For believers and nonbelievers-

Describe to me the concept of the term 'God' as abstractly as possible, without bringing any religious or scientific ideas into your interpretation.

if you dont want religious or scientific ideas... whats left?

political?

-MT

False hope.

It is hard to imagine that life with any significant level of intelligence will not ponder the existence of God... At least as a starting point in maturing towards actually knowing things for themselves. It is a power of authority that is needed because we aren't that sure of ourselves, but the more we grow up and learn new things, the less a 'God' is needed.

I just find it unlikely our first impressions of 'God' are accurate, and that if we learned what made the big bang... bang, then more romance and mystery would be lost. That's one of the great ironies: Science observes and explains God's work, and religions deny each new discovery at every juncture.

the only thing "god" can be is nature. the only possible explaination. some will say "the will of man" but i have a problem with that as far as how the "will of man" got us here.

the "will of man", "soul", and "human spirit" probably mean the same thing in this context.

i have not seen any evidence of the supernatural.

so, what is god? good luck in finding the answer for people have been looking for it since the begining of time.

Nature is like the mother, the Ether.... and God then is like the source of energy.

-MT

G-d is unlimited possibility.

i take back my previous statement....no statement can be made about G-d that starts with "G-d is" and end having said anything meaningful.

my new answer is: i do not know, but hope that i DO know at some juncture in the future of my existence.

"complete insanity"


did none of you religious lot understand the original question.
For believers and nonbelievers-

Describe to me the concept of the term 'God' as abstractly as possible, without bringing any religious or scientific ideas into your interpretation. just mentioning the word god makes it religious,

God

1. A being conceived as the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator and ruler of the universe, the principal object of faith and worship in monotheistic religions.
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=god

For believers and nonbelievers-

Describe to me the concept of the term 'God' as abstractly as possible, without bringing any religious or scientific ideas into your interpretation.

You are both god and heaven.
Your ego is just a joke
god needs to find heaven.

(or, Your ego is a joke that god has to get to be heaven)

-- god+heaven

For believers and nonbelievers-

Describe to me the concept of the term 'God' as abstractly as possible, without bringing any religious or scientific ideas into your interpretation.

Perfection

I am.

That's about as abstract as it gets without bringing any religious or scientific ideas into your interpretation.

For believers and nonbelievers-

Describe to me the concept of the term 'God' as abstractly as possible, without bringing any religious or scientific ideas into your interpretation.

A continuous-event wave front verging on the inevitable - mitigated by the focused attention of adherent wholar.

.

God is an explanation for all the physical "truths" that I (or science) can't explain.

God is an explanation for all the physical "truths" that I (or science) can't explain.
read the original question again!

and could you show a physical truth that is impossible for science to explain, and then why a god did it fantasy sceniario, does explain it.
oh and welcome to sciforums.

oh and welcome to sciforums.
wrong.

The problem is. What caused god ? Who created god ?

believe that there is somthing out there, but i wouldn't call it a God. It's simple a natural force that causes things to happen without decision or choice, but works more like a chemical reaction. The right conditions cause a certain outcome.

Describe to me the concept of the term 'God' as abstractly as possible, without bringing any religious or scientific ideas into your interpretation.

A small but yet significant part of men's mental evolution. Part of men's ingnorance to find explanation to his environment, the idea spawned out of fear, and a weapon to manipulate others.

Godless

The problem is. What caused god ? Who created god ?

Nothing. God is the creator, the cause. A cause doesn't need to be caused. Every visible effect must have a cause. A cause cannot be visible.

If you were born on an island without parents or anyone else, you wouldn't know that you have been born, and you wouldn't know that you have die. We don't see our birth so we will never see our death. The self is eternal. Bodies die.

believe that there is somthing out there, but i wouldn't call it a God.

God is within us. At all times, in all religions, people have always been unconsciously praying to their higher self.

Jesus says:

I and my Father are one. - John 10:30

Jesus answered them, is it not written in your law, I said, ye are gods? - John 10:34

He that hath seen me hath seen the Father - John 14:9

Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? - John 14:10

At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. - John 14:20

Paul says:

Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you - 2 Corinthians 13:5

And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. - Romans 8:10

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. - 1 Corinthians 12:12

God is the being and life. When this being, this existence, enters a human being, he recognizes it as the "self". This "self" exists in everything, and it is the only reason why anything exists. The self is nothing where everything radiates.

Nothing. God is the creator, the cause. A cause doesn't need to be caused. Every visible effect must have a cause. A cause cannot be visible.

If you were born on an island without parents or anyone else, you wouldn't know that you have been born, and you wouldn't know that you have die. We don't see our birth so we will never see our death. The self is eternal. Bodies die.



God is within us. At all times, in all religions, people have always been unconsciously praying to their higher self.

Jesus says:

I and my Father are one. - John 10:30

Jesus answered them, is it not written in your law, I said, ye are gods? - John 10:34

He that hath seen me hath seen the Father - John 14:9

Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? - John 14:10

At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. - John 14:20

Paul says:

Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you - 2 Corinthians 13:5

And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. - Romans 8:10

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. - 1 Corinthians 12:12

God is the being and life. When this being, this existence, enters a human being, he recognizes it as the "self". This "self" exists in everything, and it is the only reason why anything exists. The self is nothing where everything radiates.

