Philosophical attributes of God
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Is God a person? Does He/She/It exist? More questions about God...
This is a religious debate with room for all points of view. In the context of this debate I do not think it matters much what religion one subscribes to as religious philosophers of say Christianity, Islam and Judaism pretty much agree that god is ineffable anyhow. In other words: though this has hardly been translated into popular conceptions of religion, on purely philosophical grounds God is not necessarily male.
After all: what would it mean for God to be male? To think of Him as having a certain appendage for instance is hardly part of the monotheistic religious tradition. While such images do occur in Hinduism, we are, in that tradition met with female images of the divine almost equally.
The image here is by Khalil Gibran.
Contents at a Glance
Do you believe in God?
Any God? or none at all...
Do you believe in God (any God)
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byYes, there is something divine...
Jesus Pina says:
I Believe in The Source that created all beyond Matter, Time, and Space. We can call this Source God, Alah, Ra, The Great Spirit, The Higher Being, etc. It is the same Creator or Creation, or "Source." He is alive, and purposely created our Universe. From where everything came to be, even humans. And We are All ONE... In the Source. We can connect to this source on Earth through Enlightenment. He can manifest in any form of human of any race, or in animals. You can also simply call it the Divine. I personally believe that weather you believe in a God or not, we already believe in Love, and can define God as Love itself... Love is God, God is Love. Different Word, same meaning. I don't believe God is a Man Standing in the Sky, or a Single Being. I believe He is BEING itself... All that was, is, and is yet to come. Although I personally don't think he is a "man" or "single human" in space, He Can Be. Nothing is Impossible to him. But regardless of what we believe, LOVE is the the it. Unconditional Love is what he cares for. Weather we believe in God (Love) or not. We would be happier if we all Loved Unconditionally. So Love unconditionally. No need to believe in a God. Simply Believe in Love. No, not believe, Simply BECOME LOVE ITSELF...
Jesus Ramon Pina~~
Posted May 19, 2011
Lockerlover says:
If he/she/it wasn't real we wouldn't be alive and here right now on another thing of gods creation, Earth.
Posted February 03, 2011
Lockerlover says:
Of course he's real if he wasn't would he love his creation he made? If god wasn't real all of us wouldn't be here right now and we wouldn't exist at all,
Posted February 03, 2011
jes says:
yes
Posted November 10, 2010
Daisy says:
I know there is a God, but I don't know if God is He or She, or even if there are more than one, Gods. I "think" based on my personal experience, relationship with God, and the many religions I've studies and participated in, that the latter is the answer, THEY, more than one God. It's a great big universe out there.
Posted September 16, 2010
Ivon says:
Ye si do i belive God of Creation the Universe and God is pass, present and Future
Posted September 12, 2010
BluOmni says:
God cannot be a person to retain the characteristics of God...omnipresent, omniscient, etc. My God (Omniverse) is all encompassing but also throughout. God or the Source becomes highly personal because it is a part of each of us. It surrounds, runs throughout....some say god experiences humanity through our eyes. God is inside each molecule and cell of your physical system as well as all aspects. Always as close as your own blood, thoughts, and breath.
God is not a man or a woman. There is no need for an all powerful being to limit itself as one entity let alone one gender. I don't believe in a Zeus or Magician God...i.e. The Christian God. There is and has to be a Source of some kind....it is the all encompassing energetic system that some call the Zero Point Field or the Quantum Field Theory or the Planck level. It is beyond that. It is what the physicist Amit Goswami, Ph.D. calls "quantum consciousness" a non-duality.
Posted August 06, 2010
Godfather says:
God is indeed real and we experience him by faith.
Posted June 24, 2010
judy corzine says:
yes i do belived in him
Posted June 12, 2010
judy corzine says:
yes i do belived in god and i do know he is real today and dvine
Posted June 12, 2010
No, there is no God of any kind
Mike says:
By the present there is no such thing, and it is not observed by anyone - so no god/gods
Posted April 05, 2011
salohcin says:
there might be but i don't think he cares about us sure back when the thought that hippos ran from dragons they had "GOD" interfer in the daily life of people but now the closest thing to a miracal is birth. sure the original creation of humanity was highly improbable but the continuation by breeding is an instinctive nature and easily explained. GOD does not exist.
