Big Think

a a on February 19, 2008, 11:52 PM

Merciful, gracious, vengeful, jealous, giver/taker, lover, healer, forgiver, Creator.

With a big white beard and rosy cheeks on a…oh wait, that Santa Claus. Sorry.

Jesse Akers on February 20, 2008, 12:32 AM

God is.


Jesse

Denys Artasevych on February 20, 2008, 12:55 AM

Unknown, incomprehansible, subjective, undefined, indescribable.

Nicholas Brons on February 20, 2008, 12:55 AM

The mis-spelling of Good

Bruce Allen on February 20, 2008, 1:35 AM

“God” is a man-made concept, to fill the gaps where we cannot apply our normal powers of observation and understanding. It provides some form of continuity when logic leaves the rails.

Because we are forever denied access to the ultimate answers, our brains are forced into overdrive, and we come up with many different theories. Most or all of these, are completely wrong.

Part of the human psyche requires us to believe that we have a higher purpose. The God-model fits very nicely with that need. Since there will be no trace left of our civilization in a million years or so, it is hard to imagine that our purpose contributed to any long-term scenario.

Spot on February 20, 2008, 11:29 AM

Grand Delusion

dennis ilic on February 20, 2008, 1:57 PM

cosmos, I counted 115 words. Your definition of God, although very interesting, is 15 words over this threads limit. Please try again.

Mac Green on February 20, 2008, 3:01 PM

Thanks for the invite…and a very good challenge to pose. Never tried to condense my definition of God before so here it goes…

God is the sum total of everything. God is the Ocean and we are but drops of rain. Departed from God in the illusion of individuality. We return to God after a run and see that we never really had departed. Again we are God, as is everything else, manifest and hidden.

Douglas Whitmore on February 20, 2008, 3:43 PM

We do a diservice to ourselves to attempt to define that which is beyond our human ability. Definitions of such have led to conflict and separation. Pride supports such attempts, while humbleness simply accepts are human limitation.

Sam Benson on February 20, 2008, 4:13 PM

God is the final answer when we reduce the equation of our existence to its most basic parts. People ask, “Where we come from” and science answers: evolution. So we ask, “Where did evolution come from?” and science answers: the big bang. Where did the big bang come from? God is simply the only answer that we have at this point. If that question is answered, there will be a similar question to where that came from and the answer will be God. So the question of God’s existence will always be around and can never be answered.

IAN MARTIN on February 20, 2008, 7:25 PM

“God” is a few pulses of idea, traveling through the mind of the human who has been inpacted by the transferrence of that “God” idea from another human. Mystical feelings can be called the “numinous”. God or Gods outside the human mind are simply not real. Godsy exist only in the intracranial neurological cosmos of the billions of neurons which compose the average human nervous system. system… Nuerons invent gods,n and teach other neurons to do likewise! Some neurons just say NO!

Edward C on February 21, 2008, 1:27 AM

The origin of God is unknown by me at this current moment, the origin of God might be “NOTHING”, but it has been observed that God manifests in EVERYTHING. If a God does not manifest in Everything then that God is not “THE God”.

“The name that you can name is not the unchanging name”
- Tao Te Ching

eileen fleming on February 21, 2008, 2:31 PM

Rabbi Hillel, lived 100 years before Jesus and he understood the Hebrew: Hokema; Holy Wisdom; The Feminine Divinity was the same as the Greek understanding of The Logos: The Word/AKA Jesus.

So before Jesus walked the earth a man, he was already a she; Holy Wisdom and "SHE is mobile beyond all motion, SHE penetrates and pervades all things by reason, SHE is the aura of the might of God and SHE who is one, can do all things and renews everything, and passing into holy souls from age to age, SHE produces friends of God and prophets.- WISDOM 7:22-8:1

Josh Friedman on February 21, 2008, 2:38 PM

God is the unattainable. God is the extreme. God is that by which we define ourselves. God is that which man aspires to be, but has yet to become. God is knowledge we have yet to attain. God is subjective. God is a human concept. God is the artificial boundary man creates in an infinite reality. God is man’s attempt to reconcile his desire for truth and unity in a reality in which he finds neither. God is an admission of defeat in man’s absurd struggle with himself and his reality

John Dundas on February 21, 2008, 2:46 PM

Thanks for the invite hz. I don’t know what help I can be on this.

I believe that it as an impossible task for me to define god.
I don’t know what god is. I don’t believe I can know. I don’t need to know. I don’t believe anyone can know. No one has ever been able to show proof for or against god. I really don’t worry about it much.
I’m too busy trying to live a good and productive life to spend my
time on meaningless speculation that really has no impact on my life.

