Is God Self-Preserving?

[PacMan]

By doing so wouldn't that mean that he was self-preserving?

Exactly! The fact that he requires food or external sources of energy does NOT mean that he is necessarily not self-preserving. You have found the great false dilemma! The overall point, is that I believe that God is actually much more like us...or that we are more like him, I suppose. That, and that the whole God-hood thing isn't something magical. Rather, the simplistic notions that we tend to believe are to satiate our thirst for milk, because the meat has been, or continues to be, too complicated and/or irrelevant.

PacMan

[PacMan]

Yes but how exactly? What steps were involved in the process? When you can duplicate the feat then maybe it's time to wonder where the energy for it came from.

What are you talking about? So you've excluded the possibility that angels actually refilled the basket with additional fish/bread, but why? You apparently think it was hocus-focus, that the stuff just grew and grew by itself? CFR.

I've got a magic 8-ball I could sell you...

[nicolasconnault]

Exactly! The fact that he requires food or external sources of energy does NOT mean that he is necessarily not self-preserving. You have found the great false dilemma! The overall point, is that I believe that God is actually much more like us...or that we are more like him, I suppose. That, and that the whole God-hood thing isn't something magical. Rather, the simplistic notions that we tend to believe are to satiate our thirst for milk, because the meat has been, or continues to be, too complicated and/or irrelevant.

PacMan

Or maybe because the "meat" is actually a hard, smelly piece of cheese...

[Maidservant]

And this is a stupid poll.

How can you say that?! I got some tilapia out of it!

Exactly! The fact that he requires food or external sources of energy does NOT mean that he is necessarily not self-preserving. You have found the great false dilemma! The overall point, is that I believe that God is actually much more like us...or that we are more like him, I suppose. That, and that the whole God-hood thing isn't something magical. Rather, the simplistic notions that we tend to believe are to satiate our thirst for milk, because the meat has been, or continues to be, too complicated and/or irrelevant.

PacMan

Wow. You said something here. I thought I was going to have to say it.

There is actually a lot here in the OP and in the discussion so far that rests on premises that we don't need to premise. Like that God is an old guy in a white robe playing a harp somewhere yet he's got these super powers that we think we must theologically underpin if 1) we are going to be saved; or at least 2) not die of reality shock (of what God really is or really is like).

The multi-metaverse IS a closed system. It's not possible to lose energy or lose anything, in it. Not really even in local phenomena (i.e. on a mortal earth). Energy is in potential and that potential may be expressed, in which case it is translated into another format, another potential.

God possesses all in the multi-metaverse and he has and will possess it eternally. Thus the multi-metaverse IS the full manifestation of God, is his skin/body/self. Thus there is nothing to lose or gain, because it's all God. He manifests himself everywhere, at least except at those points which are agents to themselves and then at those points he is admitted or not (and even that can be argued, because of the God-sends-rain-on-the-just-and-the-unjust principle).

Our Father in heaven is in a presidency, as we know; and this presidency represents an entire council. And this council represents an entire society. So with all those people -- what self-preservation are we talking about? That's like asking if any group or organization of people would self-preserve. Whether the answer is yes or no, what does it matter? Is it theological? Is it scientific? Interesting question but ultimately just a bit of philosophy . . . which, again, is cool . . . but doesn't really tell us anything about the nature of God. Just my opinion though.

[FutureTwitBlog]

OK - so for those that think he is self-preserving, how do you account for the loss of energy that must necessarily occur? If you can see his glory, or he can speak and create sound waves, or create heat, etc., there's a loss of energy that is unsustainable in the eternities. How does that energy become replenished?

Some theories of Physics posit that there is an infinite amount of energy trapped in the "vacuum" of space in the form of an infinite number of virtual particles. It is this effect that is thought to be the basis of the Casimir effect. Perhaps God links into this infinite source of energy for his glory? That would be cool.

[ElderDarionBevan]

feast upon the words of christ