God is??????

[Luck Mermaid]

based on another thread about abrahamic god as asshole.

 

 

I'm reading stuff by Marion Zimmer Bradly, mostly 'mists of avalon'. I think it would help some people here since it deals with 'gnostic' stuff, stuff of the first few centuries and it's own 'what if' take.

 

God is maybe existent in the form taught by Christianity mainstream, but ultimately when you seek other paths, including the path of the rationalist and the atheist (which I know might be very annoying since you're fed up of deists saying a theism is a 'religion' - I think it's a path, a way of looking at things that reflects 'all that is' i.e. the big god/dess whole - of course this is all personal opinion!), you broaden out from "god is good, others are evil, etc..." and making excuses for that concept of god.

 

Just because many humans say god is like this or that, who has to believe it? I'm saying this because people here are talking about god asi f the only framework allowed is that offered by that which we've grown up with - isn't GOD more flexible than that ?

 

What ARE basic characteristics of what we'd term 'god'?

 

In my opinion, they include, the 'spiritual principle' which if you look in a dictionary ( and I have) will actually mean - the 'basic basic'. God to me, because of the way I'm raised, implies control and cosmic law above our own so in that sense god is 'all that is' and really big, neither good nor bad and filled with tons of stuff, the smallest possible aspect of a percent I understand (or maybe that's my own flight of fancy!)

 

In another sense god is a friend, someone who looks out for my back and gives me hope , gets back at people who I'm hurt by (whether they're at fault or not - agai I'm talking basic concept of god), one who helps me through life

 

In another sense, god is both a parent and the source - like the 'vine' and the 'vine branches' - I'm a branch, god is the vine, but hopefully on a more personally fulfilling level - I don't know if I could live a happy life as a vine.

 

one aspect of god can be simply power - any sign of power beyond humans, for good or bad, particularly what is unmanipulatable, is seen by us humans often as 'god'.

 

These are a few aspects and ideas about god - what are some other aspects?

 

And no I'm not saying this to convince people that there's a god, but rather to open up what seems to be a limited view of god - a limited view of the fabric of reality - isn't is a good thing to free our minds of this limited idea also?

 

So I'm throwing the question out there - what does the very concept of god mean to y ou? a collective consciousness ? someone like a human but in charge of everything? a friend? the laws of reality and/or the laws of science? what are some good aspects of god? some harmful? what would you choose to work with?

[Ouroboros]

To me God, if he exists, is nothing more than a life force beyond our comprehension, and impossible to reduce to words or explanations.

 

Tao Te Ching #1

 

The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.

The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.

 

The unnamable is the eternally real.

Naming is the origin of all particular things.

 

Free from desire, you realize the mystery.

Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.

 

Yet mystery and manifestations arise from the same source.

This source is called darkness.

 

Darkness within darkness.

The gateway to all understanding.

[Abiyoyo]

This has helped me with alot of the disagreements between the OT God and Jesus's teachings.

 

http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/apocjn.html

[Guest Euthyphro]

I can't imagine really what God is exactly. God is feelings. I can't sense God beyond feelings. God is Euphoria. God can be love. God can be passion.

 

These feelings of euphoria and certitude come and go though. So I'm not sure what to choose.

 

A) possible chemical imbalance

 

B ) God.

 

I am biased towards God much of the time.

 

 

 

 

Maybe Lao Tzu has something there, HanSolo. There is something about those writings. I dunno.

 

 

 

Luck who told you theists had to be religious? I am agnostic theist who leans heavily towards deism but I have never been corrected by a deist on what theism has to be exactly. I thought theists believe in a personal God and religion is not necessarily necessary to theism.

[dibby]

It is amazing how glibly I used to throw around phrases about God, when I was a fundy......

He is infinite..(just what does that mean??), He is love ( thats debatable sometimes), omniscient , omnipotent. These are things that are so blindly said, but if you really ask any fundy what they actually mean you can be left feeling a bit confused.

He (so that negates the feminine) is the infinite power of the universe, but he has certain opinions which just a small section of people in history have written down for us. He creates planets, but doesn,t like shell fish. Moves galaxies into their positions, but positively hates homosexuals. The Most High, but finds it offensive if you have another belief about him! Anyone else find this bonkers?

