Suppose there exists an omnipotent God

This God comes to you one day and says it is essential that he become human for the day and you take his place. At the end of the day, do you give God back his job, or remain God for a longer period of time?

I stole this question from OkCupid. I thought it would be an interesting question to ask atheists, as well as the theists that frequent this board (I haven't forgotten about you Gabu, mindstorm, and SpinoRaptor), since religious theists want nonreligious people that humans can't play God. This belief comes from theists' respect of God's authority.

As for me, I'm a libertarian who believes authority should only belong to those that deserve it. Although I'll respect God for creating such a wonderful universe, I would think I would do a much better job. I would set out to create a paradise for creatures to work, love, and play in peace while possessing free will. Some people might find it boring, but I question whether God has the emotional capacity of a human to feel bored with his creation and if he did, if he couldn't change it to suit his needs. Some people might find the idea of a paradise with free will to be contradictory, but I'm God, and I suit logic to my needs.

I have no reservation with "playing God" as I see it, probably because I don't believe in God and therefore, no role to steal. I'm in favor of genetic clonic and in vitro fertilization so as long as the procedures are safe.

What would you do and why would you do it? Also, what do you feel about playing God?

Well, another name for God in Islam is Al-Samad, "The Self-sufficient". In light of that, God would never need someone else to take his job.

But as for the question, I would not take his job. I 

Sounds like way too much responsibility. I'd be polite and ask if there were any other jobs needed doing once they got back though.

You've hit on an interesting point here G_C. Sometimes I hear theists justifying God's actions, prescriptions, behaviour etc merely by the fact that he is more powerful than us.

I'm like you in that I think power alone doesn't equate to authority. If you want authority you must deserve it and judging by how God is currently using his omnipotence I don't think that he deserves it whatsoever. I would keep the omnipotence but exercise it without the conceit that it gives me authority over everyone.

If it's essential for God to become a human, why wouldn't he just impregnate a virgin again? :P

I find the question a bit difficult to answer considering that I can't imagine what would lead to such a situation, but in recognition that the ultimate purpose of the setup is to prompt an answer that indicates whether or not one would desire or be comfortable with omnipotent power, I would say my answer would be "no".  (Although, if God persisted in the same way as he persisted with Jonah, I might reconsider. :P)

You've hit on an interesting point here G_C. Sometimes I hear theists justifying God's actions, prescriptions, behaviour etc merely by the fact that he is more powerful than us.

I'm like you in that I think power alone doesn't equate to authority. If you want authority you must deserve it and judging by how God is currently using his omnipotence I don't think that he deserves it whatsoever. I would keep the omnipotence but exercise it without the conceit that it gives me authority over everyone.

domatron23

I thought about this some more after I posted this thread and before I posted my answer on OkCupid and although I answered the same, I also noted that no one can reasonably argue that I'm a bad God because if I'm God, by definition, I define what is good and bad, so there is no way I can be bad unless I act in contradiction to my standards, but considering I make my standards and the logic that determines a contradiction, that still doesn't matter either. I'm God now. What I say goes.

[QUOTE="domatron23"]

You've hit on an interesting point here G_C. Sometimes I hear theists justifying God's actions, prescriptions, behaviour etc merely by the fact that he is more powerful than us.

Genetic_Code

I thought about this some more after I posted this thread and before I posted my answer on OkCupid and although I answered the same,

You answered that God's power doesn't grant him moral authority? Great, because if you did that would be totally.....

I also noted that no one can reasonably argue that I'm a bad God because if I'm God, by definition, I define what is good and bad,Genetic_Code

......wait what?

I thought your point was that God doesn't deserve authority merely by being omnipotent. Why then are you saying that when you become God, you all of a sudden have the authority to determine whether or not you are deserving of the station?

If desert precedes authority then you're in damned shaky territory by claiming that your authority gaurantees you desert.

so there is no way I can be bad unless I act in contradiction to my standards, but considering I make my standards and the logic that determines a contradiction, that still doesn't matter either. I'm God now. What I say goes. Genetic_Code

No, no, no, no............. In the strongest possible terms I say NO.

Just like desert is prior to authority, logic is prior to God. You don't get to determine what is logical, you must merely conform to it. I had this same argument here and walked away from it after it became repetitive.

You answered that God's power doesn't grant him moral authority? Great, because if you did that would be totally.....

domatron23

That would be entirely logical. However, theists conclude the opposite. They conclude that God's moral authority rests on his power to create moral concepts. This is a fallacious thought, but we have to accept this as being a nature of God.

......wait what?

I thought your point was that God doesn't deserve authority merely by being omnipotent. Why then are you saying that when you become God, you all of a sudden have the authority to determine whether or not you are deserving of the station?

If desert precedes authority then you're in damned shaky territory by claiming that your authority gaurantees you desert.

domatron23

From a secular and logical point of view,, God doesn't deserve authority merely by being omnipotent. However, theists define God as having that authority for that very reason. That means that by theists standards, if I'm God, they can't question me! It's a wonderful world theists live in.

No, no, no, no............. In the strongest possible terms I say NO.

Just like desert is prior to authority, logic is prior to God. You don't get to determine what is logical, you must merely conform to it. I had this same argument here and walked away from it after it became repetitive.

domatron23

Domatron, I'm not disagreeing with you. Logic exists independently of God. Just like you seemed to say in the thread you linked, logic such as the Law of Identity is true regardless of God's existence. This means that either (a) God doesn't exist or (b) his "divinity" is bound by logical constraints, thus callling into question his divinity. God is the highest being. The problem with assuming that God conforms to logic is that means God has to be held to a higher standard than even to himself, which goes against him being God.

since it appears we are using the christian God....if anybody said yes and took his position we must realize a couple of things. you would first and foremost inherit all the qualities of God one of those is he cannot tell anything but the truth he cannot deceive you. you would in fact be bound by that inherit trait of being God to follow through with your promise.

 also God all knowing and all seeing would know the end result of what would happen so he would never allow himself to ask say lucifer or someone who would deny him his seat to take his place. so he would always pick someone that would agree to give it back to him.

 also the very nature of the Christian God implies when he does any miracle he speaks and the earth obeys indicating clearly the relationship of why he can do what he does is at least in some part based on the fact the planet obeys its maker. even in the case where Jesus was a human the planet still obeyed its maker so i would suspect this would hold true here again.

 this also makes it completely impossible to say no you cant have your seat back. and any likely hood of deceiving him seems impossible. 

while i realize its hypothetical and whatnot you must consider the traits of the person asking the question. and those traits all seem to indicate you wouldnt simply get away with screwing God over. he didnt become God for no apparent reason im sure he got there somehow and that wasnt by offering someone that would backstab him his job. and you must also consider if you take the job youll now know everything youll know why we are the way we are and chances are youll find out no you cant do any better cause quite frankly if you could do better you would be God not him.

which is what bugs me people have this odd motion they can do better than a deity....well if you could you probably would be the deity. but your not and someone with enough power to shape the universe probably just probably knows a tad bit more than you do and has a perfectly valid reason for the way things are. i mean maybe if i know how to create a universe we might have an arguement but i cant so we dont have that arguement.

at this point using logic i would yes take the job after questioning why this needs to be done and i would return because quite frankly i have this silly idea fighting an all power deity seems futile regardless of whether hes in human form or not i mean theres nothing to say when this power switch happens there isnt a 24 hour unbreakable timer on it. and i like to call myself an honest man too. 

The limitations of time are meaningless to a truly omnipotent being. If I truly did possess infinite divine powers, all I'd have to do is redefine the day so that I could keep my power for virtually forever and still maintain the pact with God.