What are the criterions for a god/gods?

[Cacotopia]

Magic? Immortality or a lifespan that spreads across eons?? Supreme intelligence? master over other life forms, natural element(s)? I am probably missing some feel free to fill in the blanks I missed.

Can technology grant some of these characteristics? Or would technology exclude one a status of being a god or god like?

Say an alien race decided to openly visit this world, we were able to establish communication with them and found them to have an avg lifespan of 10-35,000 of our years, were vastly more intelligent, had technology that granted them the ability to forge worlds, and manipulate nature at a whim, would they not be gods?

Just what characteristics would such a being need to possess for you to grant them "god status?"

 

[syo]

Immortality

This.

 

[shunyadragon]

Magic? Immortality or a lifespan that spreads across eons?? Supreme intelligence? master over other life forms, natural element(s)? I am probably missing some feel free to fill in the blanks I missed.

Can technology grant some of these characteristics? Or would technology exclude one a status of being a god or god like?

Say an alien race decided to openly visit this world, we were able to establish communication with them and found them to have an avg lifespan of 10-35,000 of our years, were vastly more intelligent, had technology that granted them the ability to forge worlds, and manipulate nature at a whim, would they not be gods?

Just what characteristics would such a being need to possess for you to grant them "god status?"

The criteria for God would be an eternal omnipotent, omnipresent 'Source' of everything that some people call Gods.

Aliens from another word would not be Gods, because the first question is what Created the aliens, more aliens?

 

[Sunstone]

Criteria is the plural of criterion.

 

[SalixIncendium]

Criteria is the plural of criterion.

I think knowing this should be one criterion for a god.

 

[Yerda]

Magic? Immortality or a lifespan that spreads across eons?? Supreme intelligence? master over other life forms, natural element(s)? I am probably missing some feel free to fill in the blanks I missed.

Can technology grant some of these characteristics? Or would technology exclude one a status of being a god or god like?

Say an alien race decided to openly visit this world, we were able to establish communication with them and found them to have an avg lifespan of 10-35,000 of our years, were vastly more intelligent, had technology that granted them the ability to forge worlds, and manipulate nature at a whim, would they not be gods?

Just what characteristics would such a being need to possess for you to grant them "god status?"

I think that for something to be God it has to have some connection to the reason that anything exists. It could be the creator of the universe, though I find that idea filled with problems. It could be the that the universe is the manifestation of its nature/mind, although that is more confusing every time I try to think of it. Or something to that effect.

Percy Shelley wrote in his essay, The Necessity of Atheism that he believed something like a spirit co-eternal with the universe was possible. That would work for me.

 

[`mud]

Ahhh...the imagined aliens from some far out populace.
Remove the imagination, and one has Earth, without `gods`.
Atheists think about `godless` Earth all the time, it's called life.
Even imaginary `aliens` would have to evolve from some other beings.
All life on Earth evolved in the same way, no `gods` needed.
With that form of thinking, and at my age, I can sense the end coming.
Anything above immortality would be a `bonus plus`, to the end of life.
Sooo...immortality isn't possible and aliens are out in space,
and I've said many times...join you all in the Cosmos !

 

[Cacotopia]

Criteria is the plural of criterion.

Criterions is an uncommon word in the dictionary and is a plural of criteria.

The word criteria is often treated as singular or even uncountable, but these uses are usually still considered incorrect; the standard singular form is criterion. The standard and most common plural form is criteria; less common is criterions.

I even looked it up before using it.

EDIT: Side note, this ^^^^ nonsense is in direct correlation to the previous thread about how we converse with each other on here. So easily do threads get completely derailed over something as insignificant as the plural or singular form of criteria.

Like if someone said formulas, and I argued against formulas demanding it should have been formulae.

 

[lukethethird]

It's all about bragging rights, my god knows everything and has supernatural powers, that sort of thing.

 

[Cacotopia]

It's all about bragging rights, my god knows everything and has supernatural powers, that sort of thing.

Could be, but I figured this is a place where you can read what people in here think fits the definition of god when they use the term without defining the term.

