Where was God...

[ManSinha]

It is said that God is eternal and created everything. That being the case.....where was God BEFORE God 'created' a place for (Himself) to be?

While I certainly do appreciate your contribution, this question is NOT about origins of the universe, or even origins of God.

Rather it is questioning what seems to be a contradicting bit of reasoning, in that an alleged ETERNAL entity, such as God, was NOT necessarily SOMEwhere......BEFORE this eternal entity purportedly CREATED a place for itself to BE. (caps for emphasis, am not shouting)

Fair enough - look at it this way

Another thought from the Yogic concept - this "reality" of ours is a fleeting physical plane - Maya or Leela in the vernacular

As @George-ananda stated - the One is outside the physical realm of our comprehension and as such out of our concept of time

Consequently - the closest that I can get to it - always was, always will be

Perhaps an old fashioned analogy of a number line (well at least that is what we used to call it)

There is no end and as such - really no concept of "before" since it keeps going to infinity.

 

[ACEofALLaces]

God is outside our conception of time, so the question doesn't make sense.

Ahhhhh, ONCE AGAIN, it is not about WHEN God was, but WHERE God was, before having creating everything.

 

[ACEofALLaces]

Fair enough - look at it this way

Another thought from the Yogic concept - this "reality" of ours is a fleeting physical plane - Maya or Leela in the vernacular

As @George-ananda stated - the One is outside the physical realm of our comprehension and as such of time

Consequently - the closest that I can get to it - always was, always will be

Perhaps an old fashioned analogy of a number line (well at least that is what we used to call it)

There is no end and as such - really no concept of "before" since it keeps going to infinity.

And like so many others, you are attempting to tie this question in with the concept if time.
It is not ABOUT time, it is about WHERE God was, and not WHEN God was.
No disrespect intended, but all you are doing is verifying that God is eternal.

 

[Deeje]

Nope, and if you happen to come across someone who makes that claim, you can be reasonably assured they are lying.

Probably not, as those "goat-ropers' back then were prolific writers, with highly active imaginations.

And neither did the "goat-ropers" who wrote all that stuff about God, but they did their very best in capturing down on papyrus, what they THOUGHT about God.

Maybe....then again, maybe not.

Who on earth are these "goat ropers"?...and you assume that these goat ropers were literate???? Who taught them to write so prolifically?

 

[ManSinha]

it is about WHERE God was

Right here - where s/he / it has always been

 

[ACEofALLaces]

Right here - where s/he / it has always been

Sheesh, it is NOT that difficult.......ok, in response to your comment......where exactly was "right here", before "right here" was created?
I am NOT questioning whether God has always been...I just want to understand WHERE God was BEFORE (he) created everything, including a "place", for (Himself) to actually BE.
NOT when, but WHERE!

 

[ACEofALLaces]

Who on earth are these "goat ropers"?...and you assume that these goat ropers were literate???? Who taught them to write so prolifically?

They HAD to have been somewhat literate....after all, they WROTE the scriptures.

 

[ManSinha]

where exactly was "right here", before "right here" was created

Exactly my point my dear sir - right here is wherever you want it to be



(sorry- been a long day - hope you forgive my partial attempt at levity)

 

[ACEofALLaces]

Exactly my point my dear sir - right here is wherever you want it to be



(sorry- been a long day - hope you forgive my partial attempt at levity)

Well, at least you are being light-hearted about it all....there's really not enough of that going around nowadays.

If I indeed left all this up to wherever I myself 'want it to be', I would then put myself in the position of so many who simply believe what they want to believe, with literally nothing of substance to support it, and then get all righteous and indignant when someone questions them about what they believe.

You take care now, ya hear?

 

[ChristineM]

Who on earth are these "goat ropers"?...and you assume that these goat ropers were literate???? Who taught them to write so prolifically?

In the middle east at that time just about everyone owned goats. Large herds were seen as a status symbol for tribal leaders (kings).

Even scribes would have owned a few goats. After all, they had to live.

 

[ChristineM]

It is said that God is eternal and created everything. That being the case.....where was God BEFORE God 'created' a place for (Himself) to be?

It is a question i have often asked myself. It makes no logical sense for a "something" to be before there was an anything.

I note that glancing through the thread there are several god believers who seem to think they know but have no coherent definition between them other than here or everywhere .

 

[exchemist]

As I have said to another poster, I do appreciate your contribution, however my question is not about creation itself, or even about the creator.
It simply posits the question of WHERE this creator was, BEFORE it created anything? It HAD to have been SOMEWHERE, didn't it? The question is "where".

No, the question is why you think the creator "had to have been somewhere". That is an assumption on your part that needs justification, it seems to me.

After all, in current scientific thinking there was a beginning of time, at the Big Bang. So, according to that model, it is meaningless to speak of any imagined situation before that.

As far as Christian religion goes, the phrase in the Nicene Creed about God the Son is "qui ex patre natum, ante omnia saecula i.e. before all ages. For whatever it is worth (the Council of Nicaea did not include any modern cosmologists) that would suggest at the beginning of time.

