My understanding of God

[Bogdan]

6 minutes ago, Xonas Pitfall said:

Wouldn't this be a "limit" on God, a form of "finitude," and therefore contradict the very definition of God (Infinity)?

No because God is Absolute/True Infinity, which is paradoxical.

What you're referring to is relative infinity, which has relative finitude as it's counterpart. Absolute Infinity has no opposite.

[Xonas Pitfall]

3 minutes ago, Bogdan said:

No because God is Absolute/True Infinity, which is paradoxical.

What you're referring to is relative infinity, which has relative finitude as it's counterpart. Absolute Infinity has no opposite.

Yes, but that was exactly my point. Absolute infinity should have infinite knowledge of itself, hence no finite limitation of "not knowing." The experience of not knowing arises from finitude, from a finite or relative point of view.

[Bogdan]

2 minutes ago, Xonas Pitfall said:

Yes, but that was exactly my point. Absolute infinity should have infinite knowledge of itself, hence no finite limitation of "not knowing." The experience of not knowing arises from finitude, from a finite or relative point of view.

But knowledge is itself such a limitation. It's as if an ant is asking "does God smell pheromones infinitely?" Well... It's a weird question. Smelling pheromones is an ant communication thing. It doesn't apply infinitely. Only in very specific states of Consciousness.

[Leo Gura]

 

Quote

The experience of not knowing arises from finitude, from a finite or relative point of view.

No, not-knowing is a feature of the Infinite.

Infinity is why not-knowing is a thing.

God is too profound to be knowable as humans expect to know things. Knowledge is limited and you guys are not taking this issue seriously.

God can be in various states. God can be very conscious or alseep. When God is asleep it knows barely anything. And when it is very conscious, knowledge becomes impossible from the limitations of knowing.

If we shoot you in the head, will you have infinite knowledge, or will you just be Infinite?

Edited 52 minutes ago by Leo Gura

[Xonas Pitfall]

Maybe we just have different definitions of knowledge.

Knowledge isn't necessarily a "human" property, is it? By that same line of reasoning, you could argue that God is something "beyond infinity" because infinity is merely a human mathematical concept.

But when we use these absolute terms, we're pointing toward something beyond their ordinary "human" conceptual meanings. When I say "infinite," I mean absolute infinity, not infinity in the "human" mathematical sense.

Similarly, when I say "knowledge," I don't mean intellectual, academic, or conceptual "human" knowledge. I mean absolute self-knowledge, God's complete awareness of itself.

If God is all that exists, and there is nothing outside God, then what could possibly prevent God from knowing itself absolutely? There is nothing external that could impose such a limitation. The only thing that could limit God is God itself. But then, is that really a limitation in the absolute sense?

And more fundamentally, if knowledge is inherently a limitation, why wouldn't the absence of knowledge also constitute a limitation? On what grounds are you assuming that knowledge is necessarily finite rather than potentially absolute?

[Leo Gura]

Knowledge is a somewhat technical term. It needs to be because we have the issue of not-knowing.

God is a profound state of not-knowing. Consciousness of God is not knowledge per se.

Knowledge and understanding are different things.

Knowledge is conceptual, dualistic, relational.

Consciousness is prior to knowledge, so to speak.

Edited 37 minutes ago by Leo Gura

[Xonas Pitfall]

22 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Knowledge is a somewhat technical term. It needs to be because we have the issue of not-knowing.

God is a profound state of not-knowing. Consciousness of God is not knowledge per se.

Knowledge and understanding are different things.

Knowledge is conceptual, dualistic, relational.

Consciousness is prior to knowledge, so to speak.

How do you define it? I may or may not agree, depending on what the "technical" definition is.

The same can potentially apply to the term "infinity." You could use its "technical" definition, but then one could argue that it's merely a human-made concept.

For example, infinity can be defined as an indefinitely great number or amount. But by that definition, God wouldn't be infinite. We'd need some entirely different word that hasn't even been invented yet, because the definition itself relies on terms like "number" and "amount," which are also finite human concepts.

Hope that makes sense.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/know

know

: to perceive directly : have direct cognition of

(2): to have understanding of

importance of knowing oneself

: to recognize the nature of : discern

: to recognize as being the same as something previously known

: to be acquainted or familiar with

: to have experience of

: to be aware of the truth or factuality of : be convinced or certain of

b: to have a practical understanding of

This fits quite well, in my opinion, when it comes to God's "capabilities, properties."

Edited 12 minutes ago by Xonas Pitfall

[Leo Gura]

12 minutes ago, Xonas Pitfall said:

How do you define it?

In philosophy, knowledge usually means "true justified belief". Knowledge is usually propositional: The Earth is round, or the moon is not made out of cheese.

When you say that God should know everything, that would mean that God should know how many ants are in Australia right now at 2:23 pm, Nov 15th 2026.

You should not expect God to have that kind of knowledge.

You can, of course, define terms however you like, but you have to be careful because you can define terms in counter-productive ways.

Do you know how many ants there are in Australia right now? Neither does God.

Edited 2 minutes ago by Leo Gura