Is God Infinite?

I have before addressed this question: Is God infinite? I have said no, because it is not a biblical concept. It is a philosophical concept and one that is very confusing and leads into all kinds of disputes.

German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814) famously provoked the so-called “Atheismus Streit” (Atheism Debate) in Germany when he claimed that God cannot be both infinite and personal. A person, he argued, cannot be infinite, and an infinite being cannot be personal. Philosopher G. W. F. Hegel, of course, stepped in to attempt to calm the waters by arguing that God is, indeed, infinite and personal but only because he depends on creation as his “other.” I won’t go into all the details of that rather esoteric controversy here.

At the very least, “infinite” means “limitless.” At least in philosophy. That is how I understand its meaning. Saying that God is infinite is an ontological and metaphysical claim. Someone here has claimed that God cannot be infinite and self-limiting. I could claim, in contrast, that IF God is infinite he must be capable of limiting himself. A being who cannot limit himself lacks power and is therefore limited. An impossible conundrum.

But my major objection to calling God infinite is that it is merely an extra-biblical and unnecessary metaphysical compliment paid to God who does not want or need it.

IF God were infinite he would have to, as Hegel rightly argued, include the finite in himself (“die warheit Unendliche”). That would make creation part of God.

The claim that God is infinite and cannot limit himself (i.e., restrict his power) is purely philosophical and, taken to its logical end, results in pantheism.

Nowhere does the Bible indicate that God is incapable of limiting himself. In fact, the biblical narrative assumes, throughout, that God does limit himself. See Baptist theologian Augustus Hopkins Strong’s essay “God’s Self-Limitations.” And numerous other orthodox theologians’ and philosophers’ justifications of belief in divine self-limitation.

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