What is God?

@no1author,

Well there is no one definition of god for theists.
In the broadest sense some regard god as
the ground of all being
the essence of existence
the reason why the universe tends to order, complexity, life, mind and experience.
the concept in which all notions of transcendent value, ideals and purpose reside.

In the negative, the concept of god rejects
the universe as a blind, indifferent and ultimately purposeless process. IMHO

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@no1author,

He is probably the same for everyone...He is everything a person is not, having everything a person needs...Don't ask my why I have never learned to suck up...

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@no1author,

no1author;112626 wrote:

I (Atheist) was wondering what God is for the Theists, what is their Definition of God?

Well, I suppose many would call me an atheist as well. But it's not that simple. I think man creates all gods, but also that these gods are "real" to the degree that they can inspire man. God is sometimes man's dream and at other times his nightmare.

I think Plato was plugged into the god-instinct. I think religions have a common skeleton, that mirrors the structure of the human mind.

"God" is a word with so many different meanings. I doubt any two theists have the exact same concept of God. It's a word as big as the personal pronoun "I." You can stretch it like rubber.

I still have some open-mindedness about the matter, but it seems that the structure of man's world is largely imposed by man's mind. In this sense I believe in god, and that man is god. Since you were looking for theistic answers anyway....:sarcastic:

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@no1author,

no1author;112626 wrote:

I (Atheist) was wondering what God is for the Theists, what is their Definition of God?

God is beginning, Alpha, Omega, ending.

God is launch ignition, is arrival combustion, is disintergration ash.

Zero, to Infinitum and back again.

Absolute and never a nothing.

Math, Pattern, Design, Science.

What Ever Something, Anything, Everything That Exists Is.

God is Existence.

(Life and death are only fractions of what Gods Whole Is, even if we make God whole) (God may not be reason, that might just be us)

---------- Post added 12-20-2009 at 09:14 AM ----------

Fido;112861 wrote:

He is probably the same for everyone...He is everything a person is not, having everything a person needs...Don't ask my why I have never learned to suck up...

What can God possibly do for me that i cant do for myself?

(just knowing one is not alone is enough for any God to acomplish)
(If he doesn't have your love he dosen't have everything.)

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@no1author,

God is a nine-dimensional alien from Saturn. His ninth son Umo is currently my tooter!

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@Reconstructo,

Reconstructo;112948 wrote:

God is a nine-dimensional alien from Saturn. His ninth son Umo is currently my tooter!

Amongst other things:D

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@no1author,

God is the Greatest Story Forever Told!!! Man's Dream of the Ideal is God. Maybe he calls it Life, or Power, or Love, or Peace, or Intensity, or Creativity, or Honor, or something something something. Something to "try to be." Umo then jokes: but how many people try to be people that don't try to be anyone? Is that Jesus in a cancer-sign formation with his reflection? Take up your crabs and follow me. (69)
Or the cross. Or the TOTALITY or the ABSOLUTE. or the nothing behind it all. Or the light that discloses beings, itself the uncreated Being....

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@Reconstructo,

Reconstructo;112964 wrote:

God is the Greatest Story Forever Told!!! Man's Dream of the Ideal is God. Maybe he calls it Life, or Power, or Love, or Peace, or Intensity, or Creativity, or Honor, or something something something. Something to "try to be." Umo then jokes: but how many people try to be people that don't try to be anyone? Is that Jesus in a cancer-sign formation with his reflection? Take up your crabs and follow me. (69)
Or the cross. Or the TOTALITY or the ABSOLUTE. or the nothing behind it all. Or the light that discloses beings, itself the uncreated Being....

I all of a sudden cant tell if you are being unfortunate.
God is never something 'Told'. Found and heard perhaps.

God is a capital letter that shows personal respect, the ability to have it and to give it.
Doesn't ever mean you get it back.

(I'm going to bed, i may have reconsidered this tomorrow. Very Happy

smiley face means to be light, means to be jovial and impress humour where there may even be conflict.)

'itself the uncreated Being' very good indeed. 'Your're getting there!'

1 Reply

@sometime sun,

sometime sun;112984 wrote:

I all of a sudden cant tell if you are being unfortunate.
God is never something 'Told'. Found and heard perhaps.

Is God a child rolling dice? I got this friend, a turquoise dwarf who hails from Neptune. Feeds me lines like this on the matter in hand: "The sigh objects throughout the scotch nonsense. Below each road punts the quota. How can a nested devil laugh against the intercourse?":Glasses::whistling: Laughing

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@Reconstructo,

Reconstructo;112987 wrote:

Is God a child rolling dice? I got this friend, a turquoise dwarf who hails from Neptune. Feeds me lines like this on the matter in hand: "The sigh objects throughout the scotch nonsense. Below each road punts the quota. How can a nested devil laugh against the intercourse?":Glasses::whistling:

Not sure if you've lost me in part or found me all over?

