CLAIM: Solomon says, “I have surely built You [God] a lofty house, a place for Your dwelling forever” (1 Kings 8:13). Does this mean that God was confined to a space? Does it mean that he really isn’t omnipresent?

RESPONSE: Solomon didn’t believe that God only dwelled in the Temple. Later in the chapter, we read, “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!” (v.27) For more on this topic, see our earlier article “Omnipresence.”