(Originally posted on The Catholic Thinker — make sure to follow me! : https://whysoseriousdotcom.wordpress.com/2017/06/04/is-god-omnipresent-or-not/ )
“Transubstantiation. Among the many problems with this doctrine is that Jesus Christ – the Son of God, God in the flesh – has a human body, and although it is a glorified body it cannot be in multiple places simultaneously. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is Omnipresent for He is Spirit, but Jesus cannot be at the same time at the right hand of the Father, waiting until His enemies be made His footstool (Hebrews 10:12-14), and present on every Catholic altar in the world. You will say, But this is a Mystery, Maria, but I must answer that the Lord Who is the Truth desires truth in our innermost being (Psalm 51:6). chalcedon451, you realize, don’t you, that men and women have been killed for refusing to worship ‘the Host’?”
( Original post: https://pilgrimsprogressrevisted.wordpress.com/2017/05/31/answering-chalcedon451-of-all-along-the-watchtower-on-the-church-of-rome/ )
Maria, a gentle iconoclast ( https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/22263041 ), published a reply to chacedon451 ( https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/36089350 ), that included the excerpt from above.
It is appalling that a “Christian” would deny that Christ can be present at multiple places at once. Such a belief seems to put limitations on God, something that is alien to the Bible.
Revelation 19:6 says:
“And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of great thunders, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord our God the Almighty hath reigned.”
God is Almighty, that is, Omnipotent. He can do anything. This alone should show that Christ, as God, can be in multiple places at once. Indeed, Christ says clearly that “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).
Now, there are things God is unable to do, such as lying (Titus 1:2). But lying is an imperfection, something that God cannot do because He is perfect. Not being able to lie is not a handicap, because lying is sinful. Sin is an imperfection, and therefore God cannot “sin”, because sin is evil, the absence of good. God is by no means limited in power by not being able to sin.
Can Christ be present in multiple places at once? Christ teaches that he can. In Matthew 18:20, Christ says that wherever two or three are gathered together in His name, He is present among them. Certainly there are simultaneously many people worldwide gathered in Jesus’ name, correct? Can He not be with them all at once?
In Matthew 28:20, Christ says to His Apostles: “…behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
How can Christ be with His Apostles after He ascended into Heaven? Could Christ perhaps be able to be in several places at once??
1Corinthians 15:6 says that Jesus, after His resurrection, appeared to 500 of his brethren at the same time. Were all these people in the same exact place? Maybe, maybe not.
It cannot be said that Christ cannot be in multiple places at the same time. That is a human attempt to diminish the power of the Almighty God.
— Patrick Devens
All Along the Watchtower 
Well said, Patrick. I am amazed than any Christian thinks God is limited by considerations of time and space. Are we not told that a thousand years is but a day in the eyes of God?
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Correct, chalcedon. Maria claims that Christ can be everywhere spiritually, but not physically. This seems to imply that Christ’s spirit and body are separate.
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One of the oldest heresies, as you know, Patrick. I must say I enjoyed this, and your previous contribution – they add greatly to what we have here, so do always feel free.
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Thanks. I am planning to eventually publish an article on Mary’s virginity.
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I shall look forward to it 🙂
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Patrick! watch your language! There are children here. XD
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Lol, Jonah, its a Catholic doctrine. Deals with the fact of Jesus’ supposed siblings, and any relations of Mary with Joseph, with what the first Christians believed, and a biblical aspect of it also.
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What do you think of this article? The Omnipresent God article.
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I know. haha. I found this rather interesting, however I can’t say what I believe about this, as I have never given much thought or research into this. Will discuss soon… 🙂
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Fair enough. Gotcha.
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Yeah, I cant wait for your article on Marys virginity.
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Thanks for your enthusiasm.
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The implication from the Paraclete passage in John’s Gospel is that Christ is present through His Spirit. We should not take what John is saying as a form of modalism, but we should understand that just as Jesus is like the Father, so the Spirit is like Jesus. What Jesus would do or say, the Spirit would do or say. In the Revelation, John mentions that the eyes of the Lamb are the “Seven Spirits” – i.e. the Holy Spirit – which go out through the whole earth. In John’s Gospel, Jesus says that the Spirit will take what is His and make it known the believer.
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I’ve been reading through Josephus and subsequently the OT. It appears by your comments that some of the actions, we should also be reminded that what God did to Israelites enemies, Jesus would also do.
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Yes, as you have probably worked out, I believe that Jesus appeared as the Angel of Yahweh in the OT, which meant He was the commander of Heaven’s armies who appeared to Joshua. In any case, even if you don’t go along with those Christophanies, if you believe in the Trinity, then Jesus as much as the Father or the Spirit was speaking to Abraham on the eve of the destruction of Sodom at the Terebinth of Mamre.
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