Dave Long wrote:
Or there may, as I once read on an explanatory plaque at an ancient Hawaiian
heiau that now lies under lava, be an infinite number of gods.
That doesn't narrow it down much: countably infinite, or one of the higher
infinities?
(as I understand it, the real medieval argument was not about how many angels
could dance on a pin head, but whether they had extent, so finite vs. infinite;
are angels even subject to things like Planck length?)
-Dave
Thank you so much for asking.
The plaque was not specific enough for me to figure that out, but, for
practical human purposes, finite but unbounded works well enough.
Since Gods (and indeed angels) are non-corporeal entities that exist only
abstract spaces, they take up no physical space in themselves (although stories
and images and data about them can fill physical spaces of various kinds) but
can take up as much abstract space as we choose in order to fulfill their
psychological roles in our lives. They can also coexist with actual physical
objects (like volcanoes, or the ocean) and co-occupy those physical spaces in
our imagination.
It also appears that they can directly own property in some locales, and own
property through the use of corporate entities (another kind of abstract
non-corporeal entity) in most others, which means they can be Very Wealthy
Indeed, as the Catholic church is one of the richest entities in the world.
I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.
--hmm
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