(September 10, 2015 at 6:33 am)Napoléon Wrote: Is god actually any of these things, and is there any basis for it in literature?
I'm wondering because I watched a talk recently where a Jewish scholar said that the Abrahamic god (or his respective religions) makes no actual claims for omniscience, omnipresence or omnipotence. But this seemed to fly in the face of what I thought I knew. I've seen plenty of Christians attempting to justify such things. However from the verses I've read, none actually outright claim omniscience, or omnipresence, or omnipotence. It actually seems rather vague, or implied, saying things like "with god, all things are possible" for example. Well, is that claiming omnipotence or not? Same goes with "god is with you always" and other shit like that. Does it really mean god is omnipresent?
What is actually the case*? Do these concepts have any real basis in literature or is it something everybody assumes and talks about, but in reality isn't actually outright claimed?
If the latter, then why do we attach these ideas to the concept of a god? Why is it assumed, even by the religious, that god is any of these things if it's not actually supported in their books?
*The actual case is god doesn't exist and he's none of these things. I'm more asking to hear if there's any justification that can be made from a literature point of view. Something I don't normally give a rat's arse about but I find it strange that these omni-things are talked about if they're not actually claimed in the books...
This simply is one of many tactics over the years , and not just Jews, but every religion, to try to remain relevant by watering it down, or trying to match it to science. I have seen this from Hindus and Muslims. Now while the Asian regions don't have deities, even they try to adapt their ancient clubs to the modern world.