 

[EnjoyTheJourney]

There is also a theory for 'time' being circular, so it never ends or begins, so there is no beginning or end of anything. Infinity/ circular time is one of the hardest concepts to entertain though, as in 'everyday life' everything has a beginning and end (although this is just due to the recycling of the atoms which do not have a beginning and end!). It could also be argued that God did not exist until we created him in our human consciousness (depending on your religious standpoint), which begs the question which of us (man or God) actually came first...

 

[Jumi]

It is said that God is eternal and created everything. That being the case.....where was God BEFORE God 'created' a place for (Himself) to be?

The question is only about an eternal creator God?

 

[osgart]

I doubt it is meaningless to speak of a before time. How would things get started in the first place without active motion before time began?

Existence is the flow of events. Time may not exist, but the flow of events does. An ultimate beginning to the universe does not imply that there is nothing else but the universe.

Why close the door on a reality outside our own?

Existence might imply endlessness. If endless then endless things. There is no rule that our universe is all there is.

If you take a 1 and a totally different 1 it does not make 2. If all of infinite existence were 1 of same substances how much activity would there be that produced such a universe as ours before everything everywhere died out? Once it dies out then what, an infinite wasteland.

There must be a perpetuating energy to existence, a place where endless things happen. Or are we a one time only event, a single domino with one chance to play out and then die out. Highly unlikely!

Couple existence with the existence of life and perhaps there is a whole other dynamic to reality. The hand is intended to grasp, the eye intended to see where you are going. And a conscious awareness to conceive of whatsoever existence is.

Life has tools of intention and we are apart of something trying to understand its own existence. So a source of this life is not out of the question. Otherwise you would have to consider life a fluke. Exhibiting intention life is not a fluke.

So it would be natural to consider that somewhere out there is a life reality that is perpetual.

Is a God that life reality? What would God's limitations be? Why is the universe vast and void of life predominately? Why does dust and rock take precedence over life? Why would God need so much of void useless real estate? And why is Earth such a dangerous place where life eats other life to live? Dogs feel love, and are loyal! Humans strive for various kinds of love! Yet in the blink of an eye it could all be taken away! Death, or its illusion of ceasing to be!

 

[Audie]

This question makes no sense. Why is it assumed God has create a "place" to be? Are you assuming God is a created being?

"God" makes no sense, so how could questions
or answers about it make sense?

 

[Audie]

I doubt it is meaningless to speak of a before time. How would things get started in the first place without active motion before time began?

Existence is the flow of events. Time may not exist, but the flow of events does. An ultimate beginning to the universe does not imply that there is nothing else but the universe.

Why close the door on a reality outside our own?

Existence might imply endlessness. If endless then endless things. There is no rule that our universe is all there is.

If you take a 1 and a totally different 1 it does not make 2. If all of infinite existence were 1 of same substances how much activity would there be that produced such a universe as ours before everything everywhere died out? Once it dies out then what, an infinite wasteland.

There must be a perpetuating energy to existence, a place where endless things happen. Or are we a one time only event, a single domino with one chance to play out and then die out. Highly unlikely!

Couple existence with the existence of life and perhaps there is a whole other dynamic to reality. The hand is intended to grasp, the eye intended to see where you are going. And a conscious awareness to conceive of whatsoever existence is.

Life has tools of intention and we are apart of something trying to understand its own existence. So a source of this life is not out of the question. Otherwise you would have to consider life a fluke. Exhibiting intention life is not a fluke.

So it would be natural to consider that somewhere out there is a life reality that is perpetual.

Is a God that life reality? What would God's limitations be? Why is the universe vast and void of life predominately? Why does dust and rock take precedence over life? Why would God need so much of void useless real estate? And why is Earth such a dangerous place where life eats other life to live? Dogs feel love, and are loyal! Humans strive for various kinds of love! Yet in the blink of an eye it could all be taken away! Death, or its illusion of ceasing to be!

"There must be a perpetrating energy."

What does that mean?
(No fair making something up)

 

[SalixIncendium]

It is said that God is eternal and created everything. That being the case.....where was God BEFORE God 'created' a place for (Himself) to be?

You're assuming time in Absolute Reality.

 

[SalixIncendium]

Ahhhhh, ONCE AGAIN, it is not about WHEN God was, but WHERE God was, before having creating everything.

Sheesh, it is NOT that difficult.......ok, in response to your comment......where exactly was "right here", before "right here" was created?
I am NOT questioning whether God has always been...I just want to understand WHERE God was BEFORE (he) created everything, including a "place", for (Himself) to actually BE.
NOT when, but WHERE!

I hope my answer in the previous post helps clarify this for you.

 

[shunyadragon]

It is said that God is eternal and created everything. That being the case.....where was God BEFORE God 'created' a place for (Himself) to be?

God has no place, eternal and infinite therefore there is no 'before' God.