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Define God

RabidAlpaca said:
And yet you're arrogant enough to take the risk in going to all of the hells from the religions you don't believe in. Are you a muslim, a777pilot? If not, why would you want to take the risk? If you're wrong about Islam you'll burn in Islamic hell. Can YOU take that risk? Better believe everything just to be safe.
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Yes, I am more than willing to take the risk that there is a muslim hell. Besides, islam is not a religion.
 
a777pilot said:
Yes, I am more than willing to take the risk that there is a muslim hell. Besides, islam is not a religion.
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Good. Then you see how we reject your religion like you reject Islam. Any religion you pick is going to put you in bad favor with a thousand other religions. It's completely arbitrary and you're not scaring anyone.
 
My late dogs could have given the definition.

They thought that I was it (him). :mrgreen:
 
RabidAlpaca said:
Good. Then you see how we reject your religion like you reject Islam. Any religion you pick is going to put you in bad favor with a thousand other religions. It's completely arbitrary and you're not scaring anyone.
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The religion of secular humanism is at odds with countless other religions.

And btw, Christianity is not arbitrary. It is based on the very real individual and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
 
Logicman said:
The religion of secular humanism is at odds with countless other religions.

And btw, Christianity is not arbitrary. It is based on the very real individual and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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Just about every religion is at odds with every other religion. They all contradict each other, and yes, your opinion about which is correct is completely arbitrary. If you had been born somewhere else to someone else you'd believe something else.
 
Just have patience, God will define himself the moment you die.
 
RabidAlpaca said:
Just about every religion is at odds with every other religion. They all contradict each other, and yes, your opinion about which is correct is completely arbitrary. If you had been born somewhere else to someone else you'd believe something else.
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Nope. The resurrection is not arbitrary. Nor is the person of Jesus.
 
Logicman said:
The religion of secular humanism is at odds with countless other religions.

And btw, Christianity is not arbitrary. It is based on the very real individual and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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I cannot swear that Jesus rose from the dead. I was not there.

But, I know how I recovered from alcoholism and drug abuse 25 years ago. They said surrender to a power greater than yourself and I did. I got sober. And when I was a year and a half sober I thought I was important enough to have a one on one meeting.
I went to many churches, which all had sermons I could not understand, they sat, they stood, they sang and to me the only think different was the cookies at the end of the service.

Then one day I realized I had already had the meeting and it was still going on.

Too many people confuse faith with religion. Religion sucks. They have people in them which makes them suspect out of the gate.
 
MrWonka said:
What are the minimally required attributes that a thing must have in order to be considered a god?

I'm not taking about your god if you believe in one, I'm talking about the abstract concept of a god. What criteria must a thing meet before you would be willing to allow it to have the designation of a god.

My list:
1.) It must have an intelligence above and beyond what humans would be capable of attaining.
2.) It must have an abilities above and beyond what humans would be capable of attaining.
3.) It must have a stake in the day to day happenings of our universe.
4.) It must regularly influence our world, and it must do so based upon some moral code.
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I very much believe that that probably is way outside our capabilities. That doesn't mean it's a waste of time. But the answer won't have much to do with any but our subjective take on reality. So?
 
I thought this thread was about God and His existence, not religion. I believe in God. Logically it make perfect sense. Religions on the other hand are man made, therefore flawed.
 
MrWonka said:
What are the minimally required attributes that a thing must have in order to be considered a god?

I'm not taking about your god if you believe in one, I'm talking about the abstract concept of a god. What criteria must a thing meet before you would be willing to allow it to have the designation of a god.

My list:
1.) It must have an intelligence above and beyond what humans would be capable of attaining.
2.) It must have an abilities above and beyond what humans would be capable of attaining.
3.) It must have a stake in the day to day happenings of our universe.
4.) It must regularly influence our world, and it must do so based upon some moral code.
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A god is whatever you believe it to be. Since I believe that gods don't exist, how could I possibly describe one, other than to say it is a function of the ego seeking to place reason onto the darkest fears and hopes of the id.
 
Logicman said:
Nope. The resurrection is not arbitrary. Nor is the person of Jesus.
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That's your opinion. Others choose to believe in a god that isn't so incredibly weak that he has to send his son down in human form to be murdered so that he could do what he wanted to do anyway. There is no requirement for a resurrection story for a god.
 
Fearandloathing said:
I cannot swear that Jesus rose from the dead. I was not there.