Andrew Torr on February 21, 2008, 3:33 PM

Exactly 100

Gods explain the otherwise unexplained or misunderstood. Gods are typically personified force or intelligence invented by cultures to explain the workings and origins of the world, forces in human nature, and mortality. Gods are abstract and metaphysical, but their domain shrinks with the advancement of scientific knowledge, the limits of which will always allow for some creative interpretation of the %u201Cpurpose%u201D or ultimate %u201Cfirst cause%u201D of existence as a whole. Despite this limitation, such beliefs carry with them real physical consequences in the behavior of those who hold them. These beliefs are usually nonetheless attractive and difficult to abandon. Shenanigans.

Rodgers Adams on February 21, 2008, 3:46 PM

God is probably a human invention intended to meet human desires. For sure, this human God is speculative; the human mind could not fully understand a god worthy of the name. Unfortunately, preoccupation with God leads to distracting arguments and divisions, since this kind of speculation is not subject to proof. We’d be better off focusing on personal non-physical spirituality, which is not speculative but demonstrated every time we exercise free will (which, by definition, must be outside the control of physical law).

James Townsend on February 21, 2008, 4:29 PM

God is a concept that humans have developed to be able to articulate, explain and justify their existence. This view is concurrent with polytheistic belief systems.

Dane Skillrud on February 21, 2008, 4:50 PM

“God” is not a being. Rather, god is a manifestation of belief. Even if something does not actually exist, it can still have a profound impact on behavior. For example, if a child is scared of the boogie man and therefore won’t open his closet door, god still exists to that child and impacts his behavior. It doesn%u2019t matter if god is real or not, as long as god%u2019s %u201Cexistence%u201D continues to inspire, comfort and help. While evil acts are also committed in the name of a god, it is vastly outweighed by the good that is done.

Dane Skillrud on February 21, 2008, 4:50 PM

“God” is not a being. Rather, god is a manifestation of belief. Even if something does not actually exist, it can still have a profound impact on behavior. For example, if a child is scared of the boogie man and therefore won’t open his closet door, god still exists to that child and impacts his behavior. It doesn%u2019t matter if god is real or not, as long as god%u2019s %u201Cexistence%u201D continues to inspire, comfort and help. While evil acts are also committed in the name of a god, it is vastly outweighed by the good that is done.

Eric Djebe on February 21, 2008, 4:53 PM

Oh, dear.
First: Monotheism. Evolved out of Monolatry, i.e. the decision to only regard, adore etc. one god, although there are others (%u201Cgods of egypt%u201D). Drove on to %u201Cthere only exists one god%u201D, with strong ommnipotence as the centre (all that happens is caused by god).
Second: The teachings of Jesus fusing morals in expectation of the coming kingdom with God via the idea of perfection (%u201Cbe perfect as the heavenly father%u201D).
Third: Crucified Jesus %u201Credeeming%u201D as the archetype of our failing to attain perfection in this world. All this collapsed back into one god, since it is logically coherent.

Craig Thayer on February 21, 2008, 5:18 PM

God was created in man’s image by those who sought to manipulate and control the masses—those who were viewed as lesser beings than themselves. And it has worked quite well for several thousand years. God is also an excuse to abdicate one’s responsibilities of self-direction, self-reliance, and self-sufficiency (e.g., God will take care of it) and to justify one%u2019s inhumane treatment of others%u2014particularly when one%u2019s idea of God is questioned or doesn%u2019t gel with their own (e.g., God spoke to me and said his words were blasphemy and so he should die).

My question is when do the masses wake up and understand this and start living life like we claim all good, responsible, compassionate, and caring people should?

Eric Thompson on February 21, 2008, 5:35 PM

I see god as the unknowable; those things that exist beyond the human bubble, the limits to which our minds, collective or not, can comprehend. Because of this limitation, we explain the universe on our own terms, and therefore the answers are always relative and not absolute. God would be the absolute truth and the wisdom of everything unknowable. A boring thing for a human to be, for sure, but he%u2019d be one hell of a story-teller!

Bryce Buchmann on February 21, 2008, 7:08 PM

we dont know who god is except that he created all of us and sent his son to die for us. its best not to question exactly who or what he is and just know that he is almighty.

Jeff Delano on February 21, 2008, 7:17 PM

The God that everyone here is speaking of is the infinite. Once the infinite (God) became self aware that it was infinite it wanted to see what things would be like if things were finite.

