Not so sure I can agree with your objection, Ms. Boop.
After all, ours is a God Who calls Himself (according to various translations) "I AM," "I WHO I AM," "I AM WHAT I AM," or "I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE."
We cannot really say what sort of being God is describing there, but the name itself touches on the eternal in just the sort of way that Penrose's idea would require.
And, too, I think it would be a strange sort of God that had no fixed properties of His own. Further, I would think that a God Who creates a coherent universe would impose certain rules on it (else it would not be coherent....) -- and there is no reason to suppose that those rules must be arbitrary.
So, rather than objecting to Penrose on the grounds that God would be subject to scientific rules, perhaps it's more appropriate to turn it around.... but what if, instead, those rules just reflect who and what God is like? The universe is accessible to mathematics and logic, because that's the nature of God and His choices.
Yes dear r9etb. But to say as much is not to say that God's choices are determined by mathematics and/or logic.
Which I daresay Penrose suggests — or at least what this article represents his statements as saying....
Thanks so very much for writing, dear r9etb!
Perhaps it is as you say, dear r9etb. However, this line of thinking seems panentheist to me:
PanentheismPerhaps Roger Penrose is a panentheist. But I am not. I am way too simple-minded! Plus I tend to dislike mixing theology with German Idealism.... :^) JMHO FWIW
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
See Entry for Panentheism
First published Thu Dec 4, 2008“Panentheism” is a constructed word composed of the English equivalents of the Greek terms “pan”, meaning all, “en”, meaning in, and “theism”, meaning God. Panentheism understands God and the world to be inter-related with the world being in God and God being in the world. It offers an increasingly popular alternative to traditional theism and pantheism. Panentheism seeks to avoid both isolating God from the world as traditional theism often does and identifying God with the world as pantheism does. Traditional theistic systems emphasize the difference between God and the world while panentheism stresses God's active presence in the world. Pantheism emphasizes God's presence in the world but panentheism maintains the identity and significance of the non-divine. Anticipations of panentheistic understandings of God have occurred in both philosophical and theological writings throughout history (Hartshorne and Reese 1953; Cooper, 2006). However, a rich diversity of panentheistic understandings has developed in the past two centuries primarily in Christian traditions responding to scientific thought (Clayton and Peacocke 2004).....
Terminology
Because “panentheism” developed as an alternative to traditional theological positions under the influence of German Idealism, Whiteheadian process philosophy, and current scientific thought, panentheists employ a variety of terms with meanings that have a specific context.Theological terms as understood by panentheists:
1. Theism
Classical theism, or traditional theism: the understanding that ultimate reality is a being which is distinct from the world and any other reality. This distinction involves a separation between God and the world that makes any interaction between God and the world problematic.2. Pantheism
A type of theism that rejects any separation between God and the world by stressing the identity of God and the world ontologically. This identity is expressed in different manifestations so distinctions can be made, but the distinctions are temporary. There is often a strong sense of necessity in God's creation of the world so that God as God must express deity in creation.3. Transcendence
Generally, God's externality to the world so that God is unlimited by any other being or reality. Hegel and then Hartshorne understand transcendence as including all that is in order to avoid any reality external to God that limits God.4. Immanence
God's presence and activity within the world. Panentheists assert that traditional theism limits its affirmation of God's immanence by understanding immanence as the presence of the transcendent supernatural Being within the natural realm. If God's presence and activity within the world as natural is an intervention of the supernatural within the natural, God is absent from the natural except in specific cases of intervention.5. Kenosis
Divine emptying of infinite being or withdrawal of divine being....Possible meanings of the “in” in panentheism:
1. Locative or Having a Special Meaning
“In” refers to a location in the sense of one location that is included in a broader location. For example, something may be located in a certain part of a certain room. Such a meaning is problematic in reference to God because of the common understanding that God is not limited by spatial categories. If spatial categories do not apply to God in ordinary usage, to say something is located in God becomes problematic and is either meaningless or has a special meaning.2. Analogical Meaning
Because of the difficulties with understanding “in” as referring to a location in relation to God, “in” is most often understood by panentheists as an analogy conveying information by means of a comparison. There are a variety of analogies that panentheists have utilized.3. Part/Whole Analogical Meaning
Take part in something that is greater and different from any and all the parts. The world is in God by participating in God through being and action.4. Emergence Analogical Meaning
A specific part/whole analogy that indicates that being in something is to be at least a partial source for a more complex entity.5. Mind/Body Analogical Meaning
The mind provides structure and direction to the organization of the organism of the body. The world is God's body in the sense that the world actualizes God and manifests God while being directed by God as different from the world. Many but not all panentheists utilize the mind/body analogy to describe the God/world relation in a manner that emphasizes the immanence of God without loss of God's transcendence....
Thank you so very much for writing, r9etb!