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So... you learned what a God is, compared this to what you experienced, and realized that the experience was from God?
It's not that easy to discern. I had known about God. I knew the concept of what a god was. But it wasn't until I started to seek God that I found myself experiencing something that I now strongly believe was some form of presence of God. It was and is far more than the physical experience of the hairs raising on my arms, and goosebumps, but a deep sense of love directed towards me. Now I love my wife, and I know she loves me. And I've never experienced that sense of love ever before in my life. It was as though my entire soul or mind, or heart, or what ever you want to call it, was in the right place with regard to where God desires me (us) to be.
This suggests a question: what's God? How can we tell the difference between God and other things?
I can not tell you what God is exactly based simply on my own personal experience of God. My personal experience of God has not in any way suggested that God is the creator of the universe for example. What I perceived in my experience of God is love. So to me, God is love. However, when I have contemplated the qualities of God that others have ascribed to God, I experience God. Most of what I know of God I have learned from others. Surely, there are those who know God far better than I do. I'm still struggling with sin. But when I am in prayer and I am addressing my heavenly Father using terms and attributes of God that I have learned to use from other people who apparently know God far better than I experience God. Jesus speaks of us being capable of experiencing the Holy Spirit if we love and obey Him. The Holy Spirit is often called the Spirit of Truth. Jesus had referred to this Holy Spirit "as another Comforter" in John 14, verse 16. He also refers to this being as the Spirit of Truth. I find that very interesting, because when I experience that which I believe is from God, my experience of God, I also feel as though I am somehow experiencing Truth, and this makes perfect sense to me, because when I am in the right state of mind, the state of mind that God desires for us to be in, it is most logical that God would send you comfort in the form of truth. Sometimes I'll be listening to a song, often times secular music that touches on these fundamental values of God, like love for others, and I get the goosebumps and that strong sensation of love and truth, and I know that what I just heard is absolute truth. So, God is also Truth. So from my own personal experience of God, I perceive that God is love and God is truth. And as a result of my learned knowledge of God, and how God is affected by that which I have learned, and in accordance I suppose to how I have processed those learned attributes of God, and considering the response I receive from the Holy Spirit, I gather that God is much much more. There is no doubt in my mind that what I have learned about God, such as Him being the creator of the universe is also true. But I could be wrong, and I'm okay with that. I'm confident that God will set straight every imperfect perception I have of Him before all is finished.
A person who knows what a butterfly is would be able to describe a butterfly. You claim to know what God is, so please describe God.
Can I blind person know what a butterfly is? Can a blind person describe a butterfly? I suppose that a person could indeed describe a butterfly if he were blind, but he surely could not do that simply based upon his own personal experience of butterflies, could he?
God is a being perfect in all of His attributes.
God is knowable.
God is approachable.
God is creative.
God is forgiving.
God is honest.
God is capable.
God is loving.
God is wise.
God is fatherly.
God is just
God is eternal
God is the creator and savior for all mankind.
Goosebumps are associated with strong emotions like fear and sexual arousal. It's an autonomic response.
I have to tell you, I've gotten the goose bumps before, prior to ever believing that it might also be associated with experiencing some form of presence of God. I remember occasions when I was a kid sitting outside in the dark with some friends telling ghost stories, and I'd get the goosebumps; and so clearly, your right. Goosebumps
can be and often are associated with fear. While I personally don't ever recall getting goosebumps from being sexually aroused, I don't doubt that sexual arousal can prompt such a sensation. After all, sex is supposed to be about love, and we can experience love.
That fact that the goosebumps are an autonomic response makes a lot of sense to me. If God wants us to "feel" Him, because we are carnal beings, it only makes sense to me that He's got to do that via our nervous system. We just don't feel anything without our nervous system. Why wouldn't I expect that to be necessary as well to experience God?
But let's set that aside for a moment.
Pretend we don't know what causes goosebumps.
No, we can't do that. You are suggesting that you know what causes goosebumps, but all you have said is that goosebumps are "an autonomic response." That says absolutely nothing at all as to what causes goosebumps. The autonomic system is the vehicle whereby chemical response reactions take place relaying sensory information to and from the brain. The autonomic system doesn't cause goosebumps. We have an autonomic system at all times, and we do not have goosebumps at all times. There has to be stimuli first. The stimuli are the causes of goosebumps, which causes a chemical chain reaction within the nervous system (autonomic system), either to or from the brain.
Please fill in the blank:
- I get goosebumps (when it's not cold).
- therefore, ____________.
- therefore, God must have done it.
What goes in that space to make it make sense?
Sorry, I can not complete the form with the information given. I need more information. Perhaps you need to provide an additional line or two of premise, and I see no need for two lines for conclusion.