Come and share you God-Concepts here:)

[lunamoth]

Silly monkey, it's Sunday during a holiday weekend.

You're view isn't that different from mine, as I understand it. God is infinite potential which gets expressed as finite actuality. Or as Tillich put is, God is the "ground of being."

Very nice. :yes: And that finite actuality being exquisitely expressed in Jesus.

 

[lilithu]

Very nice. :yes: And that finite actuality being exquisitely expressed in Jesus.

You're such a Christian.

:hug:

 

[autonomous1one1]

Well, I'm probably going to be accused of crackpottery, but here goes:
My concept of God is an infinite continuum of everything that will be, and everything that is. It is the "beginning," a state of latent but infinite potential; Every thought, every passion, every fear, every life experience, every moment in history, every world, every universe, every possibility, exists in this infinite "pleroma" latently, where space and time do not exist--but becomes manifest in an infinite multi-verse of universes of incomprehensible complexity, grandeur, and beauty--with different laws of physics; most being unimaginable to the human mind.
I believe every aspect of ourselves: our thoughts, desires, actions, lives; are facets, pieces, parts to this infinite pleroma, that eventually "return."..

Hmmm... Looks like I scared everyone away... :sad4:

Silly monkey, it's Sunday during a holiday weekend.
You're view isn't that different from mine, as I understand it. God is infinite potential which gets expressed as finite actuality. Or as Tillich put is, God is the "ground of being."

Very nice. :yes: And that finite actuality being exquisitely expressed in Jesus.

Hey, you folks are talking my language - only better. Frubals

 

[doppelganger]

Very nice. :yes: And that finite actuality being exquisitely expressed in Jesus.

Among many others.

 

[Wandered Off]

For clarification, would you say that these 'initializing powers' created the universe or just set things that were already there in motion? Or does the 'setting in motion' include creation of existence?

Great questions, a1... This is obviously a realm of pure speculation for me. I am at a very close to 51-49 probability split on this. I very slightly lean toward a 'first cause' scenario as something external to at least this dimension of the universe, and in that view, setting in motion would include creation of existence. On the other hand, I think it's not implausible to say that the law of conservation of matter holds, and that matter is eternal in one form or another. In that view, the endless repetition of collapse and expansion would make an external force unnecessary. Sorry this is not a definitive answer to your question, but it's the best I have at the moment.

 

[autonomous1one1]

Great questions, a1... This is obviously a realm of pure speculation for me. I am at a very close to 51-49 probability split on this. I very slightly lean toward a 'first cause' scenario as something external to at least this dimension of the universe, and in that view, setting in motion would include creation of existence. On the other hand, I think it's not implausible to say that the law of conservation of matter holds, and that matter is eternal in one form or another. In that view, the endless repetition of collapse and expansion would make an external force unnecessary. Sorry this is not a definitive answer to your question, but it's the best I have at the moment.

Thanks for responding. Seems like an open mind at this stage.

 

[tmaromine]

I'm atheist, but have a god concept also.

Basically, this god wouldn't leave everyone off to themselves to get through life, "spiritually" at least. As (near) 16 years old, I'm much more mature than my peers. I've cried over things they are completely blind to. I feel I've contemplated things more thoroughly than many of them ever will. I desire knowledge, and not just knowledge that suits me –*knowledge that is real. Now how nice it would be to have a god, that would really be your infinitely knowing best friend. Some people are fine with living through life without knowing what they don't need to, and that's made me feel very lonely, because that's not me. When I know and can 'see' things that other people don't even care about, what do I do ? I can't not care and just fit in. I really wish this god were 'God'. I would be that one person searching for answer, and being real close to 'God'... I can easily imagine it. But that seems not the case with any gods spoken of today.

Just wishful thinking...

 

[TashaN]

I mentioned this here before, and i'll post it here as well.

as a Muslim i will describe God according to what he called himself in Chapter 112.

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

Allah said:

[1] Say: He is Allah, the One and Only;


[2] Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;


[3] He begetteth not, nor is He begotten;


[4] And there is none like unto Him.

Holy Quran ( surah 112 ).

 

[Willamena]

Among many others.

All others.

 

[Rolling_Stone]

Myth is the way human beings relate to the universe and theology is one way in which it is presented.

