What is 'god'?

[honest intellectual]

This is basically an offshoot of the sticky 'god' topic. The question is - when we debate the existence of a god, what do we mean by 'god'?

The Judeo-Islamic view of Alllah or Christ or Yahweh is a single omnipotent intelligence who is responsible for absolutely everything that happens in the universe. I think can be rejected because of the level of contraciction in the universe. If everything was controlled by a single intelligence, then it should be all working towards a uniform purpose.

The view of many polytheistic religions is that gods have certain powers, but are very much limited in their powers. The problem I have with this is that i can't see where the line can be drawn between what is a god and what is not. I mean, is anything more powerful than people to be considered a god? Is someone who can levitate, heal lepers or walk on water automatically a god? What about the power to kill a yak from two-hundred yards... WITH MIND BULLETS!!!!!!!

The Taoist concept of The Tao is a non-concious, non-intelligent 'god' which is not universally omnipotent, but has a certain power throughout the universe. It allows for contradiction to exist in the universe because of the duality of the Tao - yin and yang.

So, yeah, what is God? Concious or not? Omnipotent or not?

[Lardlad95]

Originally posted by honest inte[email protected] 11 2004, 10:12 PM
This is basically an offshoot of the sticky 'god' topic. The question is - when we debate the existence of a god, what do we mean by 'god'?

The Judeo-Islamic view of Alllah or Christ or Yahweh is a single omnipotent intelligence who is responsible for absolutely everything that happens in the universe. I think can be rejected because of the level of contraciction in the universe. If everything was controlled by a single intelligence, then it should be all working towards a uniform purpose.

The view of many polytheistic religions is that gods have certain powers, but are very much limited in their powers. The problem I have with this is that i can't see where the line can be drawn between what is a god and what is not. I mean, is anything more powerful than people to be considered a god? Is someone who can levitate, heal lepers or walk on water automatically a god? What about the power to kill a yak from two-hundred yards... WITH MIND BULLETS!!!!!!!

The Taoist concept of The Tao is a non-concious, non-intelligent 'god' which is not universally omnipotent, but has a certain power throughout the universe. It allows for contradiction to exist in the universe because of the duality of the Tao - yin and yang.

So, yeah, what is God? Concious or not? Omnipotent or not?
I would agree with the Taoist concept of God, that there is a force in the universe that is not concious unto it's self. It is like the concept of Atman, it is in everything and everything is in it.


If not that then I suppose the Diest concept of God as an objective observer would be the best choice. In deism, God simply created the universe, then left it to govern it's self

[Individual]

Dictionary Definition:

God: 1; consisting of nothing; 2; not even air; 3; fantasy of misguided spirit; 4; bullshit; 5; nothing but bullshit

*AQ's Dictionary of Common Sense- Published 1979 by Common Sense Publishing House*

[Agent provocateur]

Originally posted by honest [email protected] 11 2004, 10:12 PM
This is basically an offshoot of the sticky 'god' topic. The question is - when we debate the existence of a god, what do we mean by 'god'?

The Judeo-Islamic view of Alllah or Christ or Yahweh is a single omnipotent intelligence who is responsible for absolutely everything that happens in the universe. I think can be rejected because of the level of contraciction in the universe. If everything was controlled by a single intelligence, then it should be all working towards a uniform purpose.

The view of many polytheistic religions is that gods have certain powers, but are very much limited in their powers. The problem I have with this is that i can't see where the line can be drawn between what is a god and what is not. I mean, is anything more powerful than people to be considered a god? Is someone who can levitate, heal lepers or walk on water automatically a god? What about the power to kill a yak from two-hundred yards... WITH MIND BULLETS!!!!!!!

The Taoist concept of The Tao is a non-concious, non-intelligent 'god' which is not universally omnipotent, but has a certain power throughout the universe. It allows for contradiction to exist in the universe because of the duality of the Tao - yin and yang.

So, yeah, what is God? Concious or not? Omnipotent or not?
The God of the Hebrew Bible is not love.

