What is God? What's God's nature/existence?
Why does God exist instead of not exist?
Why does God exist instead of not exist?
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What is God?
- Thread starter The Sum of Awe
- Start date
I don't think anyone really knows what "God" actually is. All I can really say for sure is that I'm here in a place, and I have no idea how or why. From what I've learned, we're spinning on a sphere, orbiting an average star, and moving at great speeds through the universe, in a galaxy which could be just one among trillions.
Obviously, "something" existed before we humans came into being - and even before the Earth came into being and was able to support life. We can speculate as to what that "something" is or was - and some might use the word "God" to refer to whatever it was that we can't really define (or which people might define in different ways).
I never really thought that the question of whether God or Gods exist ever really mattered all that much. People believe what they want, and I respect that, but what can anyone really know for certain? Do we even need to know? Is it important for us to know?
Even if I don't know what I'm riding on or who's paying the fare, I'll enjoy the ride as long as I can last. Beyond that, I make no assumptions about anything. For all anyone knows, this whole universe could have been someone's idea of a practical joke.
One idea I thought of was that "God" could actually be part of a society of higher-dimensional beings who create universes for fun and profit. Our universe could be the result of a school project that one aspiring student "God" was working on. The other students all had wonderful projects with beautiful universes, but our God's universe received a grade of F. Flunked.
As I said, nobody really knows, so it could have been exactly like that.
Heyo
Veteran Member
If anybody finds out, I'll have to stop being an Agnostic.
(But chances are that I'll win the lottery big before that happens.)
ratiocinator
Lightly seared on the reality grill.
mikkel_the_dane
My own religion
Well, since this is in philosophy, the more general question since Descartes is, what is objective reality as having existence independently of the mind?
And why is there something and not nothing as such?
And for that 42 also applies.
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
God is just an extension of the person who controls it. Same as a bunraku puppet is the intimate extension of its owner where it's personality exists as well and projected into its real or imagined avatar.
RestlessSoul
Well-Known Member
The Alpha and the Omega. The infinite and eternal. Closer to us than our own heartbeat, more distant than the farthest star. The source of love, the breath in our lungs, the fire in the equations. The Spirit of the Universe, the Lord, the giver of life. All these things and many many more…
PureX
Veteran Member
God is the answer to these questions (and some others) that we can ask but cannot answer.
Imagination. It's q wonderful thing, with it you can travel the universe and invent god(s)
ratiocinator
Lightly seared on the reality grill.
Begging the question fallacy, as well as being simply nonsensical.
marriedmanoffaith
Member
What is God? God is love. God is the eternal wellspring of all that is good, true, and beautiful in our universe. As I have said before, "God is not a magician, but the Creator who brought everything to life." God's nature transcends our limited human understanding, yet God reaches out to us in love and mercy.
Why does God exist instead of not exist? This mystery lies at the very heart of our faith. We believe that God is the ground of all being, the source from which all existence flows. As Saint Thomas Aquinas taught, God is existence itself - not a being among other beings, but Being itself.
God exists because love must exist. God exists because goodness, truth, and beauty must have their source. God exists because we, in our deepest nature, long for the infinite - and that longing could only come from an infinite God who placed it in our hearts.
Let us not become overly entangled in abstract philosophical arguments, but rather open our hearts to encounter the living God. As I have often said, God is not found in lofty ideas, but in the concrete realities of life - in acts of love, in care for the poor and marginalized, in stewardship of creation.
Continue to seek God with sincere hearts. Know that God is already seeking you, reaching out in love. May you experience God's tender embrace and be filled with divine peace and joy.
Why does God exist instead of not exist? This mystery lies at the very heart of our faith. We believe that God is the ground of all being, the source from which all existence flows. As Saint Thomas Aquinas taught, God is existence itself - not a being among other beings, but Being itself.
God exists because love must exist. God exists because goodness, truth, and beauty must have their source. God exists because we, in our deepest nature, long for the infinite - and that longing could only come from an infinite God who placed it in our hearts.
Let us not become overly entangled in abstract philosophical arguments, but rather open our hearts to encounter the living God. As I have often said, God is not found in lofty ideas, but in the concrete realities of life - in acts of love, in care for the poor and marginalized, in stewardship of creation.
Continue to seek God with sincere hearts. Know that God is already seeking you, reaching out in love. May you experience God's tender embrace and be filled with divine peace and joy.
Depends who you ask. If you ask me, it is a manifestation of Brahman.
Depends who you ask. If you ask me, its true nature is nirguna (devoid qualities and attributes)...satchidananda (existence/consciousness/bliss)...immutable and eternal. Its nature in transactional reality is saguna (with qualities and attributes)...and is that of a guru, guide, and confidant.
Because of its true nature as noted above.
God never appears, says or does.
The only manner in which [he] is known to exist is as a concept, notion, thing imagined in an individual brain, commonly as the result of acculturation.
