How to Know God - Stage 1

by eyeslice 8 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  eyeslice

  I wouldn't say that I was the greatest fan of Deepak Chopra though I have read a couple of his books. I am never very comfortable with people who base most of their ideas on anecdotes and quaint stories, but nevertheless some of his ideas are, shall we say, interesting. In his book, How to Know God, he expounds his view that there are 7 levels at which people can come to know God, even though he unable to say who or what this God is. It is interesting though from a JW / x-JW point of view to consider the levels we or others may have reached. My own view is that the average JW is stuck at level 1 or 2. See what you think. I will post a series of posts that deal with each level - your feedback will be quite interesting.

  STAGE ONE: GOD THE PROTECTOR - (Fight-or-Flight Response) If we list his attributes, which many would trace back to the Old Testament, the God of stage one is: Vengeful Capricious Quick to anger Jealous Judgmental meting out reward and punishment Unfathomable Sometimes merciful This description doesnt only fit Jehovah, who was also loving and benevolent. Among the Indian gods and on Mount Olympus one encounter the same willful, dangerous behavior. For God is very dangerous in stage one; he uses nature to punish even his most favored children through storms, floods, earthquakes, and disease. The test of faithful is to see the good side of such a deity, and overwhelmingly faithful have. Primitive man experienced untold threats from the environment; survival was in question every day. Yet we know that threats were not destined to prevail. Overarching was a divine presence that protected human beings, and despite his frightening temper, God the protector was as necessary to life as a father is inside a family.

  Note: the comments about Jehovah are Chopra's not mine. My comments on stage 1 are that this is how the average JW views God. The world is wicked and hard to survive in, so God will end it all. The world is the enemy and therefore must be hated and there is little room for the idea that God may be full of love and mercy. Above all God is to be feared rather loved.
• 

  acsot

  Eyeslice: I agree entirely - JWs are pretty much in stage 1 - I know I was for most of the time I was a JW believer. I have a Chopra book which I haven't yet read, but I don't believe it's the same one (I can't remember because there was a book fair here and I went crazy, bought all kinds of stuff, religious and otherwise.) I'll check it out soon.

  Thanks for that. Amazing he mentions Jehovah .... hmm... wonder if any Chopra family members are dubs.
• 

  SPAZnik

  more please.
• 

  eyeslice

  Acsot
  Doubt if any of his family are JWs. He was born and trained as a medical doctor in India before moving to the USA.
  The other book I have of his is Ageless Body, Timeless Mind - a good read for those of us who are getting a bit long in the tooth. Promotes the idea that ageing is what you make of it positive or negative.
  Eyeslice
• 

  SwordOfJah

  I believe Chopra is very wrong in describing Jehovah God.

  Here are some of his attributes:

  Loving - He created humans, he didn't have to but he did. He shared life. He made an awesome planet to live in.

  Just & Wise - He handled the whole Adam & Eve thing perfectly. He applied the law. As another example look at the way he handled the Egyptians. Sure the 10 plagues were terrible, but at the same time, he gave them ample opportunity to put a stop to it. In their cases, their own hard-headedness and haughtiness brought them doom.

  Merciful - Time and time again, the Israelites complained but Jehovah showed compassion. Sure he disciplined them, but not harshly. One example, just weeks after experiencing his salvation throught the Red Sea, the Israelites complained against Jehovah. Just one example of how Jehovah mercifully put up with them.
• 

  joannadandy

  Amazing he mentions Jehovah .... hmm... wonder if any Chopra family members are dubs.

  That's really not that amazing, most religious scholars call Jehovah the vengeful god of the Old Testament.

  He was born and trained as a medical doctor in India before moving to the USA

  This explains a lot of what Chopra writes about. Hiduism teaches that there are several stages to life, and thus the need for reincarnations. Some people never get past stage one and need a few lifetimes to figure it out.
• 

  outnfree

  Of course, there's always the thought that God is the MOTHER (not the FATHER) and that She created everything out of chaos, shared life with lesser lifeforms, created man to be a complement of woman, and wants all her children to be happy. If God is Love, maybe He's a She and Jehovah is bogus?

  I agree with SPAZ: "more, please."

  out
• 

  eyeslice

  SwordOfJah
  Don't get me wrong, I personally am not saying that God is like that.

  The purpose of this thread is to explore how people view God. There is no doubt however that the Israelites saw God as a somewhat vengeful person. They only just got out of Egypt and God sent plagues upon them. Later 23,000 are said to have pershished. No doubt times were hard back then, and this colored their view of God - he needed to be strong and vengeful to protect them.
  Eyeslice
• 

  Carmel

  The understanding or perception of the deity has evolved over the ages as humanity develops in levels of capacity to understand and apply ideation. Those that frame their religious beliefs upon texts that were current 4000 years ago will beleive in a god-concept current at that time. Those who based their beliefs on a text that is 2000 years old will have different beliefs and understandings. Logically more current texts will see yet another understanding. It produces cognitive dissonance when one has to reconcile at a superficial level the same god written about in different eras. Hence the OT god is much different than the NT personage as is the mediator that represents that entity. A 1400 year old god of the Koran will still be hard to digest in a contemporary setting w/o the same mental gymnastics.

  Want a modern concept of God, look for a contemporary source. Simple!

  caveman