God compared to Humans

[Storm]

So explain how you would interpret it and why.

I wouldn't, for the same reasons.

It occurs to me that I may have answered the wrong question. So, with the caveat that this is rampant speculation, perhaps it will be more satisfactory (or at least spark more discussion ):

If I were Christian, and felt the need to accept Scripture as God's Word (not that the one necessitates the other), I might go the "spiritual image" route. Meaning, I would assume it was a reference to our sapience and similar traits.

I simply cannot imagine that I would ever believe God was a hairless ape with vestigial organs. :thud:

 

[Truth_Faith13]

yeah, i know. I was just using the common idiom. To most people looking at them, they look alike. That's all i was saying.

ok

 

[RomCat]

Jesus Christ is both God and man.
That is the comparison you seek.

 

[Willamena]

But...but.... the other thread....hhh...

..

What?

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Should God be compared to humans or humanity in any way?

Sure. Well, some of us anyway.

 

[MoonWater]

If we are talking about god in terms of the human concept then yes we can and should compare it to humans and humanity as how we ourselves conceptualize "god" can reveal a great deal about ourselves.

If we are talking about god in terms of "if an actual being that could be called/considered "god" existed what would that actual being be like?" I'd say a comparison is impossible as we can't know what such a being would be like until we actually meet one and even then we have to recognize that it in fact is one.

 

[DadBurnett]

Friend rojse,
*god* is a concept and a label for *Universal Energy*.
Humans are just *Individual Energy*.
Energy remains the same.
Conclusion: The final goal of humans [individual energy] is to merge with *god* [universal energy] and be One.
The only blockage in between these two energies is the MIND.
Love & rgds

I wonder about "comparing" God to universal energy ... if we perceive God as Creator of all, then perhaps the universe is a creation ... making God something more than, beyond, the concept of universe ...
I have a perception of God as infinite Intelligence or Mind and our only "concrete- connection" to God-Mind is by way of our mind.

 

[Trey of Diamonds]

I wonder about "comparing" God to universal energy ... if we perceive God as Creator of all, then perhaps the universe is a creation ... making God something more than, beyond, the concept of universe ...
I have a perception of God as infinite Intelligence or Mind and our only "concrete- connection" to God-Mind is by way of our mind.

I have considered the possiblity that God and Satan are personifications of the positive and negative energies that make up the universe. The question then becomes are they self aware and if so, are they aware of us?

 

[Katzpur]

If I were Christian, and felt the need to accept Scripture as God's Word (not that the one necessitates the other), I might go the "spiritual image" route. Meaning, I would assume it was a reference to our sapience and similar traits.

But what in the world is a "spiritual image"? I hear people use that phrase and I can't for the life of me figure out what it is they are trying to say. I have yet to have anyone even use the word "image" in a sentence to mean anything other than what I'm insisting it means.

 

[cardero]

I wish I had not been so extravagant with my frubals today, because I have seen quite a few responses that I would have fruballed otherwise.

Not to worry, you can get me back tomorrow, I'll remind you again.

 

[Willamena]

What other kind of image is there? An image is the respresentation of physical qualities. Identical twins are the mirror image of one another. When you take someone's picture, you capture their image digitally or on film. A sculptor creates a three-dimensional image of his subject. If someone is the image of health, he looks like a healthy person. Even when you "imagine" something, you picture it in your mind. People want to say that we're created in God's spiritual image. What on earth does that even mean?

Do blind people know images? What I'm asking is if you think of image as only visual, or something more?

 

[Katzpur]

Do blind people know images? What I'm asking is if you think of image as only visual, or something more?

I don't know for sure. Offhand, I'd say not the same as the rest of us do. My sister-in-law, Bonnie, is blind. This would be an interesting question to ask her. My son, James, looks quite a bit like my husband, Matt (Bonnie's brother). She knows what Matt looks like because as a child she used to touch his face to know what he like. If she were to ask me about my son, and I were to say, "He's the image of his father," I think she'd remember what her hands told her Matt looks like and think that James must look a lot like him.

