Is God Unknowable?

[Cynic]

I have a series of questions to ask, for the purpose of intellectual discussion (note: I will not criticize personal beliefs).

The first is...
-Is God unknowable?

If you answered yes, please respond to the following question.
-If God is unknowable, then how does one know that God exists?

If you answered no, please answer the following questions.
-How does one know God?
-Also, if we have multiple claims about God (i.e God is male, God is neither male nor female), how do we know which one is true?

 

[Guitar's Cry]

I have a series of questions to ask, for the purpose of intellectual discussion (note: I will not criticize personal beliefs).

The first is...
-Is God unknowable?

No.

If you answered no, please answer the following questions.
-How does one know God?

Through personal reflection. God is a personal symbol representing a relationship between an individual and the universe.

-Also, if we have multiple claims about God (i.e God's is male, God is neither male nor female), how do we know which one is true?

The same as above. Personal claims about God reveals things about a persons relationship with the universe.

 

[Mister Emu]

No, and God Himself for the other two.

 

[ChristineES]

The first is...
-Is God unknowable? Not at all.


If you answered no, please answer the following questions.
-How does one know God?Through prayer, also by reading the Bible. People are also possessed by the Holy Spirit and get to know Him that way.

-Also, if we have multiple claims about God (i.e God is male, God is neither male nor female), how do we know which one is true? God has no gender. Angels have no gender. The only reason humans have two genders is because Adam needed a helper and was lonely. I get this from reading the Bible.

 

[Prometheus]

No.



Through personal reflection. God is a personal symbol representing a relationship between an individual and the universe.



The same as above. Personal claims about God reveals things about a persons relationship with the universe.

So...God is a middle-man...er...middle-God...?

 

[cardero]

Physis writes: I have a series of questions to ask, for the purpose of intellectual discussion (note: I will not criticize personal beliefs).
The first is...
-Is God unknowable?

No, the only thing that seems to stand in the way of knowing GOD is one’s interest, one’s faith and our capability and capacity for understanding.

Physis writes:If you answered no, please answer the following questions.
-How does one know God?

Like any REALationship one must spend a great deal of time with another entity (as opposed to those “speed deity” services that many Holiday Inn’s are hosting nowadays). Like any REALationship, one must listen carefully and contribute towards this friendship. One must eventually realize if this is a REALationship that they want to encourage and continue with. Like any REALationship, it cannot be conducted through a chaperone or intervener (you will only be realizing this relationship vicariously through another which is never productive), the knowledge about GOD cannot be gathered through or contained to any book (just as if one reads a biography on someone does not give one reason to say they know all about someone or that they are in a REALationship with this person).

Physis writes -Also, if we have multiple claims about God (i.e God is male, God is neither male nor female), how do we know which one is true?

The fact of the matter is that there a lot of individual True gods (over 6 billion on this planet alone) so I can see how some may have concern over this. What one is looking for is the first GOD that came into existence, that is this BEings claim to fame and most likely the entity everyone would prefer to reach.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

-Is God unknowable?

Yes.

-If God is unknowable, then how does one know that God exists?

One doesn't.

 

[PureX]

I have a series of questions to ask, for the purpose of intellectual discussion (note: I will not criticize personal beliefs).

The first is...
-Is God unknowable?

That depends upon how one defines "God". And on how one defines knowledge. If I define God as wetness, and I define knowledge as a direct personal experience of something, then I can "know God" every time it rains. Because I can experience wetness personally and directly.

But if I define God as an infinite or absolute ideal, and I define knowledge as the direct personal experience of something, then I will not be able to know my God, because I am a limited and finite human being, and as such am not able to experience an infinite or absolute condition.

If you answered yes, please respond to the following question.
-If God is unknowable, then how does one know that God exists?

Obviously, if we define God as unknowable, then we cannot know that God exists. Nor can we know that God does not exist.

 

[doppelganger]

"God" is a symbol. For some that symbol represents the experience of not knowing. Many others experience all sorts of knowing about what they call "God." Hence, "theology."

If the former, one knows "God" exists by reflecting on one's experience of not knowing.

 

[Willamena]

Is God unknowable?

I don't know.