I dont get the joke,
even when i try to make them.
please try to explain.
Who said that "" apart from yourself? is it Dylan?

'Does the universe revolve/resolve by chance?' 'Is it random?' Is that what you are asking?

(You've got me up.)(punts, and quota seem dangerous words)

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@no1author,

Well, I was reading about Finnegans Wake, a crazy book written in dream language. Do you know of it? Also, I was using a random sentence generator, picking whatever seem suggestive in a vague way. "Umo" is just a sort of ventriloquist dummy. I was just indulging the Zen clown DADA itch. I'll look into "apart from yourself." Couldn't find it. What "apart from yourself?" I hope I have not offended...

If God is Love, what is Glove? (rabies don't hurt me)

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@sometime sun,

sometime sun;112939 wrote:

God is beginning, Alpha, Omega, ending.

God is launch ignition, is arrival combustion, is disintergration ash.

Zero, to Infinitum and back again.

Absolute and never a nothing.

Math, Pattern, Design, Science.

What Ever Something, Anything, Everything That Exists Is.

God is Existence.

(Life and death are only fractions of what Gods Whole Is, even if we make God whole) (God may not be reason, that might just be us)

---------- Post added 12-20-2009 at 09:14 AM ----------

What can God possibly do for me that i cant do for myself?

(just knowing one is not alone is enough for any God to acomplish)
(If he doesn't have your love he dosen't have everything.)

I won't even tell you God is real, or unreal for that matter...That never stopped anyone from conceiving of God... Since that conception has changed as mankind has changed, either God has changed, or has never existed as conceived, but only existed because conceived...

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@Reconstructo,

Reconstructo;112999 wrote:

Well, I was reading about Finnegans Wake, a crazy book written in dream language. Do you know of it? Also, I was using a random sentence generator, picking whatever seem suggestive in a vague way. "Umo" is just a sort of ventriloquist dummy. I was just indulging the Zen clown DADA itch. I'll look into "apart from yourself." Couldn't find it. What "apart from yourself?" I hope I have not offended...

I shall pick up a copy, heard the term 'dream languge' before, even try it from time to time, but not any real references.
Not "apart from yourself" it was the "" to quote quickly what you had said but i didn't have the time/patience to copy it out. It was who said this "" apart from you saying it now, was it your creation or was it from somewhere?, thanks for the answer.
I didn't know Zen clowns could itch, thank you for that. Smile

No you have not offened me,
I was pained, doubtfull and stupid. Lack of sleep, probably.
(you should really quit drinking if you feel shame about it. although it is my weekend, i should say that i am sorry)
Note; devils dont nest, they burrow. Devils have no home but for that house which we build for them, we still have the deeds, and hell is not even home for the the hell born. Heaven is home.

Reconstructo;112999 wrote:

If God is Love, what is Glove? (rabies don't hurt me)

Just another word:)

---------- Post added 12-20-2009 at 10:06 PM ----------

Fido;113019 wrote:

I won't even tell you God is real, or unreal for that matter...That never stopped anyone from conceiving of God... Since that conception has changed as mankind has changed, either God has changed, or has never existed as conceived, but only existed because conceived...

God as a construct came before before, It always was is and will be.
God as a concept is as Reconstructo said 'itself the uncreated Being' First, before all thing and transcends time, the self in God i am back and forth with, but if you were to say 'before time the uncreated Being' might sit better with me.

Need to ask this again; What can God do for me that i cant possibly do for myself?
Apart from keep me 'I' company? some might say warm.

1 Reply

@sometime sun,

sometime sun;113061 wrote:

God as a construct came before before, It always was is and will be.
God as a concept is as Reconstructo said 'itself the uncreated Being' First, before all thing and transcends time, the self in God i am back and forth with, but if you were to say 'before time the uncreated Being' might sit better with me.

Need to ask this again; What can God do for me that i cant possibly do for myself?
Apart from keep me 'I' company? some might say warm.

Yeah, I agree that there is another deeper more terrible concept of God that has less to do with man than the other way I use the word. God as the Ground of Being. Let's say that man creates his images of God, but where does this man come from himself? So that's the God behind man's gods, and yet the human mind is presumably limited in its ability to contemplate this Ground of Being.

