’ll keep my cash in my coffer
Because the Lord has afflicted me!
This is none of the good Gods’ pleasure
The spirit they breathe in men is free
But what comes after is measure for measure
And not any God that afflicteth thee
As the sowing, so the reaping
Is now and ever more shall be
Thou art delivered to thine own keeping
Only thyself afflicteth thee!
Old Ezekiel the farmer was sitting on his front porch when his neighbor drove up in his pickup truck. “Ezekiel, the dam up the valley just broke! We’ve gotta get out of here!” Ezekiel said, “Thank you, friend, but I’ve always put my trust in the Lord! The Lord will save me!” The neighbor drove away.
Then water started flowing over Ezekiel’s land. A motorboat came by with a bunch of refugee farmers and the sheriff’s deputy piloting it said, “Come on, Ezekiel! The valley’s flooding!” And Ezekiel said, “Thank you, friend, but I’ve always put my trust in the Lord! The Lord will save me!”
Then the water rose higher and higher and Ezekiel had to climb up onto the roof of his farmhouse. A helicopter came by, checking for stragglers. A state trooper shouted out of the 'copter door, “Come on, Mister! We can get you out of here! Grab the ladder!” Ezekiel shouted, “Thank you, friend, but I’ve always put my trust in the Lord! The Lord will save me!” The helicopter flew away, and the water rose higher and higher. And Ezekiel drowned.
When he awoke in Heaven, Ezekiel immediately demanded to be ushered into the presence of God. God said, “Ezekiel! Glad to see you here, but I didn’t expect you so soon!” Ezekiel replied, “Lord, I always put my trust in you! Why didn’t you save me?!” God said, “Look, Ezekiel, what more do you want from me?! I sent you a pickup truck, I sent you a motorboat, I sent you a helicopter . . .”