If you answered yes, please respond to the following question.
-If God is unknowable, then how does one know that God exists?

If you answered no, please answer the following questions.
-How does one know God?
-Also, if we have multiple claims about God (i.e God is male, God is neither male nor female), how do we know which one is true?

I expect the answers to these will vary with as many individuals as answer.

 

[doppelganger]

I expect the answers to these will vary with as many individuals as answer.

There are as many manifestations of "God" as there are consciousness to which "God" manifests. Such is the mystery of being.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

So...God is a middle-man...er...middle-God...?

Lol! If that's the label you want to put to it.

The reason why I say that God is a relationship between the intraperson and whatever is on the "outside" is because God is a reflection of the individual; and specifically that person's view of existence.

As Doppelganger put it, God is a symbol, and the meaning behind It is specific to the individual.

 

[Sunstone]

-Is God unknowable?

Some folks claim a direct, unmediated experience of god. But whether god exists or not is still up in the air because such experiences could be delusions in the much the same sense that the sight of my shoes across the floor from me could be a delusion.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

I have a series of questions to ask, for the purpose of intellectual discussion (note: I will not criticize personal beliefs).

The first is...
-Is God unknowable?

If you answered yes, please respond to the following question.
-If God is unknowable, then how does one know that God exists?

If you answered no, please answer the following questions.
-How does one know God?
-Also, if we have multiple claims about God (i.e God is male, God is neither male nor female), how do we know which one is true?

God also appears to be a powerful social force. As such, It can be studied--and probably has been. So as a social force we could know God.

 

[Hema]

No, God is not unknowable. God is always there for us even when people let us down. God knows our every thought and everything we are going through.

We know God by seeking him/her within. That's the closest place we can look. God can also be known through love. Love yourself and those around you. Love all of life and all of creation. God is love. See each other life form as a manifestation of God - just as you are, as equals...know that you are brothers and sisters in Spirit; no different from each other. The differences are only on the physical level, but these are only temporary because when we die we can't carry any of it with us, not even the body which is so dear to us now.

God is Spirit, not limited to the physical world but at the same time is manifested everywhere in the physical world. Since God is limitless, God cannot be defined by gender like us humans. If God can be categorized as either one, we would be limiting God. God is neither male nor female but has male and female qualities. Foe eg. God can protect us like a father or give us life like a mother. God is even our best friend.

 

[PureX]

I guess that for me, the term "God" refers to the divine mystery: to the source and nature of the mystery of the experience of being. In that sense "God" is very real, and knowable, as I am experiencing that mystery directly and personally. Yet because what I am experiencing is such a mystery to me, calling it "God" and saying that I am experiencing it doesn't really clarify it any. I mean, what can I mean by saying that I "know" a mystery? It's a contradiction in terms. If I really knew something, it wouldn't still be a mystery. Yet We DO experience mystery. And most of us DO experience what we would tend to call the Divine Mystery. We are just not able to penetrate this mystery through our experience of it.

 

[BruceDLimber]

Greetings!

>Is God unknowable?

In the Baha'i view, God is completely unknowable through any human initiative!

And the only knowledge we have of Him is via the Divine Messengers He sends periodically. (And this, of course, is how we know God exists!)

Best,

Bruce

 

[Super Universe]

I have a series of questions to ask, for the purpose of intellectual discussion (note: I will not criticize personal beliefs).

The first is...
-Is God unknowable?

If you answered yes, please respond to the following question.
-If God is unknowable, then how does one know that God exists?

If you answered no, please answer the following questions.
-How does one know God?
-Also, if we have multiple claims about God (i.e God is male, God is neither male nor female), how do we know which one is true?

God, and the universe, are knowable but that does not necessarily mean that every thing about God is knowable.

I know God exists because I'm supposed to know. Without it, I couldn't or wouldn't do my work.

 

[Cynic]

That depends upon how one defines "God". And on how one defines knowledge. If I define God as wetness, and I define knowledge as a direct personal experience of something, then I can "know God" every time it rains. Because I can experience wetness personally and directly.

The definition of knowledge is debatable, but perhaps we should leave it for a seperate thread.