 

[`mud]

Who first used the word ?
And who the hell cares !
The importance is in the core of the thread, isn't it ?

 

[Earthling]

Create a universe and every living thing in it.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

Some views of other polytheists:

1. "…what is a god and what is a spirit, and where is the line drawn? It seems to be not so much a line as a grey area, and a very subjective one at that.
It's also important to refrain from mistaking mere power for divine nature … the gaining of temporal power by a human being does not necessarily imply more wisdom on their part.
What makes a god is that they are a pure embodiment of some part of universal essence … and they hold full knowledge of that piece of essence and the implications of all its results."

2. "Nor is it entirely clear which entites should be counted as gods and which should not. To some extent definitions of godhood must be internal to particular religious traditions and experiences … terms such as "god" simply serve to mark out the upper end of a spectrum of beings who recieve human reverence."

Personally, I'd say that I can't define a god, but I know one when I meet one.

 

[LuisDantas]

Just what characteristics would such a being need to possess for you to grant them "god status?"

Honest answer? I would have to feel awed by it to the point of reverence.

But I am not sure that it would mean anything coming from me. "God" by itself is just a word, and one that I find sadly abused at that. I feel free to dismiss or invoke it quite arbitrarily at any time. It would be more meaningful to ask me about uses of words such as "leader", "muse" or "father".

I guess my vocations just go much more towards the ignostic and apatheistic than they ever will go towards the theistic.

 

[Terese]

Magic? Immortality or a lifespan that spreads across eons?? Supreme intelligence? master over other life forms, natural element(s)? I am probably missing some feel free to fill in the blanks I missed.

Can technology grant some of these characteristics? Or would technology exclude one a status of being a god or god like?

Say an alien race decided to openly visit this world, we were able to establish communication with them and found them to have an avg lifespan of 10-35,000 of our years, were vastly more intelligent, had technology that granted them the ability to forge worlds, and manipulate nature at a whim, would they not be gods?

Just what characteristics would such a being need to possess for you to grant them "god status?"

Those aliens wold certainly be god-like, but not God. They were born of the universe. To me, a God is an entity that is Satchitananda, which means is existence, consciousness, and bliss. One who is full in 6 qualities: wealth, strength, fame, knowledge, beauty and renunciation.

 

[Jumi]

God with a capital g is something completely alien to our way of existing, like comparing an E.coli to Deep Blue, yet for some reason a connection exists.

Magic? Immortality or a lifespan that spreads across eons?? Supreme intelligence? master over other life forms, natural element(s)? I am probably missing some feel free to fill in the blanks I missed.

These "gods" sound more like a super-magician or super-scientist. No doubt that's enough to bring awe to people if they came up.

Can technology grant some of these characteristics? Or would technology exclude one a status of being a god or god like?

For God, no. For "gods", yes. To ancient people our technology is already godlike, make that step from us to more advanced and you'd have "gods".

Say an alien race decided to openly visit this world, we were able to establish communication with them and found them to have an avg lifespan of 10-35,000 of our years, were vastly more intelligent, had technology that granted them the ability to forge worlds, and manipulate nature at a whim, would they not be gods?

Just what characteristics would such a being need to possess for you to grant them "god status?"

Yeah, they'd probably be "gods" compared to us, but they'd be as far from God as you and me.

 

[stvdv]

Just what characteristics would such a being need to possess for you to grant them "god status?"

My Master, Sai Baba, said just before dying a few words about this:
"The name and form given to God are mere imaginations and not real. God is permanent with neither a beginning nor an end. He is permanent in the form of Atma. To assign a name and form to such an embodiment of Atma is merely human imagination and illusion"

@'mud: Thanks mud. He spoke Telegu and it was translated (not sure if translation is correct)

 

[`mud]

How does one form an illusion of Atman,
in imagination yes, but in form, not visible.

 

[stvdv]

How does one form an illusion of Atman,
in imagination yes, but in form, not visible.

The wise convey the Truth by Silence

The moment we use words there is duality, so UnTruth

The best Question is Silence, and the best answer also

I can't give you any useful answer regarding Truth

 

[`mud]

Ohhhh....you want me to shut up do you !!!!!
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