Now for the other God. Which is the finite, us – humans. You are my other-self Healingzero, you are an other finite version of the infinite. Do you understand?

Morgan Wingfield on February 21, 2008, 8:04 PM

God is the result of our ancestors evolving to a point where their minds demanded an explanation for the beauty and the terror around them, but they had not developed the ability to deliver on this demand. God (and religion by extension) was our first and worst attempt at philosophy and science.

Nathan Laswell on February 21, 2008, 8:55 PM

Ok “AlwaysRight”

That seems good.

You’re right, it is best not to question it, but it is best to just ASSUME that this all knowing being governs the entire universe as we know it.

Yea, sounds terrific.

Derek Vander Linden on February 21, 2008, 9:00 PM

There is no ‘God.’ Christians have humanized God too much and any such being cannot be divine. I believe in evolution and the reason life has formed on this planet is because Earth is the only planet that we know of that has an atmosphere that can sustain life. Not the other way around (the Earth was created for humans). I don’t believe in and afterlife either. At one time I would have been considered a heretic, thank ‘God’ for the first amendment of the constitution! Jk.

Bruce Allen on February 21, 2008, 9:41 PM

HealingZero — You are invited to my thread on thoughts of an upper-level God -
To Whom is God Answerable?. Use as many words as you need [g].

Colin Madland on February 21, 2008, 10:45 PM

God is an enormously powerful, intelligent, personal unembodied mind whose character is the ground of reason, morality and truth.

Kath Sayles on February 21, 2008, 11:06 PM

God is the word some humans use to label all the (at this time) unanswerable questions about life, the universe etc. There is a need to give form to this void because facing the reality (that we do not, as yet, know all the answers) strikes these people with terror.

Chug Bears on February 21, 2008, 11:52 PM

I personally believe in evolution, and completely disregard the word theory in Big Bang. Technically our “sub-god” is most certainly the sun. It has been so since the origins of mankind. (no need to explain its amazing contribution to our lives) We need to understand the universe before we understand who created it. God is the creator of the universe and all its dimensions. All religions have astronomical & astrological symbolism therefore the answers our out there.

Burt Siegel on February 22, 2008, 12:24 AM

God is the infinite , eternal Mind that is the Reality in which all that is lives and has its being.

Eric Djebe on February 22, 2008, 2:27 AM

OK, I%u2019ll try again.
God is the terrifying and exhilarating face of this universe we live in and that is removed from our hopes, expectations and patterns of thinking.
God becomes father by his spirit descending onto the human Jesus: Someone appears in this world explaining to us how to live in it.
God becomes father by this human dying on the cross, giving us an archetype to console us to the fact that we never can attain a perfect life and by the resurrection which tells us that, nevertheless, there is a deep value in walking the way.

Arles Adams on February 22, 2008, 8:30 AM

You might as well ask the ant that crawled onto your toe to define you.

There is no name.
There is no word.
The closest we can get to the truth:

GOD IS.

Kath Sayles on February 22, 2008, 3:45 PM

I think I could have been more succinct. How about this:

God is the moniker coined to cover up the failure of intellect.

Anna Fidz on February 22, 2008, 6:40 PM

God is love.

Nick S on February 22, 2008, 10:11 PM

God is the creation of man, in order to control others through fear. The name used when demanding money, allegiance, and sacrifce, But the first name cried in the face of fear, pain and death. A nameless faceless, unseen figure that lives in an imaginary world, who rewards those who bow to him, and punishes those who choose to live free.

a a on February 23, 2008, 1:05 AM

Divine creator, but with MORE [couldn’t tell you how though} than human emotions (it is human to anthropomorphize), good ONLY (subjective) and definitely has a sense of humor.

Jesse Akers on February 23, 2008, 10:13 AM

Thank you for your definition contribution to “What is your definition of God? 100 words or less”. Am I to unerstand, that your (g)God is: everything being. Only you said it in one word. (extra 99 points)
If I have misunderstood something please correct me and please vote for the other definitions. Thank you.
Love and Peace.

i cannot intereprt for you what God is, by leaving it as God is i have shown that defining god is not possilbe, just like imagining heaven will not give you a better idea of what heaven is like, i have said before in other posts and i will say it again: You cannot reason God into existence. Faith is the only way.

