Posts by Monsieur

100

cantleave had a valid opinion. Is God like a pencil-pointless?

by KateWild in

i don't know?

what do you think?.

kate xx.

Monsieur

adam, now you are unnecessarily complicating the definition of SYMBOL-

When you say the word 'God' out loud, the sound waves travel thru the air and enter the listener's ears, but that is NOT interacting with God: they're hearing you say the word, and that triggers a mental image of their concept of God to be constructed in their brain. But they're not having an interaction with God, for if they did, they wouldn't need something to represent God, since he would represent Himself! You are not a symbol for yourself: you ARE yourself.

after a symbol is looked at (using sense of sight), why does it matter wether you 'interact' with it or not?? i can look at a red octagon, think of 'stop' and completely keep going. the symbol still did its job, it conveyed an idea in my head. lol

So when you say, "God is love", you're now trying to link TWO imperceptible mental constructs together (emotions like 'love' are not directly perceptible, just their manifestations, which we may perceive in say, eg the facial expressions of others). But then you're claiming that the emotion is perceptible by labelling the imperceptible part (God) as a symbol FOR love?

actually, the BIBLE says God is Love (it's in there.)

is it only a coincidence that two 'imperceptible' constructs are one and the same?

by now the point should be clear, the symbol of God exists to help us comprehend complicated and profound truths. Love and wisdom may require a lot of words to thoroughly explain its meaning and definition (as you attempt to do above).

the SYMBOL of God is meant to conjure up all these words into a simple and succinct 'concept' in our minds and hearts, hence the Biblical phrase 'God is Love'. It really is as simple as that.

164

Did Cedars manipulate Lee into having a thread closed?

by cedars in

i will happily answer this question if there can be some guarantees this thread won't be deleted..

Monsieur

hey?!

doesn't this prove the whole 'god allows evil to exist because...'

lol

100

cantleave had a valid opinion. Is God like a pencil-pointless?

by KateWild in

i don't know?

what do you think?.

kate xx.

Monsieur

God is an idea, a concept, a hypothesis. God is not visible or tangible, so NOT a symbol (which is visible, and stands for something else).

A symbol is an object that represents, stands for, or suggests an idea, visual image, belief, action, or material entity. Symbols take the form of words, sounds, gestures, or visual images and are used to convey ideas and beliefs. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for numbers. Personal names are symbols representing individuals. A red rose symbolizes love and compassion. - from wikipedia

states here that symbols take form of 'words, sounds, gestures', none of which are visible or tangible.

100

cantleave had a valid opinion. Is God like a pencil-pointless?

by KateWild in

i don't know?

what do you think?.

kate xx.

Monsieur

caedes

Intellectual dishonesty is leaving out facts and observations that do not fit with your hypothesis.

i did not do this either. however, adamah believed i did. hence the example.

Putting the cart before the horse if you can't define what god is. Why would you accept answers from the bible?

actually, i've been defining God, as a Symbol. of what? well, of love for example.

You are separating The comment from Adamah works perfectly well without the phrase 'commonly accepted'. If you have redefined god to be those particular words then have you started replacing the word love with god, when you get home to your significant other do you say "I god you"? If you don't then clearly you accept Adamah's assertion that those words are already defined.

by using the phrase 'commmonly accepted' adamah confirmed that terms have their pre-conditioned definition.

but please remember that i am stating that God is a SYMBOL, a symbol representing many things and possible open to various interpretations. A symbol can be a synonym, which is what you allude to when using the example of 'i god you'.

but when the Bible states that God is Love, it is conveying the idea of love, just like a symbol conveys an idea or a concept, not necessarily a literal synonym.

Non-existant

except, Love does in fact exist. as well as wisdom, good and wholesomeness, loyalty.

100

cantleave had a valid opinion. Is God like a pencil-pointless?

by KateWild in

i don't know?

what do you think?.

kate xx.

Monsieur

I stated that God is a SYMBOL.

That's flat-out wrong.

adamah,

so if god is NOT a symbol, what the heck is he???

lol, see, this is why people like kate are confused.

100

cantleave had a valid opinion. Is God like a pencil-pointless?

by KateWild in

i don't know?

what do you think?.

kate xx.

