Assuming There are Only Two Possible Answers to This Question...

[Sunstone]

For the purposes of discussion, please assume that a god or gods exist.

If so, then assuming there are only two possible answers to the following question, what would be most likely to account for the varying accounts of the god or gods?

1) All accounts but one are incorrect.

2) All accounts are correct, but perhaps in hidden or mysterious ways.


Please note: Any answers to the effect that both questions are equally implausible or equally plausible will be rejected and might incur my showing up on your wedding night/anniversary to read to you and your beloved for hours on end from my 11 volume opus, "The Epistemology of Carnal Knowledge". Trust me. Don't risk it!

 

[sun rise]

2) All accounts are correct, but perhaps in hidden or mysterious ways.

But not hidden at all. Rather the story of the Blind Men and the Elephant perfectly illustrates why the accounts seem different - because our perception is limited by our limited mind. I've posted this quote before but here it's exactly what I have in mind when people use words to try to describe the ineffable:

...
I have a thousand brilliant lies
For the question:

What is God?

If you think that the Truth can be known
From words,

If you think that the Sun and the Ocean
Can pass through that tiny opening Called the mouth,

O someone should start laughing!
Someone should start wildly Laughing –Now!

From “I Heard God Laughing: Renderings of Hafiz”

 

[Misunderstood]

I think I am going to risk it! I might get a visitor sometime! Drats, I don't think I will get married soon (and don't think anyone would want to marry me), and I don't have an anniversary. So maybe no one will come to visit. But no one has answered in the negative and maybe no one will, so maybe you will have no none else to visit and come to visit me.

So here it goes, I feel both answers are wrong, kind of like if I say 1+1= 2698 or 1+1=-2698. Which one is right?

So are you coming to visit? If so I will tidy up a bit.

 

[Sunstone]

I think I am going to risk it! I might get a visitor sometime! Drats, I don't think I will get married soon (and don't think anyone would want to marry me), and I don't have an anniversary. So maybe no one will come to visit. But no one has answered in the negative and maybe no one will, so maybe you will have no none else to visit and come to visit me.

So here it goes, I feel both answers are wrong, kind of like if I say 1+1= 2698 or 1+1=-2698. Which one is right?

So are you coming to visit? If so I will tidy up a bit.

This is RF. You'll have plenty of copycat company.

 

[siti]

There is no risk in my case - you'd be 3 decades too late and nothing about carnal knowledge keeps me awake very long these days!

All that apart, I think they are both right. God is like a mountain - if you paint a picture of it from a certain fixed view point then only a picture that preserves the correct perspective etc. from that view point is correct, but if you try to paint the view from several or all angles at the same time, the resulting picture is going to be somewhat enigmatic and open to interpretation.

 

[Skwim]

For the purposes of discussion, please assume that a god or gods exist.

If so, then assuming there are only two possible answers to the following question, what would be most likely to account for the varying accounts of the god or gods?

1) All accounts but one are incorrect.

2) All accounts are correct, but perhaps in hidden or mysterious ways.

Why not assume there is only one possible answer to the following question. What would most likely account for the varying accounts of the god or gods?

1) The varying needs of the believers​

Or three possible answer to the question.

1) The varying needs of the believers

2) The varying needs of those who tell the others what to believe

3) The continued miscommunication among the believers as to the accounts of the god or gods.
​

Or even four

4) The continued miscommunication among those listening to those who tell the others what to believe

.​

 

[Sunstone]

I knew trying to get people to make a tough call wouldn't work on RF. Most of us go for the low hanging fruit on this Forum, try to escape making difficult or imperfect decisions.

 

[Sir Doom]

I would say option B is more likely than option A.

Wisdom is not confined to any particular path.

 

[CruzNichaphor]

2

 

[siti]

I knew trying to get people to make a tough call wouldn't work on RF. Most of us go for the low hanging fruit on this Forum, try to escape making difficult or imperfect decisions.

Tough call. Difficult decisions. Low hanging fruit...Oh I see - you're after a deep and meaningful philosophical consideration...

In that case...

1 - all accounts but one (mine, obviously) are incorrect.

Is that better?