See, the God I think can do something for folks is also what I call the meta-ideal. I think it's a Jungian archetype sort-o-thing that functions in all of us. It's just my theory but I think our self-esteem is tied up with this spiritual itch/drive/instinct that leads up upward, urges us to evolve. But of course Love and Life and the rest are all tangled up with this. This meta-ideal is like the ideal self we try to live up to. It's our concept of what a beautiful noble human is. I'm still looking for the best phrases to put this idea in.

I enjoyed your post. (I'm sober now, and wasn't ashamed but indulgent. Also had read Burgess on Joyce and that got out of control...Fun times, though....decides to let loose a bit0

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@Reconstructo,

Reconstructo;113101 wrote:

but where does this man come from himself? So that's the God behind man's gods, and yet the human mind is presumably limited in its ability to contemplate this Ground of Being.

Man comes from itself, we learn by our own experience, God teaches nothing but example, do as God does which is very little, man meaning is its own, man gives meaning and reason to and for itself, even through religious doctrinations we need to learn by man own understanding of mans transgressions/progressions. The Bible and all religious works/scriptures is all man by man for man to learn.
But we must also recognise in us that we dont just listen to the person warning of the heat of fire, we have to reach out and touch it ourselves, the Bible and othe works/scripture just put in place the execises that we still (most do) have to experience learn oursleves, wisdom can only be atained through lesson and touch, the experiment the result, and we can only test ourselves.
Do not test thee God
Do not put thee God to the test.
You will fail.
Man can only reason (mans own construct i suspect) Gods example by acting as example to itself and by turning God into a person so that man can in some way relate/equate the reason/trial we put ourselves through, not necessarily God doing the testing.

Reconstructo;113101 wrote:

See, the God I think can do something for folks is also what I call the meta-ideal. I think it's a Jungian archetype sort-o-thing that functions in all of us. It's just my theory but I think our self-esteem is tied up with this spiritual itch/drive/instinct that leads up upward, urges us to evolve. But of course Love and Life and the rest are all tangled up with this. This meta-ideal is like the ideal self we try to live up to. It's our concept of what a beautiful noble human is. I'm still looking for the best phrases to put this idea in.

Keep working looking and giving, what you are doing is fine work.

But i know what you mean about making something beautiful so as to be regarded as more than words and as something someone might find meaning and understanding and contemplation from through a very satisfying medium/example such is beauty.
If it is beautiful we are more likely/want to believe it is true.
We often hear/listen more to what we find pleasing to the ear/mind.
Beautiful is a noble truth and more likely to be pandered to.
Who says you cant pander to truth?

Keep strumming away, you will find the right cord/chord.

Reconstructo;113101 wrote:

I enjoyed your post. (I'm sober now, and wasn't ashamed but indulgent. Also had read Burgess on Joyce and that got out of control...Fun times, though....decides to let loose a bit0

The 'shame' was all mine, i tend towards talking to myself, not 'you', 'my own' or 'ones own', i would never dare to presume anothers shame for me or for them, sorry if i did this even inadvertantly.

(pleased better off to hear your loose side, i just got to learn to hear better) Smile

1 Reply

@sometime sun,

sometime sun;113619 wrote:

Man comes from itself, we learn by our own experience, God teaches nothing but example, do as God does which is very little, man meaning is its own, man gives meaning and reason to and for itself, even through religious doctrinations we need to learn by man own understanding of mans transgressions/progressions. The Bible and all religious works/scriptures is all man by man for man to learn.

Well, let's just drop the word "God" for this next question. What I mean,I suppose, is this: where does it all come from? Why the universe in the firt place? I'm not saying that this is valid question but that it is a strange and fascinating question. Why something rather than nothing?

For the most part questions are a pleasure for me, as I am quite the happy person, despite all the trouble on earth.

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@no1author,

Surely a concept...No relation to reality, totally abstract...

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@no1author,

But you might agree that this abstraction has affected history? So in that sense alone, the concept is real. Humans have killed and given their lives on the issue. Let's say that God is an ultimate abstraction, and that it's only correlate is all of reality. God in the biggest sense of the word. Totality, the sum of things.

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@no1author,

It is not the concept that is real, but humanity which is real, and through meaning we share our reality with our forms, and through a medium of forms we share reality..The fact that we die or kill for our forms is evidence that we give them far more meaning than they deserve... What is our object but life and more of it... And what is the object of our forms but the same...The proof of forms is in how well they support life and deliver to us the stuff of life... For people to take life which is real for concepts that are not real is proof like no other that the form is dead, and is killing those who accept it...

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