What Is God?

I'm not going to make this overly eloquent. I'm just going to make a list of points.

Religion is defined by having or discussing a belief regarding the origins of the universe. The more popularly discussed religions are atheism and Christianity, each tearing at the other because they can't come to terms. One thing I'd like to mention here is: Christian God is not the only god you can believe in. In fact, it seems to be that if the Christian God can't exist, none can exist at all. Way to be logically unsound.

Anyway, I was researching the definition of the word "god"...and it seems that the only definitions pertain largely to Christianity. Well, that doesn't make sense. After all, there were Norse, Egyptian, Mayan, Aztec, Hindu, African, and all other sorts of gods. So how can a definition act as though there's only one possible god?

Here's what I'm talking about:

God
   [god] Show IPA
noun
1.
the one Supreme Being, the creator and ruler of the universe.
2.
the Supreme Being considered with reference to a particular attribute: the God of Islam.
3.
( lowercase ) one of several deities, especially a male deity, presiding over some portion of worldly affairs.
4.
( often lowercase ) a supreme being according to some particular conception: the god of mercy.
5.
Christian Science . the Supreme Being, understood as Life, Truth, love, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Principle.

This is the entire definition I found. Now, I looked deeper, researching the term "supreme".

su·preme/səˈprēm/
Adjective:
(of authority or an office, or someone holding it) Superior to all others.
Noun:
A rich cream sauce.
Synonyms:
adjective. paramount - sovereign - top - highest - topmost - utmost
noun. master - lord - god - manager

Superior to all others, eh? Okay. So what we're stuck with here is definition number 3 of the word "god".

one of several deities, especially a male deity, presiding over some portion of worldly affairs.
4.

Now, what I have noticed here is that there is a disturbing lack of details specifying exactly what qualifies a being to be a god.

I'm not sure. I mean-He is everything! He's omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He's our Creator, or Healer, our Daddy, our Provider....He's everything, and we are nothing without Him. Our minds just cannot comprehend God at all-He is just so way beyond what our wildest Imagination can come up with-no one can know what makes God God.

This was taken from Yahoo Answers. Every other response was just as educated and original. As were all of the other search results, unfortunately.

The best answer I found was this:

We can only define what we understand.

Interesting. So if we all can agree on that particular statement, then it's reasonable to say that we can't define "God", because no one understands "God" completely. And if anyone says otherwise, they are lying or delusional. Something that is infinitely large, infinitely wise, and infinitely powerful is quite obviously outside of human understanding.

Okay, so now we have that to start with. We cannot understand something that is infinite, because our concepts and language are finite. Which means everything we think we know about that infinite something (God) is actually our interpretation. Not fact. It's purely opinion.

Speaking of interpretations... I read a book that gives this line:

All explicit knowledge requires translation and interpretation. And all interpretation is imperfect.

Explicit, by definition, is clear, concise, complete, perfect knowledge. Absolute understanding, no room for misunderstanding. Explicit knowledge of any god requires translation and interpretation, by the human mind...which, to begin with (as demonstrated above) would be incapable of grasping that knowledge.

Therefore, any human being who claims to understand or know anything about God is delusional. Because, by definition and clear logic, it is impossible for any mortal being, human or otherwise, to understand an infinite concept. Not even numbers can define such a concept.

Not only do we not have clear parameters for what qualifies a being to be a god (outside of the Christian dogma), but even inside the Christian faith, it is shown that something finite is drawing something infinite. Which is impossible.

I think it's time to overcome the fear of the unknown. Because to entertain such flawed logic, is to deliberately cripple the intellectual progress of the collective community. This is not the stone age. This is no longer a time of superstitions. This is a time of science.

And science clearly shows that no human being can truly understand, define, or even begin to grasp the concept of God. Because in beginning to grasp something that is infinite, you have already grasped the infinite.

The human mind is finite. God is infinite. We cannot, at this point, even hope to grasp the entirety of it...not enough that we can make any declarations about what it is or what it wants. It's time to admit we don't know.

