Ancient Soul
The Spiritual Universe
Yes, I just checked on that also and Wikipedia states "The details of the structure's function remain a mystery."
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Are Religions and Gods manmade?
- Thread starter PAUL MARKHAM
- Start date
Yes, I just checked on that also and Wikipedia states "The details of the structure's function remain a mystery."
MNoBody
Well-Known Member
perhaps the way we define house and temple, the way we think of their function and purpose and reason for existing ...maybe these people defined things entirely different.....that is no great leap of logic to make...a rather "safe" assumption IMO
Ancient Soul
The Spiritual Universe
The belief in a God, a "higher power", a "creator", etc... is universal to people of all times. From visions, dreams, NDE/OBEs, ancient cities, writings, verbal stories passed down thru the generations, all tell of a God. That cannot be ignored.
That being said, I have always maintained there is God, and there is "man". And God communicates DIRECTLY to those whom are ready to receive such communication. But evil self-serving MEN like to insert themselves in between God and "man" out of ego, (self-aggrandizement), control over others, money, and/or political power, so that the people look to them for spiritual answers instead of God. But since these religious founders and subsequent leaders have no such spiritual answers, all they do is feed their followers LIES about God and only offer only pretend "spiritual" placebos because they are completely clueless about the true nature of God and have no true spiritual answers to give.
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Ancient Soul
The Spiritual Universe
I always opt for "unknown" on such things until, if ever, there is enough evidence to determine what something is or is not.
Same reason you are an Atheist when God is seen in all that is.
Mens choices.
Regards Tony
Trailblazer
Veteran Member
I believe that God has revealed Himself to man ever since man came into existence.
Just because we cannot find evidence dating back 200,000 years that does not mean it never existed.
I believe that religions have evolved over time, just as science evolves over time.
Trailblazer
Veteran Member
I believe that some are real and some are not and of the real ones many offshoots came into being.
Trailblazer
Veteran Member
Humans were very different in ancient times and that is why the religions that were revealed by God were very different, since religion is revealed to suit the needs of humans in the times they live in.
Then who created evolution?
Etritonakin
Well-Known Member
There is no point in revealing yourself until the other has the capacity to comprehend you -and interact with you on a relatively similar level.
Give a dog some pup-peroni and an encyclopedia set... one tastes better, but you can gnaw on the other for weeks.
CG Didymus
Veteran Member
Here's one ancient religion and their Gods. Revealed or made up by the people?
Sumerian religion was the religion practiced and adhered to by the people of Sumer, the first literate civilization of ancient Mesopotamia. The Sumerians regarded their divinities as responsible for all matters pertaining to the natural and social orders.[3]:3–4
Before the beginning of kingship in Sumer, the city-states were effectively ruled by theocratic priests and religious officials. Later, this role was supplanted by kings, but priests continued to exert great influence on Sumerian society. In early times, Sumerian temples were simple, one-room structures, sometimes built on elevated platforms. Towards the end of Sumerian civilization, these temples developed into ziggurats—tall, pyramidal structures with sanctuaries at the tops.
The Sumerians believed that the universe had come into being through a series of cosmic births. First, Nammu, the primeval waters, gave birth to Ki (the earth) and An (the sky), who mated together and produced a son named Enlil. Enlil separated heaven from earth and claimed the earth as his domain. Humans were believed to have been created by Enki, the son of Nammu and An. Heaven was reserved exclusively for deities and, upon their deaths, all mortals' spirits, regardless of their behavior while alive, were believed to go to Kur, a cold, dark cavern deep beneath the earth, which was ruled by the goddess Ereshkigal and where the only food available was dry dust. In later times, Ereshkigal was believed to rule alongside her husband Nergal, the god of death.
The major deities in the Sumerian pantheon included An, the god of the heavens, Enlil, the god of wind and storm, Enki, the god of water and human culture, Ninhursag, the goddess of fertility and the earth, Utu, the god of the sun and justice, and his father Nanna, the god of the moon. During the Akkadian Period and afterward, Inanna, the goddess of sex, beauty, and warfare, was widely venerated across Sumer and appeared in many myths, including the famous story of her descent into the Underworld.
