Why do so many people refer to God in human terms?

Question

So many people say: "What would God do..." "Would he get angry"
I understand that although humans are limited in their ability to think outside human terms (non linearly), but why do so many people also reference God and His actions as if he was a single entity in one exact area. Its like trying to tell someone where in the atom the electron is EXACTLY. (we simply say where it is probable to be, but we know it is there). The disputes that occur do so because God is being limited to what we can fathom. Why can't we try and think "outside" the box? Is it the default of our mind to think that way? True, God is a father, but this simply describes of His nature - one of love. God=Love, so why isnt God as you interpret him to be, not a solid, inert statue in a church?

"when we are made in his image and likeness" this is a concept from Genesis, and may be more symoblic as we are made in God's MORAL image

When i say love- i am not referring to the rush of oxytocin to the brain in an intimate embrace, rather a more general concept of human unity and moral but in the sense that the entire race of humans are unified as a species.

I can completely relate to the need to think of God in human terms, after all we are humans, but when we say God is Love, don't we mean this in a higher sense, as this Love is not the human emotion, but a higher love (if you will). Not trying to overthink or be philosophical, but just wondering...

no no, please dont get confused, not "reproductive love"......

Answer 1

Our religions are created by men. Men extrapolate from their experience and transfer their experience into their interpretations of the God they create. At the core of religious mysticism is the understanding that God is unknowable, unnameable, ungraspable, etc., but when ordinary preachers speak about their faith, they presume to give characteristics to their God that are human in nature.. It is understandable but not very helpful and usually leads to the many unpleasant expressions of religion that are famous thruout history. Sin, guilt shame, failure etc., are ideas that come from those that do this. Religious wars and other such violence also come from this kind of man centered religious interpretation. What is Sacred is beyond the reach of human thought, not the expression of it. Those that are really religious are humbled the closer they get to their truth and what is Sacred. Those that get more arrogant in their interpretations usually indicate by such behavior that they are not humbled, are not close to the Sacred, and are really talking politics while dressed in religious clothing.

Answer 2

Yes you are right in saying , "What would God do? or what would Jesus do? In fact to day they are selling or merchandising a number of items WWJD -(what would Jesus do ) to teen age girls. I consider the Creator or God - Miltie-dimensional and being able to deal in many complex environments, besides this earthy plane. I like to use the term HER as within her or the letter her is also the letter HE. Then God or Creator is neither male or female but both - I do not know any better way to put it? I think that HER sees our world upside down from which we view it? To often in this physical world our mind is controlled by our ego - the ego wants control at all times & doesn't want to let go. We need to meditate & quite the mind to get past the ego into higher deminsion or conscioueness. There are different planes - do you know that? When we speak we are limited by our training, education & ect. Yes we need to think outside the box?

Answer 3

I would assume that most people refer God in human terms because (for Christians) He was human. So when Christians say "what would Jesus Do". We try to think of what He would have done in the situatio that we are facing at the time.

It's a question out of necessity in times of need. A reaching out for answers and for help. Sometimes our own logic fails us and we need more.

As Christians, we relate to God as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as a counsellor, as a teacher, for guidance and as a friend.

So that is why we relate to Him as Adam related to Him in the Garden of Eden. In fellowship.

Answer 4

As a finite human being, one can only think and comprehend in a finite realm.

If you're a superbrain, then by all means, redefine what it is to be a god.

God = love? I didn't get that memo. I thought love was, again, a HUMAN emotion... I find it very odd, and self-contradictory, that you're using a human emotion to refer to an entity you're adamantly defending as outside human terms.

Answer 5

God is not love. Love is a chemical reaction in my brain which sets out as a means to spur reproduction. As a Christian, blindly following faith is easy for you, as that open brain surgery your parents gave you with a cleaver when you were 3 removed your ability to think. Too bad, I couldve had fun with a debate...

Answer 6

god is essentially a human-conceieved notion.think of it this way, do you care what an ant does? do you stand there all day concerned with what's going on in your ant farm? no. but those ants (if they could think) would probably think that all you care about is thm. just like a cat.....sit in a room and talk to yourself with a cat in the room. i GUARENTEE they wil think you are talking to them. walk out into the kitchen in the middle of the night, and the cat will run out for food assuming you got up to give him food. eseentially, it's the same thing.

we give god human attributes because we feel that we are perfect. it's instilled in our being. we are a masterpiece of form meeting function. so if we are perfect, then we imagine that god, being perfect, is like us. so we treat him as human, or humanoid.

Answer 7

Because we, as humans, can only understand Him in human terms. What is beyond our understanding that we can understand? And how would we now? We cannot COMPREHEND God any more than we can pour the Pacific Ocean into a thimble. We can only APPREHEND, and only with the understanding that God has given us.

Answer 8

i have a problem with that myself and i think thats where alot of peoples doubt comes from is because they limit them with there own mind to somethin they can comprehend and God is not to be comprehended or fathomed by our weak minds

thats why people ask so many questions that sound ridiculous to people who think outside the box

Answer 9

People are human. What else can they do except think in human terms.

Answer 10

It is easier for us to relate to him by thinking he is human.