Check out 2nd Samuel, Chapter 24



http://www.religioustolerance.org/imm_bibl1.htm

[mia wallace]

i think the definition would be:
upper force that controles ything, knows everything, can do everything (in one word almighty) and is never wrong.

yeah, right :rolleyes:

[Lardlad95]

Originally posted by [email protected] 11 2004, 10:25 PM
Dictionary Definition:

God: 1; consisting of nothing; 2; not even air; 3; fantasy of misguided spirit; 4; bullshit; 5; nothing but bullshit

*AQ's Dictionary of Common Sense- Published 1979 by Common Sense Publishing House*
I think I'd rather buy webster's if you don't mind

[Individual]

Feel free.

When you get it. Look up the word joke.

[honest intellectual]

Originally posted by mia [email protected] 11 2004, 10:38 PM
i think the definition would be:
upper force that controles ything, knows everything, can do everything (in one word almighty) and is never wrong.

yeah, right :rolleyes:
What I'm saying is that there could be a god which is powerful, but not alll-powerful. Like Hindu deities, for example. Is that a god or just some powerful dude? Is Superman a god?

[mia wallace]

Originally posted by honest intellectual+Feb 12 2004, 02:08 AM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (honest intellectual @ Feb 12 2004, 02:08 AM)
mia [email protected] 11 2004, 10:38 PM
i think the definition would be:
upper force that controles ything, knows everything, can do everything (in one word almighty) and is never wrong.

yeah, right :rolleyes:
What I&#39;m saying is that there could be a god which is powerful, but not alll-powerful. Like Hindu deities, for example. Is that a god or just some powerful dude? Is Superman a god? [/b]
well i think it depands on how he introduces himself to the others. jesus said he is the god, so he was considered as a god, and superman wasn&#39;t.

i believe there&#39;s some kind of force which we become when we die. is it love or something ilse - i don&#39;t know...

btw, do you guys know this:
can almighty god create a stone as heavy he can&#39;t pick up ?
this can prove he&#39;s not almighty....

[iloveatomickitten]

God is just a thought. It is not something it exists as nothing other than a fabrication of the mind.


can almighty god create a stone as heavy he can&#39;t pick up ?
this can prove he&#39;s not almighty....

The paradox proves nothing. The incapacity of language to describe something that transcends human existence leads no more to knowledge than the bible does to Gods existence.

[Wenty]

these religious debates are so repetitive. Each one allows some member to spout off their negative views on religion. Ok, your atheist i get it stop repeating it vehemently any and every chance you get&#33;

[Individual]

Hey Wenty...

God is nothing. Fantasy of the Mind. Blind Faith. Hypnosis. Bullshit.

You think me adding athiest thoughts is none productive.

For one, how is talking about something that isn&#39;t really there productive? Honestly athiest beliefs are more productive as in the aren&#39;t b/s.

For two, this is productive?...


these religious debates are so repetitive. Each one allows some member to spout off their negative views on religion. Ok, your atheist i get it stop repeating it vehemently any and every chance you get&#33;

That is less productive than what we are writing. Atleast our thoughts have something to do with the &#39;definition of god&#39; which is what the topic was about.

[Pedro Alonso Lopez]

My definition of God just to add some philosophy in here.

Either a being absolutely infinite with an infinite amount of attributes aling Spinoza&#39;s lines or in Hegelian terms Geist. Look it up, explaining Hegel is too much work.

I remain agnostic until I see proofs of either side.

[Individual]

Here are questions for a believer of any religion.

What religion do you follow? What is different about your religion from others? Is your God the same as other religions Gods?

How can you prove that your God is the true God?

This should really prove to you how false God is.

Explain how your God is the true God, and other religions Gods are false. Now think of it in the fact that people following other religions think the same thing about your God, that &#39;it&#39; is a fake.

What makes your God right, and other&#39;s wrong? And how can your God be true? And others false?

[Pedro Alonso Lopez]

Originally posted by [email protected] 12 2004, 05:54 PM
Here are questions for a believer of any religion.

What religion do you follow? What is different about your religion from others? Is your God the same as other religions Gods?

How can you prove that your God is the true God?

This should really prove to you how false God is.

Explain how your God is the true God, and other religions Gods are false. Now think of it in the fact that people following other religions think the same thing about your God, that &#39;it&#39; is a fake.

What makes your God right, and other&#39;s wrong? And how can your God be true? And others false?