Jesse

Jesse Akers on February 23, 2008, 10:15 AM

by the way everybody are my IDEAS posts just that bad or is it something personal that y’all dont want to comment on them, come on i take 5 minutes out of my day everyday to look at some of yours, hit me up

Jesse

Jesse Akers on February 23, 2008, 10:28 AM

and regarding the comment you left about what you tell your son about santa and jesus, which i admit may intially seem funny and cute may be dangerous for his well being and yours

also he echoes jesus’s warning not to harm the little ones for it would be better for them to have a millstone wrapped around there neck and tosssed into the deepest sea

He who mocks the infant’s faith
Shall be mock’d in age and death.
He who shall teach the child to doubt
The rotting grave shall ne’er get out
-William Blake

also i know you prob dont like hearing from him but jesus warned that those who harmed these little ones would do better to have a millstone wrapped around his neck and be thrown into the deepest sea(jesus didnt come to make everyone feel better about themselves his warning were real and stand true today wether you believe in him or not)

Jesse

dennis ilic on February 23, 2008, 11:16 AM

Jesseaker, please try to keep this thread to definitions of God, or redefinitions of God, or corrections to misunderstanding of the definitions of God. Personal comments or opinions directed to me should be addressed on the idea page I contacted you on. If I don’t respond in a timely manner, then post a comment on this thread leading me to your question or comment.

Sam Benson on February 23, 2008, 1:49 PM

You summed my definition of God up pretty well as the unknowable source, Heailing Zero. By the way, thanks for inviting me to this topic, it is very interesting.

eileen fleming on February 23, 2008, 3:51 PM

PLEASE forgive me for going over the 100 word limit to attempt to define the Ultimate Mystery of the Universe for “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”-Proverbs 29, 18 – King James Version

Wisdom has built her house and SHE calls to all; “Come, eat my food and drink my wine and you will live abundant life and walk in the ways of understanding.” -Proverbs 9%u2026

Number 9 Number 9 Number 9….Let all who are little come in here, Wisdom has built her house; come eat her food and drink her wine and walk in the ways of understanding [Proverbs 9]…I’m so very small I’m so very small, already within the heart of every atom yet extend Beyond the Universe and connect every mother and child….Number 9 Number 9 Number 9…….

Wisdom calls; “I have built it; will you come? Do you have eyes to see and ears to hear?

Holy Wisdom, the Feminine Divinity: Hokema,

Who was with The Word from the very beginning,

She is One with Him and He with Her;

Pure Being; One God;

One Creator and One Lover of All the Human Family,

Hokema; Holy Wisdom;, The Feminine Divinity

Same as The Logos: The Word:


”Have you heard the word is love and the word is just the way"-John Lennon

The Word is The Christ and THE WAY is the way JC taught us to be; forgive, love and do good to our ‘enemies’

And have you heard the word that before Christ walked the earth a man,

He was already a SHE:

Hokema, Holy Wisdom; the Feminine Divinity

Now, isn’t that Good News?

The God Head is One Pure Being;

as much male as female

as much mommy as daddy.

And we are all children of Her Universe;

And He is the oldest personality because He is the origin of everything;

and everything is born of Him.

He is the supreme controller of the universe,

the maintainer and instructor of humanity.

He is smaller than the smallest.[Bhagavad-Gita]

He indwells the heart of every atom and

She is beyond the Universe.

Wisdom is calling,

She is rattling your windows and shaking your walls

With some more good news of the

three witnesses,

and three always beats one

and not just that,

I’ve got a fourth.

Get out your Good Book sisters and brothers and chew on this;

Matthew 12:31-32, Mark 3:28-29, and Luke 12:10

are simpatico with gnostic Thomas saying 44:

’Jesus said: “Whoever blasphemes against the father will be forgiven, whoever blasphemes against the son will be forgiven, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven either on earth or in heaven.”

God is within every sister, brother and all Creation,

Get a clue Christian,

His ways are not your ways and Her thoughts are not your thoughts

Dominion never meant to rape and plunder,

but to nurture, care and love

And if you have not love, you have nothing at all

And on that final day we all will stand naked before The Creator

And we have been warned that there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth

by those who were so sure they were in, because they are the ones left out.

WAKE UP Christian!

Hear the wind begin to howl.

For every misunderstanding, every condemning thought, every negative vibration, every tear torn from a heart, every time one grabbed and wouldn%u2019t let go, and they only did it because they did not know:

The Divine is within all creation and within all women and men.

And every tiny kindness you have ever done, every gentle word spoken, every time you held your tongue, every positive thought, every smile freely given, every helping hand that opens, helps bring in the kingdom.

And the kingdom comes from above, and it comes from within. Imagine a kingdom of sisterhood of all creatures and all men.

e
http://www.wearewideawake.org/

dennis ilic on February 23, 2008, 5:35 PM

eileen flemming, please respect the 100 word limit. If you cannot “redefine” your God in 100 words or less, than please don’t post it here. Post it as a response, or a seperate idea.
Thank you for your future cooperation.

