What is the nature of your “God”?
by =^_^= on Aug.08, 2009, under General
It is difficult to falsify claims about the existence of God, because very few people are willing or able to provide a complete definition of what God is, of the nature of God or of any kinds of tests or measurements how’s results can’t be explained through more simple naturalistic means.
Most definitions are simply re-labeling of other ideas or incomplete comparisons…
“god is bigger than you” – An elephant is bigger than me.
“god is love” – no, love is love… we already have a word for that.
“god knows all” – I can’t ask him, and receive an unambiguous answer.
All these statements have their own problems… and few of them can be falsified…
“God” tends to change between people, ranges from a personal god that knows you an listens to prayers, all the way back go a pantheist god who is more or less a representation of mystery and the unknown in the universe.
Who is your god and more over, what makes you sure of that?
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August 21st, 2009 on 6:17 am
“Most definitions are simply re-labeling of other ideas..”
Of course! Do you think anyone can come up with a completely new and “accurate” set of words to explain God? Metaphors and comparisons are the best we have.
No religious person is an expert on their own religion. Religion is simply the best vehicle we have to express faith and find a way to worship what we believe in. If you need a perfect, falsifiable definition of God, then you’re missing the point.
This is why I hate it when people try to have debates about religion or God – because debates are purely logical, and faith is completely NON-logical.
As for God changing between people – some people are more comfortable with different facets and representations of God, but that doesn’t make different conceptions of Him more or less true than others. And what makes us sure of the nature of God? Faith.
I’m sorry because I know this is an unsatisfactory answer – but I hope I just explained why there isn’t really a better answer to your question!
November 5th, 2009 on 5:24 pm
If god exists purely in an emotional or as-thought/concept type of way, without any physical manifestation you are a deist… but that has the catch, the deists’ god is not a personal god…
If you do believe that god has physical manifestation, that he does grant prayers and causes miracles, you have a god that makes claims about the physical universe, all of which can be falsified…
My problem comes from an undefined god, who performs undefined actions, with an unknown, unpredictable and arbitrary set of reasons and rules to govern his actions.
Additionally, I have to say it would be massively frustrating to not be able to explain what I believe to someone … especially if it was fate-of-the-world important and yet completely unconvincing.