Theological question from a 6 yr old

[Kindness]

I’m sorry I’m not sure where to post this. My son asked me “Can God make another God?” …answer?

(He just mentioned it again and has concluded himself that God CAN make another God because “God can do anything”) I am still completly baffled by the question!

 

[fames]

He can’t do it, because it’s intrinsically impossible.

 

[Jim_Baur]

There are several ways to TRY to answer your son’s question.

To let him live with his question. For a child of six, it is a great question.

Next, we believe that God cannot make a square circle, a circle triangle and many other similar examples.

Next, God is eternal and a “new God” would not be eternal, infinite, immutable and the like.

But for a child of six, it is a great question–as you are doing, enjoy the moment.

 

[Ben_F]

Yes He could, but He chose not to. God bless:thumbsup:

 

[Semiyah]

I’m sorry I’m not sure where to post this. My son asked me “Can God make another God?” …answer?

(He just mentioned it again and has concluded himself that God CAN make another God because “God can do anything”) I am still completly baffled by the question!

wow, that’s a really interesting question and especially from a six year old. we might have a potential future theologian if he likes exploring theological notions.

hmm, i think probably God can…because we can’t really say that He can’t, I think human limitations don’t apply to God (like a human making another human) cause He’s God and is therefore all powerful.

However, maybe you can say that in God’s perfect wisdom, He knows that having another Him isn’t a good idea. There really isn’t any point to the action, I think.

 

[Contarini]

I’m sorry I’m not sure where to post this. My son asked me “Can God make another God?” …answer?

(He just mentioned it again and has concluded himself that God CAN make another God because “God can do anything”) I am still completly baffled by the question!

Well, there’s a sense in which this very line of thinking is a basis for believing in the Trinity.

Instead of just saying, “no, God can’t do that,” you might try to help him think about what “making another God” would look like:

For this “other God” to be truly God, the “other God” would also need to be eternal. So the “making” would have to have gone on from all eternity.

And since by definition there can be only one God, the “other God” couldn’t be “another God,” but would have to share in the same nature as the “first God.”

This is what orthodox Christianity believes about Jesus. We don’t call it “making another God” because “making” implies something that had a beginning in time and “another” implies a different nature. But of course a six-year-old isn’t going to be using language so technically, and I think in a way he’s on to something that may help him understand the Trinity.

My own elder daughter is nearly six and thinks about this stuff too. . . .

Edwin

 

[LaMusicaSenior]

It’s very similiar to the question: “Can God make a rock he can’t lift?”

A rock so heavy that God cannot lift is a contradiction; it is a nothing, it doesn’t exsist. It cannot be caused by anybody. God is the cause of all beings - not the cause of contradictions because a contradiction is a nothing and it doesn’t exsist.

Perhaps your 6 year old is thinking of the Holy Spirit - a manifestation of the Father and the Son’s love for each other - but even this is not the “creation” of another God - it is the third PERSON in the blessed trinity - three persons, one God.

 

[faithfully]

Well, there’s a sense in which this very line of thinking is a basis for believing in the Trinity.

Instead of just saying, “no, God can’t do that,” you might try to help him think about what “making another God” would look like:

For this “other God” to be truly God, the “other God” would also need to be eternal. So the “making” would have to have gone on from all eternity.

And since by definition there can be only one God, the “other God” couldn’t be “another God,” but would have to share in the same nature as the “first God.”

This is what orthodox Christianity believes about Jesus. We don’t call it “making another God” because “making” implies something that had a beginning in time and “another” implies a different nature. But of course a six-year-old isn’t going to be using language so technically, and I think in a way he’s on to something that may help him understand the Trinity.

My own elder daughter is nearly six and thinks about this stuff too. . . .

Edwin

I think this is on the right track. Anything God creates is less than God,so could not be a God, as we understand God. But in sending Jesus. Jesus is God. Not created. And I think this is why we refer to it as a mystery. 'Cause we don’t have a good human way of explaining this.

Kids are so much smarter than we think!

 

[Amelia140]

I love all these answers…and of course the question…this kid is going to be a challenge…prepare yourself…Mom!

My thought goes along the same lines of others…God always was and alsways will be…there are three persons in the Trinity…so the answer could be…He already did!..just saying…

 

[Marc_Anthony]

No. And let’s not believe the heresy that the Trinity means there are three Gods. That’s wrong-there’s one.

God cannot create another God. Logically there can ONLY be one God, because only one being can be omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. Saying God could create another God is the equivalent to saying God could make a square circle. A square circle isn’t part of the “anything” God can do. It’s nothing. God can’t create nothing.

If you want to know precisely why I’ll have to do a bit of research on Thomism but there are definitely huge logical holes in the idea of God creating another God.

 

[Marc_Anthony]

I think this is on the right track. Anything God creates is less than God,so could not be a God, as we understand God. But in sending Jesus. Jesus is God. Not created. And I think this is why we refer to it as a mystery. 'Cause we don’t have a good human way of explaining this.

This is mostly true. Jesus as the Son in the Trinity ALWAYS existed. Jesus was BORN as a human in a particular moment in time, but He wasn’t CREATED. He always existed, as did the Holy Spirit.

 

[greylorn]

I’m sorry I’m not sure where to post this. My son asked me “Can God make another God?” …answer?

(He just mentioned it again and has concluded himself that God CAN make another God because “God can do anything”) I am still completly baffled by the question!

This kid is destined to become a great philosopher.

The “omnipotence” attribute gives rise to a number of philosophical conundrums. In 4th grade I asked, can God make a rock to big that he cannot move it? Later I asked the same question in mathematical terms. But your son has really cut to the chase!