Mike Robb on February 23, 2008, 10:07 PM

me, happy in the future

a a on February 24, 2008, 7:33 PM

Congrats on making #1 on the “Top 10”. I’m jealous. I didn’t even make it, but my big ideas are “Statements”, not “Questions”.

Mark Kuykendall on February 25, 2008, 3:07 PM

I think this is fairly common sense, alongside the “Natural Revelation” theory:

Clearly we are biological entities that arose from the congregation of lesser organisms into a more complex system. And clearly we make up larger and larger systems, from friends to family to extended family, church, nation, etc. So it stands to reason that the largest system within which you are a part and can conceive, that is god (your local, personal image, as you cannot possibly truly “know” it. Beyond that, the biggest composite of all things, be it a Universe or multiverse or however all things swirl together is the biggest system of them all, of which we are a part. That is the Alpha and the Omega. That is God. Unknowable and yet, the more we strive to do well locally, the more we do for the larger system (or model, if you prefer.)

So, what do we do? Well, we try to be good cells, essentially. To degrade ourselves or our world is similar to biological cancer. To be useful, ethical, moral is to be a good cell. To be good stewards of the earth makes sense in this context, because as it stands we are behaving very much like lung cancer, destroying the rain forests (lungs) of our planet and throwing off the natural balance. This is why our planet is sick. Obviously wars and any other thing that anyone can tell you is “wrong” is wrong precisely because it either hurts or does not benefit us or our ecology. I don’t think this view is exclusive of any other faith, but rather inclusive of both science and faith.

Just my two cents.

dennis ilic on February 25, 2008, 4:36 PM

I will have to thank the following people on this idea beacuse there is no personal space to thank them on. Thank you for the following contributions:
ianmartin: Loved it. Very creative. I travelled through the neuron cosmos as I read it.
banditski: loved this part: “where their minds demanded an explanation for the beauty and the terror around them”.
soulvertigo: love the idea of God’s character being “the ground of reason, morality and truth”.
bundoo: very succinct. God is to failed intellect, as cover-girl is to blemish.
RabbiBurt: are you saying that all of reality exists within God’s mind?
annaf: simple, to the point, and beautiful.
*Theekim: interesting. Perhaps by redirecting your attention you will be able to fufill your definition.
Once again thank you to everybody that has participated.
Patterns are developing. There is a possibility of some statistical conclusions.
Hope everybody has enjoyed reading these definitions as much as I did.
Love and Peace.

Randall Menser on February 26, 2008, 1:55 AM

God is an addiction. God is a moniker, which represents our innate inevitability for trying, in vain, to explain the ineffable. God symbolizes optimism and is the objectification of hope for the perpetuation of identity and ego. God is a comfort and serves as such by filling a metaphysical void that, when dwelled upon for too long, is quite frightening. God is an obstacle, yet God is necessary. The idea of God has served its purpose, but God%u2019s purpose remains unknown. God is the creator of man, who in returning God%u2019s favor, created God. God is chance%u2026 place your bets.

Brad Gavigan on February 27, 2008, 2:40 AM

Approximately 70% of the population is monotheistic. I secretly believe that the Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Jews and Baha%u2019is all worship the same God. Unfortunately they fail to recognize that their God is one and the same. Differences in geography, language, culture and time transformed one God into various religions. The willingness to shed blood, as a means to prove which is the %u201Creal%u201D God (when everyone is representing the same God) is perhaps the ultimate human failing. If there is a God sitting up in the sky looking down on us he must believe that we are inherently terrible communicators.

I personally define God as an energy or force that exists everywhere and within everything. (Imagine a combination of Tao and Ch%u2019i) All life is interconnected by this energy. The energy cannot be extinguished. Within us it continues after death, and finds expression in future life. The energy promotes well-being and growth. Acting in opposition to this natural energy causes harm to ourselves or others. I will be encamped with the Buddhists until a clearer path presents itself%u2026

Richard Buck on February 27, 2008, 7:29 AM

God created the Universe. God created us to play in this Universe. God is everything. God has everything. God needs NOTHING. Therefore, he does not need anything from us. He also does not need us to be ‘good’ for any particular reason. He/she just allows it’s creations to play and have a free will with their souls. Therefore, God is ‘non-committal’. God exists, but doesn’t care or interfere.

James Mills on March 1, 2008, 1:14 PM

God is a placeholder idea for things that we do not yet know.