Bearing this in mind, time is understood as the movement between the birth of an Idea and its fulfillment and the end-time conclusion is the human archetype, “God’s only begotten Son.” But the Idea infinite so there is no end to time. From the human point of view, everything transpires in time and From God’s point of view, time doesn’t even exist: the Idea was, and has always been, whole and complete. We are diversified in time, but the Archetype--our true Self--is not of it: the present is where the (illusory) past and its echo from the future intersect. Lewis Carroll was closer to the truth than he imagined when the White Queen in in his book Through the Looking Glass said: “It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards.”

 

[Aasimar]

A thread to allow everyone to express and discuss what they actually believe when it comes down to 'God'. From mildly agnostic to literal biblical belief to totally unique, i thought it would be interesting and healthy for the forum's extensive 'God debates' if some foundations were laid down like in this thread

I was brought up in a christian methodist chapel eniviroment, where i would regularly read to the people in services. Luckily my parents had no strict beliefs and encouraged me to think for myself and decide what i believed. As a result my beliefs have evolved over my time growing up, but have never been anything more than agnostic in standard. I generally liked the idea that the universe itself was God, rather than God being a controlling point or being outside of it. I later decided that it was of no benefit to bother using God in the viewpoit, and it more than sufficed to stand in awe at the structure of the world. Terming 'god' with it seemed to now belittle the awsomeness of the whole cosmos.

I believe Gods are man made ideas to explain that which we cannot explain.

 

[Yes Man]

I have a couple of concepts of what "God" could be. The idea of omniscience and omnipotence are difficult ideas for me to grasp. In order for an entity to possess total omniscience it would have to be totally aware of it's existence and the real or unreal world that it perceives. Of course the idea of inherent omniscience (the ability to know anything that one chooses to know and can be known) is probably something more easily grasped by someone. Omnipotence is another concept that I find tricky to understand. There is, of course, the omnipotence paradox to think of not to mention the sheer magnitude of knowledge of physics needed to understand how an object can materalize, destabilize, whatever by sheer will of some cosmic entity. If there is a god (or gods) that is omnipotent, it's omnipotence is probably also inherent. Now if an omniscient god does exist, it exists outside of time, correct? An omniscient being can conduct an infinite amount of calculations in zero time. Of course what arises from this situation is the idea that a thought process needs an amount of time to pass in order to take place. Whether such a god/gods would simply create the universe and cease to interfere with it any longer or maintain it. Another concept is that a Creator did exist at one point but it, being omniscient, had no desires since it had no need to eat, sleep, or even create since it already knows in advance it can create a universe. God having no desires, not even to exist, destroys itself. From its destruction spurts forth the laws of the universe, matter, energy, etc. Through time the universe forms and creates life and begins to rebuild itself. Once life arises it evolves and eventually a dominant species comes forth to reap the benefits of civilization. After many eons the civilization will develop technology and collective knowledge so advanced and vast that essentially God has reconstituted itself (the beforehand God concept is actually the subject of the book God's Debris which I highly recommend). Well those are my thoughts. I've read through the thread and have found other concepts that are both thought-provoking and plausible. More than likely my logic is flawed so if anyone has anything to add please do so.

 

[Alex_G]

Ah nice post, i like the thinking.

Another concept is that a Creator did exist at one point but it, being omniscient, had no desires since it had no need to eat, sleep, or even create since it already knows in advance it can create a universe. God having no desires, not even to exist, destroys itself. From its destruction spurts forth the laws of the universe, matter, energy, etc. Through time the universe forms and creates life and begins to rebuild itself. Once life arises it evolves and eventually a dominant species comes forth to reap the benefits of civilization. After many eons the civilization will develop technology and collective knowledge so advanced and vast that essentially God has reconstituted itself (the beforehand God concept is actually the subject of the book God's Debris which I highly recommend).

i will have to read this one, sounds a cool idea.

one major flaw i find in many god concepts is the anthropomorphic view. Naturally, we cant help but see ourselves in everything, and find it easier, or even comferting to do so. (classicly shouting at a broken down car to coax it to life). When human attributes leak into an idea of god the cracks begin to show, and the paradoxes form (understandibly as the two are pretty much mutually exclusive). This is a reason for my atheism, as a proper understanding of God is impossible without heavy human bias', let alone the lack of any evidence in the first place.

'knowlage' is a human attribute, somthing often unimaginativly potraid in the form of a hiarachy with god at the end. This is in my eyes mixing up 'god' with 'the perfect human'.

i know i cant realy say anything as i dont have answers, but i like to think that it is incomprehensibe, or at least so queer and unfamiliar that it would take an eternity for us to discover and grasp. Anything less wouldnt really cut it, would it?
I much prefer the hanging questions than constalation answers.