[MQTA]

I can't help but see our creators as being our ancestors from another planet with great scientific knowledge we never quite attained. They created us and it's been down hill since.

 

so the creators weren't God, they were scientists. Yahweh was the one in charge, the head honcho, the president of the council overseeing project Earth.

 

From what I'm getting, Lucifer was the one who pissed off the Boss/Yahweh in the Garden (lab) by teaching us about science. It wasn't the Fall of Man in that Garden, it was the tiff between the scientists and the home planet government.

 

I'm still trying to not see this, but the more I read, the more it all fits

[SBeeland]

To me, "god" is whatever started all this, be it the big bang, an idea, aliens from another dimension, the universe itself, or whatever. The more I think about it, the more I realise the existence of a god has nothing to do with my life, and I doubt god's existence even more.

[MQTA]

I think they are 2 totally different issues. The Universe, this galaxy, solar system and planet have been here longer than we'll ever know. This planet was just a potential for life, they found it, terraformed it, and started their experiments in creating life from DNA manipulation. Then they went for the big one and create us, in their image and likeness. 7 groups of scientists created the 7 races. The Bible, koran, book of enoch and book of mormon seems to tell the tales of interaction and encounters with the creators, some were 'taken up' in their ships and told what to write.. and what they wrote were in their understood terms back then.

 

The books are the story and unfolding of our learning, and their learning. They've grown and changed through our history also. It's a fascination archive of what we'd call today 'alien encounters'

 

Israel was the name they gave one of the 7 labs, the one known as the garden. Interesting how Israelian and Alien are of the same root. We never really understood our roots and they obviously used that to control us. They had different political ideals, so Satan's group is always trying to show Yahwah and their council that the human creations suck and should be destroyed.

 

It's like the worst game of telephone ever, no wonder we're all screwed up, through and through. they got some game going on us, eh?

 

A lot of the texts SCREAM of these encounters and our interpretations of them. Just look how we reaction to people today that say they had encounters. Can't know who to trust.. we have to make our own choices, that's clear. No excuse for harming others not in self defense.

 

No other explanation before this ever made any sense or was easily seen as just more bunk. but this really does make sense to me and I can't shake it! Everything I Read from any of the books can be seen for what it could very well be.

 

No magic, no miracles, no supernatural, just beings who did what we'd love to imagine we can do, too.

[Brother Jeff]

To me, God is an Invisible Magically Undead Man who lives in the Sky! Glory!

 

Seriously, if there is a god, I would suspect that deism comes closest to be the correct view.

[MQTA]

given our latest discoveries, it makes sense our ancestors created us or just landed here.. but the texts are full of space craft and the beings that operated them.. so scientists knowing dna manipulation puts it all together like a puzzle. also ties together all the ancient texts as one linear story of OUR stupidity

[SBeeland]

given our latest discoveries, it makes sense our ancestors created us or just landed here.. but the texts are full of space craft and the beings that operated them.. so scientists knowing dna manipulation puts it all together like a puzzle. also ties together all the ancient texts as one linear story of OUR stupidity

 

Isn't this what the ra'liens or however you spell it believe?

[Poonis]

What ARE basic characteristics of what we'd term 'god'?

 

"Show me your god and I will show you the manifestation of your imagination."

[Brother Jeff]

What ARE basic characteristics of what we'd term 'god'?

 

"Show me your god and I will show you the manifestation of your imagination."

My god is KRYASST! I can't show Him to you because He is Invisible. He is REAL, though. I know because He said so and I feel His Presence! Glory!

[Amethyst]

I don't think anyone will ever know what god is, because humans keep insisting on making god a reflection of what they want god to be like.

 

Personally, I think if there is a god, it would be more of a life-force and not a sentient being that gets involved in our everyday lives. But I don't know if even that type of god exists, and I'm not going to bow down and worship something that I don't know exists. Especially if it ends up being an energy field of some sort.

