Can God Commit Suicide?

[Napalmbrain]

If God cannot kill himself, then he is not omnipotent. So why call him God?

 

[Gikoku Harakami]

^^ Agreed.

God isn't human therefore, he cant die.

Neither is a cat.

Like I said, if God is able to switch between being Immortal & Mortal at will, then he could kill himself while still remaining Omnipotent.. but, if he's unable to go from being a "spirit" to a living being.. then he is not Omnipotent.

 

[Brawny]

I was in a Philosphy class that regarded questions like these one day, and I thought it came down to an interesting conclusion.

My teacher (who, by the way, remained neutral on any discussion, including those that touched on religion) basically said that questions like these are putting two logics that contradict each other together as if it could be recieved as one coherent thought.

He gave an example of people saying things like "Can God create a rock that even He can't lift?". He said that if God is meant to be All-powerful, it's not that He "can't", but that two opposing thoughts are being said at once in the question. To lift a rock you can't lift is to infer that the implied lifter is not all-powerful, but to recall God is to recall a being who is defined to indeed be all-powerful. He basically concluded saying that logically, the two thoughts cannot be put into one question and expected to be answered because they contridict each other. To say "Yes" makes no sense to one part of the question (An all-powerful being can lift something He lacks the power to lift) and to say "No" defeats the purpose of the other (An all-powerful being cannot lift something that requires "power"), so the question itself cannot be logically answered since it's self-contradictory to begin with.

I guess his point was that Logic can only take us so far in trying to completely comprehend something that has been defined as something beyond our own nature, and I think this pertains to the thread topic's question.

You can discuss this or whatever. Not saying I agree or disagree to anything. Just thought I would throw this out there.

This is like the only post in this entire thread where anyone even begins to speak sense.

Quite a few "Christians" who don't even understand basics though...kind of depressing.

 

[navarre]

If God cannot kill himself, then he is not omnipotent. So why call him God?

God is transcedent. He is not consistent with the laws of the Universe. In fact, this 'omnipotence' idea is never picked up on in the Bible. There has to be some limit to His power. Therefore, God cannot commit suicide, because he is not a living thing.

 

[Sixty]

Suicide is a sin, yo.

 

[Brawny]

God is transcedent. He is not consistent with the laws of the Universe. In fact, this 'omnipotence' idea is never picked up on in the Bible. There has to be some limit to His power. Therefore, God cannot commit suicide, because he is not a living thing.

It does say he's omnipotent quite a few times.

There's a difference between all-power and all-possibility.

Often I see people who say "if God is so merciful, why doesn't he just save everyone?" While it's true that he is perfectly merciful, he is also perfectly just. The need for justice is what makes it *impossible* for him to do such a thing. Only if a perfect human sacrificed himself can God's need for justice be fulfilled, essentially saving everyone.

So yeah, there's things he can't do. Kill himself is on the easy side, since a spirit isn't really alive to begin with.