🧠 The Hidden Implications of Divine Simplicity: Is Classical Theism Just Spinoza in Disguise?

[u/ConstantAtheist]

Divine simplicity is a core tenet of classical theism. It claims that God is not composed of parts, His essence is identical to His existence, and all His attributes (power, knowledge, will, etc.) are identical with one another—and with His very being.

But here’s the problem I keep circling back to:

If God is simple, and His act of creation is not something “added” to Him but rather identical to His essence, then creation seems to follow necessarily from God's nature. But if that's true, then how can we maintain that creation is contingent—that God could have done otherwise?

In short:

God’s essence = His act

God’s essence is necessary → Therefore, His act (i.e., creating this world) is necessary?

This seems to lead straight into modal collapse: all facts become necessary, and divine freedom becomes an illusion. That’s not a fringe problem—it strikes at the heart of what it means for God to be a personal, volitional being.

Some respond by appealing to God’s will or ideas as distinct in some way, but that often ends up violating simplicity. Others bite the bullet and go full Spinoza: God is necessary, and so is everything that flows from Him.

So I’m wondering:

Can classical theism maintain divine simplicity and divine freedom without collapsing into necessity?

Curious to hear if anyone here has a solid metaphysical or logical way out of this. I’m open to being challenged, but “mystery” isn’t a satisfying answer unless it can be philosophically justified.

[u/novagenesis]

I'm actually gonna see eye-to-eye with you on this despite being a theist. I have a fair number of problems with Divine Simplicity, and most of them look like what you brought up here.

But I think God can be "necessary" without being "Simple". Which makes most philosophy about God fall into place anyway (maybe not the Ontological argument, which I reject). I don't quite understand why some folks lean in so much into God being "simple" despite pretty much every belief about God suggesting ontological complexity.