 

But in reality I think god represents the best and the worst of what human beings can be like. Mythical gods are exaggerations to the extreme of human personalities, much like super heroes are exaggerations of human physical and mental abilities.

 

IMHO, mythical gods were the super heroes of ancient times. They didn't have comic books or cartoons or movies back then, so they made up stories about gods. And somewhere along the way, people began to take those stories literally and that was how it all began.

[Anakin]

I think god is an idea. A way to explain things. Perhaps a coping mechanism for self aware

creatures. If there is something that can be called "god", then I would agree with others

that it is just a life force of some kind. Like Tao.

[MQTA]

given our latest discoveries, it makes sense our ancestors created us or just landed here.. but the texts are full of space craft and the beings that operated them.. so scientists knowing dna manipulation puts it all together like a puzzle. also ties together all the ancient texts as one linear story of OUR stupidity

 

Isn't this what the ra'liens or however you spell it believe?

 

Yeah, much of it was revealed to Claude Rael in 1973 and 1975. I don't know what they believe, they seem to have done what all the rest have done in our long history..

 

but the Cast of Characters remains the same. If the message was from those we called the Elohim, and Yahweh, Satan, Lucifer and all the rest are the same as the Elohim, as well as the ones they've communicated with through our history, then you can read any text, look at any history, and see how it FITS.

 

I don't know what really goes on with them, just what outside sources would like us to believe. I couldn't care less about them, it's the way it all fits into the old books that has me looking further and further into it.

 

I can't dismiss it like everything else was easy to dismiss, it makes too much sense. Almost totally destroys Christianity. Puts our creators as flesh and blood beings whom we are a lot alike. Our people even react how their people reacted when they first started toying with DNA.

 

IT's a pretty wild story, and if it's the truth, it should jive with our perceived history. A lot of it falls into place on timelines.ws ... the Traditional dates for things is all wrong.

 

I'm having problems debunking what I read nowadays.. it's all just like Making SENSE. The joke really is on us if there's merit to it.

[Vigile]

given our latest discoveries, it makes sense our ancestors created us or just landed here.. but the texts are full of space craft and the beings that operated them.. so scientists knowing dna manipulation puts it all together like a puzzle. also ties together all the ancient texts as one linear story of OUR stupidity

 

If you plan to evangelize us with this Raelean nonsense, which you have every right to do, plan on defending the belief system against logic. I'll argue right here that it's a cult, but will leave it at that as I don't want to derail the thread. If it ends up that way, we can start a new thread. Peace.

[MQTA]

This is my nonsense, nothing to do with Claude or whatever he's been doing since. I've been doing my own research from my own history and examining the old texts and listen to my own inner voices, which seem to have changed. These are my discoveries, AFTER reading his ebook.

 

The Concept and Idea, NOT 'just because' someone else said so.

 

I don't have to defend anything, I can only respond to comments with what I see from my own research. Handwaving anything said because of one of the 'messengers' who may have been approached the same way that that Paul and John and others appear to have been, based on the age old texts.

 

I would think of ALL places on the web, it should be something that CAN be DIScussed without ad homming anyone.

 

Examine it with me, don't just throw out the idea because of bad press from someone else.

 

Show me where _I_ have 'gone wrong'. Help me realize it's bullshit, if you think it's bullshit, I am having a hard time not understanding what I'm reading the last few weeks. IT's all MAKING SENSE and that's fucked up!

[Vigile]

 

 

No ad homs here. As I said, it's your right to discuss and believe whatever you want. It just seems that you are making some rather fantastic guesses, if not outright claims. I'm just saying that others and myself here are going to demand evidence for this.

 

For example, you profered that Paul saw a spaceship light when he was blinded by the light. First, there is little evidence that Paul was just not lying and second, you have no evidence that there was a spaceship. This is just an example. This website has people with open minds but a lot of us here demand evidence as well. I'm not really interested to study this theory with you. However, if you plan to offer this theory as your speculative answer to other issues here, then be prepared to be challenged on the ideas you offer. That's all.

