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Indexicals and Identity

An indexical is a linguistic expression whose meaning depends on context. For example, I can say “I” and you can say “I” but the meaning of this word changes depending on the speaker. We can think of an indexical as a relatively abstract statement that serves as a container for specific meanings applied to specific situations. The word “I” serves as a container for identity.

Our use of language is bound to personal experiences and the meaning of words changes depending on those experiences. Personal experience is, in other words, a requirement for language. Language would be useless to us without a personal perspective to give it context and meaning.

God Lacks Identity

So, it makes no sense to postulate the existence of an agent, like God, who lacks a personal identity. God is defined as being, among other things, both omnipresent and incorporeal. This paradoxical combination of attributes implies that God is everywhere at all times, but essentially without substance. God is not bound to a human body or even a finite area of spacetime.

More generally, if God can be everywhere at once, then he cannot be only one place or only some places at once, which means that he cannot experience reality from a single perspective. Similarly, if God is incorporeal, then he cannot experience reality sensorially, having that experience processed through a physical brain.

If God cannot experience reality from a unique and limited perspective, then he cannot use language from a unique and limited or, as we humans say, personal, perspective. And if God cannot use language, then he cannot communicate to us through language, which means, among other things, that he could not have helped write the Bible.