If you ignore the part that logically the universe ought not to exist.
Sure, question whatever you want.
I pointed out that a person who thinks that God can defy logic is also not bound by logic when talking about God. So that has to be considered when evaluating the answers.
And fundamentally the question is really about the meaning of the word “omnipotence”. We don’t know what kind of “potence” God has and we have no way of finding out. So the discussion is about a word.
If you say think that God is necessary to explain the existance of the universe, then God is powerful enough to create the universe.
There is a lot of life around us, so presumably God wanted to create life.
Humans have big brains and the ability to reason, so presumably God wants us to take advantage of that ability.
“Words have no meaning beyond that which we put into them”'- Ayer.
“Words are our slaves, not our masters”- Dawkins.
The word “omnipotent” is defined as “all powerful”, which means having the power to do ANYTHING.
If a being can do ANYTHING, then it could defy the rules of logic.
I’m not arguing that God is omnipotent, nor even that there is (or isn’t) a God.
The point is that we don’t know what we are talking about when we say that God is omnipotent, omniscient, etc.
Having the power to create the universe is not necessarily the same as being ALL-POWERFUL, having ALL power, the power to do ANYTHING.
That’s your interpretation of what “omnipotent” means. That’s your interpretation of what “all” and "powerful’ mean when placed together to form a phrase.
Somebody else will have a slightly different (very different?) interpretation.
By all means, have a discussion about it.
Somebody said that God is “omniwhatever”. He/she had something in mind but it may not have been what you have in mind now. He/she could not possibly know that God is “omniwhatever”.
If there possibly could be Something which acted as the catalyst to bring Everything into existence, is it not possible that at the very least studying the Universe could point to This as being Pure Energy?
My intuition tells me that if there is anything which can express the reality of this concept called God, it would be science - certainly not religion. People look for facts in the legal system, not hearsay and belief.
Science, as it exists right now, can’t tell us anything about God…
Perhaps the science of the future might shed light on questions pertaining to God (though I doubt it), but certainly not the science of today.
What CAN be known about God?
Well clear reason lets us deduce some things.
For example: we know that God either exists or doesn’t.
No human has ever proved, to the satisfaction of all, that there is a God, but nobody has ever proved that there is NO God either…
I thought it was obvious from the opening words of my OP (“Many religious thinkers claim”) that I was criticizing what others claim about God…
The universe is evidence of God, but it’s not proof.
This thing we call “God” seems to be beyond proof, beyond disproof…