The qualities of God.

I was reading a book and it asked the question, "What are the qualities that you think are necessary for something to be called 'GOD'?"

I was hoping that some of the people on this forum could show me some different points of view on their perception of God. So, if you are interested, please post what YOU think are necessary qualities that are inherent in God. I really don't care what religious views are posted; to be honest, I was hoping for some diversity in the views

Note: I do NOT want this to end up as another debate over what view of god is "right". I just want to know what people think about god...not what people think about what others think about god

reply to post by daniel191159


Good question. People often use the word without giving a great deal of thought to what it means.

I'll just give a short response.

God = the Maker

It may sound banal at first sight, but it's surprising how many people just think of an abstract 'something out there'. At its most basic, the concept is one of designer/originator. Simple, but necessary to avoid fuzzy thinking.

Man with his small brain, emotions and physical needs is unable to even conceptualize GOD.

The best he can do is to anthropomorphise God.

This is a good question.
I get annoyed when I read people saying that God has to be this or that.
My reaction is to say that God does not have to fit your definition, in order to be God.
Some people actually believe that they can define God.
If you look in the Bible, any description will be in the most vague way possible.
If you look at what Jesus did to represent God, you find He is no respecter of persons.
You can be great or powerful or good, in your own mind, but God has no respect for your own opinion of yourself.
He will take someone who seems less great and less powerful and less good, to you, and place him higher than you and put him first and you last.
So, instead of making up my own definition that God has to comply with, I will accept what Jesus says:
God is no respecter of persons.


[edit on 25-7-2008 by jmdewey60]

God creates. He created everything in our world which means his attributes include everything in our world plus some. The good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful, etc...

reply to post by Sonya610


I like to think that bad things exist as a result of God wanting to allow a certain degree of freedom in the world, even with the danger that things could take a bad turn.


[edit on 26-7-2008 by jmdewey60]

i suppose the first he would have to be powerful.

god couldnt be a god without the power to create or do all things. so i guess you can say he's have to be powerful enough to be almighty.

wisdom i think would be the second. because with all the power in the universe, he would need to be wise enough to use it. no sense in trying to fix a problem if your solution is just going to make more problems.

just would be third. if god wasnt just, we couldnt trust him. also i personally wouldnt have much faith in a god that would let hateful people get away with murder. (not hellfire mind you because thats unjust on the other end of the spectrum.)

love too i think is an important quality. all the above without love would be cold.

just my fellings on the subject

Originally posted by jmdewey60
I like to think that bad things exist as a result of God wanting to allow a certain degree of freedom in the world, even with the danger that things could take a bad turn.

Yeah that is because your mind is a bit simple. You want it nice. Reality is not always nice, and the ONE all powerful all knowing GOD controls reality, and he isn't always nice either.

Wake up.

reply to post by Sonya610

God doesn't control EVERYONE'S decisions and because of free-will, evil people make it hard on us who want to help the world, but, that will be over, soon!
Thank God!

Ummmm...yeah. that is because you are a bit simple; not that simple is bad. Just be careful when you see propoganda. The spin doctors can make lots of things look good. Even that which is most evil. Not that I am judging but the path to Hell is paved with good intentions.

[edit on 26-7-2008 by Sonya610]

Sonya610, please, do not respond to other people's opinions ON THIS PARTICULAR THREAD.

This thread was not created for that purpose. Please, in keeping with the purpose of this thread, only post YOUR opinion OF THE TRAITS OF GOD, not your opinion OF OTHER POSTERS' OPINIONS of the traits of god.

Thanks

reply to post by daniel191159


I once had a dream in which a young man was standing in front of me.

He said to me...

" I AM the Universe "

One God, the Father Almighty. Maker of Heaven and Earth. Of all that is seen, and unseen.

He is ALL. What are the traits of all?

There are traits we do not understand nor do we have words to describe.

What we do have is our intermediary. Jesus Christ

Peace


[edit on 27-7-2008 by HIFIGUY]

Again the qualities of GOD are beyond meer mortals cognitive ability.

Having GOD think like a man in your mind is blasphemy and could very well
jeopardize your salvation. or not....

Don't get to arrogant thinking you can know the mind of GOD.

[edit on 26-7-2008 by whaaa]

reply to post by whaaa


Nice post.
Pretty close to one of my points.
Not sure if I would word it exactly like that, but glad to see you at least believe there is a God.
For us to think that God has to think like us is not right.
It is difficult to rationalize what we perceive to be the workings of God.
People try but if you come up with this really wonderful concept of what you think God is or what you think He should be, you might not want to create a religion out of it and make others follow you.
This is my way of explaining the "or maybe not" clause in your post.

There was one trait of God that was described by Jesus himself.

Luke

Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? Nobody is good except for God

Peace

[edit on 27-7-2008 by HIFIGUY]

Excuse me op but the other poster took it upon himself to initiate the dialogue by respondind to MY opinion, and pointing out how he differs. If you fee the need to call people out and correct them then aim at the source.

reply to post by Sonya610


You are right.
I thought about that when I read the OP's post to you.
I started it. I did not realize there was a no reply rule, just a no attacking rule.

My experience:

God lives in ultimate reality. A creator of; choices verses consequences. God is not codependent and so does not brown nose or look for our approval!

Does he appear to have feelings? Yes, but only so far as he recognizes you or the incident. I no longer believe that he gives a hoot about the human race on the whole. His tolerance is waning. It takes more to get his attention and to retain it. Once a relationship is established he will go to any lengths to honor it even though it may not appear that way.

I have a connection with him as long as I live in as much reality as I can. I like this saying:

"A spiritual reality is when my core spirit aligns with God's reality."

Another words; being awake. He will take time to establish a connection with a human but often only when the human meets him part way. Does he care for all humans? No, not in my experience. And I might add...history supports this.

Are we as important as we like to think of ourselves? No, we are just lemmings.

With all of this said; he can be the most loving and moving of anyone you can meet. Allowing our free will to be, he takes the hits for our decisions when he had no part in it. In my experience he also does the occasional miracle, I have personally had many experiences. I have also watched (felt) him turn his back on others.

He will not befriend one who does not want to be his friend! That is it in a nutshell.

For something to be (in the modern sense of the word) God, it would have to be:

1) The only 1 of it's kind in existence- Absolutely Unique (and Omnipresent).

2) The root cause of all things, and not created by anything- The Creator (and Omniscient about all creation)

3) Not needing anything- Self-sustaining/Omnipotent (and therefore everlasting).

As for the rest, I suppose it depends on individual beliefs. As far as I am concerned, God is:

* Absolutely and completely merciful and forgiving
* Source of safety and peace and inspiration and guidance

[edit on 27-7-2008 by babloyi]

You are correct, jmdewey60 DID refer to your opinion in her post which illicited your response. However, I jmdewey60 did not dirupt the thread in doing so. Like she put it, she didn't attack you in her reply. Please refrain from attacking others' opinions on this thread.

Essentially, I want this thread to have a "no attack" rule. The "no reply" rule is just a means to an end. Just, in future instances, everyone, please refrain from attacking others in this thread.

X

Thanks!