Heaven, the sky, the atmosphere, outer space, the cosmos, or what ever. Could the ancient chinese monotheistic god Shang Di be god?
2006-08-17 00:23:33 · 7 answers · asked by ? 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
My question - not just about Chinese traditional religion but pantheism in general - is this: if this is the case, what, practically does it mean?
The god I reject first and foremost is the one that I grew up being told about - the one that is conscious, that looks and behaves like a human, that created the earth, wrote a few books, sometimes performs miracles, and has built two places and judges who should go where.
In accepting my atheism, I started by removing those traits one by one. The important question is this, to me: if you start with that definition above, and slowly peel away the parts, at which point does it cease to be 'god' - i.e. something worth believing in or worshipping?
I mean, the sky exists. If you say to me 'the sky doesn't do anything specifically god-like; it's just kind of there - but let's call it God anyway',
my question would be: why? What do we gain by calling it God?
2006-08-17 00:43:33 · answer #1 · answered by XYZ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hey paulblito 88, can god be the sky, the atmosphere, outer space, the cosmos, or whatever? Could god be the ancient chinese monotheistic god Shang Di? Could god be something other than what certain humans pray to and worship?
2006-08-17 07:32:57 · answer #2 · answered by lostcause8436 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No. It's just the sky, the atmosphere, outer space and the cosmos. There are not a billion souls floating around somewhere out there. Your brain shuts down when you die, and with it, the thought process that makes you think you might have a "soul".
2006-08-17 08:23:31 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would be willing to say that the universe Is God. yes you got me on that one
The mind of the univers could be all the physical laws. That would be scripture.
So i can agree. as long as 'heaven' is The whole universe/universes.
I dont know this Shang Di ..... is that the name for the universe?
2006-08-17 07:31:09 · answer #4 · answered by CJunk 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
According to Genesis, all that exists are heaven and earth. God 'divided the waters' by means of a solid structure called the 'firmament'... which we know as the 'sky'. Heaven is on one side of the firmament, earth is on the other. So, god is not the sky... god lives on the other side of the sky...
... or not. (Just another proof that religion is horseshit.)
2006-08-17 07:32:04 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
thats not atheism, thats closer to pantheism
2006-08-17 07:29:35 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
There are no gods
So - no.
2006-08-17 07:36:05 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