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Does God exist?
- Thread starter Autodidact
- Start date
Autodidact
Intentionally Blank
I agree that defining the word "God" is a good first step. Can you posit a definition?
Autodidact
Intentionally Blank
I was looking for reasoned thought and debate, angellous, not simple declarations.
Autodidact
Intentionally Blank
Same comment as for angellous. How should one go about figuring out the answer? What would be a good methodology?
Autodidact
Intentionally Blank
*sigh* This may be harder than I thought. Onkarah: What is your reasoning? How did you come to this conclusion? OR, how should a person go about figuring out the answer to this question?
Autodidact
Intentionally Blank
See above comments.
C'mon people, you can do better than this. Let's have some REASONING.
Autodidact
Intentionally Blank
Thank you, IMO Penguin is pushing the conversation in the right direction.
A
angellous_evangellous
Guest
There's only one Christian God.
And the question "does God exist" certainly leaves room for how I addressed it.
The question does not demand a formal logical argument.
Autodidact
Intentionally Blank
Let's start with a definition, Onkarah, that may help. What definition are you using?
If God = everything that exists, why do we need the word "God?" (p.s. Would you call yourself a Panentheist?
Rainbow Mage
Lib Democrat/Agnostic/Epicurean-ish/Buddhist-ish
Well let's see... My answer hasn't changed, and I'm guessing most people on RF's hasn't changed, and the answers were the same the first 500 times this question was asked.
Autodidact
Intentionally Blank
Leonard Cohen's poetry is important to me. (And yes, that does answer your question.)
"When you're not feeling holy, your loneliness says that you've sinned."
A
angellous_evangellous
Guest
Well, everyone knows that there is no evidence to discuss.
So it really boils down to a 'yes' or 'no' answer based on how one chooses to experience or think about problems related to the existence of God.
We are going to go around in circles, so 'yes' fits perfectly in where we are going.
Autodidact
Intentionally Blank
O.K., let's work with that. Could you expound a bit on who or what "the Christian God" is? (Why "of course?")
What is the primary basis for your belief? How did you come to this belief?
Eliot Wild
Irreverent Agnostic Jerk
It seems to me the simplest definition of God (thank you, Mr. William of Ockham) is 'Creator'. Without having to parse meanings and observations over God's benevolence, omniscience, omnipotence, love of disco and amazing recipe for shortbread cookies, we might just stick to arguing over whether there appears to be more evidence and reason to accept a universal 'Creator' or an Infinite Universe.
Ehhh, but what do I care . . . I'm now scouring the internet for Leonard Cohen's poetry.
Ehhh, but what do I care . . . I'm now scouring the internet for Leonard Cohen's poetry.
Autodidact
Intentionally Blank
No, but I am trying to get at something more than "That's what I believe period." If not a formal logical argument, then some sort of persuasive basis for your belief.
While it is true that Christianity only posits a single 3-in-1 God, Christians see and describe that God differently. Could you tell us your view of that God? Thanks.
Autodidact
Intentionally Blank
Your belief is not in any way based on evidence?
How do you come to a belief not based on evidence?
How do you choose to think about it? (You can choose how you experience it?)
My hope is that we will learn something in our circular journey.
Hi
Yes, I could call myself a panentheist (or pantheist). If you agree with that and for you that means your questions is answered, then that is the end of it. The problems is that although the idea might be grasped, the doubt still remains that God does not exist. Panenthism remains just an academic idea with no more value that the idea "what's for dinner?".
I do not like the word "God" as many people define it in Abrahamic terms i.e. a separate male God who resides in heaven, castigating those who blaspheme.
God can be that but God is also beyond that. This is why I would use Brahman or "Satchitananda" in place of God, as it narrows it down to core attributes, which are Sat = being, Chit = consciousness and Ananda =bliss. These are the attributes which us human can come to know and by knowing them in ourselves we can recognise that they are universal, unchanging and eternal i.e. God (or Brahman).
A
angellous_evangellous
Guest
'Of course' because I am a Christian.
The primary basis of my belief is quite complex because I've worked on it intensely for so long. For the sake of mutual understanding, I think that through faith, Christians existentially participate in the myths concerning God and both early and late Christian traditions that offer authoritative interpretations of these myths. God is therefore someone to be experienced, not someone that is contained and restricted by human thought.
I came to these beliefs through long meditation on Christian teachings and philosophy.
Autodidact
Intentionally Blank
Poem 50:
I lost my way, I forgot to call on your name. The raw heart beat against the world, and the tears were for my lost victory. But you are here. You have always been here. The world is all forgetting, and the heart is a rage of directions, but your name unifies the heart, and the world is lifted into its place. Blessed is the one who waits in the traveller's heart for his turning.