Arbitrary Definitions Of God

The word "God" refers to such a specific type of being that it needs to be used consistently if conversations between various people are to be productive.  However, it is often a word used ambiguously and inconsistently, with people often either using random examples of a deity's character as a definition of the word, rather than defining the concept of a deity and then seeing what follows from it, or never explaining what specifically makes a being divine in nature in the first place.  When pressed, many have no definition of God that is not random in some way.

How much power does a being need to have in order to be a deity?  The power to do anything?  It is impossible for any being to violate the laws of logic.  The power to do anything that is logically possible?  While it is possible for a being to have the ability to do all logically possible things, it is still arbitrary to say that this is what makes God a deity.  To define God based upon power, therefore, is to make an arbitrary assertion based on a mere assumption.

What about defining God based upon moral perfection, with God being defined as the being whose character is what defines morality itself?  While it is impossible for moral obligations to exist unless they are grounded in a deity's nature, this definition of God ignores the fact that just because a deity exists does not necessarily mean that morality exists.  In other words, it is possible for an amoral deity to exist--that is, one without any moral nature whatsoever.

The same is true of other logically possible characteristics which are rightly (but still haphazardly) attributed to the Christian deity, like omniscience, omnipresence, and mercy (mercy is by definition not a moral requirement and therefore is a gratuitous but voluntary thing on God's part).  A deity might possess these attributes, but they are not logically required for a being to be a deity and are not why a being, real or hypothetical, is a deity.

However, a being that never began to exist and that at least has the ability to create matter and other minds can be rightly called a deity because it does not rely on any other being for its existence.  It is for this reason that the logical proof of the uncause cause's existence is synonymous with a logical proof of God's existence: God is the uncaused cause of the material world and the direct or indirect reason for the existence of any contingent minds.  Any other definition of God is by necessity false, incomplete, or arbitrary.