Just because you say so ? :D

If you say that everything needs a cause and so there must be a cause for the beginning of the universe, then what caused God? And if you say that God is the first cause and nothing caused Him, then why not just say that the universe itself is the first cause and nothing caused it? Postulating a God is both unhelpful and unnecessary.

I very much dislike having religious jargon thrown in my face. :rolleyes:

Natural forces like cold temperature & magnetism cannot be seen. :p Your god is too weak compared to natural force that causes things to happen without decision or choice.

Just because you say so ? :D

Don't be afraid, it's because Paul, Jesus and other religions say so.

And if you say that God is the first cause and nothing caused Him, then why not just say that the universe itself is the first cause and nothing caused it?

Sure, you can say that, but I just wanted to show that "God" is not bull, although one of his 4 faces is an ox: Ezekiel 1:10.

I very much dislike having religious jargon thrown in my face. :rolleyes:

It was just to show that the Bible agrees with me when I say that God is within everything and the self and God are the same thing.

Natural forces like cold temperature & magnetism cannot be seen. :p

Not easily with your eyes, but they can still be detected in some way, so they're effects, not causes. The ancient Inca's considered the magnetic force to be God. They're right, but that magnetic force also has a cause. Kind of.

Your god is too weak compared to natural force that causes things to happen without decision or choice.

That "natural force" is the same as what religions call God (the self). Scientists can never understand the world if they don't understand themselves. They wonder and explore the heavens but they have not understood what is right here. They have faith in their theories but they don't have faith in themselves.

Sure, you can say that, but I just wanted to show that "God" is not bull, although one of his 4 faces is an ox: Ezekiel 1:10.

It was just to show that the Bible agrees with me when I say that God is within everything and the self and God are the same thing.

That "natural force" is the same as what religions call God (the self). Scientists can never understand the world if they don't understand themselves. They wonder and explore the heavens but they have not understood what is right here. They have faith in their theories but they don't have faith in themselves.

Natural forces does not have free will you silly ;) If your house get hit by a thunder blame your self for not protecting it.

http://truechristian.com/confessionbooth.html
All it uses is the Bible and no other source and all references are cited in each page; using childish narrative and crappy MS Paint images, it paints a very humorous view of what can be found in the Bible. After reading these and then looking up the evidence in the Bible, you really, really, really have to look at what faith rests on. It's such a bloody joke. ;)

And I would add, "Why worry about god ?"

Instead, we should all worry about ourselves WHILE not forgetting about the bigger picture. The bigger picture? A view outside that of ourselves. Think of ourselves WHILE not forgetting about others.

If we don't think of ourselves, we fail to improve. If we don't think about others, then we render ourselves isolated - and disjoint from a network of people who can help each other in some way, shape, or form. :D

Natural forces does not have free will you silly ;) If your house get hit by a thunder blame your self for not protecting it.

I agree, but I never said that natural forces have free will, I said that the same existence is in them as in us. It depends on the body how much we can express ourselves. The human body is so advanced that we have become aware of our bodies, and that's why we have free will.

That's also why we have been separated from our true self. Since we were so far away from our real self, we thought of it as a separate entity: God. As our understanding of ourselves change, the understanding about God changes, since God is our true being.

Those who wrote the Bible knew this, that's why they said: you are the temples of God.

http://truechristian.com/confessionbooth.html
All it uses is the Bible and no other source and all references are cited in each page; using childish narrative and crappy MS Paint images, it paints a very humorous view of what can be found in the Bible. After reading these and then looking up the evidence in the Bible, you really, really, really have to look at what faith rests on. It's such a bloody joke. ;)

Like I said before, this is how the Bible is seen by earthly people. Because of their understanding of the world, they have become aware of their naive views about God. However, when they gain more knowledge about themselves, the Bible will once again start to make sense. They will understand the psychological, allegorical and astrological meaning.

And I would add, "Why worry about god ?"

I don't worry about God, but he worries about me.

Instead, we should all worry about ourselves WHILE not forgetting about the bigger picture. The bigger picture? A view outside that of ourselves. Think of ourselves WHILE not forgetting about others.

Of course, that's just what the Bible says. "Love others as you love yourself." There is no God but the higher self. There is no saviour but the one which we crucified, and even today crucify, between space and time.

If we don't think of ourselves, we fail to improve. If we don't think about others, then we render ourselves isolated - and disjoint from a network of people who can help each other in some way, shape, or form. :D

The problem with people is that they expect to receive help from the outside. Instead, they should seek it within themselves, in Christ-self. If everyone helped themselves, no one would need help.

Of course, that's just what the Bible says. "Love others as you love yourself." There is no God but the higher self. There is no saviour but the one which we crucified, and even today crucify, between space and time.