For the discussion, lets say that...
-Knowledge entails certainty
-Knowledge is distinct from belief. There is a difference between knowing that a bridge is safe to cross, and believing that a bridge is safe to cross.
-We use methods to gain knowledge about something.
When driving, how do you know that your tire is flat or not? Lets say that you are driving at 35 miles per hour with your window down. Subtly in the background, you hear a hissing sound. You don't notice a siginificant loss of traction or control of the vehicle. There isn't any thumping sound or vibration. It is possible that this sound is not coming from any of your tires.
So how do you know that you have a flat tire?

Lets break down your arguement into a hypothetical syllogism:
God is wetness
I have experienced wetness
Therefore I have experienced God.

In order for this argument to be sound, the premises and conclusion must be true.
Let's look at the first premise, "God is wetness." This is your definition of God. However, can the truth of this statement be confirmed? How do you know that God is wetness?

 

[rad_ic_ul]

please read this and reply to me.

God​

Definition:​

The Supreme Being, whose distinctive name is Jehovah. The Hebrew language uses terms for "God" that convey the idea of strength, also of majesty, dignity, and excellence. In contrast to the true God, there are false gods. Some of these have set themselves up as gods; others have been made objects of worship by those who serve them.​

Are​

there sound reasons for believing in God?​

Ps. 19:1: "The heavens are declaring the glory of God; and of the work of his hands the expanse is telling."
Ps. 104:24: "How many your works are, O Jehovah! All of them in wisdom you have made. The earth is full of your productions."
Rom. 1:20: "His invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world’s creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made."​

New​

Scientist magazine said: "The lay view persists—of scientists having ‘disproved’ religion. It is a view that commonly expects scientists to be nonbelievers; that Darwin put the last nails in God’s coffin; and that a succession of scientific and technological innovations since have ruled out the possibility of any resurrection. It is a view that is wildly wrong."—May 26, 1977, p. 478.
A member of the French Academy of Sciences stated: "Natural order was not invented by the human mind or set up by certain perceptive powers. . . . The existence of order presupposes the existence of organizing intelligence. Such intelligence can be none other than God’s."—Dieu existe? Oui (Paris, 1979), Christian Chabanis, quoting Pierre-Paul Grassé, p. 94.
Scientists have identified over 100 chemical elements. Their atomic structure displays an intricate mathematical interrelationship of the elements. The periodic table points to obvious design. Such amazing design could not possibly be accidental, a product of chance.​

Illustration: When we see a camera, a radio, or a computer, we readily acknowledge that it must have been produced by an intelligent designer. Would it be reasonable, then, to say that far more complex things—the eye, the ear, and the human brain—did not originate with an intelligent Designer?

as for which one is the right god? read some of the religious beliefs

37 Now let us move on to the gods of ancient Greece and Rome. Rome borrowed many gods from ancient Greece, along with their virtues and vices. (See boxes, pages 43 and 66.) For example, Venus and Flora were brazen prostitutes; Bacchus was a drunkard and reveler; Mercury was a highway robber; and Apollo was a seducer of women. It is reported that Jupiter, the father of the gods, committed adultery or incest with about 59 women! (What a reminder of the rebel angels who cohabited with women before the Flood!) Since worshipers tend to reflect the conduct of their gods, is it any wonder that Roman emperors such as Tiberius, Nero, and Caligula led debauched lives as adulterers, fornicators, and murderers?
38 In their religion, the Romans incorporated gods from many traditions. For example, they took up with enthusiasm the worship of Mithras, the Persian god of light, who became their sun-god (see box, pages 60-1), and the Syrian goddess Atargatis (Ishtar). They converted the Grecian Artemis the huntress into Diana and had their own variations of the Egyptian Isis. They also adopted the Celtic triple goddesses of fertility.—Acts 19:23-28.
39 For the practice of their public cults at hundreds of shrines and temples, they had a variety of priests, all of whom "came under the authority of the Pontifex Maximus [Supreme Pontiff], who was the head of the state religion." (Atlas of the Roman World) The same atlas states that one of the Roman ceremonies was the taurobolium, in which "the worshiper stood in a pit and was bathed in the blood of a bull sacrificed over him. He emerged from this rite in a state of purified innocence."​

i'll love to hear your response.