There are various theories about why humans invent gods. The one that most appeals to me at this time is based on the observation that humans constantly hypothesize explanations and scenarios for any unexpected sensory input, unconsciously abandoning them equally swiftly and automatically discarding them as better information becomes available or any sense of threat is removed. Thus gods are responsible for inexplicable phenomena like thunder and lightning, eclipses, meteors, drought, famine, plague, good and bad luck at hunting, love, war and so on ─ with the added advantage that when under stress the tribe can feel they're doing something about it by propitiating the appropriate deity.
In essence, gods are that which are worthy of worship. It's an expression of a relationship between a human and a non-human other... a title granted that describes a relationship, like an honorific. The reasons for something being considered worthy of worship or granted title vary from individual to individual and culture to culture. That said, perhaps the one common denominator for this particular sort of relationship is gods are that which are fundamentally greater. Because powers and forces that are greater-than-human exist, relationships with these powers (gods) exist as well.
Whateverist
Active Member
God is the unity that encompasses the many. But “G-o-d” doesn’t single out any one thing. It requires an intuitive leap to see how the word doesn’t function the same way most do since most words are for singling out particular elements of the many.
I’ve been imagining God as a higher order metazoan. All the cells of our body are complete unto themselves but have learned to express themselves according to their environment and especially in relation to their neighboring cells. Very likely none of our individual cells is aware of our existence at the metazoan level. If they were capable of speculation I doubt they would think they exist to make us possible. And neither do I think that though I recognize our dependence at the higher level on the cooperative interaction of the cells which make up our bodies. Maybe God is like a metazoan being whose existence is underwritten by all separate beings.
I’ve been imagining God as a higher order metazoan. All the cells of our body are complete unto themselves but have learned to express themselves according to their environment and especially in relation to their neighboring cells. Very likely none of our individual cells is aware of our existence at the metazoan level. If they were capable of speculation I doubt they would think they exist to make us possible. And neither do I think that though I recognize our dependence at the higher level on the cooperative interaction of the cells which make up our bodies. Maybe God is like a metazoan being whose existence is underwritten by all separate beings.
wellwisher
Well-Known Member
God is similar to the concept of infinity in math and science. Infinity is a useful concept but it does not exist in space-time reality. You can never reach infinity or else it becomes a finite amount, thereby disproving the concept. So we accept what is close and leave infinity open ended. This is true of God and why so many cultural expressions exist; all will get part way to God or infinity.
Jesus said nobody has seem the father but the son. This leave infinity open ended. If we make it that far, we push forward more, but sort of in quantum steps.
The concept of space-time connects space and time, like two people in a three legged race. The tether of space-time places limits on both space and time since they need to work together. Space-time place limits on the universe that we call the law of physics and the speed of light. Say we were to remove the tether of the three legged race of space-time, so we have independent space and independent time. The two runners are now both free to run free style. Both can now exceed the limits of the three legged race, in speed and grace, since they do not have to coordinate and are therefore are not restricted by the laws of Physics than govern space-time. Mathematically we are getting closer to God and infinity.
Jesus said my kingdom is not of this realm (of space-time).
The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle: Formulated by the German physicist and Nobel laureate Werner Heisenberg in 1927, the uncertainty principle states that we cannot know both the position and speed of a particle, such as a photon or electron, with perfect accuracy; the more we nail down the particle's position, the less we know about its speed and vice versa.
Speed and position are expressions of time and space. Speed needs time to be expressed and space needs distance. The easiest way to explain why time and space are not tethered properly in Heisenberg Experiments, the electron or photon are acting like space-time is separated not connected. It is not coordinating like is expected of the three legged race of space-time. In this case the sum of distance potential; independent space, and time potential; independent time, is not random, but the sum remain constant, and forms a reverse relationship. Space and time can become interchangeable at the quantum level. This opens more options. The smallest particle at the quantum level create forces that can reach infinity; alpha and omega.
Student, tell me, what is God?
He is the breath inside the breath. - Kabir
Meher Baba's "Master's Prayer" says in part::
You are everywhere; You are in everything;
and You are also beyond everywhere and beyond everything.
You are in the firmament and in the depths.
You are manifest and unmanifest on all planes and beyond all planes;
You are in the three worlds and also beyond the three worlds.
You are imperceptible and independent.
You are the Creator, the Lord of Lords, the Knower of all minds and hearts;
You are Omnipotent and Omnipresent.
You are Knowledge Infinite, Power Infinite and Bliss Infinite.
You are the Ocean of Knowledge, All-knowing, Infinitely-knowing,
the Knower of the past, the present, and the future;
and You are Knowledge itself.
You are All-merciful and eternally benevolent.
You are the Soul of souls, the One with infinite attributes.
PureX
Veteran Member
Man! You really hate the idea that God is a possibility, don't you.Begging the question fallacy, as well as being simply nonsensical.
Jimmy
King Phenomenon
God is existence. God is living. All wisdom flows from him. God is infinite space. God is love.
ratiocinator
Lightly seared on the reality grill.
No. Pretending that you're a mind-reader, is so much easier than addressing your own, very obvious fallacies, isn't it?
For the record, I'm perfectly comfortable with the possibility of many versions of God, largely because they are simply unfalsifiable. What I dislike is obviously flawed arguments and silly assertions.