Does god know everything ? If there are other universes or other items of reality-universe-physics that exist but god cannot perceive, then god may not know everything there is to know. How can he really be sure that he knows and controls all ? There is no way, so he may actually live inside an infinite dimensional universe where other invisible gods are present but he doesn’t know.
There are some things of this unverse itself that he doesn’t seem to know or control like our own free will, or each electron and photon of the universe. If he knows all the photons and electrons in every detail, then he is exactly all reality and coincides with all matter (photons and electrons and our free will), otherwise there are items of reality that are independent of god, so then there could be many other, if not an infinite number of items independent of god so god cannot know all.
Also is logic present in all the universe(s) ? If there is one place where contradictions are allowed, then in that place any contradiction is allowed and anything can be. In that place you can say that god is elvis and it would be true, since anything is valid being that logic is no longer valid. But then how do these non logical items seperate themselves from our logical universe ? Why do they obey even this law ? Then either logic is all there is or there are items of non logic. Any description can be assigned as logical, but to break logic you must have some logic. Very odd problem.
Can God see everything? If there's a magic rock that gods can't see under, then God wouldn't be able to see under that rock!
See, if you use 'that god cannot percieve' as part of your explanation of a thing, then there's not really a question to answer, is there? I think the logical place to begin would be to ask whether or not there's such a thing as 'other universes'- or how something like that could make sense.
As to the second issue, of God needing to be equated with the universe in order to know everything about it, I’m not sure that’s true. If God were a giant physical computer, then maybe you’d be on to something, but since it’s generally agreed that God is incorporeal (which entails, among other things, that His knowledge isn’t stored in a physical media) I don’t see why that would have to be so.
To the question of the thread- Does God know Everything? I think He knows everything that can possibly be known. I think many attempts to show that God doesn’t know ‘something’ really end up demonstrating that there are things impossible to know. It really falls under Omnipotence. Can God do everything? Well, He can’t draw a square circle. Also, He can’t have perfect foreknowledge of what a being with free will will do (if ‘foreknowledge’ and ‘free will’ are understood in the usual way). I guess it’s up to you if you consider these exceptions to fall under the class ‘everything’ or not- I’m happy either way, and am not married to the sentences “God can do/know everything”.
If he can’t draw a square circle or know free will, then he is limited, there are items external to god that he cannot manipulate. Then there are independent items that exist outside of god. Either he can do all that and many times worse and many many times more contradictory and wild or he is limited. If he is limited there are things that do not belong to god. These things then are other gods he is not the only god. He can’t be constrained by logic for example. He invented and designed logic so he can break it as much as he wants. He can also be exactly all particles and all nature at the same time. If not, he is a small god, not worthy of much. Either all is possible or not. Then if all is possible for him then he can also choose NOT TO EXIST and fool his own creation, and SHOW US HOW SMALL WE ALL ARE SINCE HE ALSO LIKES TO NOT EXIST AT ALL! So god doesn’t exist and loves the idea that we all believe in him knowing that he is false. Exactly because he does not depend on existence and logic makes god great. He doesn’t exist and the atheists are the true worshippers of god.
I’m not sure nameta9… God’s ability or inability to draw a square circle doesn’t prove anything about his limits or capacities.
Let’s start with a definition of a circle. From wikipedia:
“In Euclidean geometry, a circle is the set of all points in a plane at a fixed distance, called the radius, from a fixed point, the centre.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle
So, to ask god to to draw a square circle is impossible. A square cannot be a circle, and a circle cannot be a square, by definition.
However, the fact that god cannot violate a truth by definition does not prove that he is not all powerful if he created the definition, or the system in which the definition exists, or the logic that tells us that you can’t violate a truth by definition.
If he did create the definition, or the system, or logic then nothing about a square circle curtails his power in any way… he is free to change the definition, the system, or logic at will, relieving the equipoise and creating a square circle.
Does this prove that god exists… no, nor do I wish it to. Just pointing out that asking for a square circle doesn’t prove anything about god.
God could also choose to become a small god with little power and hand over his power to a new more powerful god that he creates. He can decide to be you and you are god not knowing it. He can revert or even not become god anymore. Is MATTER god ? logic is not god, logic must be a very limited sequence of symbols used to organize thought but may very will be nothing compared to god’s power. Is logic the only possible way to organize our sensory perceptions and memory ? Is ART an alternative or anything we do is always bound by logic no matter how far away we try to get from it ?
God can decide to become a false god, false statements can become true, why search for the truth ? Then all the above can be anything and even any discourse then becomes impossible or anything can be said or any sequence of undefined symbols could be correct, who cares what is true.
Well, there are a couple of answers to your question:
Once false statements become true, we once again have a truth to search for. You must understand that if you impose the power of god onto truth we lose the objective sense of truth. Once god defines something as true it is so, no matter how incorrect it may have previously been, if god says its true, its true.
For some reason the reminds me of Ayer’s dismissal of metaphysics based on the verification principle. The fact is that we can’t claim to know what is correct… we can only claim to have very good reason to believe it to be the case. And I’m not convinced that we ought to be particularily concerned with what is true, as opposed to what reasons we have for believing what we do.
God says that “everything is false”. Then even this sentence is false, hence it becomes true, then it becomes false again etc. What is it ? God likes to play tricks on our logic, we can’t compete. He worships an electron at the center of mars, he worships something much smaller and simpler than himself (a small piece of his creation) and is not looking at all at the earth and its people. The child asks, “mommy what is the entity I am worshipping at church every sunday ?” You better be sure you know or else you may be worshipping the wrong god or entity or maybe even satan (another god ?).
God likes to convert himself into small stones and people pass by and don’t even notice. There is no higher or smaller, better or worse, he is beyond good and bad and he has no knowledge compared to us; he likes it that we are so much smarter than he is ; His ways are mysterious.
Both “square” and “circle” are arbitrary definitions created by us. Because we see a logical difficulty in something being both, that doesn’t mean God does as well.
Additionally, if God “doesn’t know” things logically impossible, it’s not necessarily a limitation. It must first be shown what constitutes a “limitation” of God.
What if god goes crazy ? He starts to beat up the planets and gets tired of his creation. Maybe he got rid of the dinasours just for the fun of it. Laws of physics go wild, he has a ball, and we get hosed.
Maybe god takes LSD just to see what happens, and maybe gets drunk. He has a ball and we pray. He likes being limited, he has no limit as he is insane. He asks himself where he came from. Poor god, where the hell did he come from in this insane creation he was forced to make by some freak god on top of him. Holy christ …
Potential is infinite. Potential can be created forever, and has no limit. To know it, is to created it, in mind, and then outside of mind, if able. It is quantum mechanical.
I don’t know “everything”, in the way that you state here, but I do know the “truth” – and I’ve “cried” more then once at what people have done to the “truth”. They make it such a strange thing, and so much of an argument. They are not humble, or clear, but at least they do try.
Please, brothers, I have a humble request…
Please look into your hearts, and try to be aware of any sort of agression when you try to “prove” some sort of “truth”. So many people in history have used force instead of truth to dominate and change one another, because their soul just wasn’t able to know the truth! Would it be a “thrill” to “defeat” people that you don’t agree with? Or do you want to remove and avoid what you can’t fully understand and solve?