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by quaternity on May 23rd, 2005

quaternity

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If God is infinite, how can any finite statement represent Him completely?

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Answers. 8 helpful answers below.

  • by Merry Walker on July 10th, 2005

    Merry Walker

    It can't.

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  • by Magenta on August 11th, 2007

    Magenta

    This is one of the reasons why the Biblical concept of God is self-contradictory.

    Many Christians believe God is all-knowing, yet God "tests" Adam and Eve in the garden, "tests" Job, has Lot find out if there are good people in Sodom, etc.

    God is all powerful, yet needs humans to do simple tasks for him- Moses to deliver the commandments, Noah to save the animals from the flood, etc.

    God is all loving, yet the Bible says he is responsible for crimes ranging from encouraging rape and theft to mass-murder on a global scale.

    Believing God is infinite is one thing- believing it is both infinite and finite simultaneously is another.

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  • by ImaCatholic2 on August 11th, 2007

    ImaCatholic2

    No human statement will ever represent God completely.

    God has only revealed a tiny part of Himself (or Herself) to our puny human minds.

    But that is okay. Neither God nor humans really expect anything else at this point in our spiritual journey.

    God is:
    + The infinite divine being
    + One in being yet three Persons:
    . + Father
    . + Son
    . + Holy Spirit

    God has revealed himself as:
    + The "One who is"
    + Truth
    + Creator of all that is
    + The author of divine revelation
    + The source of salvation

    And, of course, God is love.

    For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 199 and following: http://www.nccbuscc.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt1.htm#199

    With love in Christ.

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  • by jalex137 on June 15th, 2005

    jalex137

    I have one quibble with the previous answer. God in his self-revelation to us (the Bible) characterizes himself as male. The question does not "assign" that, it reflects it.

    That said, it is indeed impossible to completely represent an infinite God in a finite statement, and I'm not sure who has ever claimed to do so. Not even the Bible claims to do this. It does give us what we can know and need to know to be reconciled with God, and offers us hope of spending eternity in His presence learning of Him.

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  • by Parsec13 on February 24th, 2008

    Parsec13

    no amount of human endeavor or thought can represent what god is...everything and every thought that has been or is or will be, fails to identify what god is...all of what has been known, is known or will be known fails...and no number of theists, atheists or agnostics have bearing on what god is...nor any number of scholars, religions or philosophies can bear witness to what god is...god is not revealed by any power or thought or imagination...the accumulated knowledge and understanding of humankind is dung when it comes to what god is...parsec, "the earth IS a 'ship of fools'"

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  • by Anonymous on May 3rd, 2007

    Anonymous

    From a Biblical point of view:
    An infinite God has infinite ability, including the ability to reveal Himself in His Word.

    Biblically, at one point in history, "the Word [Jesus]became flesh and dwelt among us", and revealed who God is and what He is like.

    Biblically, Jesus is revealed in the written Word: the Bible.

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  • by EL1 2 on May 3rd, 2007

    EL1 2

    Infinity can be expressed finitely. Consider integrals... the integral sign means taking infinite infinitely small pieces of something and adding them all together. Consider pi. It is infinitely long, yet it can be represented with one character.

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  • by scymitar72 on May 28th, 2005

    scymitar72

    Good question. Humankind throughout history has had this idea of a Creator, or, some kind of intelligent entity greater than ourselves. We describe this concept as best we can, within our means. I am not sure that any finite statement can represent "Him" completely. Even your question assigns a gender!

    It's like asking a being born in a 4 dimensional realm to define the 5th, 6th, 7th, etc dimensions - cannot be done!

    Personally, I like to think of this entity in more abstract terms i.e. God is Love or God is Truth and even God is infinite.

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