Define God Thread

[Kharakov]

Each person gets to create their own, personal definition of God.

Did it create the universe? Was it a primordial consciousness that arose out of various conscious experiences and interactions to guide other consciousnesses towards greater experience of unity (like an "intelligent" human)?


Logically inconsistent or contradictory definitions are not acceptable.

God cannot both be the sole creator of the universe and not be the sole creator of the universe. One or the other.


Introduce characteristics in list form, so that specific characteristics can be addressed:

1) God is X.
a,b,c... evidence that supports this claim
2) God does Y.
a,b,c... evidence that supports this claim
3) God likes pie.
a,b,c... evidence that supports this claim


If characteristics 1 and 3 are contradictory (1) God hates pie in all cases, 3) God likes pie), pick only one of them to make your full definition logically consistent.



If you claim something like "God created a multiverse, in which all possible things happen happen, and we happen to be in one of the branches", what you've said is logically consistent, but vague, as this God might or might not matter in our lives, depending on whether the God reacts to and interacts with the multiverse it created. So you'd need to extend the definition.

Anyway you take it from here...

 

[abaddon]

Anyway you take it from here...

Who is “you”? Theists? Is this thread just for theists?

I’m atheist so I don’t have any personal definition of God.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Anyway you take it from here...

Who is “you”? Theists? Is this thread just for theists?

I’m atheist so I don’t have any personal definition of God.

Whole lot of don'ts, really.

I don't believe the universe requires a creator, so the creator gods are gods i do not believe in.
I don't believe thunder or lightning requires a supernatural agency to explain them, so as an atheist I don't believe in thunder gods or lightning gods.
I don't believe ANY aspect of the universe requires an occult explanation, so whether they are ascribed to individual gods in a pantheon or collected into one comprehensive skybeast, I remain an atheist.
I don't believe the claims that man would be completely amoral without an external source of morality, so i disbelieve all the various lawgiver gods.
I think people are fertile or infertile with or without a blood sacrifice, so the various fertility gods and goddesses are merely fodder for ribald humor (We will worship Aphrodite, even though she's kinda flighty, but she wears a see-thru nightie and that's good enough for me... Gimmee that old, old, old time religion...etc)

It's the people flogging a god(s) that need to set up the godly parameters.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

The God Zoo.

A concept I have been working on is the God Zoo. Not in the sense of Yahweh, Odin, Jupiter et al.
But in the sense of differing concepts of God. Omni-everything creator Gods. The limited God of Process theology and open theology. Deist Gods, Prime Mover God of Aristotle. Nature Gods of say, Celts, Aztecs, Romans and others. Idealist Gods, say Berkeley. Pantheism. Dualistic Gods of Zoroastrian religions. On towards divine spirits who we may not think of Gods. Nyads, penitates, lares, fairies and goblins. Recent surveys show 26% of those claing belief in God do not believe in a personal God, but God as an impersonal force. Maya Gods, all is an illusion, existing only in the mind of God.

Defining God is not a really workable idea on it's own. There are many definitions of God. And each kind of God has it's own set of problems. I am trying to be systematic here.

So, who is in your God Zoo? And remember, don't feed the Gods.

 

[rousseau]

A meme in the minds of human beings

 

[Kharakov]

Anyway you take it from here...

Who is “you”?

It's an MWI pun. I can't believe you miss it in every branch of the universe.
`

I’m atheist so I don’t have any personal definition of God.

Some atheists might define God as a psychosocial construct in the minds of believers.

 

[abaddon]

Some atheists might define God as a psychosocial construct in the minds of believers.

But then they wouldn't be creating “their own, personal definition of God”.

 

[bilby]

God Thread is infinitely strong thread that never frays, tangles, snags, or unravels.

 

[Kharakov]

Some atheists might define God as a psychosocial construct in the minds of believers.

But then they wouldn't be creating “their own, personal definition of God”.

They could add some details like "from my personal experience God is a psycho..." if that would help. It's their definition.

 

[DBT]

'God' is a alien Super Civilisation that has the capacity to create Virtual Universes that are indistinguishable from an actual Universe to the inhabitants of these constructed Worlds. Their level of technology being so advanced that it appears to be magic to less advanced beings, well, that's the best I can come up with in the spur of the moment.

 

[Lion IRC]

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the Resurrection of the body and life everlasting.
Amen.

