What is God?

by mindfield 14 Replies latest watchtower bible

• 

  mindfield

  I have yet to find a personal set of beliefs that will satisfy my mind, but one thing I am starting to get sure of is that there exists no "Christian" God.

  The reasons for that belief aren't many, but proof that God exists isn't that plentiful either. I use the bible as proof God doesn't exist as it depicts it... others use it to prove he does, in fact, exist. To me, the picture of a merciful, then vengeful, then compassionate, then ravaging God doesn't make sense to me.

  So my question is, to those who have about the same belief as me, what is your picture of God? Is It some kind of energy force? Some powerful being that doesn't give a rat's @$$ about us? Or does he even exist?

  And with that also rises the question, how did life begin? I couldn't care less about where we're going, even though that's a big question the WT insists on, but how did that little cell begin? Is there some explanation that could answer, at least in part, that question?
• 

  Erich

  "YHVH/JHWH", spoken: Jahwe or Jehovah (that is about: "I shall be proved") means a specific formal system asserting absolute universal validity. It also implies a universal teleological principle of order which overwhelmes the 2nd axiom of thermodynamics. No type of beings could live only one millisecond if this principle would cease to exist...
  
  Besides, the sentence "I shall be proved" asserts its own decision procedure on provability, truth, completeness and consistence; through a specific formal system, that it "induces to be".
  
  Beyond this above mentioned scientific base, YHVH/JHWH implies a spiritual entity, a "person" we cannot imagine or point out or figure out at all...
  
  In fact, the true God has nothing to do with that type of picture figured in the book "Isaias Prophecy" on page 90, chapter 8/9. That is idolatry, nothing else...
• 

  Will Power

  The bible says God is love.
  If that is true and not just a characteristic...

  How would you describe it? Live it, name it, teach it?
  How could you explain it to some one who has never experienced it?
  How do you know that if you think you have experienced love was it the ultimate love? Is there more to it than just your experience of it?
  Now if hate is the opposite how would you describe it, live it, name
  it...etc.
  For a parent teaching a child, or even 1 human to another, would you try to put these deep concepts into language they could understand? Would you use examples that would describe situations that they could understand?
  Some people actually do feel nothing when they see someone else hurt. How would societies (even primative) teach these people to "feel"..

  just the tip of the iceberg.
• 

  sunstarr

  Will,

  Great post!

  Out of curiosity, has anyone ever scientifically proven the existence of love? Perhaps it does not exist.
• 

  Will Power

  the bible tries to prove it!!
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  David Gladden

  I am of the opinion that anything that exists has measurable properties.

  We know that the universe exists because we interact with it all the time; in fact we are part of it. The supernatural, on the other hand, cannot be observed or measured.
• 

  Erich

  will power:
  >just the tip of the iceberg...<

  Oh yes.
  For this reason, a high "spiritual entity", but of lower state than YHVH/JHWH, has become a human being. "The son of God".
  To show what is "Gods love",
  We know it was Jesus Christ.
  We should follow his boot-traps - to go the way of "truth".
  Sure you know all. I need not to say more.
  
  The very main problem:
  I think, we'd need a minimalistic religion.
  Throw away all hundredth of books and literatures and bible-interpretations and explanations and exegeses and so on...
  
  What are the base instructions that human beings have to obey in order to live a good life ?

  What is the base God's nature all human beings could agree and comply with ?

  Ask all people all around the world. In all religions. I'm sure that they almost would give the same answers. The base is found in the bible.

  You could unify all people with that base. All around the world. It is only a matter of good will.
• 

  Satanus

  Good question, Mindfield

  Folks that meditate on god and his/its nature, and try to approach god have fallen under the label 'mystic'. That applies to mystics of all flavours: christian, jewish (hasiddic), muslim (sufi), buddhist, hindu, new age etc. From what i have read of these peoples' explorations and conclusions, god and his/its nature is impossible to put into our words, although 'love' often comes up. Other words are: void, the deep, darkness, light.

  Christians/the bible don't hold the patent on god, that's for sure, although there are some truthful statements about god in it. For instance the statement by paul to the effect that a person of any race can find god, if he but look. Further to that statement, almost any practice used in the sincere search of god would lead to god, if taken far enough, even tantric yoga sex, for intance. At the other extreme, the asceticism of catholic monks has also worked.

  A fairly good book on this subject is 'mysticism' by evelyn underhill. It's about a hundred yrs old, and still good, contrary to the life of the average wt book. Mysiticism is still in print. Its text is also available on the net.

  SS
• 

  proplog2

  God is an attempt to explain in one simple entity the complex behavior of the universe. It is the same as trying to explain complex human behavior by fabricating a "little man", "soul" or "homonculus" sitting inside our brain or head pushing buttons. God is the big "homonculus" in the sky that is supposed to be controling things. It is difficult "new thinking" to come to the realization that there is NO one at the controls.

  I still believe in the possibility of local control. There very well may be governing bodies of galactic scale that exercise some kind of control. We may one day come in contact with such forces.
• 

  Satanus

  Another theory that may have merit is pantheism, ie everything is part of god. Within that concept would be included the idea jesus got crucified for, the idea that he was god. If you tell a christian you are god/divine, he would crucify you as well. Christians are very explicit to make very clear that their god is separate from his creation. Maybe that is one of the causes of their fear of doubt. If one sees him/herself as an extension of the divine, it gives a certain amount of confidence/unity.

  Good luck in your search

  SS