We don't have all the answers. Free yourselves to the possibilities of NOT KNOWING...instead of chaining yourselves to false assumptions. If fear creates ignorance, then let the fear go.

Conquer your fear. Accept the unknown. If you must have faith, have faith that everything will be okay...but don't judge everyone according to your presumed god, because no one knows. No one can say.

Let go.

S&F

good post.

Conquer your fear. Accept the unknown. If you must have faith, have faith that everything will be okay...but don't judge everyone according to your presumed god, because no one knows. No one can say.

remember that cuts both ways, to the Theist as well as to the Atheist

I think the "God Problem" that people can't get past is simple. If God created everything, then who, or what, created God? It's a paradox with no solution. Because if God can come from absolutely nothing, then so can we, and everything that exists.

Religion is a tool to control the masses. That's what I believe. It's been very effective, too. Just look around you, and it becomes quite painfully obvious.

reply to post by MrUncreated


Maybe consciousness is more tied to reality than we think, and god was simply the first so everything we see is a result of the first consciousness.

Maybe everything, all of us and all that is, are all just constructs in the dreams of the galactic consciousness.

what some people call god.

well one thing about god is for certain:
he wants you to ignore the fact that Bohemian Grove is the biggest employer of gay male porn stars on the planet
and vote republican because they represent good wholesome christian family values.

and he wants you to send Israel more money
( well yes thats two things.....or is it?)

Originally posted by MrUncreated
I think the "God Problem" that people can't get past is simple. If God created everything, then who, or what, created God? It's a paradox with no solution. Because if God can come from absolutely nothing, then so can we, and everything that exists.

Religion is a tool to control the masses. That's what I believe. It's been very effective, too. Just look around you, and it becomes quite painfully obvious.

The "God problem" is the inability to grasp never having a beginning, while also never changing, while also not having a termination. Everyone keeps asking where did God come from. There never was a creation of God or the infinite foundations of the Universe which are space and time. Everyone begins puking when they even begin to turn their consciousness in that direction. Too bad it's Truth and that is OUR problem.

reply to post by MrUncreated


You must realize, however, that religion is, first and foremost, universal law based on superstition. And in superstitious times, it was effective.

They can't go back now and say it was all a lie to make us behave, because all of society would instantly revert to savagery. All we need is an excuse. Look around you. It's painfully obvious.

reply to post by Danbones


...what does that have to do with this thread?

Originally posted by tkwasny
The "God problem" is the inability to grasp never having a beginning, while also never changing, while also not having a termination. Everyone keeps asking where did God come from. There never was a creation of God or the infinite foundations of the Universe which are space and time. Everyone begins puking when they even begin to turn their consciousness in that direction. Too bad it's Truth and that is OUR problem.

edit on 16-5-2012 by tkwasny because: typo fix

Yeah, I'd say you're right. It is difficult to grasp never having a beginning, or an end. Everything in this world has a beginning, and an end.

I think I like the explanation in the "Spirit Science" videos (look up Spirit Science in YouTube sometime, if you can get past the annoying voice over that sort of sounds like a South Park character)... one consciousness divides infinitely. So technically, we are all the same person, in different bodies and different times. Does that mean when you have sex with someone, you're actually just having sex with yourself? Hm... no wonder Christians frown on masturbation.

Originally posted by Starchild23

They can't go back now and say it was all a lie to make us behave, because all of society would instantly revert to savagery. All we need is an excuse. Look around you. It's painfully obvious.

You might be right. I would not resort to such things, however. I suppose this could lead to a discussion about how some people (maybe most people) only obey laws out of fear of punishment, not because they are genuinely good people. Take away the laws, and everyone shows their true colors. Maybe this will be the final test for humanity, though. Who knows?

reply to post by MrUncreated


Not according to Newton. According to him, only perception has an ending and a beginning. We perceive ending, we perceive beginning...and our perception is imperfect.

