(September 13, 2013 at 10:15 am)Drich Wrote: Again, he ascribes to an Omni-max God. Which it does not take a masters in theology to know is not how God describes Himself in the bible. It is a doctrine of man that orginates from about a dozen unconnected verses in the bible. (Basically some priest defined an all powerful God by using a dozen different unrelated passages in the bible.)
Which sets up all sorts of paradoxes (like the one Bart could not reconsile. which cost him his faith.)
In short God simply describes Himself as "I am" or the alpha and the Omega, the beginning and end of all things. Which people have a tendance to glance over, but in the description holds the key to understanding the true nature of God. for it is so easy to understand but so complex as to hide the nature of God from men like bart in plain sight.
If God is Omni-max as bart believes He is bound to the definations of what it means to be omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, omnipresent. Other wise God defaults on His 'all powerful' nature.) Which in of itself is a paradox because if God is all powerful then how can He be bound/forced to do what these defination say He must do?
Which is where God's description comes in. If God is the Alpha and Omega, the He has the first and last word on everything. He answers to no one He is bound by nothing. Which is the true meaning of the term 'all powerful.' In short God who he wants to be and displays power and mercy when He wishes to do so and is not for nor even compelled to comply with any standards but His own.
Which again is how the term "All powerful" works, and is not tied to the definations of the Omni-aspects of God.
I can be 'smug' because I can identify that Bart has all of this great biblical knoweledge, and somehow has failed to grasp a 1st grade sunday school concept about the most very basic nature of God. Which I guess is what happens when one studies the bible under the guidance of man and not under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
First of all I completely agree with you that omni- attributes for God need not be taken literally. These were simple people easily impressed. Omni- anything is essentially a superlative and should not be understood as an exact measure of an attribute.
But naturally there are two horns for every dilemma. If you set aside all-powerful (except as you say, in the chain of command sense) then just what can this god do? What are His limits? Can he cause the nothing of space (as we now understand it) to manifest its potential state as everything? Cause time to begin? Create all the critters from a little bit of clay? All of these sorts of claim are no longer supported by an omni-powerful God. There is no inherent reason to think any of these outlandish accomplishments were actually something the Christian god was capable of contributing toward.
Do you find passages in your favorite book which enable you to accurately calibrate the actual extent and degree of your God's powers?
