What would have to be true for the God of classical theism to be real?
6) God really does need his “omni” qualities.
If any sort of God exists, such as we are positing, then it is not unreasonable for him to hold all the omni qualities that we expect of him. In fact, it would be rather odd if God was rather like the ancient Greek Gods – with superhuman powers, but still limited. That could simply be a “law of the universe” that spiritual beings just are like that, but they sound rather like a continuation of the natural world, rather than the supernatural one – that is, we would be positing the existence of a new species of spiritual beings, who have both their good points and bad points. However, the key monotheistic insight seems sound: IF there is a supernatural force then there is likely only to be one of them. IF a spiritual being worthy of the name “God” is possible, then it is likely that he will gather to himself the perfection of all good qualities.
If we take just one example – his quality of omnipotence, it would feel strange to believe in a God who was very, very powerful, but who had to say, now and then, “Sorry, no, I can’t do that”.
This is vital if we are to have hope that good will ultimately prevail. Personally, I don’t think it is necessary that we have to believe in a spiritual force of evil if we want to believe in God. Clearly, this is a very common and attractive belief, and we can see why. It serves as a powerful explanatory vehicle for why there is suffering in the world, and many feel that they experience the presence of evil as a counterpart to their religious experiences of God. I have never had any substantial sense of a presence of evil as a counter-force to God myself, though there is no doubt that evil works in human society in very malign ways. Further thought is required on this, but for now my key point is that it is essential that evil has no chance of ever overcoming God, for God’s goodness is invincible. (I think it more likely that what we experience as a force of evil opposing God is really the absence or corruption of the good, plus there is a peculiar reality to how evil has extraordinary power – just one example: it can take a moment to destroy what someone spent years building).
There are a number of coherence issues that we need to sort out in relation to God: eg how can he be omnipotent and eternal, or everywhere at once? The classic example: “Can God create a stone too heavy for him to lift?” is very searching. However, the great philosophers such as Aquinas and Boethius have explored these matters expertly and have suggested sufficient answers.
Spiritual Devotion 