Which god is God?

(This is an excerpt from a theology class taught at our church, part of a larger series using logic to understand theology)

                  Atheists are quick to point out that they are very similar to Christians. Christians reject all the gods of other religions, claiming they are false. Atheists agree whole heartedly, but go one step further and reject the Christian God. From their perspective, the Christian god is one which must also be rejected categorically, since they believe there is no god or gods at all.  But this is an error. As we studied, there are real reasons to believe in God, although humanity is limited in knowing the specifics. When people speculate they lead to multiple, contradictory religions, but the evidence that God exists still remains.

                  This would be like rejecting the existence of the sun because different cultures have contradictory myths about its origin and nature. Some said it was a chariot, others an eye, and even more a god. They were all speculating incorrectly about something that did exist. All the speculation was wrong. The sun does exist. Disagreement about its specifics doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

                  The nature of truth itself is that a statement or idea must correspond to reality. If it does not correspond to reality, the statement or idea is not true. But reality still exists whether an accurate claim was made about it or not. The statement that corresponds to reality is singular: The sun is a star closer to the earth than the other stars we observe. This statement is true and is singular. On the other hand, the statements that are false are infinite. The sun is a hole poked in the firmament. The sun is a vehicle. The sun is a monster. The sun is an illusion.

                  But this does bring up the question, which god is the real God? Humans have serious limits to knowing the answer on their own merits. But, with the help of sound reason, we can logically eliminate many of the false claims about specific (false) gods.

What is God?

                  The first law of logic is the law of identity. In order for us to determine which god is or is not the true God, we must first identify what God is. If we know what God is and can define Him, we can place that definition against the specific theories and claims about God and see if they stick. If the god in question does not meet the requirements of the definition, it’s safe to say this is not God.

                  Xenophanes from the 6^th century BC criticized the gods of Homer and Hesiod because their gods were clearly just exaggerated characters of imperfect men. “Homer and Hesiod have attributed to the gods everything that is shameful and disgraceful among men...” He reasoned that a true God or gods would not be rife with human flaws. Plato, in The Republic, also reasoned that the Greek pantheon of gods were false. His arguments similarly noted that God must be good and true, and could not be the source of evil or falsehood. These men rejected mythological gods in favor of rational theism. They knew there had to be a god, and they knew the speculations about gods around them were false. But that’ as far as they could reason.

                  So then what is God? Since our arguments for God’s existence lead back to the source of existence, it is logical to say that God is the creator. As we have already touched on, God is the foundation that all the exists and the reason why anything exists. So, any god who is not a creator is obviously not God by definition, but either something made up, or something different. So, we know by deduction that Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea is not God. We know Amaterasu, the Japanese sun goddess, is not God. We know Ganesha, the Hindu god of wisdom, is not God and so on. And, since there is no logical argument that these non-creating gods exist (their supposed existence is based solely on special revelation from various religions), it is absolutely logical to doubt that they exist or ever have existed.

God’s Attributes

                  What we are discovering here are the attributes of God. These are the necessary qualities the God of logic must have in order to be identified as God. Being the creator is an attribute that only God has, so we call this an incommunicable attribute. No other being can have this attribute, it is essential to the nature of who and what God is.

                  Since this creator God created all that exists, including all matter, energy, space, and time, we know that He is greater than all powers and laws that exist- everything you can imagine logically. God literally has all power; He is all powerful. We call this omnipotence. So, we compare this to all narratives, theories, and religions when they describe their god or gods. If this god is not omnipotent, this cannot be the God we understand through logic. So gods like Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god of learning and creativity, Anibus, the Egyptian god of the afterlife, and Indra, the Vedic/Hindu king of gods (who was defeated in battle), cannot be the true God. They are not omnipotent.

P1: The Creator God is the cause of all that exists.

P2: Whatever causes all things must be greater than all things caused.

C1: The being who created all powers and laws must possesses all power since He is above all (omnipotence).

P3: We use this necessary attribute as a standard to identify the Creator God.

C2: Therefore, any religious or philosophical claims about gods who are not omniscience are not identifying the Creator God.

                  Building on this, God’s necessary attribute of omniscience also shows us that there is only one God; God is singular. Follow the logic. A being that has no limits on power must be totally complete and perfect. If there were two unlimited beings, they would have to be different somehow. But in order to be different, one has to have something the other doesn’t, which makes one of them limited. That’s a contradiction; the second law of logic is broken. So, there can only be one unlimited, omnipotent, perfect being; one God. By this logical we can rule out many if not all of the polytheistic religions.

P1: A being with no limits (i.e., omnipotent) must be totally complete and perfect.

P2: If there were two unlimited beings, they would have to differ in some way.

P3: To differ, one must have something the other does not.

P4: Lacking something means being limited.

P5: A limited being is not unlimited.

C: Therefore, two unlimited beings cannot exist.