True God would not seek praise nor worship from us

by elbib 15 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  elbib

  When asked: “Why there is so much of suffering here if God exists?” Buddha responded with silence because he knew the following:

  1) Even though living in heaven, anyone can live as though he lives in hell and vice versa which means how a person thinks is the key. Experience show that whatever a person does with 100% involvement (totality = beauty), it is like he lives in heaven. It means God is not a factor in one’s life nor in his enjoyment.

  2) God is not interested in our praise or worship. It is the limitedness of one’s mind that looks for gratitude or praise from others. Fruit-bearing trees that live for others shows their designer (God) is agape (unconditional love—1 John 4:8). No Agape is possible without recipient. That means it is God who feels grateful—not the other way around. Hence True God would not seek praise nor worship from others (just like no liar is possible without a listener who consistently refuses to listen to untruth). If He is not interested in praise, He will not respond to attempts to discredit Him either. Loving fellow humans amounts to loving God (1 John 4:20) which means God is not a factor in true worship also.
• 

  stillin

  Not so sure. Everybody likes to be appreciated for something they have done well. It seems like finding an unsigned work of beautiful art out in the middle of a desert, with no way to locate the artist. We might IMAGINE what we would say if we ever met the artist, but in the meantime, just enjoy it. That's what the artist would have wanted.
• 

  eyeuse2badub

  If god is 'almighty' and already know he is good and great, why would he need or want billions of others to constantly tell him so 3 or 4 times each day?

  just saying!

  eyeuse2badub
• 

  elbib

  stillin,

  You expressed it better than I could.

  Whatever ideas we have about God is all imagination of people like us. God seems to want us to enjoy surprises--to come to our own conclusion.
  
  

  
  
• 

  Cold Steel

  Buddhism is not Christianity, nor are the ideologies compatible.

  I don't believe that God seeks human approbation and praise in the slightest. He first seeks obedience, then trust, then love.

  As the prophet Samuel put it, "Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." (1 Samuel 15:22-23)
  

  The two great commandments are to love God with all one's heart and to love one's neighbor, or fellow man. In ancient Israel, the people understood God's law and were put under covenant to obey Him. And of course covenants work both ways as they bind both parties in an agreement.

  One flaw of the Bible is that it never tells us why God created man. Some have surmised that we are undergoing a test of some sort, but that would imply that, if so, we had a previous existence and understood what would be expected of us. Also, we're never told whether God's ever done this before. Are we the first humans to ever be created? The Pope has called Man's earthly existence an exile, but again that implies we were somewhere before we were here. But if there is a God, we can conclude there's a reason. And it has to be something more than just worship and adoration.

  Our existence is based on the fall, the atonement and the resurrection. We must gain something in the resurrection that we couldn't attain before we came here or before our creation. This is theology and can't be determined by a casual reading of the scriptures. The Catholics and most protestants believe that the fall of man, however it occurred, was a tragic mistake that could only be rectified by the Redemption. The Orthodox believe that the fall was a necessary step in man's spiritual evolution. Only through the fall and the atonement can Man become like his Creator and inherit the "Divine Spark" that will result in Man's becoming a being of immeasurable power, glory and perfection. (See The Orthodox Way, by Father Kallistos Ware)
• 

  Island Man

  I believe the desire to be thanked and praised stems from pride and egotism. True love would not seek thanks and praise. Contrary to the bible's claims, the thoughts and the desires of the god of the bible are not higher than human thoughts. A truly superior and loving being would not exhibit the egotism that the god of the bible exhibits. The god of the bible exhibits the traits of a narcissistic psychopath.
  
• 

  Heaven

  I feel a new cult coming on.
  
• 

  elbib

  Island Man,

  "the desire to be thanked and praised stems from pride and egotism" is absolutely right. Hence God of the Bible is the creation of man--the same puny human who invented the story of Lot's having sex with his own daughters ... David's adultery and murder yet being forgiven whereas a man who gathered firewood on Sabbath was given capital punishment ...
• 

  elbib

  Cold Steel,

  Fall is not a one-time event nor a universal event. It happens with many, and it does not happen with many.

  Feeling more important than others is the fall and this is the root cause of all problems. If one refuses to feel more important than others, he would remain as firm as a mountain against fall. And refusal to feel more important than others is very much possible "if one wants to" even now.

  Interestingly, if one feels more important than others, his children may or may not copy that attitude. (Contrast Romans 5:12)
• 

  elbib

  Heaven,

  This is called "secular humanism" in which one naturally feels to love another just because of the unmistakable realization that all are human beings--it is a love for its own sake (not because somebody exists to force us to do so, not because of the thought of getting something in return....There is a great feeling when you do good for its own sake)