Your kind of love isn't the same as normal human, you just pretend friendship. Your friendship is an order of your god and not REAL friendship. You do friendship because you want to be rewarded that you call ''better place''. Look at the terrorists, they kill to be rewarded.

This world will never be as your "God" seems to want it. Humans are obnoxious, unreliable, selfish and full of hatred. Of course not all of us are, but they're all emotions and traits we're bound to show at one stage or another.

WHAT'S MORE MORAL?

1)A Christian Scientist who prays over a sick child, or the Atheist parent who seeks immediate medical attention.

2)An Atheist who feeds a starving person because that person is hungry, or the Theist who feeds that person because he is commanded to.

3)A philosophy that emphasizes reasoning, critical thinking, and education, or a philosophy that exalts submission, conformity, and indoctrination.

As I explained earlier regarding the idea of eternal damnation: Any philosophy which ultimately must fall back on such techniques as personal attacks, threats and eternal damnation for non-conformity disqualifies itself from the sphere of acceptable morals and ethics and should be discarded as quickly as possible.

How arrogant and ridiculous! Why don't religious people see how absurd they can be, when they try to force others to believe as they do??!! :confused:

Sorry but im no Zombie. :p

Your kind of love isn't the same as normal human, you just pretend friendship. Your friendship is an order of your god and not REAL friendship. You do friendship because you want to be rewarded that you call ''better place''. Look at the terrorists, they kill to be rewarded.

People who are "good" because they fear hell or hope for a reward are no good at all. But that's not the kind of love which Christ taught us.

Truly I tell you, there are many people who call themselves Christians and Muslims but they follow the evil instead of their God. God said about these people: "They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from me."

This world will never be as your "God" seems to want it.

Everything came from "God" and everything will return to "God". In the end, no one will be able to resist it.

Humans are obnoxious, unreliable, selfish and full of hatred.

Humans aren't bad, they're just lost and forsaken. It's temporary. Deep within, all humans are good.

Of course not all of us are, but they're all emotions and traits we're bound to show at one stage or another.

It will not continue forever. Humans need experience. Have patience, evolution takes time because man denies his true self. If we didn't deny it, if we wouldn't defend our persons, we couldn't remain the persons we are. People are afraid to die, even if it means that they will become happier and closer to themselves. "I will never turn my back on anyone who comes to me."

WHAT'S MORE MORAL?

1)A Christian Scientist who prays over a sick child, or the Atheist parent who seeks immediate medical attention.

The "atheist".

2)An Atheist who feeds a starving person because that person is hungry, or the Theist who feeds that person because he is commanded to.

The "atheist".

3)A philosophy that emphasizes reasoning, critical thinking, and education, or a philosophy that exalts submission, conformity, and indoctrination.

A philosophy that emphasizes reasoning, critical thinking, and education.

Sorry but im no Zombie. :P

Because you are earthly, you direct everything towards your body. Jesus said: "The time has already come, when people will rise from their graves and hear the voice of the son of God."

Have you seen any Zombies? No. Because that's not what Jesus meant. He meant that we will resurrect from our mental death. To be mentally dead means to be sad and depressive for example.

c7ityi -

Jesus said: "The time has already come, when people will rise from their graves and hear the voice of the son of God."Hardly seems likely though when most have been consumed by worms and such or cremated of course. Seems a somewhat grotesque notion, but then you are quoting religion.

Kat

Maybe jesus was talking about this lifetime.
There are certainly enough people "in their graves" who are walking around and functioning, maybe they need to see God, whatever that means.

There are certainly enough people "in their graves" who are walking around and functioning, maybe they need to see God, whatever that means.

It means that they need to find themselves.

It means that they need to find themselves.

Brainwash. Zombies need brains.

Maybe jesus was talking about this lifetime.
There are certainly enough people "in their graves" who are walking around and functioning, maybe they need to see God, whatever that means.

Know something? My first choice of career was to be a pathologist, do obductions. (My parents talked me out of it though, as "it is not a profession becoming a proper woman".)
I've always had an intense fascination for ~what is it that makes people dead~.

The worry comes from the belief that God fucked up.
God let people (and angels, i.e satan), choose how to act and they choose badly.
Then God makes a way (whether it be rules, or sacrifices, or sacrificing God), for people to be saved, but many people choose badly.

That is the basic belief system of most religions that have a personal god.
I think God must be as reliable as the Dao, or there is a problem, why are we worried?

Actually, the hinge question is, "does the metaphysical mirror our reality, or can it be something "better". Maybe that should be a thread.

For believers and nonbelievers-

Describe to me the concept of the term 'God' as abstractly as possible, without bringing any religious or scientific ideas into your interpretation.
Any type of creature, being, etc. more powerful than any "mere mortal"...usually immortal, but not always, like in Norse Legend (Baldr's death, and the Ragnarok).

The worry comes from the belief that God fucked up.

judgeing from humanity that is an accurate starement

I always hated care bears cause it teaches religion in some way to another. The best cartoon show to brainwash your kids for not doing bad. But some cartoons do teach morals. I let the kids watch pokemon to let them learn what is evolution. :p