 

[another1]

In the world: God is a symptom of sharing the world with other poeople. Are those people real? As real as any God they may believe in, I suppose. Those people are made up of an energy committed to a God. The energy is real. I lack a better word. The energy is misunderstood. Something shared, that gets stronger in groups. There is no known way to control, or even identify this "energy". All we can do is keep it leveled. And we usually can't.

People just feel it. They have an easy source up the street. A chemical reaction in their brains draws them there. I think there will always be a God, no matter what. People have to manage this energy. People don't understand it, so they built dirt mounds to stab babies, or whatever. Once enough blood had spilled, BAM - Energy focused tighter. Kill enough people and anything is possible. Kill the son of GOD.. there you go.

This unexplainable energy phenomenally triggers during prayer. God is different for everyone, secretly, back in their minds. They share it in the same ways because it is the only way they know to release the energy in what they believe is a positive way. But God is actually personal for most people. So basically they're all feeding from this massive energy source differently... and they'll all call it the same thing.


God in my imagination: Lately my imagination is Kurwelleanally influenced, and my leisure scrolling has been random posts about strange dreams people have. I also imagine that I am surrounded by invisible satellites. Only immediate thoughts are stored inside my physical brain. The rest are inside the satellites. The network of satellites stretch across an expanse, where other energy forms communicate and create the world around us - but not a pre-programmed simulation. I think that when we see images from space, we may actually be seeing the inner workings of our own minds, and the connections between them. We may be seeing these "satellites" after all. I imagine we're watched by our satellite Angels. I think that beyond time, our actions are filtered and choreographed by something working outside the mind.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Well, the word originally comes to us meaning "to cry out." Can't speak for other languages but all words are descriptive. That said, lets give the word substance.

god: any human behavior, irrational, inconsistent and emotional, directed toward imagined, fantastic organisms believed to take part in the processes of life.

 

[Malintent]

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the Resurrection of the body and life everlasting.
Amen.

This reminds me of how Muslims have to say a whole paragraph of platitudes whenever they make reference to Mohammad so it is made extremely clear that no disrespect was intended.. people get killed by other Muslim people for misunderstandings like that..

so the OP asks about gods and definitions, and Lion IRC feels compelled to spout a paragraph of platitudes... what's that matter, Lion, feeling blasphemous in your thoughts or something? Worried someone might think you are having prohibited thoughts?

 

[Keith&Co.]

so the OP asks about gods and definitions, and Lion IRC feels compelled to spout a paragraph of platitudes...

Not platitudes. It's the Nicene creed. It was the product of the seminar Constantine called to figure out just what his empire's mascot religion was and wasn't.
Whether the official dogma was to believe in one god that did everything, or two gods: one that did all good things and one that did all evil; whether they felt Jesus was god or related to god or human working for god; whether Christ was actually crucified or managed to duck out and get Lucifer nailed to the cross in his place; All the various dogmas held by one or another religious tradition that held itself to be Christain.

So, really, when asked to define God, Lion offers a definition of Christain.

 

[Kharakov]

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

So the first part of your definition of God would be:
1) God is the creator of heaven and earth.

What is heaven (imagination?)? What is earth (nature?)?

What is the evidence that God created heaven and earth?

 

[Kharakov]

Well, the word originally comes to us meaning "to cry out." Can't speak for other languages but all words are descriptive. That said, lets give the word substance.

god: any human behavior, irrational, inconsistent and emotional, directed toward imagined, fantastic organisms believed to take part in the processes of life.

Would that be what theists call prayer?

 

[Kharakov]

so the OP asks about gods and definitions, and Lion IRC feels compelled to spout a paragraph of platitudes...

Not platitudes. It's the Nicene creed. It was the product of the seminar Constantine called to figure out just what his empire's mascot religion was and wasn't.

I'm wondering why Constantine picked Christianity instead of Mithraism..

Was it a political move (let's pick the underdog, which will make the state look more benevolent to the masses)?

 

[Kharakov]

I think that beyond time, our actions are filtered and choreographed by something working outside the mind.

Is your brain outside your mind?

 

[Lion IRC]

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

So the first part of your definition of God would be:
1) God is the creator of heaven and earth.

What is heaven (imagination?)? What is earth (nature?)?
What is the evidence that God created heaven and earth?

Is this a debate thread?

OK

Heaven is where everyone is in harmony with God.
Earth is the planet where we currently exist.

I suppose you could argue that someone other than God created heaven and earth if you wanted. *shrug*