Connor’s Conundrums » God Has Faith in Himself

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God Has Faith in Himself

Posted by Connor on May 8th, 2007

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Is there a being who has faith in himself, independently?

There is.

Who is it?

It is God. (Lectures on Faith, p. 23)

God has faith in Himself.

It makes sense… We know that his honor is his power, and so in knowing that he is honored by those beneath him in glory and power, he inherently has faith in Himself that He is God and is “omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient”, as the Lecture on Faith continues.

If he didn’t have faith in Himself, what would happen? Methinks we’d see the cataclysmic unraveling of everything as we learn in Alma 42.

That wouldn’t be very fun… Here’s to God continuing to have faith in Himself!

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3 comments so far. Care to chime in?

Well, as my Little League coach used to say, it doesn’t matter what other people think, as long as you believe in yourself.

But why would God need to exercise faith in himself? Presumably such a being would have self-knowledge, making faith unnecessary. “For if a man knoweth a thing he hath no cause to believe, for he knoweth it.” Alma 32:18

#1 fontor on May 9th, 2007

Good question, fontor. Perhaps God’s status as Deity is not a certainty—as Alma 42 indicates, He can fall if He were to have an imbalance of justice and mercy. If that’s the case, then perhaps He doesn’t have an absolute self-knowledge, but instead must have faith that He will continue to abide by the principles and values that are required of Him?

Not sure. It’s something worth pondering…

#2 Connor on May 9th, 2007

God’s status not a certainty? Bruce R. would be having conniptions in his sarcophagus. How could one ever have faith in such a being, if he could somehow fall? Is he going to do something tomorrow that will cause the universe to collapse? (No, because he’s perfect.) Well, good for him.

Is God all-powerful? A safe answer is yes, but if God has to obey principles, then the principles are more powerful than God is. So who’s God anyway? The being or the principles? Saying that God obeys the principles perfectly doesn’t entirely mend the split.

I think this is one of the bigger holes in Mormon theology. I can see its function: it enables certain other ideas about perfectability. But when you examine it, it’s a weak point. And on a personal note, I feel annoyed at myself for ignoring this when I was a believer.

#3 fontor on May 10th, 2007