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Marco van Eck's avatar

This line of reasoning is way cool. Something I like to say is the following:

”Reality is always different than everyone thinks.“

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Dekwan Perry's avatar

The assertion that God would need to be vastly larger than the universe to be omniscient and omnipotent assumes that God's nature and attributes must conform to the physical and spatial limitations of the universe. This assumption is rooted in a materialistic and human-centric view of existence, which may not be applicable to the concept of God as understood in many theological traditions.

1. **Nature of God**: Traditional theistic views describe God as a non-physical, transcendent being who exists outside of time and space. God's omniscience and omnipotence are not bound by physical dimensions or material constraints. Therefore, the concept of "size" is not relevant to God's nature.

2. **Omniscience**: Omniscience refers to the ability to know everything that can be known. It does not require a physical mechanism analogous to a human brain or computer. Instead, it is often understood as an inherent quality of God's being. Since God is not a material entity, the "processing capacity" analogy does not apply.

3. **Omnipotence**: Omnipotence is the ability to do anything that is logically possible. It does not imply a need for a physical form or structure to exercise power. God's will is enacted through divine decree rather than through physical means, thus the notion of needing to be "larger than the universe" to exert power is a category error.

4. **Transcendence and Immanence**: The concept of God being both transcendent (beyond and independent from the universe) and immanent (present and active within the universe) addresses the idea that God's capabilities are not restricted by physical dimensions. This duality allows for God's omniscience and omnipotence without necessitating physical size.

5. **Logical Coherence**: From a philosophical standpoint, God is often defined as a maximally great being, possessing attributes like omniscience and omnipotence in a way that is logically coherent within the context of divine nature. The requirements posited in the assertion are based on an anthropomorphic view, which misinterprets the nature of divine attributes.

In summary, the argument that God must be vastly larger than the universe to be omniscient and omnipotent relies on a misunderstanding of the nature of divine attributes. Traditional theistic perspectives understand God as transcendent and not subject to the physical constraints of the universe, rendering the need for physical size or a processing mechanism irrelevant.

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