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Who Or What Is God To You?


JosephM

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Curiosity question for everyone.....

 

I don't think there will be any wrong answers since the question is directed to YOUR opinion or YOUR perception of God which only YOU can express. If you are reluctant to express any belief in the word God then what do you call what you believe is the source of what you experience as reality?

 

Thanks in advance for your responses that will no doubt be food to ponder.

 

Joseph

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God -as understood through process theology- is where I am. Mordecai Kaplan's definition best suits me at this particular moment. I'll underline the ones I relate to the most.

God is:

  • the sum of everything in the world that renders life significant and worthwhile -- or holy.
  • the totality of those forces in life that render human life worthwhile
  • the Power that impels human beings to become fully human
  • the sum of animating, organizing forces and relationships which are forever making a cosmos out of chaos
  • the Power that makes for the fulfillment of all valid ideals
  • the Power that makes for salvation

And ...

  • A God who makes a difference in one’s personal life should be designated as a personal God.
  • To believe in God is to reckon with life’s creative forces, tendencies and potentialities as forming an organic unity and as giving meaning to life by virtue of that unity.
  • Life has meaning for us when it elicits from us the best of which we are capable, and fortifies us against the worst that may befall us. Such meaning reveals itself in our experiences of unity, of creativity, or worth.
  • To believe in God is to set limits always against the worst that we are capable of committing. To believe in god is also to deny there are limits when we strive to attain the highest sense of self we are capable of imagining.

I am currently parsing these points.

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God with a capital to me is the Quantum Unified Field which is in everything including us, it resides in the center, whereas god with the small g is on the circumference in duality and doesn't see the unity so the difference is only perception. They are actually one. Duality in unity and unity in duality.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I don't think I'll ever know. In fact I'm almost certain that any assumption I made would be wrong. I act as if God is love and try to love my life in a loving and proactive way. Acting in this manner has been most beneficial for myself and those around me and so I believe is a good way to become closer to God, or if not closer to the universal ideal that appeals to me the most. Other than that I wouldn't like to speculate.

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I can remember walking away from the 1977 release of George Lucas's "Star Wars", thinking that his interpretation of the "Force" made a lot more sense than what we were getting in the churches at the time - without the dark-side of course.

 

God is something like that, and more - don't forget to include Love in the true nature of God,... and again, E is without the dark-side.

 

* :)*

Edited by Elen1107
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  • 5 years later...
On 10/17/2014 at 8:20 PM, Elen1107 said:

I can remember walking away from the 1977 release of George Lucas's "Star Wars", thinking that his interpretation of the "Force" made a lot more sense than what we were getting in the churches at the time - without the dark-side of course.

 

God is something like that, and more - don't forget to include Love in the true nature of God,... and again, E is without the dark-side.

 

* :)*

I've figured out how to scroll back in time in this forum, to when I was last participating and posting here.

I still vividly remember that day and leaving that theater. I'm wondering if it was an actual turning point for me.

It's kind of funny to me, cause come on, this is Star Wars and total fiction and science fiction. Trying to remember if I'd ever heard of a concept of God or "the Force" like that before.

This original Star Wars was mentioned by Joseph Campbell in his 'The Power of Myth ' series. I'm wondering if that's what finally gave me the impetus and the "faith" to say to myself, If this is the way that I really think of God, then I'm just going to go with it.

🙂 

edit > Found a link to at least some of what Campbell said about this. To myself it was really just about the "force" or God just being this big, enormous energy or consciousness, not so much about war or human heroes and such

 

Edited by Elen1107
see above - added link
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  • 4 months later...

I've begun to embrace a weak God -- a God who existed in the universe that preceded the Big Bang, who could only fashion the conditions of the Big Bang such that there was a frail chance that planets like earth and creatures like humans would emerge in this new universe. The fact that this weak God's creative powers were limited would be why earth is a lone outpost of life in the bleak expanse of space. The weak God is likely no longer alive, and perhaps created our universe in the hope that creatures like humans would emerge to further its desire for reality to grow in harmonious diversity. The Gospels' teachings, by this view, are distinctively powerful expressions of a genuinely godly impulse to see reality thrive on each of its interlocking scales, one of which is the scale of humans, which is the focus of the Gospels.

What do you think of this notion of a weak God?

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1 hour ago, Alec Ruth said:

I've begun to embrace a weak God -- a God who existed in the universe that preceded the Big Bang, who could only fashion the conditions of the Big Bang such that there was a frail chance that planets like earth and creatures like humans would emerge in this new universe. The fact that this weak God's creative powers were limited would be why earth is a lone outpost of life in the bleak expanse of space. The weak God is likely no longer alive, and perhaps created our universe in the hope that creatures like humans would emerge to further its desire for reality to grow in harmonious diversity. The Gospels' teachings, by this view, are distinctively powerful expressions of a genuinely godly impulse to see reality thrive on each of its interlocking scales, one of which is the scale of humans, which is the focus of the Gospels.

What do you think of this notion of a weak God?

Sounds just as reasonable and feasible as other takes on God if you ask me, Alec.

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(Quote removed by Moderator JosephM) 

I think that God is "all powerful" in terms of eternity. In terms of who or what can enter into eternity. If one agrees with the premise that nothing and no one harmful can enter into the eternal, then a good number of humans have some 'evolving' to do before they/we can fully enter into the kingdom of heaven/eternity.

I've wondered how much influence, or to use the more traditional word "dominion" do people have in this world and on this earth that we live on. If we have been given primary influence / dominion of this little earth, floating around in this enormous galaxy, perhaps that explains some of why we don't experience more of God's presence here on earth. It's up to us to find and know and be in harmony with God's ways and wishes. It's not up to God to be intervening, and answering, and doing everything for us. 

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On 8/8/2020 at 11:14 PM, Alec Ruth said:

I've begun to embrace a weak God -- a God who existed in the universe that preceded the Big Bang, who could only fashion the conditions of the Big Bang such that there was a frail chance that planets like earth and creatures like humans would emerge in this new universe. The fact that this weak God's creative powers were limited would be why earth is a lone outpost of life in the bleak expanse of space. The weak God is likely no longer alive, and perhaps created our universe in the hope that creatures like humans would emerge to further its desire for reality to grow in harmonious diversity. The Gospels' teachings, by this view, are distinctively powerful expressions of a genuinely godly impulse to see reality thrive on each of its interlocking scales, one of which is the scale of humans, which is the focus of the Gospels.

What do you think of this notion of a weak God?

The idea of a weak God that then dies seems to be deism with a very bad ending for God. However, I think I appreciate the intent which seems to be the emphasis on our "godly impulse .......one of which is the scale of humans..."

While I am neither a deist ora theist, I believe in (a) God who is present and active (which would require further explanation) but is at an epistemological distance, meaning he is 'hidden' and does not overpower us with his presence thus preserving our free choice to discover and choose to enable reality to 'grow in harmonious diversity.'  

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Please do not quote other posters in your post unless you just want to agree or say something positive about another's post.. This thread is not to debate or question other people's post. In post #1 it specifies to post your perception of what God is to you. No wrong answers, just views.    Thanks, JosephM (as Moderator)

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