Contents and Thesis
- Location
- USA
So, I've seen a good handful of stories, such as Left Beyond Quest and the plot of the game Messiah, tackle the topic of humanity's plight to war against Heaven and Hell, eventually conquering them both. They generally go along the lines of "well, God is infinite but demons aren't, so Hell should be easier to conquer than Heaven" and so on. I wanted to take a whack at it myself, construct a world in which a sufficiently advanced mankind with satisfactory limits can identify such a being and devise a means to overthrow them. I immediately came upon a big fat question: can God be defeated?
Let's start with a disclaimer: I am areligious, but this thread is not meant as a direct disrespect to anyone's religion. It is more of a hypothetical meant for a thought experiment. And of course a worldbuilding project. My aim here is to establish whether this supposedly infinite being can truly be undermined for the purpose of my story, and how a variety of contributors think that would go. In my real-world beliefs, it is my perspective that gods can exist, but that the only logical definition of a god (objective to all religions) is a person or thing that is worshiped. This post is therefore not intended to disprove anything's existence or make fun of religion, because I am just fine letting people believe what they want as long as it doesn't hurt anyone.
I have done some research, so I will open by explaining what I've found. The next few posts will detail: What is God?, The Problems of Omni-, and a Survey of Answers.
In summary: 'What Is God' will describe a being who is primarily discussed in Apophatic Theology, who has infinite power, who is holy, and who embodies the concept of love. Such being created omniversal space-time, and thus is not bound to any regulations of 3D space or linear time, or higher spatiotemporal dimensions. Such being defined himself as the pinnacle of all that is sacred, and thus defined what is immoral (Sin) as that which departs from or runs counter to his being. This being has been described via Aseity, Eternity, Goodness, Graciousness, Holiness, Immanence, Immutability, Impassibility, Impeccability, Incomprehensibility, Incorporeality, Infinity, Jealousy, Love, Mission, Mystery, Omnipotence, Omnipresence, Omniscience, etc. Additionally, the only way any of this is known up to the present day, is a single text written over a thousand years ago. There are schools of thought, and even texts, which seem to refute this singular source, or at least present questions.
'The Problems of Omni-' will get into logical and philosophical discussion of why this deity's many attributes are questionable or even impossible. In particular, the Omnipotence Paradox, the Problem of Evil, the Argument from Poor Design, and the many loopholes of omniscience and omnipresence.
'A Survey of Answers' will show what answers I have been given from interviewed persons and general survey, relating to the topic. Many of them differ quite widely from my perspective, and should provide some interesting diversity to startus off.
Let's start with a disclaimer: I am areligious, but this thread is not meant as a direct disrespect to anyone's religion. It is more of a hypothetical meant for a thought experiment. And of course a worldbuilding project. My aim here is to establish whether this supposedly infinite being can truly be undermined for the purpose of my story, and how a variety of contributors think that would go. In my real-world beliefs, it is my perspective that gods can exist, but that the only logical definition of a god (objective to all religions) is a person or thing that is worshiped. This post is therefore not intended to disprove anything's existence or make fun of religion, because I am just fine letting people believe what they want as long as it doesn't hurt anyone.
I have done some research, so I will open by explaining what I've found. The next few posts will detail: What is God?, The Problems of Omni-, and a Survey of Answers.
In summary: 'What Is God' will describe a being who is primarily discussed in Apophatic Theology, who has infinite power, who is holy, and who embodies the concept of love. Such being created omniversal space-time, and thus is not bound to any regulations of 3D space or linear time, or higher spatiotemporal dimensions. Such being defined himself as the pinnacle of all that is sacred, and thus defined what is immoral (Sin) as that which departs from or runs counter to his being. This being has been described via Aseity, Eternity, Goodness, Graciousness, Holiness, Immanence, Immutability, Impassibility, Impeccability, Incomprehensibility, Incorporeality, Infinity, Jealousy, Love, Mission, Mystery, Omnipotence, Omnipresence, Omniscience, etc. Additionally, the only way any of this is known up to the present day, is a single text written over a thousand years ago. There are schools of thought, and even texts, which seem to refute this singular source, or at least present questions.
'The Problems of Omni-' will get into logical and philosophical discussion of why this deity's many attributes are questionable or even impossible. In particular, the Omnipotence Paradox, the Problem of Evil, the Argument from Poor Design, and the many loopholes of omniscience and omnipresence.
'A Survey of Answers' will show what answers I have been given from interviewed persons and general survey, relating to the topic. Many of them differ quite widely from my perspective, and should provide some interesting diversity to startus off.