Tell me your thoughts on God

[Ostronomos]

I was pondering about ominpotence and what a God must "experience" (perhaps this word is too limited to describe it). If the Almighty One existed what's to stop Him from disguising Himself as a human and existing among us? Is it so uncharacteristic of Omnipotence to assume the form of man, with all our flaws? It does not appear that belief in God is strictly motivated by desire, some people claim it can be a rational and clear-cut understanding. If you wish to contribute, I don't want an answer from the bottom of your heart or any of that. I prefer a rational, thought-out, genius-like intellectual type response.

 

[an anarchist]

Someone is gonna ask you to define God any minute now… so I guess I’ll ask.

How are you defining God? Are we free to use whatever definition we personally use in our own lives and understanding, or is there a specific definition of “God” you’d like us to adhere to for this thread?

 

[JustGeorge]

I suspect The Powers that Be are not omnipotent.

 

[Ostronomos]

Someone is gonna ask you to define God any minute now… so I guess I’ll ask.

How are you defining God? Are we free to use whatever definition we personally use in our own lives and understanding, or is there a specific definition of “God” you’d like us to adhere to for this thread?

God is the conscious universe manifesting lower levels of reality such as physical matter.

This should suffice as a definition.

 

[PureX]

If you assume omnipotence, why not assume omniscience? And if you assume omniscience, there would be no reason for God to experience our reality, as God would already know all that could be known about it. And if you assume omnipotence and omniscience, why not also assume omnipresence? In which case, perhaps WE ARE God experiencing It's own Creation and we don't realize it because God wants it to be a genuine experience ... from within.

There are a lot of possibilities. As many as we can imagine, and many more that we can't. None of which we will ever be able to confirm. So I guess the question to us would be which version of God would we most like to be true? And how would our lives be effected if we chose to live as if it were true?

 

[Kathryn]

I am part of a book club and this year we are reading books with fathers as central characters, so I asked people what their relationships were or are like with their fathers - I thought it would be interesting and would offer some insight into their relationships with God the Father (they all profess to be Christians). Wow! I got an earful! Very complicated relationships FOR SURE.

Mine was great with my dad, and in fact we were very close, but no one asked about my mom - she was mentally ill and my dad was a massive enabler with her. I asked him one time why he didn't divorce her and he said something along the lines of "Well, what would she do? She would end up on the street." Which was probably true but wow.

 

[Betho_br]

The Almighty God is an exceedingly stern being with those who know Him best.

 

[Kathryn]

The Almighty God is an exceedingly stern being with those who know Him best.

What was your relationship like with YOUR dad? LOL

I really do think that playhs a big part in our relationship with God.

 

[Betho_br]

What was your relationship like with YOUR dad? LOL

My father was murdered in religious conflicts when I was about three years old. The Bible took the place of my father; I received it at the age of nine, and the books of Proverbs and the Gospels shaped the fatherly guidance I didn’t have due to my father’s absence.

 

[Kathryn]

My father was murdered in religious conflicts when I was about three years old. The Bible took the place of my father; I received it at the age of nine, and the books of Proverbs and the Gospels shaped the fatherly guidance I didn’t have due to my father’s absence.

I am sorry to hear that. My dad died about 7 years ago and I miss him very much.

 

[Betho_br]

I am sorry to hear that. My dad died about 7 years ago and I miss him very much.

I understand your pain. The same people who murdered my father have tried to kill me numerous times through fraudulent and criminal indictments against me over four decades. They have attacked my family and managed to legally separate me from my daughter—a relentless corruption involving the main leaders of my country. For decades, everything has been covered up, and nothing has been investigated. Thousands of crimes.

 

[Kathryn]

I understand your pain. The same people who murdered my father have tried to kill me numerous times through fraudulent and criminal indictments against me over four decades. They have attacked my family and managed to legally separate me from my daughter—a relentless corruption involving the main leaders of my country. For decades, everything has been covered up, and nothing has been investigated. Thousands of crimes.

I am very grateful to have been born and to live in the US. It's not perfect but it sure could be a lot worse.

 

[Betho_br]

I am very grateful to have been born and to live in the US. It's not perfect but it sure could be a lot worse.

Truly… you have some problems, but they don’t compare to ours. Be glad for that.

 

[Kathryn]

Truly… you have some problems, but they don’t compare to ours. Be glad for that.

Oh, I am, believe me. I didn't ask to be born or to live in this country. I didn't ask for whitish skin. I didn't ask to be better looking than average. I didn't ask to be middle class American. I mean, I just am and I am very grateful.

 

[osgart]

Where do ideals come from such as: The Laws of Logic, Mathematical Truths, Music, and Objective Moral Values and Truths? Why are they so powerful and effective?

If there was a full embodiment of ideals in eternal being(s) then that would be God(s).

But looking at nature and existence everything is nowhere near ideal. Nature and existence are extremely indifferent to life. The universe doesn't care about life on Earth nor was it made for it.

 

[plodding inarticulateness]

God is the conscious universe manifesting lower levels of reality such as physical matter.

This should suffice as a definition.

In what way do you consider the "universe" to be "conscious"? Is the universe conscious merely through the fact that it contains conscious organisms here on planet earth? Or is it your contention that the universe itself is a conscious being in and of itself. If the latter, what informs such a conclusion as it is one that I do not share nor see any indication of. In fact, quite the opposite seems to be true.

 

[ChristineM]

I prefer a rational, thought-out, genius-like intellectual type response.

My thoughts on god (or gods) is that they exist in the mind of believers. Which is why there is no coherent definition of a god, everyone is different and a believer in god(s) has their own idea of what their god(s) are.
I also think that confirmation of this shows itself in the way a believer telling gods will is coincidentally the exact will of the believer.

 

[Madsaac]

God exists in two ways.

1. Something that could have started the big bang or before and has had nothing to do with the universe since.

2. When humans evolved consciousness and needed help to understand their world, they made up 'god' in their highly developed, creative brain.
(God didn't exist until we developed consciousness)

Pretty simple, really.

 

[Mock Turtle]

God or gods are a convenience for those who simply cannot live without any such concept. For those that can - welcome to life along with all the rest of the non-human world - and as to such, seem to manage fairly well, especially before humans came on the scene.

 

[Ostronomos]

In what way do you consider the "universe" to be "conscious"? Is the universe conscious merely through the fact that it contains conscious organisms here on planet earth? Or is it your contention that the universe itself is a conscious being in and of itself. If the latter, what informs such a conclusion as it is one that I do not share nor see any indication of. In fact, quite the opposite seems to be true.

I am of the opinion that the panpsychist view of a universal consciousness is correct. However, this consciousness lays dormant the vast majority of the time. It only generates itself through an observer. Such an observer connects with the universe through their quantum brain.