These are all pointless questions, put some real philosophical arguments forward and stop rehashing school like anti-religious arguments.

Some atheists can be more dogmatic than theists.

[Individual]

These are all pointless questions, put some real philosophical arguments forward and stop rehashing school like anti-religious arguments.

Some atheists can be more dogmatic than theists.

Pointless questions that you have no answer for.

There are tons of arguements to be made against religion. This is a big one.

School like anti-religious arguments? As in something you would talk about in school? This statement is awkward considering you can talk about anything in a school environment.

More dogmatic than theists? I don&#39;t see any theists on this thread posting answers to prove God is real.

Maybe you did not fully understand my questions, which could be fault on my part for presenting them. However they are good arguements.

If they are so &#39;school-like&#39; than they should be fairly easy to answer them... Well I&#39;m waiting

[bubbrubb]

i think God is an all knowing being or supreior being who si the Creator of everything

[Palmares]

The definition of &#39;God&#39; differs depending on who it is from (thank you captain obvious...). Different people have different conceptions due to their given scriptures (e.g. the Catholic &#39;God&#39; is not omnipotent/omniscient, but rather &#39;logically&#39; omnipotent/omniscient [no fatalism}, while the Islamic &#39;God&#39; is omnipotent/omniscient [except for one little loophole]).

Perhaps &#39;God&#39; could be described as a superior non-human/super-human being of celestial origin that commands the world/universe (or various parts within it), thus MUST be worshipped.

Or not.

"God is dead."

[Pedro Alonso Lopez]

Originally posted by [email protected] 12 2004, 08:47 PM












Pointless questions that you have no answer for.

They are pointless philosophically, this is whether God exists not whether religion is bad. I know religion is bad. Jesus stick to the topic and put some arguments for atheism forward, real ones based on reason.

I am not a theist by the way.


There are tons of arguements to be made against religion. This is a big one.

Yes and this thread is about God not religion.


School like anti-religious arguments? As in something you would talk about in school? This statement is awkward considering you can talk about anything in a school environment.

What, jesus man you are slow. I am saying they are school bot arguments. Read.


More dogmatic than theists? I don&#39;t see any theists on this thread posting answers to prove God is real.

I mean in general, theists are often criticised for being dogmatic.



Maybe you did not fully understand my questions, which could be fault on my part for presenting them. However they are good arguements.

First of all I am not stupid. Your questions are dare I say it below me. They bore me.


If they are so &#39;school-like&#39; than they should be fairly easy to answer them... Well I&#39;m waiting

I am not defending religion, I am against religion. Your points are valid, I support them but they are not good arguments for the the non-existence of God but good arguments for showing the inadaquacy of organised religion.

From a philosophical perspective we look at God outside of religion.

[Individual]

They are pointless philosophically, this is whether God exists not whether religion is bad

Hello&#33; This is questioning God. Read, and listen carefully. I am proving that God isn&#39;t real, or atleast that there is more than &#39;one&#39; true God. By comparing all of the religions. What makes any God better than the other? All of the religions say that their God is the true God. Well either all these religions believe:

in the same God, just all have different beliefs from him, which is insanse

or that there is more than one true God, which is insane.

Therefore, this should prove that God is not real because of the fact that all of the religions say their God is the only true God. Do you get what I am saying?


First of all I am not stupid. Your questions are dare I say it below me. They bore me.

Ok, now your sounding like Hazard here. If you are so far ahead of me philosophically/theologically, then blow me away. Tell me something, or provide an arguement that will just knock my socks off. I do not see you putting any arguements forth.

If my questions are so below you, then why do you fail to see how this questions God&#39;s exitance?


I am not defending religion, I am against religion. Your points are valid, I support them but they are not good arguments for the the non-existence of God but good arguments for showing the inadaquacy of organised religion

Again, my arguements do question the existance of God. Do you honestly believe this is my only argument against God&#39;s existance.


From a philosophical perspective we look at God outside of religion.

What is there of God that is outside of religion? Honestly, what the hell kind of statement is that. You want me to argue over God&#39;s existance with science? God is not real, nothing, not consisting of matter. How do I prove God&#39;s existance without relating something to the bible, or a religion? If you prove it scientifically, you must take it back to something said in the bible. So called God&#39;s word is in nothing but the bible. And considering that you can&#39;t compare something with nothing. Religion must be a part of it. What the hell kind of statement is that?

