1. Describe the God of traditional Western theism as exemplified by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  What is special or distinctive about this sort of religious belief?  How does it differ from other historical forms of religious belief? 

2. To what extent can the attributes of the God of traditional Western theism be derived from the concept of a being than which none greater is possible?

     [1] One of the most distinguishing aspects of the God of Western theism is the concept that there can only be one God; an entity that is “morally perfect and has unlimited, superhuman qualities” (Hoffman and Rosenkrantz 10). As humanity and its consciousness has evolved over the eons, so have the gods that cultures envisioned. More primitive societies (hunter/gatherers and early agricultural peoples) tended to be pantheists- believing in multiple deities. It makes sense- these people had to be practical because their survival was much more tenuous; they faced life or death situations almost every day. Realizing that it brought them warmth and more security from predators, the Sun became a “god” in many different parts of the world. As did other iconic elements in nature: the moon, the ocean (and other large bodies of water), wind, rain, thunder... so it follows that there were multiple gods in the earliest religions. Another way of looking at it- teamwork was far more essential in early societies, and a “team” of gods follows naturally from that mindset.

     Maybe humanity had to develop many concepts and disciplines that we now take for granted, such as mathematics, science, written language, government... before it became possible for us to even conceive of the all-powerful God of the Judaeo-Christians and Muslims. In other words, as cultures became more sophisticated and powerful, so did their gods. It's intriguing to think that the reason the idea of many gods transformed into the notion of One is because our minds (and egos) expanded. We've all heard that God created Man; but we have to concede that Man has done some “creating” of the gods as well.

     The one God of traditional western theism seems almost a natural progression from the more "primitive" modes of pantheism that preceded Him. Much like an empire (the Romans for example) took over many smaller nations and put them all under one government, the new all-powerful God was a way of streamlining the matter of religion, so to speak. It's more efficient to have one God instead of many; easier to explain the universe with an omnipotent creator. And let's not fail to notice the many patriarchal aspects of this God- always envisioned and addressed in the masculine sense. It's a direct reflection of the cultures that "found" this God- men were in charge. Finally for my analysis, I've always noticed some rather human traits attributed to this God (especially the Old Testament version). Very angry and vengeful at times- when He noticed that not many people were believing and/or worshiping Him, he decided to drown everybody but Noah and crew. And if you don't obey His rules, you get flames for eternity? We mere humans don't even believe in torture... (the more civilized of us, at least).

     What happens in the far future, if humans survive and spread out into the galaxy? I think it's a safe bet that our “God” will change along with us. We might find God, or perhaps proof that there is none.

[2] For a "being than which none greater is possible" to even be properly conceptualized is very problematic. It's on a par with describing infinity- we can't really do it. Yes, we can always take any number, no matter how large, and apply +1 to it, forever... but how can something never end? I don't care what the numbers say, it's impossible. I say it all ends somewhere. (And defy anyone to prove me wrong!) That's a bit tongue-in-cheek, but think about it. Infinity could drive a person crazy. (And in a few cases, it has).

     Infinity, like the similar attributes of the Western God (omnipotence, omniscience, etc.) is a sort of mental convenience; a shorthand for something we cannot understand. "How did the universe come into existence? From what? Why?" To answer such questions, you can go the scientific route, as some humans have now for a number of centuries, but it doesn't come easy. You get little fragments of answers at a time, which often just open up more questions. Or- you can just say "God did it. God can do anything. Only He knows how and why, and it's not for us to know." Does anybody see a problem with that? Is it a little too convenient? These attributes of God- His having infinite power and wisdom, among others talents; I suppose they are quite derivative of the concept of the ultimate being. I would say they are synonymous.

    I've seen the argument somewhere recently (no doubt in browsing texts from the three philosophy courses I'm taking) that simply because we can imagine an all-powerful God, that it must be so. As a new arrival to the philosophy department, I'm going to keep as open a mind as I can about such statements...