[monsterfeets]

I think God is possibly just a word we use to describe the way we interact with the "Divine". And by that I mean the forces of the universe, the 'mysteries' of existance. I believe there may be energies and perhaps even concious entities that are responsible for us existing, or atleast that "look out" for us so to speak. But I believe they sort of arise as a result of us seeking them. When we ask the question "who am I" we begin an internal dialogue with ourselves, and reflect. I think the same thing happens on a bigger level when we ask "why am I, where did I come from, who made me". Because we are interacting with the force, or idea, or whatever, of a Creator. I really think that all the different facets of God/Goddess are just a way of accesing something completely incomprehensible to us. I think by believing in them we give them power, or power over ourselves.

 

To me the Gods are aspects of both myself and nature, all I know is that I am capable of interacting with them and it "seems" as though they have a will of their own. I believe they help me understand things, learn and grow. But whether or not they are real entities or just figments of my imagination, I can never honestly say for sure. Whether or not it is entirely an internal, imagined process or if it has some kind of external truth to it seems irrelevant to me because it is still meaningful and affects me in a positive way.

[Ouroboros]

Here's a funny thought about God...

 

 

There's something about God that always will be true, regardless if he exists or not... which is...

 

You can not talk behind his back!

 

 

If he exists, he knows what you're saying, and if he doesn't exist, there's no back to talk behind.

 

--- maybe this is the ultimate and only absolute truth? ---

[laura]

To me, god is an idea that humans created for many reasons. Someone to give meaning and purpose, an explanation to our existence, someone to provide comfort and make life seem worthwhile, and a multitude of possible reasons. The point is, the definition of god or even he/she/it's existence does not come from the god itself, but from or through human beings. To me, this seems that it should bother the logical mind. What IS god? God is whatever you want him/it/she to be. And that's my problem.

[Astreja]

In another sense god is a friend, someone who looks out for my back and gives me hope , gets back at people who I'm hurt by (whether they're at fault or not - agai I'm talking basic concept of god), one who helps me through life.

That fits with my perceptions and experiences. There are several supernatural presences who have my back, the evidence being a few amazing escapes from dangerous situations.

 

I don't know who or what these beings really are. Are they gods? Well, they are if you define 'god' as 'intangible being who provides advice and/or protection.'

[Lycorth]

To me, God is an Invisible Magically Undead Man who lives in the Sky! Glory!

 

Seriously, if there is a god, I would suspect that deism comes closest to be the correct view.

 

Ditto that. Though I don't see whatever Creator(s) there are/were so much as "deadbeats" but more likely unable to intervene, if they even exist anymore. Who says a god or creator has to be immortal? Everything is born and perishes, why not our Creator(s)?

 

That's all I see "God" as. I'm tempted to anthropomorphize the Creator(s) into human form so I can feel as if I can better relate to it all, but I've learned to be watchful of that habit. After all, there are so many other creatures on this planet, and the logical possibility of other planets with other races all their own is still there, so why must "God" be in human form, or any form, or have traits and a personality like a human being would? The temptation to anthropomorphize "God" may be a natural human trait (as we try to understand the universe from our own perspective) but we cannot honestly say that we know for sure if the Creator(s) of the universe are even remotely human in form or appearance or are even still alive, wherever they are.

 

What we can say is that there is no magic answering of prayers, like certain religions teach the faithful will happen for them. Like Xianity, which has Jesus telling his fans that they will perform miracles and drink poison and live and have everything they ask for in his name given to them - we have seen 2000 years of examples that that just does not happen. And the illogicality (and subsequent cruelty) of an all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-present god who does nothing to alleviate human suffering even though it observes pain daily is another thing we can be sure of does not exist. Whatever creators our universe has, if they still exist and are able to intervene, clearly are not able to affect things as much as they'd like to or we'd like them to. Perhaps what the universe is is a machine they built but are not really able to maintain.

 

But for me, I am very content to view "God" as the Creator (or Creators) of this universe who is simply unable to intervene in it, and hence has not given us any religions or moral codes to live by, will not judge or torment us for all eternity if we're not up to par, and is probably a hell of a lot nicer than the Babble makes him/her/they/it out to be.

[Celsus]

Imaginary