God's Theory

[CalebAB]

To put it simply........... What if every religion in the world was right......... But wrong at the same time..... Picture this if you will..........!

Imagine a world, before human beings, in which every god believed actually existed. They all had a hand in the creation ofthe universe, and they all created the human race. Now imagine that being our creators they became concieted in themselves and wanted all the credit in the creation for themselves. from there a power stuggle insues and some gods break off to do thier own things and some stay together. As gods they gain thier power through the beliefs of the people. some having more power and control because of their influence on the human race. some having little to no followers start falling out of existance. This is merely a theory as of now and i will attempt to devolop it more as i go. i just wanted any input on what little i have so far.

 

[doppelganger]

Very intriguing thoughts. Metaphorically, I agree with almost all of it. :rainbow1:

 

[Wandered Off]

If you're looking for input, you may get more participation by creating a thread in the General Religious Debates area. Just a suggestion.

 

[3.14]

there is a web comic about that

 

[+Xausted]

So is there also a multiple underworld then as well?

 

[Melancholy]

I think you maybe onto something, Caleb.
The jewish people had Yahweh who was their tribal father to begin with and later became the God that we know of in monotheistic religion. Also the hebrews believed that different spirits controlled humans in different areas. It was later that Moses or Samuel introduced the name of yahweh as the one true God.

Even in Greek mythology there were different stages of the Gods even before The Gods of Olympus came into being and were worshipped.

We had/have Sun gods, moon gods, Earth Goddesses for centuries.
It stands to reason that maybe all were competing for the one spot to be ruler of all.

Even the Romans had several Gods and Goddesses before christanity was introduced by constantine.
Look forward to hearing your theories

 

[BucephalusBB]

So is there also a multiple underworld then as well?

Yeah, overthere they haven't been fighting eachother, but playing poker instead

 

[science_is_my_god]

To put it simply........... What if every religion in the world was right......... But wrong at the same time..... Picture this if you will..........!

Imagine a world, before human beings, in which every god believed actually existed. They all had a hand in the creation ofthe universe, and they all created the human race. Now imagine that being our creators they became concieted in themselves and wanted all the credit in the creation for themselves. from there a power stuggle insues and some gods break off to do thier own things and some stay together. As gods they gain thier power through the beliefs of the people. some having more power and control because of their influence on the human race. some having little to no followers start falling out of existance. This is merely a theory as of now and i will attempt to devolop it more as i go. i just wanted any input on what little i have so far.

This sounds like some cool Fantasy Novel, or a really sweet RPG. But I mean, come on. EVERY god people believe in exists? So if I make up a god to believe in right now, say the Oreo Cookie god (I will call him Orie), that means he exists all of a sudden? Doesn't that mean I am the god? I could create hundreds of "gods" but I would argue that they would have no influence over the world. I could believe that Orie creates oreo cookies, and yet, you would still understand that oreo cookies are in fact still made by Nabisco.
I'm hungry all of a sudden.

 

[Halcyon]

To put it simply........... What if every religion in the world was right......... But wrong at the same time..... Picture this if you will..........!

Imagine a world, before human beings, in which every god believed actually existed. They all had a hand in the creation ofthe universe, and they all created the human race. Now imagine that being our creators they became concieted in themselves and wanted all the credit in the creation for themselves. from there a power stuggle insues and some gods break off to do thier own things and some stay together. As gods they gain thier power through the beliefs of the people. some having more power and control because of their influence on the human race. some having little to no followers start falling out of existance. This is merely a theory as of now and i will attempt to devolop it more as i go. i just wanted any input on what little i have so far.

I find it an interesting comment on the evolution of religion, if instead of having the gods as literal beings they are the symbolic embodiment of their believers.

 

[science_is_my_god]

I find it an interesting comment on the evolution of religion, if instead of having the gods as literal beings they are the symbolic embodiment of their believers.

But something that is symbolic doesn't neccisarily have to exist though. And like I said an "embodiment of their believers" is dependant on its followers, because according to this hypothesis, we create our gods. Even me being an atheist says that this is waaaay too arrogant a stance we should be taking. To me, a god has to create us, not the other way around. So even if these beings exist, why call them gods?

