Creating a Compelling God in Fictional Stories: Navigating Omnipotence and Omniscience

The inclusion of an all-seeing, all-powerful god as a main character in a story poses significant challenges for any writer. How can a story be made interesting when the deity can solve all problems and troubles with a mere blink of an eye?

Understanding Omnipotence and Omniscience

When you toss a pebble into a pond, the ripples spread out in all directions, continuing until they encounter obstacles. Similarly, when two pebbles are tossed, the ripples can meet and cancel each other out. This is a basic principle of physics. How, then, can we alter these results in our stories?

The answer lies in redefining what it means to be omnipotent and omniscient. There is no requirement that a god must be both all-powerful and all-knowing to be considered divine. However, in the human imagination, these concepts often blend seamlessly. For instance, a time-traveler who visits Cro-Magnon times and can light a fire with a cigarette lighter would be regarded with awe and almost god-like status. A prophet who predicts the future with uncanny accuracy would also be seen as a god or at least something akin to one.

The Problem of Divine Inaction

Humans have been subjected to countless stories about all-powerful god-beings who fail to prevent or even stop the general troubles and problems that befall people. Many justify this with the excuse that the gods do not interfere with human lives. However, given that these same gods created humanity, it seems inconsistent for them not to intervene. This excuse is often merely a convenient way to explain away the absence of divine action.

There are essentially three narrative conduits used to explain a god's inaction: the god is not truly all-powerful, the god is malign, or the god intentionally allows suffering to teach and grow humanity. Each of these explanations raises its own set of questions and contradictions.

Examples of Ineffective Divine characters

Consider the character of God from the Holy Bible. He is described as an almighty, omniscient, and omnipotent creator of everything, including humanity. However, when his creations disappoint him, he responds by causing a devastating Flood to wipe out all life on Earth. This raises a critical flaw in the narrative: If God is truly omniscient, he would have anticipated the potential for this disappointment and found a different solution. The act of creating a Flood to destroy his creation, even in imagined fiction, calls into question his omnipotence and omniscience.

Creating an Engaging and Faithful Divine Character

To avoid these pitfalls and create a compelling god character, writers must carefully balance the god's omnipotence and omniscience with the challenges and conflicts that create an interesting story. Some strategies include:

Limit the god's powers in certain areas to create opportunities for tension and conflict.

Explore the consequences of divine actions on humanity and the wider universe.

Introduce human characters who are capable of independent action and influence, reducing the need for divine intervention.

Focus on the journey of the characters rather than the immediate problem-solving abilities of the god.

Use the character of the god to explore deeper themes such as free will, human responsibility, and the nature of creation.

Conclusion

While the inclusion of an omnipotent and omniscient god in a story can add a rich layer of mythology and divine intervention, it also presents significant narrative challenges. By carefully crafting the god's role and the story's conflicts, writers can create a compelling narrative that resonates with readers and invites them to engage with the deeper questions of faith and the nature of the divine.