Tony Purdom on March 1, 2008, 5:23 PM

I think that god is a figment of our imagination. A product of our desperation to explain the unexplainable, and to comfort us in hard times and death. We try to pretend that worship is a selfless act, but it is as selfish as any act that we participate in. A lot can be said for the peace of mind that comes with beliving in a higher power. The blind faith is what scares me though. Those who blindly follow will be exploited. It allows the exploited to be exploited believing that there is an afterlife where they will have anything they want. Anyone who tells you there is an after life is trying to sell you something. They want your money. They want the power that your support gives them.

Faith also enables us to see suffering and do nothing about it. We can tell ourself that they must have done something wrong and god is punishing them. It allows us to let these people suffer and believe that there are better times ahead of them in the afterlife.

There is no afterlife and we have to make the best of our time on earth. Our greatest social responsibility is to be happy. The way that we feel effects all the people that we come in contact with. People need to focus less on heaven after life, and more of heaven on earth.

Tony Purdom on March 1, 2008, 5:31 PM

Hey thanks for the invite healing. You are a truely fair person. I am pretty sure that our religious beliefs are different, and you still respect my opinion. You are a bigger person than I am myself. I could learn a lot from you.

Jesse Akers on March 1, 2008, 8:13 PM

the blind faith contradicts the call to be self examining( i agree)

Susan Shipp on March 5, 2008, 4:04 PM

There was no first mover that made us. Indeed, we are making our Gods every day. Notice how our gods change to suit our needs… the israelites needed justification for their attacks on other tribes and so invented a god who was bloodtirsty and encouraged them to conquer the clueless heathens that stood in their way. Today, most people prefer a benevolent creator or a hazy concept that leaves some room for the scientific discoveries that can’t be ignored. Still, the combined mental energies of believers create the deity. In this sense, God is a shared psychosis.

tom bell on March 8, 2008, 7:59 PM

thank you healingzero for the opportunity to respond to your question about “God.”

As Lao Tzu said: “The Tao that can be spoken is not the absolute Tao.” In the same vein: “The GOD which can be spoken, is not the absolute GOD.”

tom bell on March 8, 2008, 8:01 PM

The Tao. As Lao Tzu said: “The Tao which can be spoken is not the absolute Tao.” Hence, the GOD which can be spoken is not the absolute GOD.

Derek Pritchard on March 9, 2008, 3:32 AM

God is the self needed counter constant consciential residue needed for a contempt nature due a few things such as explanations, reasoning, fear of death, and even god fearing itself.

God will be an old idea in the next couple centurys. Its quite obvious to the educated that biological means of billions of years have created an evolutionizing adaptable animal with the wiring of protein DNA to procreate. I’ve been quite indepth in some of my “ideas” and others about the true meaning of god. It might seem arrogant but with a real educational true sense of the universe its baffling to think we are a special species. Dont argue god unless you know what the hell your talking about. Honestly I dont even know where to begin theres so many reasons. The latest reasons I’ve come across for myself have been astrobiology. Being that there are a LITERAL uncountable probable amount of “earth-like” planets such as the one in our solar system scattered throughout the hundreds of billions of lightyears of bundled galaxies. If one were to truly understand the just dynamics of the universe god makes no sense. There stands the possible reason god exists only through physics not biology. Logic is my point of reference here. I dont care anymore if guy “B” doesnt want to believe hes just going to rot in the earth.. I dont care if he thinks his bundled senses of constant electric charges creating the illusion of a constant world conscience leads him to believe hes so special. I also dont care if your not willing to educate yourself on the world and instead want to believe what your ancestors used to solve problems i.e. “WHY IS THE WATER GOD PUNISHING US.. WE MUST SACRIFICE” and to think your god of the hundreds of religions is special.. so much ignorance.. oh boy.. any free thinking logistical leader knows of science no god.. lol burn for all eternity. Do you guys even know wtf eternity is. Most minds cant fathom eternity. An Ancestrial pro reasoning confliction evolving into a controlling mechanism for governmental control what better way to fear the mind into reasonable actions than to threaten the very worst think the human mind can even come up with. A free thinker (unbiasedly currupt of lifestyle) in my opinion would atleast question it the correct way. I must note that if I hadn’t grown up a freethinker I’d most likely just as well be trapped in the mind of a follower.