[hazard]

typically God, or god, means SUPREME BEING or CREATOR or something to that effect

[ComradeRed]

god means: "my invisible best friend"

[revolutionindia]

God is a a state of mind.
It is what we all will evolve into eventually.

However taking the present world into consideration
it is impossible to tell when and how humanity will achieve
this .

Christ ,buddha,allah,vishnu,rama are like the first bubles that emerge in boiling water before the entire water starts boiling and becomes full of bubbles.

Also water before it just starts to boil looks so calm
the same way todays world is filled wtih so much treachery
and hatred that you will not believe that the next god is walking
among us.

[cubist]

does god exist? hmm i don&#39;t know, i feel that there could infact be a creator, but that is an opinion, i am as yet not aware of evidence to proove or disproove gods existance.

no religions god is better than another becuase they are all wrong, in some way shape or form. until hard evidence is produced to proove the religions god is real.

[Postteen]

1:the power which created the world(yeah,right)
2:the power we all have inside us.As Lennon said"We are all GOD.Not a god or the God".

I think that man is the God because he created him.

[hobosexual]

shut up, you guys are all idiots. first someone tries to post a question about god cause this is the "philosophy" section. maybe 1 or 2 ppl try to answer it then you dumbfucks start with the stupid "god doesn&#39;t exist" statements. then someone goes off on them saying how their statements are pointless. the the atheists go off on them saying how saying their statements are pointless are pointless. all of this is pointless so just shut up.

either answer the question or don&#39;t say anything at all. if you don&#39;t believe in god nobody really cares that is your decision. but that really has nothing to do with this topic. if you want to answer his question by saying that god doesn&#39;t exist by all means do but you don&#39;t have to be a sarcastic ***** about it and we don&#39;t need 50 other ppl posting the same thing about how god doesn&#39;t exist.

yes it&#39;s impossible to prove god through science and through evidence. no duh. religion isn&#39;t based on evidence, it&#39;s based on faith. faith is when you believe in something you can&#39;t prove. so stop trying to bring science and all this other useless crap into it. this goes for every single topic anybody posts about god on this forum.

god is an almighty being so no superman would not be god. a god, maybe, if your speaking about a different religion other than christianity. but not god.

[Pedro Alonso Lopez]

First of all you are assuming the use of God as terminology to mean an entity that is singular.

God could for all you know the human spirit thus a superman could easily be equated with the notion of a superman. Your perspective is purely speculative and thus can not be counted as a philosophical argument.

If you believe God is something that can be justified on faith alone then perhaps the school of philosophy is not for you.

[Wenty]

yet surely Geist religion requires a leap of faith, it is something which cannot be justified. It is wholly individual.

I&#39;m sure Kierkegaard would have a few things to say about this topic. I forget, was his idea that faith is the highest form of reason? Something to that effect.

[Pedro Alonso Lopez]

Well Kierkegaard called faith a &#39;divine madness&#39;, an absurdity requiring a &#39;leap&#39; over our faculty of reason.

I look to Nietzsche for help on this one, Kierkegaard says, &#39;A condition in which no despair at all exists is also a formula for believing...this self is grounded transparently in the power that constituted it&#39;.

But it is quite simply as Nietzsche calls it a way to &#39;save his soul from dispair&#39;, I guess it is Kiekegaard no longer looking into the abyss, he essentially falls into religion in my opinion unable to cope with the sense of despair that has opened up before his eyes.

I wonder how he would have coped with the proclamation of Gods death.

Kiekegaard&#39;s fall into religion is a sign of his weakness, nothing more.

[Individual]

either answer the question or don&#39;t say anything at all. if you don&#39;t believe in god nobody really cares that is your decision. but that really has nothing to do with this topic

First of all.

You don&#39;t want to hear what we have to say. What in the hell makes you think I care about what you have to say? Don&#39;t come on a topic and complain about downsizing your God.

Second of all.

We did answer the question. Incase you forgot, here is the question:


The question is - when we debate the existence of a god, what do we mean by &#39;god&#39;?

