All theists: How did you come to your understanding of what God is?

Answer 1

I solved as much of the equation as I could. Knowing that the impossible elements and occurrences in the Bible were merely metaphoric and symbolic representations for things that were obviously considered Biblical in proportions, I considered every description a riddle and set out to solve the riddles.

Metaphor is a form of artistic expression, and much like opinions, everyone's is different. Keeping this in mind, I felt that it was possible that only the most important metaphoric elements would be the same from author to author (like GOD himself, Angels, Heaven, etc.) but, for the most part, the authors (or should I say artists) would have differing overall strategies. Reading the Bible will make this more than apparent.

The main thing that one must keep in ming while reading the Bible is that it was written in an age where everybody liked to replace things that they seen on a regular basis (things that either helped them survive the Hell that is life OR the ambient hardships that turned their already difficult lives into a tortuous Hell) with colorful metaphors like Dragons, or Fairies, or Giants, or Witches, or Gods....... that's just what they did. That's what a lot of Anime is. Ten bucks says that each one of the villains on Mega Man represents some problem that most of us suffer from. And, anyone that says that The Lord of the Rings isn't a metaphorically written story of the Human condition deserves one in the eye.

It's a damn shame that Humanity is a race of beings that are easily distracted by the glittery and the shiny. A distrust in a book that once merely inspired the occasional outburst of doubt now induces lifetimes of opposition, muttering, and childish antics. Ever since the invention of the internet, there have been people who's sole purpose in life has become to gripe about the Bible and how much they doubt it's accuracy. The supreme irony of it all is that in reality, the Bible is (I dare say) totally true, but in order to see this, one must decipher thousand year old symbolics and metaphorics made by Jews for Jews using a system of metaphor that hasn't been utilized since they wrote the Bible.

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Answer 2

I grew up in a Christian home, fell out of it and did my own thing for a while, and then came back to accept Jesus at age 16. I didn't do much the next few years, but I met a couple of really cool people through work who have been through much more with God than I ever had, and have been in various bible studies with them ever since. I came to the conclusion that Jesus is my Savior through all of my young years of sitting on the fence and finally listening to my heart and to God whispering in everything around me. I have experienced things physically and spiritually that leave no room for doubt. Does that make sense?

Answer 3

Unlike Christians, we do read and learn all other religions - In my case this included Satanism too. We like to gather knowledge than to take some body's word for anything or stick to one religion without knowing about other religions.

We are adventurous and are willing to swim against the tide if necessary to do what needs to be done - Then we found out that the Bible is a load of Crap !

Answer 4

Wow - that's a really good question and not one I'd really thought about.
Personal experience made me come to the conclusion that life is a random series of events, and so it was easy to factor god out of the equation.
As a Humanist/Atheist, God just doesn't feature in my life. I don't believe God to be malevolent or loving or vain or caring because I don't believe he exists.

Answer 5

I came to the realization of what God isn't by observing my world, studying various religions, science, and logic.

Your question is flawed as it asks atheists what god is when we don't even believe that god "is"

God exists only in the minds of those who need to believe for one reason or another.

Answer 6

God was created by primitive people who had no education background. Those people thought the world was flat and the sun was going around the earth. Would you continue to follow that idea?

Answer 7

You examine it forward backward upside down and make your conclusions just as one would if doing an experiment-and there is lies the answer for if God were real and bigger than life than it woulda constructed a path to find him in life and not find the answer in death!

Answer 8

By prayerfully being open to God, by going to church (at my church, everything is backed up with a lot of Scriture, so I know it's true), by studying the Bible, by spending time with God & my fellow Christians (especially of the same denomination). :)

Answer 9

By studing what he has revealed about himself and what he was like when he was walking on the earth in the form of Jesus Christ.

Jesus said "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father"

Also by prayer and by talking to other people who know him.

Answer 10

Swedenborg criticizing me. How dare he!

http://www.mechanicsburgnewchurch.org