Simple Question

[Scott Lary]

Not really that simple, but short. Is God infinite? And if so, in what sense?

 

[Jonaitis]

Not really that simple, but short. Is God infinite? And if so, in what sense?

His being and essence.

If He is love, for example, then that love is without measure. He is all that He could possibly be.

 

[St_Worm2]

Hello @Scott Lary, I suppose first and foremost, God being "infinite" speaks to the fact that He is w/o either beginning or end. IOW, that He has always existed, and that He always will.

Perhaps you were interested in talking about some of His infinite attributes as well? If so, my highest level of amazement concerns the doctrine of His omnipresence, IOW, that all of Him exists everywhere and at everyTIME at the same time.

God bless you!!

--David
p.s. - Moses understood this and expresses it for us in the opening of his Psalm (or Prayer).

Psalm 90​

1 LORD, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.​

2 Before the mountains were born,​

Or Thou didst give birth to the earth and the world,​

Even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.​

.

 

[Clare73]

Not really that simple, but short. Is God infinite? And if so, in what sense?

For starters, without beginning or end. . .

 

[Jonaitis]

Hello @Scott LaryIf so, my highest level of amazement concerns the doctrine of His omnipresence, IOW, that all of Him exists everywhere and at everyTIME at the same time.

I agree, and His immanence.

He is present all of the time, in all places in every way possible, operating in all things at all levels; yet we do not perceive Him, being formless. I treasure this doctrine as one of the crowing descriptions of God. He is. Nothing more needs to be added.

It also encourages us in our prayers and in our trials when we think God is not there.

 

[Gregory Thompson]

One way in which God is infinite is explained when Jesus met a woman drawing water from a well.

whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” (John 4:14-15)

God gives the infinite, and only one who is infinite, can gift such things.

 

[Daniel9v9]

Yes, God is uncreated, for He is the creator of all things. And while infinity is very difficult for us to grasp, it's useful to understand it in light of that both space and time are creations of God. He is not constrained by space, nor bound by time. Now all of this gets even more complicated in the person of Jesus Christ, who is fully man and fully God, but yes, God is infinite. He has always existed and He will never cease to exist. As God's Word says, He is the Alpha and the Omega.

We confess all of this very efficiently in the Athanasian Creed, so I can recommend reading that.

 

[disciple Clint]

Not really that simple, but short. Is God infinite? And if so, in what sense?

Simple answer yes. God is without limits

 

[Diamond72]

Not really that simple, but short. Is God infinite? And if so, in what sense?

God is infinite, He is a singularity. God is good. He cannot lie, cheat, steal and so on. Man is finite because of good and evil and his dual nature. Man is a dichotomy. God is absolute, perfect and precise justice. He actually has a good plan for all of us and our life. If we choose to follow HIm to become the person he proclaims us to be. He gives us gifts, talents, and abilities at or before conception. We are to use what we have to bring him praise, honor and glory.

 

[Diamond72]

God is without limits

God is limited. He can not lie, cheat, steal. He can only do good, He can not do evil and He is always Just.

 

[ViaCrucis]

God is limited. He can not lie, cheat, steal. He can only do good, He can not do evil and He is always Just.

He is unlimited in Himself and in His Essence. The only "limits" to God are that God will always Be God, God will never not be God.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Diamond72]

He is unlimited in Himself and in His Essence. The only "limits" to God are that God will always Be God, God will never not be God.

There are a lot of things God can not do. He can not lie, cheat or steal. He can not deny himself, He can not be unjust. But you want to say He is everything He is and nothing that He is not.

 

[ViaCrucis]

There are a lot of things God can not do. He can not lie, cheat or steal. He can not deny himself, He can not be unjust. But you want to say He is everything He is and nothing that He is not.

If God lied, cheated, etc then He would no longer be Himself. I don't see that as a limit placed upon God by some external factor--it's simply that God is God.

I view the question of "What if God lied?" to be the same as "What if God stopped being God?"--it's a question that adds up to nonsense. Kind of like the old "Can God create a rock so heavy that even He can't lift it?" or "Can God create a four-sided triangle?" As C.S. Lewis said, nonsense, even when talking about God, is still nonsense. God's limitlessness, His eternity, His omnipotence, etc doesn't mean we can come up with a wild idea and say "God can do that"--like creating a four-sided triangle. It speaks to God's limitlessness within Himself as God. If God could do evil, then that would be less than Himself, it would itself make God less-than.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[disciple Clint]

God is limited. He can not lie, cheat, steal. He can only do good, He can not do evil and He is always Just.

God is not limited, He can do anything He elects to do, He simply does not want to lie, cheat, steal or do anything other than good. If God is limited then something has to have more power than God and absolutely nothing has such power.