Who is God? (page 3)

BurnTheShips

Excellent post Rapunzel. You are pretty new here. Please stick around.

journey-on

Every one of the answers I've read so far is intriguing and thought-provoking. I love being able to speculate about these

things. To read, study, and research anything we want to and then attempt to accommodate and assimilate this information

into our own unique view is wonderful. When we were JWs, we were always discouraged from speculating and were expected

to embrace the WTS's view of who God is. How refreshing to see all these diverse answers.

I've often pondered that God was no thing. In other words, there was nothing except pure potential, a dimension unfathomable to

a four-dimensional world of matter (us). When this potential sprang forth, God became consciously aware (I Am) of Himself/Herself as Creator,

and I believe it's possible that consciousness itself is the energy of creation.

Perhaps this energy produced light. We find clues in our language that consciousness is associated with light: "I see the light"..."enlighten me".....

"shine forth your light"....."He is the light of the world"...."a light bulb went off when he explained it".....etc. So, in my speculation light helped

create the world of matter and this God-consciousness "dwells" within the light.

BurnTheShips

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

James 1:17

OnTheWayOut

I will keep this very simple.

El and Yahweh were among the Gods of the Israelites, a people with many Gods
just like most any other peoples. Yahweh was their war god.

When the priests of Yahweh managed to get Cyrus to allow them to return to Jerusalem
to rebuild the temple, their influence became stronger. They wrote and edited the sacred
writings to elevate the importance of Yahweh. They made David seem so wonderful and
important, considering he usurped a minor kingdom and was a minor king.

Belief in multiple gods was waining, but these Jews kept their one god in the limelight,
because they needed hope for freedom from oppression.

Jesus taught a brand of spirituality along the lines of Egyptian spirituality. He did not
teach that he was god, but that anyone could be one-with-God, similarly to the way Buddha
taught. Jesus was probably groomed to be the messiah by certain Jewish elements. A
messiah is simply someone who is anointed with oil (a ceremony) to be king. Jesus was
supposed to be in the line of David, so he would be the guy. Well, he was executed, but
something was started already. Paul saw a way to make money off of what was started
so he kept "Christianity" alive. ( "Christ" is really just Greek for "Messiah")

While belief in the multiple gods was waining, it held on for centuries. Finally, the Roman
emperor wanted to consolidate peoples under one religion- much easier to know what they
are up to if they are following the same beliefs. Following of the Messiah, Jesus, seemed to
be doing okay. By this time, they were definitely separated from the Jews. The Romans
hated the Jews, so the emperor made this anti-Jewish religion his official religion. Many
beliefs of the pagans were swallowed up and smart people managed to write and edit the
sacred writings to incorporate these beliefs.

Because people suck up to the emperor, this religion caught on.

To keep it simple, Jesus is not God, Yahweh is not God. Christianity is wrong.
Nobody can tell you absolutely what is right, and there may not be a "right" teaching out
there right now. You will have to search for God in your own ways and understand that others
are free to think what they want, but should never impose their beliefs upon others.

Tyrone van leyen

I like the simplicity of your veiw Journey on. Good thinking! Unfortunately I have to get to my renovations now. I'll read y'all later! If I don't get to it now, 3 hours will pass in a blink sittin here.

Don't let us take over your thread Real One. Chime in whenever ya like!

Rapunzel

Tyrone - The answer to your question is "yes." In the novel, the protagonist meets a secluded and very special community of women - all of whom take their name and philosophy from Hypatia of Alexandria. Eco's novel is set in the year 1204. Baudolino is a Byzantine.

BurnTheShips

To keep it simple, Jesus is not God, Yahweh is not God. Christianity is wrong.
Nobody can tell you absolutely what is right, and there may not be a "right" teaching out
there right now. You will have to search for God in your own ways and understand that others
are free to think what they want, but should never impose their beliefs upon others.

OTWO Maybe the best way for you to not impose belief is to stop saying my religion is point blank "wrong" since you yourself admit that no one can tell for sure what is right, but in the same breath you are able to say definitely that my "own ways" are "wrong".

Burn

kwintestal

OTWO Maybe the best way for you to not impose belief is to stop saying my religion is point blank "wrong" since you yourself admit that no one can tell for sure what is right, but in the same breath you are able to say definitely that my "own ways" are "wrong".

Why not?

If I told you to come visit me, you may not know where I live and therefore how to get here, but you know that going to Europe is the wrong way because you know enough about me to know I live in Canada. Why can't OTWO say that they can't say for sure what's right, but at the same time know your way is wrong?

Kwin

Homerovah the Almighty

The human imagination can believed just about anything if it wills itself so, as others have stated inner fear is a protagonist to beliefs when it is placed in the sub-conscience

mind and the marketers of the WTS have known that for decades. There two parts to organized religion one are the people who seek answers and direction for themselves and the other

part are the people that are willing to offer that direction, the bible is just that medium that can accomplish that very effort.

History has shown us that the belief in gods or a god were mainly structured and developed on the basis of human ignorance or the lack of knowledge of the world we live in.

In a counter balance to that known ignorance, scientific discovery and established facts derived from those discoveries has swayed modern man to stop thinking that there are

invisible but powerful spirits swarming around causing climactic damage to humans and inciting fear to the detriment to the population. It does seem to me and probably many

others thats it's better for man to live in a world of continuing knowledge and to work with this knowledge with the intent to better the human experience. It also seems in an

unfortunate way that religious men like the JWS. have utilized and exploited that ancient ignorance and fear to cultivate their own source of power and control, negating the advancement

of man to better his existence along with it. So the question we have to ask are selfs would it be better to let the gods or the men that say they are gods governed and control us or are we

better off to do it are selfs ?

My vote is on the humans !

OnTheWayOut

OTWO Maybe the best way for you to not impose belief is to stop saying my religion is point blank "wrong" since you yourself admit that no one can tell for sure what is right, but in the same breath you are able to say definitely that my "own ways" are "wrong".

I still look at things from the viewpoint of a former JW. Fundamentalists and other "Christians"
often insist that their way is the only way. Of course I may be "wrong" that Christianity is "wrong."
As long as nobody insists that their way is the only way, they can believe what they want and
as long as they don't insist that all others agree with them, there is no harm.

Thanks for pointing out my error.

Who is God?

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