Posted November 15, 2010
Mahen says:
Not god but creators. Our ancestors or forefathers were responsible for the term god which came about as result of fear factor. God is only a guide but a creator is the one who created the universe and all living things in it.
Posted May 28, 2010
cryptid says:
Your options of responses don't give me much to work with, as they are two extremes. I'm more in the middle, just like you in your introduction to this lense. What god is is not just a divinity, but all things. So, yes there is a god in a sense, but not one divine. Thats what I believe, anyways.
Posted December 20, 2008
kephrira says:
I'm with the Greeks - belief is an inferior form of knowledge - but I think faith is something different, more like a form of extreme optimism rather than an inflexible metaphysical position. But that doesn't mean that I believe that there isn't a God anymore than belive there is. And I also passionately beleive than through philosophy and practical experimentation such as prayer and meditation you can be spiritual without sacrificing reason or scepticism.
Posted May 21, 2008
What's the most important thing about God?
What's the essence of this religious debate?
So, how do YOU see God?
What's your religious view on God?
Anything you have to say about God...
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Cumberland
Sep 23, 2011 @ 5:31 pm | delete
- I think God is the Universal intelligence of which we are all a part.
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BluOmni
Aug 6, 2010 @ 12:47 am | delete
- "God" is a limiting name that conjures images of Zeus. I called God, the Universe but even that was limited. I then started to call the Source, "Omniverse." it is pure consciousness, the highest, most powerful energy frequency. All of existence is comprised of energy. All of existence is proof or evidence of the Source. The Omniverse does not have any anthropomorphic characteristics. If it did, it would no longer be thte Source.
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godrealized
Feb 21, 2010 @ 12:51 pm | delete
- God Almighty termed Brahman in Hinduism... is one and only one! It is also termed Karta, Sanatana Purusha, Bhagwan, Parmatman and Ishwar in Hinduism! As per Hinduism only God Almighty exists in cosmic system... rest all is illusion (veil of Maya)! God Almighty is beyond comprehension of most human beings... the combined power of all purified souls atmans in cosmos at a given moment of time!
Only when human beings gained enlightenment... concept of God Almighty became clear in totality... never before! As per Hinduism God is Nirakaar in form (having no form)! Religionists in Hinduism worship and pray to God... but to see and meet God in this very life we have to travel path of spirituality... path of jnana yoga (absolute wisdom)! 700 shlokas verses contained in Bhagavad Gita suffice for human beings reaching stage of enlightenment and finally God!
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nicole
Jul 31, 2009 @ 12:29 am | delete
- all being is its own being, higher or lower depending on development how far willing to reach potential of being the truth
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May 21, 2009 @ 8:56 pm | delete
- This pretty much sums up my understanding of god.
www.thelovinggod.com
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On the Gender of God
Does God have a sex?
Personally I tend to believe that if there is a personal God who lives up to all the qualities mentioned in this lens, She must be female or gender-neutral. After all: giving birth is a female attribute. The female needs the male to do it - so God could also be gender-neutral: be both at once.
So, is God female, male or something else?
Religious debate about God Itself...
Divine attributes
Religious debate about the divine attributes, describing God
So God is like this...???
Add any description of The Divine that I may have missed.
1
In everything, all around
7 points
2
Pure Love
6 points
3
Energy
5 points
4
All encompasing
3 points
5
Limitless Compassion
3 points
6
The ocean
2 points
7
White Light
1 point
8
An artist
1 point
9
Doesn't exist
1 point
10
Unthinkable
1 point
11
A giant spagetti monster
1 point
12
impersonal
1 point
13
Allmighty
0 points
14
A man on a throne
0 points
15
Nothing else
0 points
16
a person
0 points
17
A hypocrit
0 points
18
Creator of all things cosmic
Creator of all things cosmic0 points
Links about God
- Do you believe in God?
- this difficult question explored...
- Attributes of God in Islam
- An explanation of the Perfect Names and Attributes of Allah.
- The Attributes of God
- God reveals Himself not only in His names, but also in His attributes, that is, in the perfections of the divine Being. It is customary to distinguish between incommunicable and communicable attributes. Of the former there are no traces in the creature; of the latter there are.
