The Infinite God: Part II

This is Part II of the Article: The Infinite God: Part I

Joseph: My main question has to do with actual infinity.  We as Christians do believe in actual infinity because of God and everlasting life.

Jared: I am going to answer this question in three ways--philosophically, apologetically, and theologically.

Philosophically

When this question came up at the M3 camp, I answered it (in one way or another) by stating that God is not bound by "time" as we know it.  Someone made the comment that it "wasn't fair that we asked people to not believe in a world that 'came out of nothing' but then turn around and ask them to 'believe in a God that came out of nothing.'"  This is a false perception and understanding of the problem, however. 

I had a conversation recently with one of my old professors concerning this, and this is what he said:

"With respect to God, when we say He is infinite, we are not saying He has been around for an infinite amount of time. No. Rather, He is, in fact, timeless (outside time). (And I would add "spaceless" as well; outside space.) To say God is Timeless is not to say He doesn't exist at this particular time. Rather, it is (at least in part) to say He is fully present at all times, or perhaps better, that all times are fully present to God. God's "sense of time" is atemporal. He has no past or future. Rather, He exists eternally. So I'd rather say God is eternal than that He is infinite. Usually, when we say God is infinite, we mean He possesses the attributes of goodness, holiness, love, power, knowledge, etc. "infinitely." But this still might be problematic, for if this is the case, then it seems to indicate His knowledge goes on and on and knows no end. But I am of the opinion that, for example, God's knowledge is "maximal." That is, God knows EVERYTHING it is possible for a divine being to know, and nothing more or less. But when I say "nothing more or less," this sounds finite, right? I'm not sure how to deal with this. Maybe we should just dispense with the word "infinite" altogether, and instead talk about "maximal great making properties" (?). In any event, the Kalam argument is talking about time, and God is outside time so the argument doesn't apply to him."

I would say that this summarizes the belief in an infinite God well.

Apologetically

A third argument that I did not teach at the camp (because of time and complexity) is the Ontological Argument.  I have a hard time with this one, but off the cusp of the aforementioned paragraph, when you think about it, the idea that an actual infinity does not exist almost begs the idea that something has to exist outside of time to put things in motion.  That is, the very idea of "God" proves that He exists.

To state it another way, since no "actual infinity" exists, an atemporal being must therefore exist in order to make actual infinity only potential.

This is a very complex argument and it takes a lot of groundwork to build, but I hope that at least gives you a little bit more understanding.  The necessary beginning of our world begs the necessary existence of a transcendent God.  And as Christians, our God is also imminent, the God who is "with us."

Theologically

This is a devotion that I read this morning that I thought was pertinent to our conversation:

The Eternal God

July 7, 2011

"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." (Psalm 90:2)
 

This verse was written by Moses as the children of Israel prepared to enter the Promised Land. Perhaps the most basic of all the attributes of God is that He "inhabiteth eternity" (Isaiah 57:15). He is "from everlasting to everlasting," the God who ever was and ever shall be.

Creatures of time cannot really comprehend the idea of past eternity. "But who made God?" children ask. "Nobody made God," we answer. "He always was." The alternative would be to believe in the eternity of "space" and "matter," but these in themselves are utterly incapable of producing our complex universe. God, however, is an adequate First Cause to explain all the effects of our infinite, intricate cosmos.

There are many other Scriptures assuring us that God has always been. "Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting" (Psalm 93:2). He is "the everlasting God, the Lord" (Isaiah 40:28). And this truth applies to God the Son as well as to God the Father. The Lord Jesus could say, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last" (Revelation 22:13).

We find it somewhat easier to contemplate the fact that God will live forever. Still, certain foolish men have imagined that God is dead, but "the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king" (Jeremiah 10:10).

The most glorious fact of all is that this living God did also become man, in the person of Christ Jesus, and He did die. But He soon defeated death and now can say: "I am alive for evermore" (Revelation 1:18). And now, since "we believe that Jesus died and rose again, . . . so shall we ever be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:14, 17). HMM (Daily Praise, The Institute for Creation Research)