Derek Pritchard on March 9, 2008, 9:59 PM

Well.. Theres not really a “definition” of god.. becuase god is such a vast and extremly vague idea of many cultures. It’s also continually evolving so no I’m sorry i can’t really give a concrete answer other than of some philisophical means. Many people dont even know what they believe in except for what they’ve been told. Once technological nano self replication singularity arrives about half a century to a century and the freethinking generations come.. about.. a century and a half from now god will be a much different idea. Must i remind you techonology is not only exponentializing but exponentializing on itself. We will probably never die in a robotic-human form and eventually robotics will take no need in biological reform and do away with any biological sense. (killing or containing) w/e.. Therefore, we will be the “GOD” of the next generation of “life”.. We will be able to recreate a complete.. well anything for that matter from scratch so in a large scope we are the next “gods.” Also .. there are probably other planets more suitable to optimized animal evolution and even in more optimized ways to retaining information (PROTEIN DNA) and may be stored in a much more complex routine.

Derek Pritchard on March 9, 2008, 10:05 PM

All the answers for this has already really been made in one form or another..I’m just trying to add some dynamics to it. Maybe stir a conversation or two or help people begin to think about a few new things or in a few different perspectives.

Derek Pritchard on March 10, 2008, 3:12 AM

A possible reason for god might be physics; another civilization maybe hundreds of zeros older jumping universes could have created laws known in our universe creating sets of evolving laws specific to the set of laws allotted to create yet another intelligent design known as evolution. lol

dennis ilic on March 10, 2008, 10:59 AM

DerekPritchard, what the question is asking is: what is YOUR definition of God? 100 words or less. The question is asking what do YOU BELIEVE. You are right, there are an infinite amount of possibilities of what God could be, that is why the question is asking YOU specifically. Search yourself for what you believe, and define it in a 100 words or less. If you can’t define it in a 100 words or less, respond to this idea with your own idea.
Love and Peace.

Sol Friour on March 10, 2008, 11:17 PM

“In everything which gives us the pure
authentic feeling of beauty there really is the presence of God. There is as it were an incarnation of God in the world
and it is indicated by beauty.”
- Simone Weil.

Derek Pritchard on March 12, 2008, 11:35 PM

lol..

Bryan Cridlebaugh on March 13, 2008, 6:59 PM

EVERYTHING!

Jason Monborne on March 15, 2008, 5:58 PM

change

Musycks on March 17, 2008, 12:16 AM

As God is a man made construct, then a worthwhile definition is along the lines of, ‘A concept developed by primitive man to help make sense of his environment’.
Now we can expand a little as to why intelligent people in this day and age still subscribe to this nonsense… apart from reasons of culture and tradition…so I think, ‘God’ is that part of man that can embrace the abstract, that can codify ‘love’ or ‘eternity’ or ‘beauty’.
Does God as a thing exist? no… but as an abstract concept.. he’s right up there with the orbiting teapot.

dennis ilic on March 17, 2008, 10:01 AM

musycks, when a song is first composed, before it is ever played, does it exist?
If a song is played, or sung, with no one else to hear it except for the musician, or singer, did it exist?
Does music exist without an audience?

Musycks on March 18, 2008, 2:06 AM

HZ… if you’re going to be that esoteric, I fear you’ll evaporate into the ether..
which is where most discussion on God belongs methinks… hold onto some earthly truths or you’ll be lost in an intellectual void.
Music manifests at the point of writing (in my experience) based on the knowledge I have consumed that informs my choices of interval of notes etc.. those choices are made by what I determine will be mostly pleasing to my sense of aesthetic.. I express it and it’s done.
After that? you tell me… maybe that energy goes somewhere and resides in your abstract ether, maybe it doesn’t?
why is that important to how we live now?.. some things are ephemeral I’ll wager…. but the beauty of music is undeniable and lasting.

Bryan Cridlebaugh on March 18, 2008, 4:38 PM

This question should be at the top of the faith and beliefs page. all the time

dennis ilic on March 18, 2008, 4:43 PM

musyks, I asked for this reason, if I am the only one that believes in my God, does that it doesn’t exist? Have you read my definition of God, or does it matter? It doesn’t to me.
Please do continue to create music. It is beauty, when it is done well.
Love, Peace, and Music, soul brother.

Jesse Akers on March 20, 2008, 9:19 AM

the great standard amongst all the confusion, the one truth that stands firm against all lies

Mary Coyote on March 21, 2008, 4:50 PM

What GOD do you believe in? Many cultures throughout human history have developed various concepts of who and where god is. It is too easy to say that your god exists in your heart – that is to say that god exists because you believe it – but if god is real, where is s/he? If we cut open your heart will we find god? There must be a place you can point to and say: %u201Cthere is god,%u201D even as cultures past have offered up the following ideas.

