I am inspired by thought of what I can be, yes.
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The Form of God
- Thread starter SalixIncendium
- Start date
No, I am a Jew. Thanks. Now drop it.
If you're a Jew, then you are in a special category of Jews, rather than being one of a great many like you. I am not sure what you mean by calling yourself a 'true' Jew. Are you implying that others are fakes? If so, that would be offensive to those Torah Jews who actually practice Judaism.
No, you're not practicing Judaism if you believe in Jesus. You're making us look bad here.
Cuddly.
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Rational Agnostic
Well-Known Member
Inspired by a couple of threads that mention anthropomorphism, I'm curious how members here view their God. It would appear in this painting by Michelangelo, likely the most popular and recognizable depiction of God, that many anthropomorphize God.
What form does God take in your belief structure?
If you anthropomorphize your God(s), what is the purpose of doing so?
Gods are nearly always a reflection of the culture they were created in. For instance, Caucasian patriarchal societies typically depict their god as an aging white guy, while Asians depict their gods as being asian, Africans have gods of their own race, and Native Americans have gods that tend to reflect the things they observe in their surroundings (a certain tribe worships the Great Coyote in the Sky for instance). In contrast to this, Some ancient matriarchal societies worshipped goddesses instead of gods. The fact that societies worship deities that are reflective of their own cultures is strong evidence that all deities are manmade constructs, and humans in their arrogance believe that the gods must be just like their culture, because they believe they are superior to other cultures. Look at the laughable silliness in the bible about the creator of the universe helping one specific country on this speck of dust planet win battles. Childish.
I'm no fan of the notion the gods exist, but I think the fact societies worship deities that reflect themselves is at best ambiguous evidence for the notion that all deities are man made constructs. Ambiguous because alternative explanations are available. For instance, the reason for anthropomorphizing deities might be that it serves to make them more emotionally accessible to people or perhaps that it serves to allow people to grasp the "un-graspable". If either of those things were the case, deities could still exist and yet anthropomorphism would be explained.
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
Does your view of atheism and peoples misguided view of not knowing they are in the image of god bring you closer to god?
74x12
Well-Known Member
Then how did He make man in His own (non-existent) image? This is why I think Kabbalah can be wrong (even for Judaism) because it says God is the Ein Sof. When the God of Moses is identifiable and personal. Is God Endless? Yes. An Infinite Mind? I believe it. But knowable through His favor. Not knowable through our own exertions.
Those who really see God as He is are the ones who are peeled themselves rather than the other way around.
Those who really see God as He is are the ones who are peeled themselves rather than the other way around.
There's some truth to what you say. However, I think you're being pedantic.
It inspires me to encourage & help others be closer to G-d. And that reminds me that I'm not as close as I can be, that I, too, have lots of room to grow. So, yes.
Christianity is not Judaism.
True, meaning just that, true. And that is in no way offensive to us "Torah Jews who actually practice Judaism."
Btw, vicarious atonement is the theme of Yom Kippur.
RabbiO
הרב יונה בן זכריה
[QUOTE="Yochanan, post: 5603997, member: 64155
If people could follow barKoseva - who was clearly a false Messiah - and Akiva (G-d Himself struck 24000 of his followers) - and still be called Jews, or can be Buddhists or athiests and still be called Jews, then I can chose Whom to call Messiah too and still be respected as a Jew.[/QUOTE]
If people could follow barKoseva - who was clearly a false Messiah - and Akiva (G-d Himself struck 24000 of his followers) - and still be called Jews, or can be Buddhists or athiests and still be called Jews, then I can chose Whom to call Messiah too and still be respected as a Jew.[/QUOTE]
Exactly. I do not practice Christianity.
If you believe in Jesus, you do.
I believe it is Yeshua, the Orthodox Hassidic Jewish guy, Who is Messiah, not the goy knock-off who is pushed as being the same as. NO I do Not practice Christianity.
Frater Sisyphus
Contradiction, irrationality and disorder
God (The All) is impossible to know or understand, as it is beyond everything - it is infinite.
As a Thelemite, I believe in the two 'absolute' dual aspects of God, in their (sic) unity manifest as: Nuit (infinite space, beyond the material world - Feminine) and Hadit (matter, energy itself - Masculine) - which are in a way, like the Yin and Yang of Taoism. But then there is also a more personal, less-absolute layer of God known as Ra-Hoor-Khuit (or Horus, for short), which manifests as the sun itself. But ultimately, I don't believe our purpose or goal in life itself is to actually commune with God (in spite of "As Above, So Below") - I believe it is the purpose of Death; to become one with God (The All).
So to get back to the essence of the thread - I believe the Taoist axiom "The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao, The name that can be named is not the eternal name." The absolute, infinite God is not something that words are capable of describing or defining, despite that all religions attempt this (to varying degrees).
It's a strange paradigm but we live our lives separate from God (in a definite sense), even though God is manifest in every single atom and particle in the universe - but we become one with the eternal ecstasy of God when we die.
As a Thelemite, I believe in the two 'absolute' dual aspects of God, in their (sic) unity manifest as: Nuit (infinite space, beyond the material world - Feminine) and Hadit (matter, energy itself - Masculine) - which are in a way, like the Yin and Yang of Taoism. But then there is also a more personal, less-absolute layer of God known as Ra-Hoor-Khuit (or Horus, for short), which manifests as the sun itself. But ultimately, I don't believe our purpose or goal in life itself is to actually commune with God (in spite of "As Above, So Below") - I believe it is the purpose of Death; to become one with God (The All).
So to get back to the essence of the thread - I believe the Taoist axiom "The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao, The name that can be named is not the eternal name." The absolute, infinite God is not something that words are capable of describing or defining, despite that all religions attempt this (to varying degrees).
It's a strange paradigm but we live our lives separate from God (in a definite sense), even though God is manifest in every single atom and particle in the universe - but we become one with the eternal ecstasy of God when we die.