i think people make too much of god, they try to make god overly complicated and it never works. i think the key factor to god is that he is probaby just like everyone else only he doesnt really make mistakes because he has the power and ability to change them, but if people just looked at god as just another laide back guy, who had an interesting sense of humore, than maybe religion wouldnt be such a touchy subject. you see, people make him/her out to be this ultimate superstar, but he's just someone you can talk to, god is who he is to you iguess, if you like him to be a superstar than ok, that's who he'll be. i know this should be in religion but this is my philosophy on god, and now im done.

So your philosphy is that if there's a single, genderless, omnipotent being preceding the concepts of space and time and created the Universe from raw will, we should treat it like Jerry Garcia?

Well, that way there could be Ice Cream named after him...

But I don't totally think that works, Moon, for the obvious reasons that DM stated...

I mean, he ONLY is our creator...yeah, why should he get any special treatment.

no, your not seeing my point, what i mean is that if we just looked at him like a friend it would be easier for us to communicate with him.

I agree completely. God has never said to take Him seriously, only those who worship Him has. Besides, anyone who knows their own mind knows the mind of God.

i like that.....

however, it seems that you and moonsymble are charactorizing god as having rationale thought, assuming that god is very much like human in certain aspects......

the problems with this are, when considering god as thus, and assuming the existence of god while not denying evolution, then how did we become god-like, why did we become god-like? if god had rationale, then he must have wished us, or devised us, to become this way.......

now, when concerning this idea, why would god go through all the trouble of creating things that would love him, hate him, accept him, deny him.......are we merely god's playthings?

if this is the case, how can you declare god as a friend? for does not god do things which harm us? and if we are not to take god seriously then, then why should we even consider him as existing at all? and proclaiming that god has the power to do something, and not actually doing it, is not entirley rationale......for how does god know he has the power unless he does something? for example, you might declare that i have the power to kill someone, but if i do not exercise this power, then how can you rationally declare i had the power at all?

however, it seems that you and moonsymble are charactorizing god as having rationale thought, assuming that god is very much like human in certain aspects...... (sixxx quote)

well, what i mean by that though, is it says we are made in god's image, friends are an image for me to personaly relate to.

yes......and if we are created in god's image, and i know i have discussed this in a seperate thread, but where then does the notion of evil come in? for, you can argue that god has evil in him and hence he is just a laid back guy, but god cannot be evil for existence surpasses everything and existence, i think, is thereby the ultimate good, therefore god is ultimately good.......

well yes, but it doesnt mean he cant be friend, as well as the fact that if he is the ultimate creatore he did infact create lucifer, who was at first the most beautiful angel of all but god is all knowing and therefore would the know the outcome of satan.

awe, but god is also all good.......also, to say that god is all-knowing has a few problems i think...for A) does this thereby proclaim god knows outcomes (which you said) and if this is the case then there cannot be any real evil, or at least in the sense that we as humans can be punished for evil deeds, cause if god knows the outcomes of our lives, this entails a destiny which entails that our life has been pre-written, which thereby relieves us of any responisibility....... if god is all knowing, but does not know outcomes, then that thereby means god must learn, and this is not all knowing.........C) is god is all-knowing, and us as humans can learn, then does that not thereby entail that we have the power to do something god cannot?

One cannot grow without having new and different experiences. We may be the next step in God's evolution, as He is ours
Also, it may feel as though I trivialize the whole creation process, but don't discount the possibility that God was just bored and wanted something to do. That does not make anyone His playthings. God is a part of us, and that means he feels all that we feel, the bad along with the good.

god is a part of us......well, remember that this is god, if he is a part of us, and us thereby a part of him, then we are nothing other than god......we cannot merely have a small part of god cause this is god, it's not like saying it is metephorically the same as our parents are a part of us, and us of them, cause these type of beings are subsequently lower, simplistic, etc.....

very tru, i agree totally on that statement, all im saying is that god isnt dumb he knows what goes on and i feel like he evolves with the times just as we do. i think his standards of sin may have changed with the type of developemnt their is in people. i dont know im just dumb dont listen to me.

no you're not dumb......you have the right to philosophize as you wish, and believe in whatever you want......

also, i am a philosophy major who studied theology, existence of god, problem of evil, etc.....so, i am fairly apt to god-like discussions.....

but do not think for one minute that my theories are exact, cause they aren't, but justifications are something that are hard to justfy and argue......

It is interesting. If you take a picture of an apple, and put it on and holographic plate, you get the full sized three dimensional picture of the apple. If you shatter that plate, the image on each shard will still be the full apple, albeit smaller.

and how do you justify this quote? or does it just sound good?

thank you isagore, you kinda on the same page as me.

What you call God moonsymble, is a personification of fate...

quote:
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Originally posted by Visagore

I agree completely. God has never said to take Him seriously, only those who worship Him has. Besides, anyone who knows their own mind knows the mind of God.
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Originally posted by errantrogue

and how do you justify this quote? or does it just sound good?
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Like any belief in a higher power, I have no real way to justify it. I have only an idea that sprang into my head one day, that seemed to make perfect sense to me.
One of the few things found in the Bible that I believe is that God created man in His own image. So, if you believe this, then we are created as reflections of God, we can know the mind of God, because our own mind's are God's.
I believe that our whole reason for being here is to learn exactly how to think like God (or the Goddess, or Ali, or Zeus, or whatever. To me they're all the same entity).
I know that this is by no means a definite answer, you asked for justification, and all I could give was an explanation, but I hope that it helped to see where I am coming from.

that's your oppinion aeturnus