Does God exist?

[The_Evelyonian]

Same comment as for angellous. How should one go about figuring out the answer? What would be a good methodology?

It would be difficult to establish a methodology to search for something we've yet to clearly define.

Simply using the most base definition of "god" I can think of: "A super-natural intelligence and/or creator" I really can't think of any one thing that we could look for to establish the existence of such an entity.

Simply saying, "Well X couldn't have happened naturally so it must have been created." is just an argument from ignorance. There could be any number of possible explanations for X, a god would just be one of them.

Honestly, in my opinion, if there is a "god" out there then the only thing that could absolutely establish his/her/its existence would be the god-being itself. It would have to show itself, not through something like a prophet or a holy book, but a clear unambiguous sign.

 

[Nerthus]

There might be a God. I don't believe in the Christian, Jewish, or Muslim portrayal of a God though. I don't think that 'God' is what these religions portray at all.

 

[Erebus]

Does God exist?

*checks mirror*

It appears he does.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

While it is true that Christianity only posits a single 3-in-1 God, Christians see and describe that God differently.

I call it "false monotheism," because we wouldn't know it was monotheism unless someone just told us.

Could you tell us your view of that God? Thanks.

I confess this is my weakness - I am a biblical scholar, not a theologian - and I don't envy them for their task.

In short, I believe that God is the Creator and Sustainer of the cosmos, does what God wants, and came to earth as Jesus to show us how to live spiritually, which culminates in death and resurrection.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I agree that defining the word "God" is a good first step. Can you posit a definition?

"God" with a capital 'G'? I would define "God" as the focus of worship of the Abrahamic religions or as a character described in their scriptures (also called "Jehova", "I AM", "Yahweh", "YHWH" and "Allah", among other names).

As for "god" with a lowercase 'g', I would define it as a supernatural being, entity or person that is the focus of worship for a religion.

 

[indian tea]

God is a number we cannot count to...

 

[tomato1236]

This thread is to debate the question of the existence of God.
I hope we can have reasoned, civilized conversation about this important issue.

So:
Does God exist?

Hahaha

 

[Rainbow Mage]

I will venture to define God. God has three definitions in modern society.

1) Abrahamic- Supreme God, almighty, etc.

2) Pantheistic- Supreme Life Force within everything

3) Pagan- Supreme God/Force manifesting in various persons/eminations/gods and goddesses.

Secondly, my view of God fits all three definitions.

Netjer is one. Netjer is in all life. Netjer does have many names and forms.

 

[Autodidact]

There might be a God. I don't believe in the Christian, Jewish, or Muslim portrayal of a God though. I don't think that 'God' is what these religions portray at all.

What do you think God is?

 

[Onkara]

What do you think God is Autodidact?

 

[Autodidact]

I call it "false monotheism," because we wouldn't know it was monotheism unless someone just told us.



I confess this is my weakness - I am a biblical scholar, not a theologian - and I don't envy them for their task.

In short, I believe that God is the Creator and Sustainer of the cosmos, does what God wants, and came to earth as Jesus to show us how to live spiritually, which culminates in death and resurrection.

O.K., let's go with that. By describing God as "the" Creator, etc. are you assuming that It exists as part of the description?

How can we go about figuring out whether there is any such thing?

 

[Autodidact]

"God" with a capital 'G'? I would define "God" as the focus of worship of the Abrahamic religions or as a character described in their scriptures (also called "Jehova", "I AM", "Yahweh", "YHWH" and "Allah", among other names).

Although it's not really clear who that is, since all the descriptions contradict each other.

As for "god" with a lowercase 'g', I would define it as a supernatural being, entity or person that is the focus of worship for a religion.

Would you include some function as a creator? Even in a polytheistic religion, don't the gods always have some role in creation?

 

[Autodidact]

This thread is to debate the question of the existence of God.
I hope we can have reasoned, civilized conversation about this important issue.

So:
Does God exist?

Hahaha

Or maybe at least some of us can.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Although it's not really clear who that is, since all the descriptions contradict each other.

Then consider it a range of possibilities.

The Muslims might reject the idea of a Trinitarian God, but if someone actually presented me with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I'd be willing to say "okay, I agree that's God." Same for other details of the concept of God: something like an all-powerful father figure works, but something like a wood nymph probably wouldn't.

Would you include some function as a creator? Even in a polytheistic religion, don't the gods always have some role in creation?

I deliberately left "creator" out.

No, I don't think the gods always had some role in creation. Take Greek mythology: none of the traditional Olympian pantheon were considered "creators". The creator god(dess) in Greek mythology was Gaia, who created the world with her son/husband Uranus, who was himself deposed and castrated by their son Cronos, who was himself deposed by Zeus.

In any case, I think that even polytheistic systems that include a creator god usually include at least a few non-creator gods as well.

 

[tomato1236]

Or maybe at least some of us can.

You're right. I can't. Not today. I'm sorry, I just read the post as being a little sarcastic, which you may not have intended, but it was funny nonetheless.

"this important issue".

 

[PolyHedral]

God is a number we cannot count to...

There isn't one, since the integers are countable.

 

[The_Evelyonian]

Then consider it a range of possibilities.

To me, that is part of the problem with trying to define a god. No possibility can really be ruled out.

To illustrate it, let me posit a question I heard a while back:

"What if god is dead?"

What if god created everything and then died? How would we know?

If we are trying to prove or disprove the existence of a god, we can use various religions concepts of god as a good start. But even if we are able to disprove them one by one, I don't think we will ever reach point where we will be able to say with 100% certainty that we have disproved god. The concept is just too vague.

 

[Autodidact]

'Of course' because I am a Christian.

My way of thinking about things must be very different from yours. For me, before deciding to be a Christian, I would first ask the threshold question of whether there is a God at all, before picking one.

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'm trying to ask about how you got there. Are you saying it's not primarily a process of reasoning, but one of personal experience?

I came to these beliefs through long meditation on Christian teachings and philosophy.

Why did you start there? Why not Zoroastrian teaching and philosophy? Or Taoist? Etc.? That seems so arbitrary to me.

 

[Autodidact]

It would be difficult to establish a methodology to search for something we've yet to clearly define.

Simply using the most base definition of "god" I can think of: "A super-natural intelligence and/or creator" I really can't think of any one thing that we could look for to establish the existence of such an entity.

I guess then we'd have to talk about what it means for something to be supernatural.

Simply saying, "Well X couldn't have happened naturally so it must have been created." is just an argument from ignorance. There could be any number of possible explanations for X, a god would just be one of them.

I agree. Also history shows us that we usually do find a natural explanation, after a few centuries of working on the problem.

Honestly, in my opinion, if there is a "god" out there then the only thing that could absolutely establish his/her/its existence would be the god-being itself. It would have to show itself, not through something like a prophet or a holy book, but a clear unambiguous sign.

But how would you know it was God showing Itself, and not like the Wizard of Oz projected by a man behind a curtain? If It did, would It still be supernatural?

Don't beings "show themselves" by evidence, by producing the sight, sound, feel, etc. of their existence?

Are things that produce sight, sound, etc. still supernatural?

 

[Autodidact]

What do you think God is Autodidact?

When I started thinking about it, what came into my mind was a powerful being who has some role in creation, and who cannot be seen, heard, felt or experienced with any physical sense.