My arguments led to counter arguments based upon logical limitations, but I see no such way to circumvent his question. Given the current conventional definition of God, the only possible answer to his question is, Yes, of course!

That will necessarily lead to other interesting questions. Do keep us posted! And please encourage this kind of quality thinking. The planet needs more of it.

 

[greylorn]

Well, there’s a sense in which this very line of thinking is a basis for believing in the Trinity.

Instead of just saying, “no, God can’t do that,” you might try to help him think about what “making another God” would look like:

For this “other God” to be truly God, the “other God” would also need to be eternal. So the “making” would have to have gone on from all eternity.

And since by definition there can be only one God, the “other God” couldn’t be “another God,” but would have to share in the same nature as the “first God.”

This is what orthodox Christianity believes about Jesus. We don’t call it “making another God” because “making” implies something that had a beginning in time and “another” implies a different nature. But of course a six-year-old isn’t going to be using language so technically, and I think in a way he’s on to something that may help him understand the Trinity.

My own elder daughter is nearly six and thinks about this stuff too. . . .

Edwin

Why is eternal existence an issue for an entity who allegedly created the eternal human soul?

 

[greylorn]

I think this is on the right track. Anything God creates is less than God,so could not be a God, as we understand God. But in sending Jesus. Jesus is God. Not created. And I think this is why we refer to it as a mystery. 'Cause we don’t have a good human way of explaining this.

Kids are so much smarter than we think!

The kid asked if God could create another God, presumably an entity with the same qualities as himself. Which human pinhead put the limitation on God that whatever he creates must be lesser than himself?

Humans can create moon rockets and huge aircraft that are greater than themselves. We can make desktop computers capable of solving problems that a team of mathematicians could not solve in their lifetimes.

IMO any human who declares that an omnipotent God is limited is an incompetent who does not know how to look up the word “omnipotent” in his dictionary.

 

[vera_dicere]

Depends what the young chap and you, mean by God.

God as in just like God, the God we know, the God who exists? Or a god, like Zeus or Thoth? A being that has more power than a human, immortality et cetera. God cannot make another like him, but I don’t see it being outside His scope if he made an Anubis or Apollo.

I always think of a Thor comic I saw where Thor said somethign to the effect of how can a Catholic Priest [who was trying to comfort Thor] accept his God [Jesus] when Thor himself existsed as a contradiction?

The priest simply replied that GOd’s creatures came in all shapes and sizes…

 

[empther]

God is the Necessary Being.

Tell your son nobody made God and so he can’t make another God.

or,

God can’t be made, even by God.

 

[JimG]

God is the Uncaused Cause. If he made another god, that god would be caused by God–an effect, not an uncaused cause! So he wouldn’t be God.

(I like the way Contarini approached the question. Thinking about what it might mean to “make” another God could lead to a discussion of the Trinity, distinct persons but only one divine nature. One would also have to distinguish that the Persons of the Trinity are not “caused” but rather are a “natural” result of the operation of the divine intellect and will.)

 

[Contarini]

Why is eternal existence an issue for an entity who allegedly created the eternal human soul?

The soul is not eternal. It had a beginning.

Justin Martyr–and it would appear many Eastern Christians following him–argued that by nature the soul was not eternal even in the sense of lasting forever by nature. The Western tradition appears to hold that the soul is eternal in this sense–but it is not eternal in the way God is eternal. Here’s Aquinas on the question “does it belong to God alone to be eternal?”

Edwin

 

[jochoa]

I’m sorry I’m not sure where to post this. My son asked me “Can God make another God?” …answer?

(He just mentioned it again and has concluded himself that God CAN make another God because “God can do anything”) I am still completly baffled by the question!

Very interesting question! To which the answer can be yes and no. It depends on the definition of God attributed to God.

Perhaps consider this line of thinking:
God is the Holy Trinity: 3 persons.
Of the 3 persons, the Son is the only begotten and not made, and the Holy Spirit is the third distinct person and proceeds from the Father and the Son.
Given these understandings, there is an openness surrounding whether the Holy Spirit is made. This can be derived from: Since the Son is the ONLY begotten, then the Holy Spirit cannot be begotten. And since only the begotten is not made, then perhaps the Holy Spirit is made.
Since the Holy Spirit is God, then this would indicate that God made another God.

What are your son’s thoughts on why would God want to make another God?

It is very exciting to hear the questioning and thoughts of your son!

 

[Marc_Anthony]

Very interesting question! To which the answer can be yes and no. It depends on the definition of God attributed to God.

Perhaps consider this line of thinking:
God is the Holy Trinity: 3 persons.
Of the 3 persons, the Son is the only begotten and not made, and the Holy Spirit is the third distinct person and proceeds from the Father and the Son.
Given these understandings, there is an openness surrounding whether the Holy Spirit is made. This can be derived from: Since the Son is the ONLY begotten, then the Holy Spirit cannot be begotten. And since only the begotten is not made, then perhaps the Holy Spirit is made.
Since the Holy Spirit is God, then this would indicate that God made another God.

What are your son’s thoughts on why would God want to make another God?

It is very exciting to hear the questioning and thoughts of your son!

NO, the Holy Spirit is NOT made, because the Holy Spirit is God. The Holy Spirit PROCEEDS from the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit has ALWAYS existed.

Think about it from a logical perspective for a moment. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all one God. So how does it make sense for God to be “made” and “not made” at the same time-in other words, created and not created?

I believe that is a heresy.