Attributes of God - the official list (sort of)
The standard Christian religious view of God
- All knowing = omniscient
- All powerful
- Independent of His creatures
- Infinity
- Simplicity (not composed of several parts, can't be divided up)
- All wise
- All Good
- Loving
- Morally perfect
- Righteousness: abides by the perfect laws he created
- faithfulness: He keeps His promises
- sovereignty: sovereign will and sovereign power
Source of all these
Does God have a body? Does He know what it feels like to touch someone?
A stingy religious debate
Does God belong to a specific religion?
God is a person?
But that source could also be impersonal, beyond the limitations that personality bring. Can God be a person without having a body? Does God have a body?
Perhaps the ultimate source of all being is beyond the conceptions of 'person' or 'impersonal'?
[See John Hick on 'Philosophy of Religion']
John Hick, Philosophy of Religion
Philosophy of Religion (4th Edition)
Amazon Price: $43.69 (as of 02/14/2012)
This book is so often referred to in my philosophy or religion class, I feel I just have to read it.
John Hick takes the multi-cultural world of today seriously. He takes the existence of very different religions seriously. He finds a way to unite those religions in a philosophy that's inspiring and original.
The eternity of God - does IT know what time it is?
God is eternal and changeless. So say the classic philosophers of religion. But if He is, is he IN TIME, responding to our needs?
Or is She perhaps BEYOND time, timeless, perfect 'from a distance'?
Does God know what time it is?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byyes, She knows everything.
No, She is beyond time.
godrealized says:
God Almighty is beyond capture of time! A cluster of pure primordial energy manifest all over cosmos... God Almighty manifests in human beings as our soul atman... the spirit within! The measure of time is primarily governed by speed of light! Higher than speed of light exist thought waves that travel at much higher speeds than speed of light!
Seekers of spirituality... seekers of God reach God Almighty by establishing absolute control over thought waves! When human beings reached stage of Nirvikalpa Samadhi... the stage of nothingness... one is said to have gained enlightenment... reached God! The measure of time is necessitated by human beings to live physical manifest phase of life in a meaningful manner!
Beyond that... there is no other requirement of time! For a soul atman... our true inner self... the spirit within... measure of time has no value... no meaning! In its lifetime every soul atman covers a journey of 8.4 million manifestations that requires an earthly journey of 96.4 million years of which 12.4 million years are covered in human form!
Posted February 21, 2010
nic says:
time does not exist
Posted July 31, 2009
cryptid says:
Time is just a manifestation of humanities physical brain cycle. Once the body stops time as we know it ceases to exist.
Posted December 20, 2008
ALLAH says:
Time doesn't exist
Posted July 08, 2008
spirituality says:
I like to think God is beyond time - if He exists. And then He may know what time it is FOR ME, but I think He would hardly care. What is time anyhow? Does it really matter whether it's 11.20 at the moment? Or does it matter that on Saturday morning I was doing something?
Posted May 24, 2008
The Goodness of God - what about evil?
Goodness is one of the most important attributes of God. Only a perfectly Good God is worth worshiping, after all...
Well, that's not true in all religions. Powerful gods who aren't Good can also be worshiped, to increase the chances of them doing good...
Still, the God of Christianity, Islam and Judaism is assumed to be Good. Perfect. All powerful.
This leads to the classic question: what about evil? How can an all powerful God allow evil? This ties in with the freedom of choice debate: perhaps a Good God would give us freedom of choice, accepting the existence of evil as a side-effect...
How can an all powerful God allow evil?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byI don't know, it's a real problem for me.
Salohcin says:
i concur with cryptid but also would like to bring about the point that the Christian GOD so call said thou shalt not kill and love thy neighbor then completely ignors the holywars which thousands are slaughtered in his name. he also created a flood that wiped out all but 2 of every spiecies so apperantly according to him the butcher of countless is an acceptable loss for his dream for us. one last thing i would recommend that you read Paradise lost Cryptid.
