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Answer
In the broadest terms, finite godism is the belief that a god is limited in some way—either by a superior outside force or by a defect in the god’s nature. The god is finite in that his (or her) goodness, strength, wisdom, or some other attribute has a stopping point. A god who is finite in power might not be able to heal people or control the weather. A god who has finite creation abilities might not be able to create ex nihilo and may only be able to change one thing to another. A god who has finite goodness may act selfishly. A god who has finite knowledge may not know the future.
Finite godism is not the same thing as deism. Deism says that God created the world and then stepped back, choosing not to interfere with His creation. It was deism that influenced Thomas Jefferson to cut out all the accounts of miracles in his Bible. In deism, God chooses not to act; in finite godism, the god is incapable of acting.
Nearly every religion in the history of the world worshiped a finite god. Zeus was not good. In Norse mythology—fictionalized in the Marvel superhero movies—gods like Odin die in a cataclysm called Ragnarok. In Plato’s theology, a demiurge formed the world based on what he saw in the “World of Ideas” despite having very little wisdom about what would happen next. Mormons do not believe their god is immutable or timeless. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe in an “active force” but not the Holy Spirit. Process theology teaches that, while God is immortal, He is not eternal. The god of the Word of Faith movement is limited by what we “confess”; if we say we are sick, then we will be sick, but if we claim to be well, their god will make us well.
Today, finite godism is primarily associated with theodicy, that is, the problem of evil. The premise is, “How can an all-loving, all-powerful God allow evil and suffering to continue?” If He is all-loving, He wants our best; if He is
As all-powerful, destroying evil should pose no problem. Therefore, it is possible that God is not entirely good, and He is indifferent to our suffering. Alternatively, He may not be entirely powerful, and evil may have overcome Him. The prevailing belief is that God is flawless in goodness and intention but restricted in knowledge of the future and the ability to intervene. Rabbi Kuschner, the author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People, suggests that God is not all-powerful, and we should pardon Him for His incapacity to prevent evil. William James, the developer of American pragmatism, theorizes that evil arose partly because God may not have had the authority to establish a moral order for the world He created.
Finite godism contradicts the theology of the Bible. The Bible portrays a God who is boundless in power (omnipotent), knowledge (omniscient), presence (omnipresent), and goodness (omnibenevolent). Nevertheless, there are some challenges to the notion that God is not finite:
The predicament of suffering: Why would a benevolent God desire our suffering? Why wouldn’t a potent God prevent suffering? Fundamentally, God has higher priorities than alleviating all our suffering, which includes granting us the free will He bestowed upon us. Furthermore, God can utilize our physical, worldly suffering to capture our attention and aid in our spiritual growth.
God selected such a dreadful method to rescue His people: If God is all-powerful, why did He mandate Jesus’ crucifixion for our salvation? Why couldn’t He have opted for a less dreadful approach? There are various theological justifications for Jesus shedding His blood, in addition to the crucifixion being an effective method to capture our attention and make us comprehend the severity of sin.
God brought about evil: If God created everything, then He must have also created evil. This is a logical fallacy stemming from a misconstrued interpretation of what “evil” represents. Evil is not a tangible entity; it is the absence of something, specifically, the absence of godliness. Just as darkness is the absence of light, evil is the absence of goodness.
The outcome of something obstructing God’s glory.
God created Satan: If God created everything, He must have created Satan. God created an angel named Lucifer. Lucifer chose to rebel against God and defile God’s creation. Therefore, while God did create the being of Satan, He did not create the final character of that being.
God “regretted”: Genesis 6:5–7 states that God “regretted that he had made human beings on the earth.” If God regretted, He must have made a mistake. The term translated as “regretted” (or sometimes “was sorry”) carries the emotional weight we assume but not the consequence. God felt compassionate grief, but He did not wish He had not made the people. Instead, it compelled Him to take action—to send the flood to eradicate the evil.
God lies: God instructed Moses to inform Pharaoh that the Israelites needed to journey for three days to offer sacrifices to God (Exodus 8:25-27), when in reality God wanted the Israelites to escape Egypt entirely. Therefore, God deceived Pharaoh. There are several issues with this argument. First, it is possible that if Pharaoh had allowed the Israelites to travel for three days, God would have renegotiated with Pharaoh to simply let the Israelites depart. Second, God had already informed Pharaoh that His intention was for the Israelites to leave Egypt «Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. », (Exodus 6:11). We are not informed about the specifics of the negotiations between Moses and Pharaoh, nor are we told what God would have done if Pharaoh had allowed the Israelites to leave for sacrifice.
