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Who is God?

mikkel_the_dane

mikkel_the_dane

My own religion
blü 2 said:
The is-ought problem is not a problem, in that the questions it poses usually have no yes/no answers, but are value judgments. We learn from our researches that humans are born with an evolved range of moral tendencies (which I can list again for you if you wish) and, also from evolution, a conscience and a capacity for empathy. Since these evolved qualities are good for survival and breeding by making the benefits of local cooperation possible and available, we have somewhere to stand when we consider why those qualities and not others are present.

It's against that background, which in practice builds in conflicts of various kinds eg like of fairness and reciprocity vs respect for authority, that we consider the range and basis of human value judgments. But that doesn't objectively determine whether any of them is right or wrong, since such a determination equally involves value judgments.
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Correct, so if I cope by being religious, then that is real and a part of how the world works.
 
dybmh

dybmh

דניאל יוסף בן מאיר הירש
blü 2 said:
"Who is God?" is what lawyers call a leading question ─ "Do you still beat your wife" is the famous example. That is, both questions contain a not clearly expressed assumption.

The hidden assumption needs to be dealt with first, so your interrogation should be ─

Is God?

If so, who?
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This is only a brief diversion. Is God? Leads to "What is God?" The answer is "Yes" because the question is the answer.

Isaiah 40:18

To whom then will you liken God? or what likeness will you compare to him?
 
DNB

DNB

Christian
blü 2 said:
Hmmm.

We make gods in our own image, and attribute to them the powers we want ourselves, So yes, your standard god is a father / protector / judge / provider / hunter / warrior and your standard goddess is desirable, looks after marriage, fertility, infants, the hearth, gathering, gardens, and crops.

Aphrodite thus has the one focus, sexual congress and fertility; and Hera is goddess of marriage. Athena, however, is not simply the guardian goddess of Athens, but also of wisdom and intellect (and of military tactics and strategy). Artemis is a hunter, expert with the bow. I'm rather fond of Sumer's Ninsun, "Wild Cow", who was Gilgamesh's mom, but in practical terms the world would be a better place if Athena had more followers.
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But, as I said, nature follows a pattern that, to some degree or another, reflects its creator. If God created all things, and gave life to all living organisms, then His appellation of Father is appropriate, conducive and reverent. He will not take offense to it, even though ultimately He is without gender or any sort of biological form, what the title 'Father' stands for is what is acceptable to Him. Women and mothers do not rule over men, for a variety of constitutional and hierarchical reasons - woman was created from man.

Thus, we have objective grounds, and not biased as you stated, to reference God as Father and He.
 
dybmh

dybmh

דניאל יוסף בן מאיר הירש
Sedim Haba said:
FIXED:
Question: Who was G-d?

Answer: Gone!
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Where is God?

Jeremiah 23:23-24

Am I a God near at hand, says the Lord, and not a God far away? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? said the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord.
 
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blü 2

blü 2

Veteran Member
Premium Member
DNB said:
But, as I said, nature follows a pattern that, to some degree or another, reflects its creator. If God created all things, and gave life to all living organisms, then His appellation of Father is appropriate, conducive and reverent. He will not take offense to it, even though ultimately He is without gender or any sort of biological form, what the title 'Father' stands for is what is acceptable to Him. Women and mothers do not rule over men, for a variety of constitutional and hierarchical reasons - woman was created from man.

Thus, we have objective grounds, and not biased as you stated, to reference God as Father and He.
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I'd argue that on the contrary, women are creators and men are protectors, despite the exceptions I mentioned (and I'm sure there are many more).

But let me approach it from another angle. Feminism has been around forever, but it became politically important in England then later in the US in the latter 19th century. With the advent of the contraceptive pill in the 1950s the convenient separation of coitus from conception became a widespread reality throughout the western world, and 'equality for women' has come to mean very much that ─ for women, motherhood is an option, not a destiny.

You speak of objective grounds. Gods may lose followers for a great variety of reasons, and secularism is their present great challenge, again mainly in the western world. But if a significant one of those reasons is that women are deterred by the idea of a purely male god in charge of the universe, then it's simply basic survival for the relevant churches to adapt. A god without followers is no god at all.
 
mangalavara

mangalavara

नमस्कार
Premium Member
dybmh said:
Question: Who is God?

Answer: Yes!

( Hint: The question is the answer. )
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This reminds me that lately, I mentioned God (with an uppercase g) to a Christian, and her answer was, ‘What god?’ I wonder if she was aware that she sounded polytheistic in that part of the conversation. :)
 
S

Sedim Haba

Outa here... bye-bye!
dybmh said:
Where is God?

Jeremiah 23:23-24

Am I a God near at hand, says the Lord, and not a God far away? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? said the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord.
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Yes indeed, where?

Deuteronomy 31:17

Then My anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come upon them; so that they will say in that day: Are not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?
 
Z

Zwing

Active Member
VoidCat said:
Not always. Many folk say she/he/it in regards to animals.
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Yes, attributing appropriate sex/gender to the animal in question. I would argue, however, that when we say “He” in referring to God, we are not doing that at all, but are, rather, obliquely suggesting (admitting?) that we conceive of a God who is “like us”. (Obviously, the suggestion is not that God is a male animal.) I was raised to believe that, conversely, God created us to be “like him”, but since the personal God is an unproven concept, we must assess the gender reference as indicating the obverse of that.
 
dybmh

dybmh

דניאל יוסף בן מאיר הירש
Sedim Haba said:
Yes indeed, where?
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Job 28:20-21

From where does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding?

Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the birds of the air.

Sedim Haba said:
Deuteronomy 31:17

Then My anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come upon them; so that they will say in that day: Are not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?
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Seeing it is hidden, is where wisdom comes from?
 
mikkel_the_dane

mikkel_the_dane

My own religion
dybmh said:
It's an excellent question. I don't know the answer. But I understand its value.

Understanding the question is sometimes better than knowing the answer.
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My answer is this. Look at the 3 base axiomatic assumptions in naturalism. The universe is real, orderly and knowable. That is suppose to be without God, but they are all non-materialistic in ontological terms. Even science assumes that the universe is in a sense a who.
Because we have a mind, it would seem if there is a God, God has a mind. :)
 
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