Theistic finitism, also known as finitistic theism or finite godism, is the belief in a

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

that is limited.Geisler, Norman; Watkins, William D. (1989). ''Finite Godism: A World with a Finite God''. In ''Worlds Apart: A Handbook on World Views''. Wipf and Stock Publishers. pp. 187-216. It has been proposed by some philosophers and theologians to solve the

problem of evil The problem of evil is the philosophical question of how to reconcile the existence of evil and suffering with an Omnipotence, omnipotent, Omnibenevolence, omnibenevolent, and Omniscience, omniscient God.The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ...

. Most finitists accept the absolute goodness of God but reject

omnipotence Omnipotence is the property of possessing maximal power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence only to the deity of their faith. In the monotheistic religious philosophy of Abrahamic religions, omnipotence is often listed as ...

Definition

Finitistic theism denies that God is omnipotent. Ray Harbaugh Dotterer in his book ''The Argument for a Finitist Theology'' (1917) summarized the argument for theistic finitism: The idea that God is and must be infinite has been a nearly universal belief amongst monotheists. Only a minority of thinkers have advanced the idea of a finite deity.

History

The idea of a finite God has been traced to Plato's '' Timaeus''. Plato's God was not an omnipotent Creator but a Demiurge struggling to control recalcitrant "stuff" or "matter". To Plato, matter was infected with evil, uncreated by God.

William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist. The first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States, he is considered to be one of the leading thinkers of the late 19th c ...

(1842–1910) was a believer in a finite God which he used to explain the

.Barnard, George William. (1997). ''Exploring Unseen Worlds: William James and the Philosophy of Mysticism''. State University of New York Press. p. 251. "James's theology answer to the problem of evil is strikingly simple, but theologically daring: God is ''not'' all-powerful, all-knowing, or all-pervasive, but rather, is finite." James rejected the divine authorship of the Bible and the idea of a perfect God. He defined God as a "combination of ideality and (final) efficacity" and preferred a finite God that is "cognizant and responsive in some way".Pomerlaeau, Wayne P. (1998). ''Western Philosophies Religion''. Ardsley House Publishers. p. 492. James's finite God was not

omnipotent Omnipotence is the property of possessing maximal power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence only to the deity of their faith. In the monotheistic religious philosophy of Abrahamic religions, omnipotence is often listed as ...

omnipresent Omnipresence or ubiquity is the property of being present anywhere and everywhere. The term omnipresence is most often used in a religious context as an attribute of a deity or supreme being, while the term ubiquity is generally used to describ ...

omniscient Omniscience is the property of possessing maximal knowledge. In Hinduism, Sikhism and the Abrahamic religions, it is often attributed to a divine being or an all-knowing spirit, entity or person. In Jainism, omniscience is an attribute that any ...

or a creator of the universe. Theologian Clarence Beckwith (1849–1931) suggested that

Horace Bushnell Horace Bushnell (April 14, 1802February 17, 1876) was an American Congregational minister and theologian. He had a marked influence upon theology in America, and wrote various books on religion. He was also a graduate from Yale Divinity School. ...

(1802–1876) was a finitist. According to Beckwith "one of the earliest attempts in America to show that God was finite was made by Horace Bushnell in his ''God in Christ'' (1849). A minority of historical

freethinker Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an unorthodox attitude or belief. A freethinker holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and should instead be reached by other meth ...

s and rationalists advocated a finite God in opposition to the

God in Abrahamic religions Monotheism—the belief that there is only one deity—is the focus of the Abrahamic religions, which like-mindedly conceive God as the all-powerful and all-knowing deity from whom Abraham received a divine revelation, according to their res ...

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

advocated a finite God in his book '' God the Invisible King'' (1917). Rannie Belle Baker in his book ''The Concept of a Limited God'' (1934) identified

Gustav Fechner Gustav Theodor Fechner (; ; 19 April 1801 – 18 November 1887) was a German physicist, philosopher, and experimental psychologist. A pioneer in experimental psychology and founder of psychophysics (techniques for measuring the mind), he inspi ...

Charles Renouvier Charles Bernard Renouvier (; 1 January 1815 – 1 September 1903) was a French philosopher. He considered himself a " Swedenborg of history" who sought to update the philosophy of Kantian liberalism and individualism for the socio-economic ...

, William James and

John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, politician and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of liberalism and social liberalism, he contributed widely to s ...

as admitting the concept of a finite God. F. C. S. Schiller conceived of a finite, evolving God that is limited in power. Another advocate of theistic finitism was

Peter Bertocci Peter Bertocci (1910–1989) was an American philosopher and Borden Parker Bowne professor of philosophy, emeritus, at Boston University. He was a president of the Metaphysical Society of America The Metaphysical Society of America (MSA) is a ...

