How do people who believe in God--define the God that they believe in? And how do atheists define the God they don't believe in?
Posted on: July 10, 2007 - 11:30am
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How do people who believe in God--define the God that they believe in? And how do atheists define the God they don't believe in?
People who believe in God--may not all agree what God is. 10 people may say they believe in God--but they all may have a different definition/explanation of what God is. Therefore, on the surface it seems they are in some sort of agreement--but depending on their beliefs about God--there may actually be spaces of disagreement between each of these 10 as there are between any one of them and an atheist.
So, I'd like to pose the question: IF you belive in God--how would you define that God? And if you DON'T believe in God--how would you define what it is you don't believe in.
Perhaps, some who do believe in God also wouldn't believe in the God as defined by some atheists.
Be well & happy,
Barrie
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There isn't one God I don't believe in. I don't believe in any Gods, or supernatural phenomena.
Atheist Books
well said
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hi Barrie
My internal visual image of god is the SUN thee all-powerful light and warmth, that we must worship and that requires the sacrifice of children, in older to ensure GOD'S return too vanquish the evil cold night
? would you like more information
I'm not sure if you just overlooked it, but I responded to this with a few experiences and some thoughts on it. Could I get some feedback? I have a habit off trying to separate my thoughts at the time with the experience, out of an attempt to give others a chance to judge what they would think in a similar situation. I also tend to withhold my personal thoughts on them to myself, because without a more complete record of my experiences, they may seem entirely irrational. I can assure you that they are only partially irrational
The sentence below is false.
The sentence above is true.
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I don't believe in a deity. I don't define it because I can't. I can't define it based on <insert holy book here>, I can't define it based on <insert religion here>'s belief system. I can't define it in any way. And I can't listen to other definitions, because they are not universal, they are contradictory and they are so against what science has proven until now, that I don't think any intelligent, educated human being that does not have a wish to get rich by exploiting those who believe can possibly agree with them. That's why I don't believe.
Inquisition - "The flames are all long gone, but the pain lingers on..."
http://rigoromortis.blogspot.com/
Barrie I gotta ask; do you have a goal in this line of questioning? I mean, what do you hope to get out of it? Are you just information gathering or are you planning on using it in some form of argument.
It'd be awfully hard for me to define the all the gods I reject because, well, that'd take up pages upon pages of posting. And I'm just talking about definitions I've heard from other people. If I also gave all the definitions of god that I can think of (and subsequently reject), well, I doubt I'd get very far in the list by the time I died.
Of all the god definitions that theists have given to me over the years, I have not heard one I thought existed.
I don't personally have an idea of what god is supposed to be. One of the main reasons that I lack belief in gods is because there is no definition that is coherent, not an equivocation with another word (like pantheists, calling the universe 'god'
, or necessary. I don't know what most people mean by the word god, and when I think I understand what the others think god is, I don't find a referent for that described being.
Shaun
I'll fight for a person's right to speak so long as that person will, in return, fight to allow me to challenge their opinions and ridicule them as the content of their ideas merit.
"I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."--Stephen F. Roberts
Yes. But I do not assume the standard assumptions that go with that term, such as self-awareness, and such things. Those I infer from personal experience, which I put in an entirely different category.
There's no wild speculation there, just an observance that we exist, and there must be some means by which we exist. Call it whatever you want.
The sentence below is false.
The sentence above is true.
This sentence doesn't care.
I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction. ayn rand
This is a great question. This is why I posted the question "am I an Atheist?" Because most atheism seems to me to be a reaction against organized religion. Then for others it is the denial of "supernatural" (whatever that means).
For me, it is hard to define God because it is a wors that I don't know what it means. Is it a diety? I don't believe in omnipotent creators in human shape creating universes. I am against organized religion and reject there notions of God.
Maybe what some people call God is the collective consciousness of the universe. Now it all becomes an issue of labels. You see, I believe in consciousness, I am conscious. Now I believe that energy and matter are the same. I beleive this universe is really a holographic dance of consciousness appearing material to my senses. And it is important to note, that my senses are within and part of this universe so they are not objective tools of perception. If I am dreaming this universe then I am dreaming my senses also.
I follow my consciousness and I realized that it has no clear boundaries. Sometimes it overlaps. Depth psychology confirms this. Look into the work of Jung and Stanislov Grof. Now, according to the definition that an atheist is someone who doesn't believe in Dieties, then I am an Atheist. But it seems like an atheist believes that consciousness is the by-product of matter (the brain) while someone like me believes that matter is the result of consciousness.
So that is why I also want to know what God is? What it means? What do you all mean? Thanks Barry!