Monsieur

Galileo had SUPPORTIVE EVIDENCE on which to challenge the commonly-held beliefs of his day: Galileo used observations that were obtained with a TELESCOPE to support his theory that the Sun was at the center of the Solar System, and not the Earth.

adamah

you missed the point of my referencing Galileo my friend.

you alluded to 'intellectual dishonesty', who could be more intellectual than Galileo? What was believed about the solar system was thought of as ABSOLUTE truth (not mere interpretation as WE are discussing here), and he proceeded to be 'intellecutally dishonest' regardless, and it started with an uncommon idea.

as for my proof, it's actually not all that much work (contrary to your assertion that it is unsurmountable).

I stated that God is a SYMBOL.

why? because I have never seen the 'commonly accepted' god, i have never talked to him, i have never seen him pour fire from heaven onto a wicked city. i have never heard him speak from heaven. Ive never seen his throne, ive never seen his angels that cater to his every whim.

but i've also never seen him put a protective film over some to prevent them an injury, nor have i seen him ever multiply fish and bread to feed thousands. ive never seen him walk on water, or bring someone back from the dead to give such dead person back to his friends and family.

there is no record of ANYONE having seen any of these things...yet we accept that they are literal?

LOGIC compells me to accept that God is not a person, bur rather a SYMBOL or a representation of something else. And again, the Bible answers the very question of what God is suppose to symbolize.

100

cantleave had a valid opinion. Is God like a pencil-pointless?

by KateWild in

i don't know?

what do you think?.

kate xx.

Monsieur

It is intellectually-dishonest to move goalposts by redefining 'God' to mean power, justice, wisdom and love: all of those words are those concepts that already have commonly-accepted definitions

adamah,

let's stress the words above 'commonly-accepted'.

commonly accepted does not constitute 'true' or more importantly, accurate.

Also, allow me to point out that Galileo was 'intellectually-dishonest' when challenging the idea of Earth being the center of the universe. Remeber THOSE 'goalposts'?

100

cantleave had a valid opinion. Is God like a pencil-pointless?

by KateWild in

i don't know?

what do you think?.

kate xx.

Monsieur

Sorry Monseuir, but I'm not playing along with your, "I want to redefine 'God' to mean 'science" game: it's a vapid and intellectually-dishonest approach which tries to move the pieces and relies on your silly obsfucation.... That's precisely WHY Ishmael just asked you to define God: he's likely seen your tactic before, too.

adamah,

how am i 'redefining' what God is? please DO explain?

I stated that God is power, justice, wisdom, and above all else, love.

Interestingly, the Bible says the EXACT same thing. I have not redefined anything my friend.

The only thing I have done, is apply LOGIC to the understanding of what God is. You , adamah, argue against a literal God ( i do the same thing by the way). But you cannot argue against the FACT that power, justice, wisdom and love do exist, and are very real.

Ismael,

God is a SYMBOL, a representation, nothing else.

A symbol's purpose is to conjure a 'picture' in your mind, a 'picture' that helps you to understand an idea or a concept.

The symbol for 'Poison' for example (skeleton skull) tells you many things, such as 'step away' or ' do not touch', or 'dangerous'.

You can understand all these things with one simple symbol.

100

cantleave had a valid opinion. Is God like a pencil-pointless?

by KateWild in

i don't know?

what do you think?.

kate xx.

Monsieur

But even if another valid approach was used to answer the question, it still would only constitute a "benefits-based" (telelogical) argument, which ultimately doesn't answer the underlying question: does God exist or not? Some people like to believe in things that actually do EXIST, regardless of how it makes us feel!

kate,

see what adamah wrote? case in point. When you attempt to make 'God' what he isnt' (a literal person) it gets very confusing.

100

cantleave had a valid opinion. Is God like a pencil-pointless?

by KateWild in

i don't know?

what do you think?.

kate xx.

Monsieur

Hi Kate,

it is easy to discard 'God' or label God as pointless altogether when one doesn't fully understand what God really is.

If you view God as a literal person, like you or me, literally sitting on a throne in the heavens, then yes, he is very much pointless. Why would an all powerful God have to sit on a throne being catered to by millions and millions of angels?

conviniently, this is a God that you cannot (or not suppose) to see. this is a big clue as to what God really is.

God is a symbol, a representation of something else. What is it suppose to represent? The Bible answers the question. God is justice, power, wisdom, and above all else, love.

God is also perfect, exact, accurate, unfailing, good. 'God' is even given a name, Yahweh or Jehovah, meaning 'I can be ANYTHING I need to be'.

As humans, we are quick to 'personify' and humanize things that are NOT human or people, we do it with our cats and dogs, even unliving things like our car and house. We've done the same with 'God', and its created a ton of confusion.