Just because you see something, does that make it fact? Can you look at a table and give the exact proportions of its components, right down to the subatomic particles, as pure fact?

Your perception is nothing more than perception.

reply to post by Starchild23


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------"

God is Unknowable


In the beginning Brahman (God) was One and alone. Only Brahman knows about Brahman and this is the meaning of the Vedic statement, “Brahmavit Brahmaiva Bhavati”. But this statement is misinterpreted and people say that “He who knows Brahman becomes Brahman”. This is not the correct meaning because the Veda says that Brahman cannot be known by the senses, mind, intelligence or logic (Yato Vachah, Nachakshusha, Apraapya Manasaa, Namedhayaa, Naisha Tarkena etc.).

dattaswami1 www.interfaith.org...

The reason for this is that Brahman is beyond space. "

Originally posted by Starchild23
reply to post by MrUncreated

 

Not according to Newton. According to him, only perception has an ending and a beginning. We perceive ending, we perceive beginning...and our perception is imperfect.

Just because you see something, does that make it fact? Can you look at a table and give the exact proportions of its components, right down to the subatomic particles, as pure fact?

Your perception is nothing more than perception.

Very well said. Yet our massive ego instructs our minds to construct everything based on our processing the inputs from our senses. There is another input our mind can have access to but very few choose to open that valve.

Originally posted by Starchild23
reply to post by MrUncreated

 

Your perception is nothing more than perception.

Yes, but it's all we have. Well... it's all I have. And without it, life would be pretty much unbearable. It already is, sometimes.

The definition is a fiction.

So you all are dwelling on a fictional God.

As I've said before, when you really get right down to having people describe what they think God is, they eventually get past all the symbols and imagery and semantics and will tell you that it's a kind of feeling they get. Like a mild dizziness or vertigo. A feeling of vastness. The same sort of feeling you get when you enter a dark room and can't find the light, or when you stand at the edge of a cliff. It's a feeling of "unknowing," for lack of a better word. "Ignorance" is another.

God is "I don't know."

I'm really leaning towards the Supreme Being as a a rich cream sauce that has achieved sentience.

Originally posted by Starchild23
Religion is defined by having or discussing a belief regarding the origins of the universe. The more popularly discussed religions are atheism and Christianity,

Well, there is no common atheist belief regarding the origin of the universe... but I'll let that go.

I'm not sure. I mean-He is everything! He's omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He's our Creator, or Healer, our Daddy, our Provider....He's everything, and we are nothing without Him. Our minds just cannot comprehend God at all-He is just so way beyond what our wildest Imagination can come up with-no one can know what makes God God.

Yes, it's interesting that "god" is purposely vague in his description. That makes it easy for each person to "fit" their god into their own picture of "him"... It's all about trusting something that someone said...

Man created God in his own image. Except man made God bigger, smarter, more knowledgeable, and powerful, (and also unable to be understood) so we could feel securely taken care of and also controlled.

No one can really say what "God" is, yet people, by the millions, live their lives in service to him. It's really the strangest thing when you think about it.

Therefore, any human being who claims to understand or know anything about God is delusional.

I think anyone that believes there is such a creature is delusional.

Is this really a social issue?

reply to post by Starchild23

What Is God?

What is god? God is dead.

[color=CCDBE8] “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?”

[color=C4E8F5]Nietzsche's [color=CCDBE8]works express a fear that the decline of religion, the rise of atheism, and the abscense of a higher moral authority would plunge the world into chaos. The western world had depended on the rule of God for thousands of years — it gave order to society and meaning to life.

"[color=CCDBE8]If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him"

[color=C4E8F5]Voltaire

"[color=CCDBE8]if God really existed, it would be necessary to abolish him."

[color=C4E8F5]Mikhail Bakunin

I actually wrote a thread regaurding my thoughts on god and the universe just today. Have a look if you are interested. I believe it would be relevant to your thread.

My Thoughts On God, And The Universe.