But your question doesn't really work anyway - because even if there was only one account of god, either or neither of the options could account (or fail to account) for its existence. Its like selecting two of Picasso's various styles of painting and asking which one best accounts for the all the self-portraits he painted. The only honest answer - low hanging fruit or not - is always going to be both (to some extent) and neither (satisfactorily). Or we can each pick one and run with it to just to appease the RF gods.

 

[crossfire]

That's a whole lot of assuming. Can you really put god in such a small box?

 

[Willamena]

For the purposes of discussion, please assume that a god or gods exist.

That's kind of necessary, in order for there to be this discussion. (Else, there is nothing to discuss.) I'll take it that you meant actual.

If so, then assuming there are only two possible answers to the following question, what would be most likely to account for the varying accounts of the god or gods?

1) All accounts but one are incorrect.

2) All accounts are correct, but perhaps in hidden or mysterious ways.


Please note: Any answers to the effect that both questions are equally implausible or equally plausible will be rejected and might incur my showing up on your wedding night/anniversary to read to you and your beloved for hours on end from my 11 volume opus, "The Epistemology of Carnal Knowledge". Trust me. Don't risk it!

Both answers are inadequate. (Notice, I didn't address their plausibility, so my wedding/anniversary is safe from intrusion.)

1) a) Accounts of the existence of god or gods is a separate topic from the existence of god or gods. b) Accounts can be correct but in different ways, i.e. without god or gods being actual (they could be metaphoric). c) Lastly, all accounts can be incorrect.

2) a) All accounts can be correct, but not in the same way (i.e. of actuality).

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

I think I am going to risk it! I might get a visitor sometime! Drats, I don't think I will get married soon (and don't think anyone would want to marry me), and I don't have an anniversary. So maybe no one will come to visit. But no one has answered in the negative and maybe no one will, so maybe you will have no none else to visit and come to visit me.

So here it goes, I feel both answers are wrong, kind of like if I say 1+1= 2698 or 1+1=-2698. Which one is right?

So are you coming to visit? If so I will tidy up a bit.

Best answer. Maybe ever.

 

[Trailblazer]

For the purposes of discussion, please assume that a god or gods exist.

If so, then assuming there are only two possible answers to the following question, what would be most likely to account for the varying accounts of the god or gods?

1) All accounts but one are incorrect.

2) All accounts are correct, but perhaps in hidden or mysterious ways.

I do not think it is either 1 or 2.
I believe that the accounts of Judaism, Islam and the Baha'i Faith, that there is One God, are correct.
I believe the accounts of God in the New Testament are also correct, but the accounts of Christianity, that Jesus is God, are incorrect.

 

[Yerda]

The second option is more pleasing to me. Given the world with its messy nature of truth and apparent interconnectedness I could see how it would appear more fitting but I'm not sure I'm doing anything more than rationalising toward a preferred aesthetic.

I like this answer:

There is no risk in my case - you'd be 3 decades too late and nothing about carnal knowledge keeps me awake very long these days!

All that apart, I think they are both right. God is like a mountain - if you paint a picture of it from a certain fixed view point then only a picture that preserves the correct perspective etc. from that view point is correct, but if you try to paint the view from several or all angles at the same time, the resulting picture is going to be somewhat enigmatic and open to interpretation.

 

[SalixIncendium]

For the purposes of discussion, please assume that a god or gods exist.

If so, then assuming there are only two possible answers to the following question, what would be most likely to account for the varying accounts of the god or gods?

1) All accounts but one are incorrect.

2) All accounts are correct, but perhaps in hidden or mysterious ways.


Please note: Any answers to the effect that both questions are equally implausible or equally plausible will be rejected and might incur my showing up on your wedding night/anniversary to read to you and your beloved for hours on end from my 11 volume opus, "The Epistemology of Carnal Knowledge". Trust me. Don't risk it!

May I just forego answering and have you show up to read at my wedding should I be foolish enough to once again embark on such an endeavor?

Just in case the answer is 'no,' I will answer that "all accounts are correct, but perhaps in hidden or mysterious ways" would be the most likely answer, with the qualifier that many of, if not most of, said accounts may have are likely to have been misinterpreted, embellished, or mistranslated.