 

[Tiberius]

There is a contradiction.

You say that some gods start falling out of existence because they lack followers. However, you are also asking us to accept that these gods existed before there were humans. So are humans required for these gods to exist or not?

if they are required, then how could the Gods have existed prior to the creation of people? If they are not required, why does the lack of followers lead to the gods dying off?

 

[science_is_my_god]

There is a contradiction.

You say that some gods start falling out of existence because they lack followers. However, you are also asking us to accept that these gods existed before there were humans. So are humans required for these gods to exist or not?

if they are required, then how could the Gods have existed prior to the creation of people? If they are not required, why does the lack of followers lead to the gods dying off?

:yes: Exactly what I was trying to say.

 

[CalebAB]

This sounds like some cool Fantasy Novel, or a really sweet RPG. But I mean, come on. EVERY god people believe in exists? So if I make up a god to believe in right now, say the Oreo Cookie god (I will call him Orie), that means he exists all of a sudden? Doesn't that mean I am the god? I could create hundreds of "gods" but I would argue that they would have no influence over the world. I could believe that Orie creates oreo cookies, and yet, you would still understand that oreo cookies are in fact still made by Nabisco.
I'm hungry all of a sudden

It's not that any time you make up a god "poof" one is created. it's that all the gods that are in existance influence and persuade you to belive in them. If you truly belived in "Orie" then that would mean that he already existed and is getting you to believe in him.

 

[CalebAB]

There is a contradiction.

You say that some gods start falling out of existence because they lack followers. However, you are also asking us to accept that these gods existed before there were humans. So are humans required for these gods to exist or not?

if they are required, then how could the Gods have existed prior to the creation of people? If they are not required, why does the lack of followers lead to the gods dying off?

It's not that there is a contradiction I simply stated my thoughts wrong. What i meant is that as a god losses its followers it loses its power of influence over humans. therefore in a sense the do fall out of existence at least in our eyes.

 

[Dunemeister]

But something that is symbolic doesn't neccisarily have to exist though. And like I said an "embodiment of their believers" is dependant on its followers, because according to this hypothesis, we create our gods. Even me being an atheist says that this is waaaay too arrogant a stance we should be taking. To me, a god has to create us, not the other way around. So even if these beings exist, why call them gods?

Okay, STOP THE BUS! Am I actually agreeing with an atheist? I mean, for REAL?

 

[CalebAB]

But something that is symbolic doesn't neccisarily have to exist though. And like I said an "embodiment of their believers" is dependant on its followers, because according to this hypothesis, we create our gods. Even me being an atheist says that this is waaaay too arrogant a stance we should be taking. To me, a god has to create us, not the other way around. So even if these beings exist, why call them gods?

Im not saying we create our gods. we simply react to thier influences and provide them with power over us.

 

[Dunemeister]

Im not saying we create our gods. we simply react to thier influences and provide them with power over us.

Well, I guess that's different, then.

 

[3.14]

so putting it simply your gods are "tiny dots" trying to make themselfs bigger by getting more people to belief in them, and the bigger they get the more influence they get. and if there are not enough beliefers they become to small to be noticed?

 

[CalebAB]

so putting it simply your gods are "tiny dots" trying to make themselfs bigger by getting more people to belief in them, and the bigger they get the more influence they get. and if there are not enough beliefers they become to small to be noticed?

Well i guess if you wanted to put things into a tangible perspective of thier power over us. then.... yes that would be pretty accurate. But seeing as religion has many things within it that cant be seen. why even think about it?

 

[Tiberius]

It's not that there is a contradiction I simply stated my thoughts wrong. What i meant is that as a god losses its followers it loses its power of influence over humans. therefore in a sense the do fall out of existence at least in our eyes.

And yet the millions of years that went by before humans existed didn't seem to bother these gods much, so why worship them now? or are they greedy petty gods who have nothing better to do than see who can get the most worshippers? Who can have the most influence over humans? yeah, let's worship THEM!