Is God Infinite?

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TravisT

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If someone asked you if God is limitless how would you respond? What if they asked you for scripture stating God is infinite?
 

Dan57

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Yes, God has no limits...... "With God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26). "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come" (Revelation 1:8). "I AM THAT I AM" (Exodus 3:14).
 
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TravisT

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Dan57 said:
Yes, God has no limits...... "With God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26). "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come" (Revelation 1:8). "I AM THAT I AM" (Exodus 3:14)
Explain how these passages show god is without limit.
 

KingJ

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If someone asked you if God is limitless how would you respond? What if they asked you for scripture stating God is infinite?
I would say God can be limitless but chooses not to be. Rom 9 is full of evidence that God can do whatever He wants. Yet the rest of scripture is evidence of what in fact He does do.

The cross is evidence of Him limiting His omnipotence to do what is good. Free will is evidence of Him limiting His omniscience.

Of course we can see this another way. Namely that righteousness is a part of God on a level we can currently not grasp. We can grasp the dictionary definition of omniscience but we cannot grasp God being as good as He is omniscient. IE there is no limiting omniscience. Rather God being who He is. A being incapable of anything evil. We explain it as limiting because we cannot grasp God. To the eye the cross appears to be Him limiting His omnipotence but it could be an inevitability of Him being who He is. Simultaneously 100% omniscient and 100% righteous.
 

lforrest

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If someone asked you if God is limitless how would you respond? What if they asked you for scripture stating God is infinite?
I would seek clarification as to what they mean. limitless is such a broad topic, addressing it in an unorganized way will likely be un-fruitful.
 

Dan57

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Explain how these passages show god is without limit.
If all things are possible with God, what's his limit? All things, anything, everything.. God is omnipotent and omniscient, he has always been and always will be. 'I am that I am", means he is that he is, and there's nothing that is outside of him. Something with a limit must have an end, but God doesn't. If you can't name something that God cannot do, then its logical to presume he has no limits. That's not to say that God has no restrictions or laws, but only those that he has imposed.
 

OzSpen

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Administrator said:
If someone asked you if God is limitless how would you respond? What if they asked you for scripture stating God is infinite?
From that person, I would want clarification on 2 points:
(1) What does the person mean by limitless?
(2) When speaking about God who is infinite, I would ask if that person meant infinite in a quantitative or qualitative sense.

Have you read William Lane Craig's response to this question in, 'Is God Actually Infinite?'

As for Scripture that points to God being infinite, these are only starters:
  • 1 Kings 8:27 (ESV), 'But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!'
  • Psalm 147:5 (ESV), 'Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure'.
  • Rom 11:33 (ESV), 'Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements and how inscrutable his ways!'
  • Col 1:17 (ESV), 'And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together'.
The primary basis for God's infinite being is that He exists beyond this finite, created world. He is the creator and sustainer of this finite world (Gen 1:1; Job 11:7-9; Col 1:17).

Oz
 

OzSpen

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Dan57 said:
If all things are possible with God, what's his limit? All things, anything, everything.. God is omnipotent and omniscient, he has always been and always will be. 'I am that I am", means he is that he is, and there's nothing that is outside of him. Something with a limit must have an end, but God doesn't. If you can't name something that God cannot do, then its logical to presume he has no limits. That's not to say that God has no restrictions or laws, but only those that he has imposed.
Can God sin?
 

Dan57

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OzSpen said:
Can God sin?
That's one thing that God did not create. The fact that God does not lie, does not mean he has limitations, it just means that all righteousness resides in God, so it would be outside his character to be a liar, not outside his limitations. Just as you could murder someone, but the fact that you don't doesn't mean its beyond your limits, but out of bounds because its not in your character. Sin emanates from within an individual, not God...
 

OzSpen

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Dan57 said:
That's one thing that God did not create. The fact that God does not lie, does not mean he has limitations, it just means that all righteousness resides in God, so it would be outside his character to be a liar, not outside his limitations. Just as you could murder someone, but the fact that you don't doesn't mean its beyond your limits, but out of bounds because its not in your character. Sin emanates from within an individual, not God...
It is placing a limitation on God because of God's essence of holiness and righteousness-justice.
 
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TravisT

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I think one of the best ways to look at God's Infinity from Theology and Philosophy that does not contradict the Bible would be looking at God as "uncaused Cause" or "Pure Actuality"

Norman Geisler does a great job expanding on Thomas Aquinas.
 

Wormwood

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Yes, God is infinite. God is not bound by limiting forces external to himself. God is not bound, restricted, fettered or subject to weakness or imperfection. However, God's infinity is not absolute. He is constrained by his own character and self limitations. What I mean by this is that God is not limited by things outside himself, but he is constrained within his own holiness and decision-making (such as the allowance of permitting other creatures to exhibit free will). Thus, God is not bound by external forces but his character and decision making does create boundaries for his own acts. Yet all these boundaries are self-imposed and only display strength and power, not weakness. His holiness, power, love, glory and knowledge are without limit. Yet, he cannot lie or do other things that are inconsistent with his own attributes that express that unbridled power and glory.

For instance, some will pose questions like, "Can God create a rock that not even he can lift?" The question is invalid because it demands an answer that suggests God has a limitation (i.e. either God cannot create a rock that big, or God cannot lift a rock that big.) Likewise, suggesting that "God cannot lie" as some sort of limitation to suggest God is "incapable" and therefore has a weakness is errant. The inability to lie is not a weakness, but rather a display of holiness and strength. Lying and deception are weaknesses. Thus God does not do them because his character does not permit it. Most of the other gods in world religions are weak, limited or display faults. However, the God of the Bible is without limit. His holiness, glory, power, knowledge, and presence are shown in the Bible to be all-encompassing and without measure.
 
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TravisT

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God's infinity can be shown from his uncausality. Everything that is caused has a limit and anything uncaused has not limit (nothing to cause a limit to it) God is uncaused being the Eternal I AM so God must be unlimited.
 

OzSpen

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God's infinity can be shown from his uncausality. Everything that is caused has a limit and anything uncaused has not limit (nothing to cause a limit to it) God is uncaused being the Eternal I AM so God must be unlimited.
I understand that. It is called 'the first cause argument'.

Now provide some biblical evidence to support such a view.

Oz
 
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TravisT

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OzSpen said:
I understand that. It is called 'the first cause argument'.

Now provide some biblical evidence to support such a view.

Oz
In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth. Gen 1:1

From everlasting to everlasting you are God. Psalms 90:2

His invisible attributes namely his Eternal power and Godhead have been clearly seen from the things that have been made. Romans 1:20

How many more do you want?
 
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TravisT

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Oz,

Are you saying That the first Cause argument does not line up with the Biblical God?
 

OzSpen

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Administrator said:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth. Gen 1:1

From everlasting to everlasting you are God. Psalms 90:2

His invisible attributes namely his Eternal power and Godhead have been clearly seen from the things that have been made. Romans 1:20

How many more do you want?
I think you are reading between the lines with these Scriptures.
 
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TravisT

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OzSpen said:
I think you are reading between the lines with these Scriptures.
Please enlighten me with how i am reading between the lines of these scriptures?
 
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TravisT

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If God is from everlasting to everlasting how can he be caused? How is that reading between the lines? If God is the cause of everything what causes him? Again from the creation of the world God's attributes have been clearly seen. How can it become any more clear then using the Analytical truth that ever effect must have a cause? Looking forward to your response.