Is God a logical contradiction?

[LadyForCamus]

For me, I suppose it comes down to the question: what is the definition of a god?  What makes something a god? What are the minimum necessary attributes or characteristics that qualify something as a god, and is there any evidence or reason to believe that such a thing, which fits that hypothetical description, actually exists?

That sounds reasonable to me.

I do try. 😛

And I'm pretty sure we'll never get a coherent definition from the fundamentalists. That's why I don't spend my time on them.

I wholeheartedly agree with you.

In classical theism, or the God of the philosophers, there is a fairly well-agreed definition. With variations among the various thinkers:

Absolutely simple, absolutely unmoving, absolutely good, absolutely act with no potential, absolutely unique.

But what is it, and how does it have these characteristics like “good” and “simple” without technically being or doing anything? If god is immaterial, and cannot act in any way, then what rational justification is there for believing such a thing exists? It seems to me, as described, it doesn’t even qualify as a “thing” at all. What is an immaterial thing made of? This seems to me to be as logically contradictory as “the existence of nothing”. 

A follow-up question, and I’m sorry; I’m putting a lot on you here and that probably isn’t fair; even if we can find a reasonable way to describe a thing like this version of god, in what way is its existence meaningful to us? If it can’t act or interact, then in what way is it relevant to our own existence? Would/should knowing about its existence alter the way in which we perceive and act in our own lives? Does this knowledge have any practical, tangible implications for us as beings?

The apophatic and negative theologians have a good point, though: because we are people and are limited in our thinking, definitions are usually misleading. So for example if I say "God is good," I think I have a conception of what good is, and what God must be like in order to match that concept. But they say that since any human idea of goodness will be too limited, even such a simple statement is bound to block my understanding as much as it clarifies.

Then what reason is there to believe that this god is good at all?

To be fair to the atheist community here as I’ve come to know them, many of the theists who have come here for debate have come with that very particular kind of god in mind.

And if they think that posting here is an effective way to fight against stupid fundies, then more power to them. I've never said they shouldn't. 

I don't enjoy that, so I don't do it. 

Back in my hometown -- a tiny town in Kansas -- the fundies were getting noisy, so my sister got on the school board and ran the textbook committee. She was always the practical one in the family.

Good on her! Where I’m from, I think I’d make a lot of enemies that way. 😝