Skip to main content

1.1 God

God and the Infinite​

God is the Supreme Intelligence, the First Cause of all things.

This definition affirms both divine intelligence and divine primacy. God is not merely a force or an impersonal principle, but the highest intelligence, the source from which everything proceeds.

The infinite is that which has neither beginning nor end. It refers to what is without limit and, in another sense, to what is unknown to human understanding.

For that reason, it is not enough to say simply that God is the Infinite.

Such a statement is incomplete. Human language is too limited to define fully what surpasses human intelligence. God is infinite in divine perfection, but the infinite, taken by itself, is an abstract idea rather than a complete description of the divine being.

To identify God only with the Infinite is to substitute an attribute for the reality itself. It attempts to define what remains beyond full human comprehension by using another term that is itself obscure when taken alone.

The mind may recognize that God has no limits, no beginning, and no end, yet this does not exhaust what God is. The idea of infinity points toward divine greatness, but it does not by itself express the fullness of the Supreme Intelligence who is the First Cause of all things.

Proofs of the Existence of God​

Proof of the existence of God may be found in a principle accepted throughout the sciences: there is no effect without a cause.

If one looks for the cause of what is not the work of human beings, reason points beyond the visible effect to its source. The universe exists; therefore, it must have a cause. To deny God’s existence would be to deny that every effect has a cause and to suppose that something could arise from nothing.

Human beings also carry within themselves an intuitive sense of God’s existence. Such a sentiment points to a reality corresponding to it. Here again, the same principle applies: there is no effect without a cause. If this inward awareness exists, it is reasonable to conclude that it is grounded in something real.

That inner sense cannot be explained adequately as a mere product of education or acquired ideas. If it were only taught from outside, it would not appear so universally. Like other learned concepts, it would belong only to those who had received a particular form of instruction. Yet the intuition of a Supreme Being appears even among peoples untouched by formal systems of teaching.

Some have tried to find the First Cause of all things in the innermost properties of matter itself. But this only pushes the question back. If matter has properties, those properties also require a cause. They are effects, not the ultimate source. To attribute the first formation of things to matter alone is to mistake what has been produced for that which produces.

Others have imagined that everything arose from an accidental combination of matter, from chance. But chance is not an intelligent power. It is blind, and what is blind cannot account for the order, proportion, and harmony visible in the universe. The forces of nature act according to combinations and designs that reveal intelligence. To say that such order came from chance is to give chance qualities it does not possess. An intelligent chance would no longer be chance.

The First Cause is recognized as a Supreme Intelligence by looking at its works. A work reveals the nature of the one who made it. Human beings judge intelligence by what it produces, and no human intelligence can create what nature displays on every side. The grandeur, order, and power evident in creation point to an intelligence superior to humanity.

Human pride often resists this conclusion because it does not easily accept anything higher than itself. Yet the weakness of human beings stands in clear contrast with the power revealed in the universe. However remarkable human achievements may be, human intelligence itself still has a cause. The greater the work, the greater the cause required to produce it.

Whatever name is given to that supreme source, it remains the First Cause of all things: a Supreme Intelligence above every other intelligence.

The Attributes of the Divinity​

Human beings cannot fathom the innermost nature of God.

Their present faculties are not sufficient for such understanding. As long as the spirit remains overshadowed by matter, the divine reality cannot be fully grasped. Only when the spirit has purified itself and risen beyond the obscuring influence of material life can it approach God more directly and see with clearer understanding.

For that reason, humanity’s idea of God is limited and often imperfect.

In the early stages of development, people commonly imagine God in ways shaped by their own weaknesses, attributing human imperfections to the Divine. As moral awareness grows and reflection deepens, this mistaken tendency is gradually corrected. The idea of God becomes more rational, more elevated, and more worthy of the divine nature, though still never complete.

Even without comprehending God’s essence, it is possible to glimpse some of the divine perfections.

Thought allows the mind to rise toward them, and these glimpses become clearer as a person becomes less dominated by matter. What can be known is partial, but it is not meaningless. Reason can recognize certain necessary attributes of God, even if language and intelligence remain unable to exhaust all that God is.