Sumerian religion heavily influenced the religious beliefs of later Mesopotamian peoples; elements of it are retained in the mythologies and religions of the Hurrians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and other Middle Eastern culture groups. Scholars of comparative mythology have noticed many parallels between the stories of the ancient Sumerians and those recorded later in the early parts of the Hebrew Bible.
This is a new way of looking at creation which will be found to be in harmony with science.
Our mind has also evolved.
Regards Tony
“Ex nihilo nihil fit”...
But we see **atomic material** everywhere! So, “something” seems to be behind it.
To me, when you then consider the extremely fine-tuning of the forces holding it together, that “something” is very intelligent!
Is that “something” one entity, or many entities? IMO, it must be one...simply because of the harmony, the interaction, existing between those finely-tuned forces: as if from one blueprint, from one Builder.
So, “one” Creator of all things, would only require “one” set system of worship. (And a lot of it, would be how we treat others of His creations, especially other humans, but also animals, the Earth, etc.)
All other systems of worship would be, let’s just say counterfeit, leading away from the Creator. Certain ones would be easy to spot as fake, if they didn’t show respect for innocent human life, especially.
Is my POV, ‘clear as mud’?
But we see **atomic material** everywhere! So, “something” seems to be behind it.
To me, when you then consider the extremely fine-tuning of the forces holding it together, that “something” is very intelligent!
Is that “something” one entity, or many entities? IMO, it must be one...simply because of the harmony, the interaction, existing between those finely-tuned forces: as if from one blueprint, from one Builder.
So, “one” Creator of all things, would only require “one” set system of worship. (And a lot of it, would be how we treat others of His creations, especially other humans, but also animals, the Earth, etc.)
All other systems of worship would be, let’s just say counterfeit, leading away from the Creator. Certain ones would be easy to spot as fake, if they didn’t show respect for innocent human life, especially.
Is my POV, ‘clear as mud’?
Not entirely true (see below), and we can't say this about all those who existed before for whom we just don't have sufficient evidence.
Pirahã people - Wikipedia
According to Everett, the Pirahã have no concept of a supreme spirit or god, and they lost interest in Jesus when they discovered that Everett had never seen him. They require evidence based on personal experience for every claim made. However, they do believe in spirits that can sometimes take on the shape of things in the environment. These spirits can be jaguars, trees, or other visible, tangible things including people.
To my mind the existence of God /gods/ spirits and such can be explained by the nature of humans, their development and vulnerabilities in many ways, together with a natural curiosity and need to understand and find meaning - which seemingly occurred at some point in the past when their ancestors didn't do so, or didn't so as to have any marked affect.
I suppose if God was playing a game of survival of the fittest (religions rather than humans) then that might explain the number and variety of different beliefs, but given the conflict this has caused, and still causes, what does that say about any God? Not really that bothered if millions die? Couldn't think of anything better at the time?
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MNoBody
Well-Known Member
worship takes on a whole different dimension when one realizes it merely means "to work for", conceptually, at its base....
the animating principle is said to be the epitome of good, so if one is following such a good example, then where are the Good Works, that are sure to follow?......
.......
......humans still loading.......processing......
it's so bizarre it needs jokes made of it.
the animating principle is said to be the epitome of good, so if one is following such a good example, then where are the Good Works, that are sure to follow?......
.......
......humans still loading.......processing......
it's so bizarre it needs jokes made of it.
Gargovic Malkav
Well-Known Member
I believe that having a concept of an Omnipotent God has been wired into us, but that throughout the generations, our love for beauty and pleasure, and our awe for nature, caused us to be distracted from that Source and caused us to worship the things that came from Him. It's like admiring a painting without thought for the painter or even claim that there is no such thing as a painter.
PAUL MARKHAM (posted in forum): "Are religions and God man made?"
ANSWER:
Wonderful question, pondered by the top geniuses of all time, and some were horribly tortured then executed for asking it (in a very kind and Christian way, of course, and for their own good, and to protect God). There were very few atheists in the old days (that is, very few who lived).