I don't think she'd think, "Well, Matt (my husband, her brother) is compassionate, giving, spiritual, and patient." If James (my son) is in Matt's image, he must be those things, too. I think that if she wanted to know about James' character traits and qualities, she'd ask about them using some other wording and I'd answer by saying, "Yes, he's a lot like Matt in those ways, too." I doubt very much I'd say, "Yes, his spiritual image is much like his dad's."

 

[Storm]

But what in the world is a "spiritual image"? I hear people use that phrase and I can't for the life of me figure out what it is they are trying to say. I have yet to have anyone even use the word "image" in a sentence to mean anything other than what I'm insisting it means.

I explained what it means to me in the post you quoted: primarily sapience.

 

[Katzpur]

I explained what it means to me in the post you quoted: primarily sapience.

So are you saying that "image" was not the best choice of words or that you and I just disagree as to the definition of the word "image"?

 

[Storm]

So are you saying that "image" was not the best choice of words or that you and I just disagree as to the definition of the word "image"?

Neither. I was speculating on how I would reconcile it if I were a Chirstian.

 

[Katzpur]

Neither. I was speculating on how I would reconcile it if I were a Chirstian.

I'm sorry. Seriously, I'm not trying to be argumentative. I just can't figure out what there is to reconcile. If someone showed me a red apple, I wouldn't even try to figure out how to reconcile the fact that I was looking at a red apple with my conviction that it was really a yellow banana. I wouldn't try to explain that red applies are really yellow bananas. I'd say, "Gosh, it really does look like a red apple you've got there. I wonder what would make me think it's a yellow banana."

I would expect a non-Christian to take issue with what the Bible has to say about God. That's only logical. What I can't understand is why most Christians feel compelled to try to re-interpet the words "image" and "likeness" to mean something different than what they mean in every single solitary instance except when they apply to God. It's like they read the words, know what they say and know what they mean, but somehow they don't want to believe them.

 

[Storm]

I'm sorry. Seriously, I'm not trying to be argumentative. I just can't figure out what there is to reconcile. If someone showed me a red apple, I wouldn't even try to figure out how to reconcile that fact with my conviction that it was really a yellow banana.

I would expect a non-Christian to take issue with what the Bible has to say about God. That's only logical. What I can't understand is why most Christians feel compelled to try to re-interpet the words "image" and "likeness" to mean something different than what they mean in every single solitary instance except when they apply to God. It's like they read the words, know what they say and know what they mean, but somehow they don't want to believe them.

Like I said, I just can't conceinve of God being a hairless ape.

 

[Don Penguinoini]

Should God be compared to humans or humanity in any way? If so, why should God be compared, and in what regards should God be compared to humans or humanity?

Not at all. We are not yet at the level of God, and perhaps maybe in time we will be.

I also do not believe we are made in God's image... Otherwise, would we won be perfect and not have useless things in our bodies?

 

[Katzpur]

Not at all. We are not yet at the level of God, and perhaps maybe in time we will be.

I also do not believe we are made in God's image... Otherwise, would we won be perfect and not have useless things in our bodies?

But perhaps when we're perfect, we will no longer have useless things in our bodies. By the way, what are you saying an "image" is anyway? You're not a Christian, so you don't have to make the Bible tie in to what you believe about God, but it does sound to me like you know what an image is.

 

[Don Penguinoini]

But perhaps when we're perfect, we will no longer have useless things in our bodies. By the way, what are you saying an "image" is anyway? You're not a Christian, so you don't have to make the Bible tie in to what you believe about God, but it does sound to me like you know what an image is.

Maybe... One day.

An image, the way God is. Perfection. I really cannot explain more than this. I do know what it means, i just find it hard to put things such as this into words.

On this forum, everyones general perception of religion used a Bible and Christianity. I have tried countless times to let people know that there are lots of religions in the world... It is just does not work. No-one really understands that there are lots of religions in the world. It is near impossible to make a generalises statement about religion on the whole because there is so much variation. But all the diversity goes out the window. Because some people look at the bible and thinks this means religion.

It isn't everyone, but it is a lot of people.