When God is described as eternal, infinite, immutable, immaterial, one, all-powerful, and supremely just and good, this expresses a true idea from the human point of view. Yet it does not amount to complete knowledge of the Divine. There are realities that surpass even the highest human intelligence, and human language cannot define what lies beyond the limits of human ideas and sensations.

Still, reason affirms that God must possess these attributes in absolute perfection. If any one of them were lacking, or existed in an imperfect degree, then God would not be above all things and would not truly be God. To be supreme, God must be exempt from change and free from every imaginable imperfection.

Eternal​

God is eternal.

If God had a beginning, then God must either have arisen from nothing or have been created by some prior being. Reason rejects both possibilities. By following this line of thought, the mind is led toward the ideas of eternity and infinity.

Immutable​

God is immutable.

If God were subject to change, the laws governing the universe would have no stability. The order of creation requires a foundation that does not vary.

Immaterial​

God is immaterial.

This means that the divine nature is entirely different from anything called matter. If God were material, God would be subject to the transformations of matter and therefore would not be immutable.

One​

God is one.

If there were several gods, there could be neither unity of design nor unity of power in the organization of the universe. The harmony of creation points to a single supreme source.

All-Powerful​

God is all-powerful because God is one.

If God were not supreme in power, then something else would have to be equally powerful or more powerful. In that case, God would not be the source of all things, and whatever had not been created by God would have to be attributed to another deity. Absolute divine unity therefore implies absolute divine power.

Supremely Just and Good​

God is supremely just and good.

The wisdom of divine providence is revealed alike in the smallest things and in the greatest. The laws that govern existence bear the mark of justice and goodness so deeply that, when rightly understood, they leave no room for doubt. In the order of creation, wisdom, justice, and goodness are inseparable.

Pantheism​

God is a distinct being, not the sum of all the forces, intelligences, bodies, and worlds in the universe.

If God were only the combined result of everything that exists, then God would be an effect rather than the First Cause. But God cannot be both cause and effect at the same time. The very idea of God requires a being who exists in and of himself, not one produced by the universe.

Human understanding reaches a limit here. It is possible to recognize that God exists without claiming to grasp the full divine essence. Trying to force an explanation beyond what reason can sustain often leads less to wisdom than to intellectual pride. There is greater value in turning inward, examining one’s own imperfections, and working to overcome them than in trying to penetrate what remains beyond human comprehension.

Pantheism teaches that all beings, all bodies in nature, and all worlds together make up the Divinity itself. According to that view, everything is God, and God is everything.

This idea may appear attractive because it seems to magnify the divine. Since the universe contains innumerable worlds, one may say that God must be infinite. Since there is no absolute void, one may say that God must be everywhere. Since nature displays order and intelligence, one may say that divine intelligence is diffused through all things because all things are parts of God.

Yet careful reflection shows the difficulty: pantheism confuses the Creator with the creation.

If God were identical with matter or with the totality of changing beings, then God would also be subject to change. Matter is transformed continually. Created things arise, develop, decay, and pass away. A God composed of such elements would not be immutable. But immutability belongs to the very idea of the Divine. God cannot be dependent on the fluctuations, needs, and instability that mark created existence.

For that reason, the properties of matter cannot be attributed to God without diminishing the idea of God. No subtle argument can remove the contradiction. Human beings may not know everything that God is, but they can know that God must not be reduced to what is variable, composite, and dependent.

Creator and Creation​

The difference between God and the universe is not a difference of size, as though God were merely a greater and more powerful version of created beings. God is of another order entirely.

A useful comparison makes this plain. An ingenious machine is not an actual part of the engineer who designed it. In the same way, the universe is not an actual part of God simply because it expresses intelligence and order. The work reveals the mind of its maker, but it is not the maker.

God’s intelligence is manifested in creation just as an artist’s intelligence is manifested in a painting. The painting bears the mark of the artist’s thought, skill, and intention, yet it is not the artist. Likewise, the worlds reveal divine wisdom, power, and purpose, but they are not God.

Pantheism fails because it erases this distinction. By identifying the universe with God, it undermines the essential divine attributes and loses sight of the absolute independence of the Creator.