Perhaps I should try harder to understand God. (page 4)

purplesofa

Purpsofa
I sorta meant it that way. Although it is true, also.
S

lol..........good cuz it hit a real funny bone............but then it didnt.

purps

funkyderek

AuldSoul:

As the Bible explains things, one of the reasons Jesus came at all was so that person of God could be made known. Apparently, Christians shouldn't necessarily think the actions imputed to God in ancient times were necessarily God's doing or typical of God's personality.

Do you mean by that, that the information about God in the OT is false? That he didn't really do the things the Bible records him as doing? Why then believe in him? What were faithful Jews expected to believe before Jesus came and corrected them? What if the actions imputed to Jesus in the NT are no more true than those imputed to God in the OT?

And what exactly did Jesus say that contradicted the OT view of a vengeful god?

LittleToe:

If your wife was Andrea Yates would you just love her or would you need to seek to understand her?

LittleToe

I pity the fool that attempts to understand her...

trevor

nicolaou

You talk of understanding God.

This could mean understanding the concept of God as explained in the Bible, in conjunction with violence that ‘he’ is accused of committing.

Or it could mean understanding God in terms of imagining what type of power is responsible for our universe.

Are you looking for God as a being outside of yourself and the world you live in or as a life force that permeates and sustains all that is - including yourself? This would have to include all people and actions that we decide are bad, based on the judgements we make.

What I am suggesting that trying to understand God in human terms as a person will result in frustration and confusion.

Life in the natural world has always been violent and short but also a beautiful work of art. The natural world is a demonstration of God in action. Understand the art and you understand the artist. This is reality as opposed to what you may read in books. If you understand nature and what it is trying to achieve you will understand God.

Not a deity but a life force that has very few rules, just a desire to live, to be, to express and it has chosen to find expression in You!

nicolaou

LT - please remember that in my opening post I was specific enough to say that this topic concerns the god of the bible, I'm not sure if you are talking about a different god who is not our 'Father'. Are you really saying that He is a She?! Take a walk on the wild side! How does that square with your christianity?

I'll presume to continue Derek's thought (sorry FD). Does a woman who kills her five children deserve to be loved by others? Does she even deserve the effort of others to understand her? If you don't think so, and it seems you don't, why should anyone expend the effort to understand god?

Would it not be fair to tweak your own words and say; "I pity the fool that attempts to understand god..."?

In truth, I feel that for our own benefit Andrea Yates needs to be understood. As to whether anyone can love her . . . that is something for those close to her to decide. I also believe that if God were real he would need to be understood - doesn't mean I would love him. Doesn't mean I could love him.

Or her...

SixofNine

Oh the irony: Andrea Yates. Had she not grown up on, and more recently gorged on, a steady diet of the bible, it's highly unlikely that she would have done what she did. Bible God has told at least 4 Texas women in the past 5 years (that I can think of off the top of my head) to kill their children.

kid-A

Nic,

If humanity tried harder to understand itself, it would perhaps gain a better understanding of what god is: a projection of the human mind serving a variety of psychological functions and a simple cognitive framework for understanding and coping with the ephemeral reality of our biological mortality. While it appears the majority of humans still require this primordial vestige of our psychological evolution, many of us do not. All "beliefs" have an underlying motivation and cause which can ultimately be explained in neurobiological terms.. Some people believe in a god because it gives them those "warm and fuzzy feelings" (likely caused by the neuronal release of dopamine and/or serotonin or endomorphins). Others rely on the idea of god to impute a feeling of self-worth onto their lives, again, simple reinforced behaviour patterns linked to neural networks.

I would say my evolution from belief in the supernatural to a state of non-belief in supernatural beings is somewhat unique in that I never passed through a stage of "anger" at "god" for its perceived lack of action and impotence in the affairs on earth. After all, how can I ask questions to something that was never there? How could I be angry at a mythical being in the sky? My only anger was directed at the humans who forced these beliefs upon me and infected my young mind with absurd notions of supernatural beings and wrathful deities. My revulsion and rage was and is directed at those religionists who use their god as the launching ground for their crusades, jihads and genocides. I feel no anger towards the "concept" of god, because ultimately, god is merely the supreme scapegoat for human barbarity, ignorance and hatred.

Thus, trying harder to "understand" god, is really an exercise in trying to understand ones own underlying psychological and cognitive frameworks, within which the "god circuit" serves a discrete, but entirely comprehendable and dispensable motivational framework.

Terry

Why should the burden be greater on the weak than on the strong?

The fundamental definition of God by any standard whatsoever is "greater than" human.

It is the human who beseeches and grovels and feels inferior from the very outset.

WE ARE TOLD that God exists. WE ARE TOLD this God had personality and interaction with ancient people. IT IS ALL HEARSAY.

Wouldn't you think there would be PRESENT DAY effort on this same God's part were there some actuality to it?

I think the great number of religions and denominations bespeaks volumes on the inaccuracy of human understanding.

Could this be because the concept of "god" is skewed?

Might we be better off waiting to be tapped on the shoulder by a reality rather than a hearsay messege?

1.We have sundry representations of who/what god is.

2.Various religious writings (scriptures, holy books) purport to reveal some Truth.

3.Everybody disagrees

4.There is a really good mathematical possibility that any concrete CHOICE on our part would be as likely WRONG as right.

Consequently, it would seem prudent and logical and intellectually honest to simply live a good life and leave a place open for some reality of "god" to find a home should evidence present itself.

You can't lose by being moral, fair, just and sympathetic. You cannot lose by self-improvement, education and sensible purposes.

The surest way to lose is to declare you've found THE ONLY TRUE RELIGION and start pointing out who is worthy of life and death.

Honesty compels us to keep an open mind but to guard the entrance to it with skepticism and caution.

UNDERSTANDING GOD is probably a misnomer.

nicolaou

Kid-A and Terry

Thank you for articulating clearly what I fumble around trying to explain.

AuldSoul

trevor: Are you looking for God as a being outside of yourself and the world you live in or as a life force that permeates and sustains all that is - including yourself? This would have to include all people and actions that we decide are bad, based on the judgements we make.
What I am suggesting that trying to understand God in human terms as a person will result in frustration and confusion.

Beautifully put.

Terry: Consequently, it would seem prudent and logical and intellectually honest to simply live a good life and leave a place open for some reality of "god" to find a home should evidence present itself.You can't lose by being moral, fair, just and sympathetic. You cannot lose by self-improvement, education and sensible purposes. The surest way to lose is to declare you've found THE ONLY TRUE RELIGION and start pointing out who is worthy of life and death.Honesty compels us to keep an open mind but to guard the entrance to it with skepticism and caution.

Since I unreservedly agree with this, I have absolutely no idea how it led you to this:

Terry: UNDERSTANDING GOD is probably a misnomer.

Any clarification you could offer would be incredibly helpful.

Respectfully,
AuldSoul

Perhaps I should try harder to understand God.

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