In many discussions about God, those who consider it
possible that God exists are accused of anthropomorphizing nature, even if
those proponents don't claim any human attributes for God except conscious will. In fact, attributing any supernatural powers
and/or the ability to create the universe would be non-anthropomorphic, and
even reasonable, if those supernatural powers weren't exercised in this
universe where, so far, there exists no evidence for it. The only possible evidence is the
universe.
On the other hand, when I say that God mustn't intervene
without destroying our free will, many who make the first argument also argue
that if God exists, how can It not help people in danger or trouble? But wouldn't thinking that God should
intervene be to anthropomorphize It?
This is not to argue for or against
the existence of God, only against the supposed necessity that belief
anthropomorphizes It.
I have reluctantly resorted to using the impersonal (but
capitalized) pronoun, It, when referring to God. Using a gender pronoun leaves one open to the
argument of anthropomorphizing God. And
as just stated, the only human quality we can attribute to God, if It exists,
is conscious will. That says nothing pro
or con about whether God cares about us.
But, since a God with supernatural powers could ostensibly create
anything instantaneously, except sentient creatures with free will, that would
imply divine interest and caring.
Abandoning the use of any
pronouns for God altogether, becomes tedious and distracting.
Defining the supernatural:
One possibility is that the supernatural is a total lack of natural law
or even a physical universe or cosmos, in which our universe could be suspended
as a mere bubble. Another possibility is
that our universe is just an extrusion, if you will, of our four dimensions
within a broader (infinite?) cosmos composed of many more, even an infinite
number of dimensions, which could be governed by natural law as well. The supernatural could then exist even if there were no God.
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