God breaks promises: God had previously promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations, including the nation of God’s chosen people «and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: », (Genesis 12:2). In Exodus 32, that chosen nation has rejected God and melted their jewelry to make a golden calf to worship. God tells Moses, “Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” So God is breaking His promise to Abraham and giving it to Moses. Except that He’s not. Moses was a descendant of Abraham, so Abraham still would have been the father of God’s chosen people. Like the population after the flood, the number of that nation just would have had a hiccup.
Subordination in the Trinity: Several times in the Gospels, Jesus is shown to be less than all-powerful or all-knowing. He didn’t know when He was going to return to earth after the ascension « But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. », (Matthew 24:36). He said that the Father was greater than He was «Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. », (John 14:28). And His will regarding the crucifixion seemed to be contrary to God’s «And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. », (Matthew 26:39). So Jesus at least, if He was God, must have been a finite god. This view shows how difficult it is to understand the concept of the Trinity. Although Jesus is God, He is also a person independent of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. The Son had a different role in the salvation of man. Philippians 2:6–8 says that Jesus
Jesus, when He became a man, did not try to retain His equality with God but took the nature of a servant. As the Son of Man, Jesus even humbly obeyed God’s plan for His death “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”, (Matthew 26:39).
God shows periods of limited knowledge: When Adam and Eve sinned, God asked where they were “And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?”, (Genesis 3:9). After Cain killed Abel, God asked Cain where his brother was “And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?”, (Genesis 4:9). When the woman with the issue of blood touched the hem of Jesus’ cloak, Jesus asked who did it “And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?”, (Mark 5:30). So God must be limited in knowledge. The first two examples can be easily explained with the understanding that God’s questions were intended to invite the sinners into a healing conversation with God. God was giving them an opportunity to repent, not asking for information He didn’t already have. This is a common tactic among parents in dealing with their children. As for Jesus and the woman, the reasoning is less clear. He may have been taking control of the conversation and inviting the woman to make herself public, or it could be that, while on this earth, Jesus voluntarily limited His omniscience and was given information by the Holy Spirit as needed. Jesus’ question to the w
Oman, then, was not a sign of being finite but another example of subordination in the Trinity.
The consequences of believing in a finite god are catastrophic. Finite godism has been foundational to every false religion, from those that have a god for every aspect of life (fertility, war, crops, etc.) to those that teach we can become a god or part of god. Finite godism lowers the God of the Bible to the level of pagan idols and causes humanists to question whether we have the moral right to spread the gospel to people who already have their own religions. It leads atheists to claim all gods are the same and that the only difference between atheists and Christians is that atheists disbelieve in one more god. It causes Eastern Mysticism to depersonalize God into a good force that is checked by the evil force it is unable to conquer. Finite godism elevates human reason to the level of God and gives us permission to judge His character and actions.
On a more individual level, finite godism teaches people that God doesn’t love them or can’t save them. What starts as a philosophical attempt to explain hard passages in the Bible results in despair and loneliness in the hearts of those who need comfort. Finite godism directly contradicts who God is to His creation:
• Omnipotent: God has infinite power (Job 42:2; Psalm 33:6; Daniel 2:21; Revelation 19:1)
• Omnipresent: God is present everywhere (Psalm 139:11-12)
• Omniscient: God knows everything from our deepest thoughts to the far future (1 John 3:20; Isaiah 46:9-10)
• Omnibenevolent: God is infinitely good (Psalm 106:1; Mark 10:18)
• Immutable: God never changes (Malachi 3:6; Numbers 23:19; Psalm 33:11)
• Eternal: God has always existed and always will; He is outside of time (Psalm 90:2; Exodus 3:14)
• Transcendent: God is above and outside the limitations of His creation (Hebrews 1:3; Isaiah 55:8-9)
• Love: God is love (1 John 4:8; John 3:16)
Finite godism is another one of Satan’s lies meant to confuse, distract, and convince us that God does not have the ability or the desire to take care of us. It is the oldest temptation in the book «for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. », (Genesis 3:5) and one we are very vulnerable to. To know the God of the Bible, read the Bible. Ask questions about the Bible. And ignore anyone who teaches something about God that’s not in the Bible.
