(March 25, 2015 at 6:02 pm)Alex K Wrote:(March 25, 2015 at 5:50 pm)Pyrrho Wrote: A perfect being would have no need of anything, as it would be sufficient in itself. Creating something implies the desire to create, and a desire implies that the thing in question lacks something that it wants. Otherwise, it would not create anything. Lacking something that it wants shows imperfection.
So, a perfect being would never create a universe, as it would be sufficient in itself.
If I were a Christian mystic apologist, I would circumvent this by saying that the universe with us in it is not a separate creation per se but a part of the mind of God.
Do you mean that the universe has always existed? Otherwise, you will have a problem, with God thinking of something new, that He previously had not considered. After all, that would mean that He lacked something at some time, that He later had. Either that thing is an improvement, or it isn't. If it is an improvement, it means God was imperfect, and if not, then it is unnecessary and unimportant, unworthy of a perfect being.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
