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[Proxy]

And if God desires wouldn’t this imply that God is lacking something? For, to desire is to be bereft of that which is desired. (We do not desire that which is already abundant in our being)

Now, I’m under the impression that a perfect, infinite, all loving, and all powerful God would not have a reason to desire. But if creation was a voluntary act of a conscious agent (God), this would seem to imply that God desires something from his creation.

Furthermore, if God doesn’t experience desire than it makes his creation meaningless. Because if we aren’t desired by God then we have no true objective reason for existence seeing as God is the locus of meaning, purpose, and reason itself.

In conclusion: If God desires, God lacks something and isn’t omnipotent. If God doesn’t desire then creation is of no true and meaningful use to God.

Thoughts?

[Cabby]

You've essentially made four statements:

1. If God doesn't desire, then creation is of no true and meaningful use to God.
2. If God desires then he lacks something.
3. If God lacks something, then he isn't omnipotent.
4. If God desires something and lacks it, then he isn't omnipotent.

I'll address these each.

1. If God doesn't desire, then creation is of no true and meaningful use to God.

Since you've made your post in the "Ask a Christian" subreddit, I'm assuming you want a Christian perspective. The Christian God clearly has desires. The bible is full of God desiring things.

Just one of many bible verses showing that God wants things: 1 Timothy 2:3-4: "This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth."

Your 'IF' statement does not apply to the Christian God. The Christian God very clearly has desires. However I'll further respond to your "IF" statement regardless of it's applicability to Christianity.

Your statement is logically impossible. You cannot have a God that doesn't desire:

1. A God that doesn't desire is a God which has no will. (I.E. that God doesn't want anything to happen. That God doesn't even want to think any thoughts.)
2. A God which has no will is a God which has no mind or intentionality.
3. A God which has no mind or intentionality is not a God. (At best, that 'God' is simply a mindless, meaningless, force with no ability to choose anything.)
4. Thus you cannot have a God that does not desire.

2. If God desires, then he lacks something.

This statement is not true. It is possible to desire things that you don't have. However it is also possible to desire things that you do have.

For example: I personally desire to have a loving spouse. I have a loving spouse. I don't lack that.

The fact that God desires something does not imply whether he does or does not have it.

3. If God lacks something, then he isn't omnipotent.

This statement is not true. God is omnipotent and there are lots of things he does not have because he has chosen not to have them. Just because you are omnipotent does not mean you have everything, you might not want everything.

Likewise God cannot have things that violate the law of non-contradiction. For example: God does not have a 2-dimensional drawing of a triangle with 4 sides.

4. If God desires something and lacks it, then he isn't omnipotent.

This statement is not true. As mentioned earlier, the bible is full of God desiring things.

For example: God wants all humans to obey his commands. However, God also wants all humans to freely obey his commands.

Because God wants humans to freely obey, it is a logical necessity that humans must also be free to disobey. Since humans must be free to disobey, it is therefore possible that not every human will do what God wants.

Like statement #3, this 'IF' statement is subject to the law of non-contradiction. God cannot have a human who is forced to freely obey his commands.

Thus it is possible for an omnipotent God to not get what he wants.

In fact, the Bible teaches that every human has disobeyed God. Every human has not done what God wants, instead every human has done what God doesn't want.

In summary:

Your first statement is logically impossible. Even if it were possible, it does not apply to the Christian God. Your next three statements are untrue.

If I may address your post a little bit more. The reason God made creation is because he wants something from it. God has a purpose for creation. God created humanity because he wants them to freely love and obey him.

Before God created humanity, he lacked any human who freely loved and obeyed him (because none existed). Since God is omnipotent, he therefore created humanity so that he would not lack humans who freely love and obey him.