WHERE IS YOUR GOD?
-A god who walks this planet and lives among her people?
-A god that lives in a grand temple?
-A mountain god?
-A god who is the planet?
-A sky god?
-A moon god?
-A sun god?
-A god that overreaches us and forms the shell within which contains the sky, solar system and the stars?
-A god that lives in space around our solar system?
-A god that exists within our universe and floats around in the massive empty spaces between the stars?
-A god that exists somewhere within the multidimensional possibilities of the universe?
-A god that overreaches our universe and forms the shell or fabric that comprises our universe?
-A god that existed before the Big Bang and who is expressed by the fabric and creation of the dreamworld we call the universe?
-A god that exists outside of and independent of our universe?

dennis ilic on March 23, 2008, 10:44 PM

I’m starting to consider a Neutron God.

Every neutron is a piece of God.
Every proton and electron are the accompanying duality that exists after God.

Every nuetron can “communicate” with any other neutron.
After that we’re starting to get into details.
Details are the devils distraction from the truth.
Metaphorically speaking.

dennis ilic on March 23, 2008, 10:53 PM

Oh Coyote, I forgot to mention, my definition of God is in my idea Imagine God Evolving, it’s mentioned in the text of this question. Which leads me to ask, what is your definition of God? Is it the Sun?

Mary Coyote on March 24, 2008, 11:46 PM

Drawn from mythological research:
Coyote is the god who walks this planet and lives among her people. She is our mother and created us from her own body. Mythology suggests that Coyote in turn was created by Old Creator from the material of this planet. Old creator was furious at Coyote for ‘stealing’ the knowledge of creation, and attempted to destroy humankind. Coyote saved a few of us and drove Old Creator off.

Coyote rebuilt this planet for us after the massive flooding, earthquakes and destruction of the melting of the last Ice Age (Old Creator’s attack), but is condemned to remain here with us. She has been influencing our development and has gained a reputation as a trickster because her ways are not ours: she has her own agenda.

Old Creator will come back to reclaim his property and we may be encouraged by Coyote to fight, or, if you follow the Raelian religion: A change of government has occurred with Old Creator and we have until 2030 to prove that we are worthy of membership in the celestial hierarchy.

The story of Coyote is strikingly similar throughout diverse cultures around the world and is known by many names. As Coyote is as American as Mom and Apple Pie, I have chosen that name.

Mary Coyote on March 25, 2008, 12:08 AM

healingzero:
I have offered a definition of god as per our understanding of the universe, the Sun. I have also offered a god as per a close examination of the mythology of diverse cultures, Coyote.

The Sun is our father in heaven.
http://www.bigthink.com/faith-beliefs/9020

Your neutron definition sounds similar these two definitions:
-A god that overreaches our universe and forms the shell or fabric that comprises our universe?
-A god that existed before the Big Bang and who is expressed by the fabric and creation of the dreamworld we call the universe?

After much searching I found this post and was able to respond, and I will attempt to find your ‘God Evolving’ Idea. Please try to post URL to make it easier for us lost souls.

pokój! on April 13, 2008, 5:12 PM

healingzero you invited me here two months ago and I just read it, I%u2019ve been away. 100 words start now:

My definition of God is that I’m still working on it. Words suck at descriptions in this case. I find myself cringing just placing gender on God. I don%u2019t even know if I%u2019m happy referring to him as a being. I feel the need to understand dimensions of reality to get there as well. I know God exists but I don%u2019t know how or why. Faith is my current working definition of God. I%u2019ll let you know when I understand existence the rest of my thoughts on God. : )

I could say how I don%u2019t define God, that will at least help in getting to a definition.

Why would I bother to take part in the discussion? Because basically my definition of God is that he is currently indefinable. But I couldn%u2019t just have put that, it%u2019s a copout.

Luke Allen on May 6, 2008, 3:03 PM

God is energy. That which we can’t comprehend yet. That which is beyond three dimensions and all dimensions. God is Trinity. God is Love.

Kathi Petersen on August 19, 2008, 7:24 AM

God is Evolving: God is the fabric of everything, the energy that makes up everything in our world and beyond. God may be change, as someone else here said, but God is also changeless. The thing that is evolving is our stories about God. And the main trend in God-stories, today, is to take the story away, and be left with the idea with no story. That is what I think a religion-less spirituality often is … I think people are put off by stories and want to work with the stripped-down idea of God. (i.e., Tolle) But it is all about the same truth. (So sad that people can’t see that, and that they see “their” God as separate, or only-real.)

god defined on October 29, 2009, 12:16 AM

god is http://god-defined.com/