(1910–1989) who proposed that "God is all-good but not all-powerful". Most finitists have held that God is

personal Personal may refer to: Aspects of persons' respective individualities * Privacy * Personality * Personal, personal advertisement, variety of classified advertisement used to find romance or friendship Companies * Personal, Inc., a Washington, ...

, although a few such as

Henry Nelson Wieman Henry Nelson Wieman (1884–1975) was an American philosopher and theologian. He became the most famous proponent of theocentric naturalism and the empirical method in American theology and catalyzed the emergence of religious naturalism in t ...

(1884–1975) have stated God is impersonal. Philosopher Edgar S. Brightman (1884–1953) defended theistic finitism in his book ''A Philosophy of Religion'', published in 1940. Brightman stated that theistic finitism began with

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

and he traced the idea through history to

Marcion Marcion of Sinope (; ; ) was a theologian in early Christianity. Marcion preached that God had sent Jesus Christ, who was distinct from the "vengeful" God ( Demiurge) who had created the world. He considered himself a follower of Paul the Apost ...

Mani Mani may refer to: People * Mani (name), (), a given name and surname (including a list of people with the name) ** Mani (prophet) (c. 216–274), a 3rd century Iranian prophet who founded Manichaeism ** Mani (musician) (born 1962), an English ...

and

Manichaeism Manichaeism (; in ; ) is an endangered former major world religion currently only practiced in China around Cao'an,R. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''. SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 found ...

Pierre Bayle Pierre Bayle (; 18 November 1647 – 28 December 1706) was a French philosopher, author, and lexicographer. He is best known for his '' Historical and Critical Dictionary'', whose publication began in 1697. Many of the more controversial ideas ...

, John Stuart Mill, H. G. Wells and others.Brightman, Edgar S. (1940)
''Historical Sketch of Theistic Finitism''
In ''A Philosophy of Religion''. New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc. pp. 286-301 Brightman developed the concept of a finite God to solve the problem of evil. He held the view that God is an infinite personal spirit but his power is limited. Brightman suggested that Wells was first "to devote an entire book to the concept of God's finiteness". Wells dissociated his God in any respect from the biblical God. Albert C. Knudson stated that John Stuart Mill was the first modern writer to advocate a finite God. Rufus Burrow, Jr. a professor of Christian thought, has argued (2012) that Brightman was different from most other finitists as he held the view that God remains infinite in many ways.Burrow, Rufus Jr. (2012). ''The Finite-Infinite God''. In ''God and Human Dignity: The Personalism, Theology, and Ethics of Martin Luther King, Jr''. University of Notre Dame Press. This was in opposition to Plato and H. G. Wells. Burrow noted that Brightman characterized God as a "finite-infinite God".

Charles Hartshorne Charles Hartshorne (; June 5, 1897 – October 9, 2000) was an American philosopher who concentrated primarily on the philosophy of religion and metaphysics, but also contributed to ornithology. He developed the neoclassical idea of God and ...

who rejected omnipotence also argued for a finite-infinite God. Other advocates of theistic finitism were

Hartley Burr Alexander Hartley Burr Alexander, PhD (1873–1939), was an American philosopher, writer, educator, scholar, poet, and iconographer. Family and early years Alexander was born in Syracuse, Nebraska, on April 9, 1873. His father, the Rev. George Sherman Alex ...

, John Elof Boodin, Dewitt H. Parker,

William Pepperell Montague William Pepperell Montague (11 November 1873 – 1 August 1953) was an American philosopher of the New Realist school. Montague stressed the difference between his philosophical peers as adherents of either "objective" and " critical realism". ...

and W. T. Stace.

Recent

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

rabbi

Harold Kushner Harold Samuel Kushner (April 3, 1935 – April 28, 2023) was an American rabbi, author, and lecturer. He was a member of the Rabbinical Assembly of Conservative Judaism and served as the congregational rabbi of Temple Israel of Natick, in Nat ...

defended theistic finitism in his book ''

When Bad Things Happen to Good People ''When Bad Things Happen to Good People'' () is a 1981 book by Harold Kushner, a Conservative rabbi. Kushner addresses in the book one of the principal problems of theodicy, the conundrum of why, if the universe was created and is governed by a ...

'', published in 1981. Philosopher Frank B. Dilley noted in 2000 that theistic finitism is rarely discussed in modern philosophical literature.

Definition

History

Recent

See also

References

Further reading