But, I know how I recovered from alcoholism and drug abuse 25 years ago. They said surrender to a power greater than yourself and I did. I got sober. And when I was a year and a half sober I thought I was important enough to have a one on one meeting.
I went to many churches, which all had sermons I could not understand, they sat, they stood, they sang and to me the only think different was the cookies at the end of the service.

Then one day I realized I had already had the meeting and it was still going on.

Too many people confuse faith with religion. Religion sucks. They have people in them which makes them suspect out of the gate.
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Good for you.

What I had a revelation about was that there is a difference between believing and surrendering one's self to the Lord Jesus and asking him to be one's Lord and Savior for the remission of one's sins. And then asking him to live through me.

Twenty years in Christianity and it wasn't until that moment that I received the Holy Spirit, and that was monumental. The first thing I noticed that day was a hunger I never had before for the Bible. Surrender is the key.
 
God is the being in whose mind we exist.

Seems only fair.

Plus, lacking both the likely fantastical theory of everything and its experimental proof, both the past and the future exist only in the mind.

Thus, should we one day be able to time "travel", it would have to be through the mind, through the mind of God in which we exist, and at God's request or permission.
 
Logicman said:
Good for you.

What I had a revelation about was that there is a difference between believing and surrendering one's self to the Lord Jesus and asking him to be one's Lord and Savior for the remission of one's sins. And then asking him to live through me.

Twenty years in Christianity and it wasn't until that moment that I received the Holy Spirit, and that was monumental. The first thing I noticed that day was a hunger I never had before for the Bible. Surrender is the key.
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Nice feeling ain't it.
 
MrWonka said:
What are the minimally required attributes that a thing must have in order to be considered a god?

I'm not taking about your god if you believe in one, I'm talking about the abstract concept of a god. What criteria must a thing meet before you would be willing to allow it to have the designation of a god.

My list:
1.) It must have an intelligence above and beyond what humans would be capable of attaining.
2.) It must have an abilities above and beyond what humans would be capable of attaining.
3.) It must have a stake in the day to day happenings of our universe.
4.) It must regularly influence our world, and it must do so based upon some moral code.
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Only if you're assuming god can't be anything other than a supernatural anthropomorphic being. But that seems rather limiting, and clearly displays how limited the human mind really is. Raise someone in an Abrahamic society, and they don't think god can be anything other than an Yahweh-esque, daddy figure sort of god.

Why would the controlling force of the universe have something as limited as an intellect when it could simply be everything simultaneously? Why would it have something as flawed and volitile as personal experiences, as required for "having a stake"? For that matter, why would it have a stake in anything? It could do whatever it wants and answers to no one. Why would it be interested in something as mundane as the happenings of our little planet? Why would god concern themselves with something as slippery, inconsistent, and ultimately self-serving as the human concept of morals?

I mean, it could. But why is that a requirement for a god? That seems rather... well, primitive, to me, for the creator of the known universe.

I mean, by the definition you've given, some teenaged alien script kiddy from a race of more advanced beings in another galaxy could quite easily be our god. And I suppose that might explain why our race tends to be such a mess.

But even humans have branched out from that sort of definition quite a bit, considering things like natural occurrences or even collective consciousness to be god. All sorts of things with no sentient intellect, no interest in us, and certainly no morals, have been called gods.

While considering all the things to which humans have ascribed the word "god," and all the possibilities that might really exist that would fit that scope, I am lead to the conclusion that the only way to define god -- which let's keep in mind, is a completely human concept -- is "sacred force."

"Sacred" is a totally subjective criteria, and applies only to humans, not to god itself. So what meaning does that have? None, really.

So we're left with "force." Well, lots of things are forces, both real and mythical. And humans have described lots of them as "god," both real and mythical.

It's a rather meaningless question, all-in-all.
 
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Moderator's Warning:
A number of posters have been infracted for violating general rules or RDF-specific ones. Others are treading very close on the border. Folks, this is not the place for general religion bashing, there-is-no-god-ing, "sky fairy" type mockery, or anything in the neighborhood of baiting or trolling. Behave. Zero tolerance hereafter.





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Goshin said:
Moderator's Warning:
A number of posters have been infracted for violating general rules or RDF-specific ones. Others are treading very close on the border. Folks, this is not the place for general religion bashing, there-is-no-god-ing, "sky fairy" type mockery, or anything in the neighborhood of baiting or trolling. Behave. Zero tolerance hereafter.





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This thread really belongs in the Philosophy forum. I didnt really notice that it wasnt until you said something. If you look at the threads in there right now, this thread fits in with the current discussions.
 
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