MICHEL de MONTAIGNE (February 28, 1533-September 13, 1592, French):
"Oh senseless man, who cannot possibly make a worm or a flea and yet will create Gods by the dozen!"
http://storage.cloversites.com/bastropchristianchurch/documents/Is Jesus Really God.pdf (Pascal quotation)
BLAISE PASCAL (June 19, 1623-August 19, 1662, French mathematician):
"God made man in his own image, and man returned the favor."
VOLTAIRE (1694-1778, French)(perhaps plagiarizing Pascal):
"In the beginning, God created man in His own image, and man has been trying to repay the favor ever since."
FRANK WEDEKIND: (July 24, 1864-March 9, 1918, German): (perhaps plagiarizing Pascal):
"God made man in his own image, and man returned the favour."
HENRI JULIEN FELIX ROUSSEAU (May 21, 1844-September 2, 1910)(perhaps plagiarizing Pascal, and notice the exact wording of Rousseau and Twain). Rousseau was a French impressionist artists, primitive (uneducated, made flat two dimensional paintings instead of three dimensional on a two dimensional canvas, like the "Lion in the Desert." and he was a member of Der Blaue Reiter, a group of avant garde (modern art) artists consisting of the famous artists of the time (Piccasso, Van Gogh, et al):
"God created man in his own image. And man, being a gentleman, returned the favor."
MARK TWAIN (SAMUEL CLEMENS) (November, 1835-April 21, 1920) (perhaps plagiarizing Pascal, and notice the exact wording of Rousseau and Twain):
"God created man in his own image. And man, being a gentleman, returned the favor."
ANSWER:
Wonderful question, pondered by the top geniuses of all time, and some were horribly tortured then executed for asking it (in a very kind and Christian way, of course, and for their own good, and to protect God). There were very few atheists in the old days (that is, very few who lived).
MICHEL de MONTAIGNE (February 28, 1533-September 13, 1592, French):
"Oh senseless man, who cannot possibly make a worm or a flea and yet will create Gods by the dozen!"
http://storage.cloversites.com/bastropchristianchurch/documents/Is Jesus Really God.pdf (Pascal quotation)
BLAISE PASCAL (June 19, 1623-August 19, 1662, French mathematician):
"God made man in his own image, and man returned the favor."
VOLTAIRE (1694-1778, French)(perhaps plagiarizing Pascal):
"In the beginning, God created man in His own image, and man has been trying to repay the favor ever since."
FRANK WEDEKIND: (July 24, 1864-March 9, 1918, German): (perhaps plagiarizing Pascal):
"God made man in his own image, and man returned the favour."
HENRI JULIEN FELIX ROUSSEAU (May 21, 1844-September 2, 1910)(perhaps plagiarizing Pascal, and notice the exact wording of Rousseau and Twain). Rousseau was a French impressionist artists, primitive (uneducated, made flat two dimensional paintings instead of three dimensional on a two dimensional canvas, like the "Lion in the Desert." and he was a member of Der Blaue Reiter, a group of avant garde (modern art) artists consisting of the famous artists of the time (Piccasso, Van Gogh, et al):
"God created man in his own image. And man, being a gentleman, returned the favor."
MARK TWAIN (SAMUEL CLEMENS) (November, 1835-April 21, 1920) (perhaps plagiarizing Pascal, and notice the exact wording of Rousseau and Twain):
"God created man in his own image. And man, being a gentleman, returned the favor."
MNoBody
Well-Known Member
so wrapped up in the party we forgot the host....in other words
I have seen images and read a little, the comparison with cro magnon of the same period is astounding. But not really studdied
Cool. I'm not very knowledgeable either.
My limited recollection is that there are paintings which might be upto 40000 years old, but 28000 is the oldest verified.
There are images of animals, including megafauna, although that died out about 40000 years ago. So might be artistic license, might be based on stories, or might be non-literal representations.
(Or the paintings are older, or pockets of megafauna survived later...lots of options, really)
There are also Dreamtime stories represented, including spirits, etc. However it gets a bit hard working out when specific things were depicted. More effort than I've invested. But I think there were paintings of spirits shown in the 28000 year old caves.
Aboriginal art is pretty interesting all the way through from ancient times to modern times actually. For example...
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27260027
PAUL MARKHAM
Well-Known Member
I don't see the date of when a religion was created has anything to do with the thread.