Thank god I'm an atheist.






On 1/3/2006 9:56:35 PM, "Oscar_Lives" wrote:
Most Christians who critique the Mormon view of God do so from
a strictly biblical perspective. Christian apologists have
correctly pointed out that Mormon theology conflicts with biblical
doctrine in a number of important areas, including the nature of
God, the plan of salvation, and the nature of man.[1]

Although the biblical approach should be the Christian's
primary focus, Dr. Stephen E. Parrish and I have suggested another
approach in several articles and books.[2] This approach focuses on
the _philosophical_ rather than the _biblical_ problems with the
Mormon concept of God.

In this article I will (1) compare and contrast the Christian
and Mormon concepts of God and (2) present three philosophical
problems with the Mormon view.


*THE CHRISTIAN CONCEPT OF GOD*

Christians claim that their concept of God is found in the
Bible. Known as _classical theism,_ this view of God has long been
considered the orthodox theistic position of the Western world.
Though there are numerous divine attributes that we could examine,
for our present purposes it is sufficient to say that the God of
classical theism is at least (1) personal and incorporeal (without
physical parts), (2) the Creator and Sustainer of everything else
that exists, (3) omnipotent (all-powerful), (4) omniscient
(all-knowing), (5) omnipresent (everywhere present), (6) immutable
(unchanging) and eternal, and (7) necessary and the only God.

Let us now briefly look at each of these attributes.

*1. Personal and Incorporeal.* According to Christian theism,
God is a personal being who has all the attributes that we may
expect from a perfect person: self-consciousness, the ability to
reason, know, love, communicate, and so forth. This is clearly how
God is described in the Scriptures (e.g., Gen. 17:11; Exod. 3:14;
Jer. 29:11).

God is also incorporeal. Unlike humans, God is not uniquely
associated with one physical entity (i.e., a body). This is why the
Bible refers to God as Spirit (John 4:24).

*2. The Creator and Sustainer of Everything Else that Exists.*
In classical theism, all reality is contingent on God -- that is,
all reality has come into existence and _continues_ to exist
because of Him. Unlike a god who forms the universe out of
preexistent matter, the God of classical theism created the
universe _ex nihilo_ (out of nothing). Consequently, it is on God
alone that everything in the universe depends for its existence
(_see_ Acts 17:25; Col. 1:16, 17; Rom. 11:36; Heb. 11:3; 2 Cor.
4:6; Rev. 4:11).

*3. Omnipotent.* God is also said to be omnipotent or
all-powerful. This should be understood to mean that God can do
anything that is (1) logically possible (_see_ below), and (2)
consistent with being a personal, incorporeal, omniscient,
omnipresent, immutable, wholly perfect, and necessary Creator.

Concerning the latter, these attributes are not _limitations_
of God's power, but _perfections._ They are attributes at their
infinitely highest level, which are essential to God's nature. For
example, since God is perfect, He cannot sin; because He is
personal, He is incapable of making Himself impersonal; because He
is omniscient, He cannot forget. All this is supported by the Bible
when its writers assert that God cannot sin (Mark 10:18; Heb.
6:18), cease to exist (Exod. 3:14; Mal. 3:6), or fail to know
something (Job 28:24; Ps. 139:17-18; Isa. 46:10a). Since God is a
perfect person, it is necessarily the case that He is incapable of
acting in a less than perfect way -- which would include sinning,
ceasing to exist, and being ignorant.

When the classical theist claims that God can only do what is
logically possible, he or she is claiming that God cannot do or
create what is logically _im_possible. Examples of logically
impossible entities include "married bachelors," "square circles,"
and "a brother who is an only child." But these are not _really_
entities; they are merely contrary terms that are strung together
and _appear_ to say something. Hence, the fact that God cannot do
the logically impossible does not in any way discount His
omnipotence.

Also counted among the things that are logically impossible for
God to do or create are those imperfect acts mentioned above which
a wholly perfect and immutable being cannot do -- such as sin, lack
omniscience, and/or cease to exist. Since God is a personal,
incorporeal, omniscient, omnipresent, immutable, wholly perfect,
and necessary Creator, it follows that any act _inconsistent_ with
these attributes would be necessarily (or logically) impossible for
God to perform. But this fact does not count against God's
omnipotence, since, as St. Augustine points out, "Neither do we
lessen [God's] power when we say He cannot die or be deceived. This
is the kind of inability which, if removed, would make God less
powerful than He is.... It is precisely because He is omnipotent
that for Him some things are impossible."[3]

But what about Luke 1:37, where we are told that "_nothing_ is
impossible with God?" (NIV) Addressing this question, St. Thomas
Aquinas points out that this verse is not talking about internally
contradictory or contrary "entities," since such "things" are not
really things at all. They are merely words strung together that
_appear_ to be saying something when in fact they are saying
nothing.[4] Hence, _everything_ is possible for God, but the
logically impossible is _not_ truly a _thing._

*4. Omniscient.* God is all-knowing, and His all-knowingness
encompasses the _past, present,_ and _future._[5] Concerning God's
unfathomable knowledge, the psalmist writes: "How precious to me
are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to
count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake,
I am still with you" (Ps. 139:17,18). Elsewhere he writes, "Great
is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit"
(147:5). The author of Job writes of God: "For he views the ends of
the earth and sees everything under the heavens" (Job 28:24).
Scripture also teaches that God has total knowledge of the past
(Isa. 41:22). Concerning the future, God says: "I make known the
end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say: 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please,'"
(Isa. 46:10). Elsewhere Isaiah quotes God as saying that
_knowledge_ (not opinion or highly probable guesses) of the future
is essential for deity (Isa. 41:21-24), something that
distinguished God from the many false gods of Isaiah's day.

*5. Omnipresent.* Logically following from God's omniscience,
incorporeality, omnipotence, and role as creator and sustainer of
the universe is His omnipresence. Since God is not limited by a
spatio-temporal body, knows everything immediately without benefit
of sensory organs, and sustains the existence of all that exists,
it follows that He is in some sense present everywhere. Certainly
it is the Bible's explicit teaching that God is omnipresent (Ps.
139:7-12; Jer. 23:23-24).

*6. Immutable and Eternal.* When a Christian says that God is
immutable and eternal, he or she is saying that God is _unchanging_
(Mal. 3:6; Heb. 6:17; Isa. 46:10b) and has _always existed_ as God
throughout all eternity (Ps. 90:2; Isa. 40:28; 43:12b, 13; 57:15a;
Rom. 1:20a; 1 Tim. 1:17).[6] There never was a time when God was
not God.

Although God certainly seems to change in response to how His
creatures behave -- such as in the case of the repenting Ninevites


--
John