Posted November 15, 2010
cryptid says:
This is the biggest problem with the 3 "main religions" of the world. In terms of Christianity and Judaism, the modern day followers of these religions always seem to be idealizing their God and not seeing his "faults." Within the opening chapters of Genesis (of the Old Testament) God himself makes it know that he is both good and evil, light and darkness. Yet, in light of this followers of these religions still act as if God is only good. There is a dualism between God and Satan that needs to be knocked down, and inadvertantly combine both of these entities into one. Why? If God is all powerful, he must have created those who existed around him before humanity (including Satan). If he created a being such as Satan, than God must inadvertantly take on all the traits capable of such a being (in order to be an all knowing, all everything God). If God created evil (perhaps in the most innate form as Satan), than God must inadvertantly be a creation of himself reencarnated as an evil being in order to contrast his "good" side from "evil" side.
It is a complicated thing, beyond this.
Posted December 20, 2008
spirituality says:
For me this issue is one of the reasons I don't believe in a God that's all powerful and the essence of Good. Evil is clearly, in our daily lives, a matter of people mistreating people. There is no evidence that there is a God interfering, and there is a lot of evidence that interference might just be a GOOD idea.
Posted May 24, 2008
God has a good reason for allowing evil (tell me what you think)
Jesus says:
There is no such thing as evil or good. simply darker energies than others. God is made of both but has balanced them perfectly. He allows evil (darkness) because he allows freedom. Otherwise we would not be free. And we need both to be complete human beings. Like the Earth needs a night time to rest and night creatures to come out during night, and a day time for day creatures to come out and play. There is Rain and Sun. There is Yin and Yang. Male and Female. Hate and Love. But they are all one. Learn to balance them and you find perfection.
Posted May 19, 2011
godrealized says:
This fundamental crux of life can be best understood from example of mining! When God Almighty explodes self... all souls' atmans are absolutely pure! With the explosion all souls atmans scattered all over cosmos at unimaginable speeds! In the melee... these hurtling souls' atmans gathered impurities similar as a rolling ball gathers moss!
To cleanse themselves of dross impurities within starts life cycle of every soul atman! No sooner life supporting planets like mother earth developed in cosmos... these impure souls atmans immediately manifested a body to work out its karma... cleanse itself of dross impurities within! And in this process develops evil... sufferings!
Similar as one KG of pure gold existing in 100 KG lump of gold ore cannot separate itself of own and requires external mining machinery and processes... every soul atman also requires going through phase of 8.4 million manifestations to cleanse itself of dross impurities within! These impurities inherent in every soul atman are cause of every misery... evil on mother earth!
The whole cosmic system is governed by inscrutable laws of karma... as we sow so shall we reap... nothing less or more! Karma acts as accountant general of cosmic system! Those with a sunny disposition and godly thinking never suffer in life! Those indulging in vices... dominated by a bloated ego suffered all the time! More on why god made this world!
Posted February 21, 2010
nic says:
evil is created by one's own fear and perspective, must reincarnate to end your perspective of such evil which is subjective and which does not exist if you wait to realize so
Posted July 31, 2009
HandyProductsMaster says:
God created man to live for himself and think for himself, otherwise we would all be slaves. Evil is not praised and is probably the work of the devil. If we did not have evil we woul dhave nothing to compare good with. God offers us the right to have our evils forgiven in exchange for our undying love for him
Posted June 15, 2009
says:
If misfortune befalls you while you dream who is responsible?
You the dreamer or God?
Posted May 21, 2009
What other questions should I ask here about God?
Any feedback you want to give...
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davidber
Jun 1, 2011 @ 10:06 am | delete
- Interesting lense, good work!
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godrealized
Feb 22, 2010 @ 2:00 am | delete
- Has anyone in present times seen or met god?
How many truly enlightened people exist in world today?
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Treasures-By-Brenda
Apr 14, 2009 @ 7:56 pm | delete
- Another great thinking lens, Katinka; another blessing. Nicely done.
Brenda
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spirituality
Sep 3, 2008 @ 3:45 am | delete
- It's humans that decide who's going to be the leader of the household (and I don't think it's either or: partners can be equal).
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dc64
Sep 2, 2008 @ 1:57 pm | delete
- If God were either male or female, I believe male, because why would God, is a female, have allowed the male to be the leader of the household, to be physically stronger, and to be created first?
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The source of the picture of God
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