That is great that your meaning of &#39;God&#39; conflicts ours. However in no way are you correct in saying that we "are all idiots". In my eyes, you are an idiot for believing in false truths. The road goes in two directions, realize this.

And science should play a major role in the existance of God. If you realized this, you may actually believe that despite the &#39;numbers&#39; in the bible, science could very well prove the existance of God. (Let there be light, Big Bang theory? see what I&#39;m saying) Instead, you deny science. The funny thing is, you deny science, yet science can prove itself. God can not.

You don&#39;t want to hear all of these sarcastic comments on God, realize there are many agnostics&#39; and atheists on this board. So don&#39;t start a battle trying to prove God with your petty &#39;God is supernatural&#39; arguements. I follow truth, not faith.

Instead of writing a whole post trying to b&#39;tch at us for not believing in God. Feel free to try and sway my opinion, by proving that God is real.

[Wenty]

i&#39;m tired of people repeating how they think religion is a sign of weakeness and so forth. Say it once, say it and then stop saying it.

[Pedro Alonso Lopez]

Wenty I share your frustration in a way, the arguments for me are very subjective or based on very broad scientific claims, there seems to be nobody defending their God of lack of God from the point of view of reason.

There is after all a God thread, the problem you people have is with THEOLOGY&#33;

So what has Kierkegaard to say to Nietzsche Wenty?

[cubist]

i won&#39;t even bother saying anything reqarding somepeople dislike to the atheists commenting on a philosophy thread about god,

[hobosexual]

then why did you bother writing that pointless post... ?
if your not gonna bother saying anything then why did you say that.

[cubist]

fine HOBO,

have it

the question initailly asks what is god,

well to me god if he exists is a misgynistic, thieveing,antisemetic, racist, immoral, creator who has done nothing for the good of humanity only confused it and allowed it to go to war with itself over someblind ideas that are endorsed by he same mystical being which only those who believe have any ability to communicate and understand what is "being said". To all non believers whoread the bible they "take it out of context and don&#39;t understand why god would do such a thing".

so to some up its a created ideal which the romans adopted during there own demise, decided they would still have theyre say in the world to be, then it was sectioned up it to other sects of the same cult becuase different leaders/monarchs wanted to use it to theyre own advantage, mainly Luther to conquer his antisemtic views, and Henry vIII so he could get married again.

this inturn has reaped havoc in the world and been the center of many a civil war in some case is still ongoing nearly 5 hundered years later. not tp mention is currently holding a world wide divide regarding a war on an axis of EVIL, rightwing christians versus crazy rightwing muslims, niether are good for the wworld and the only peope that get hurt are innocent people cuaght up in dogmatic bullshit preached by they&#39;re own governments.


that to me is what GOD is. sounds fucking great doesn&#39;t he, Sorry wenty but to have a philosophical debate on theism would be stupid to not have an objective argument to the whole case.

[Ernestocheguevara]

As Marxists dialectical thinking steers us a way from God or god or Gods or gods all together.
I, as an ex christian, can argue both sides here so all I will say is this

Against: If God IS all powerful can he make a rock that he can&#39;t pick up?

For: If there is no God where does our sense of morality come from?
Also where do we get logic from? What gives us the power to reason? Careful not to reason away the very entity that gave you that power&#33;&#33;

Mind numbing ain&#39;t it&#33;&#33;&#33;??? :blink:

[cubist]

logic would comefrom our ability to learn,

you must understand if god doesn&#39;t exist, the we evolved from a species of ape/monkey, which intime has learnt many things and adapted to include them in the next gerenation,

logic is a skill of knowlege if you believe god gave you your knowlege then god made some people very stupid and thats rather unfair isn&#39;t it.

the power to reason, MAN is a very unreasonable person especially when religion is involved, was it reasonable to kill all the boys of the medianite nation after killing all the fathers in war, but more so was it reasonable to take all the women to be there own.

Was it reasonable for poets and writers of muslim and non christian beliefs to be hung for being blastphemous in they&#39;re pices of work in pre 1950 britain.

if god exists he has condemed me to hell for not believeing the unlogical irational idea, if he doesn&#39;t then i have not wasted my life