God is a supernatural being, or transcendent force.
He can not be defined by our human limitations or limited understanding of our/ His universe.
As the Bible says:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1: 18-20).
“For the invisible things of him . . . even his eternal power and Godhead . . .” (Romans 1:20). According to Paul, the Godhead exists in an invisible spiritual form which can be “clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made” (Romans 1:20). Concerning the form of God’s existence, Jesus said, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). Jesus clarifies the spiritual form saying, “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have” (Luke 24:39). While the risen Christ was in the form of a man, the God of the Bible exists in a spiritual form. Consequently, only Christ who became flesh can be seen. He chose to become flesh that he might die for the sins of the world.
2006-12-04 16:28:46 · 24 answers · asked by Adyghe Ha'Yapheh-Phiyah 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). This verse is similar to Genesis 1:1 which states, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” One could correctly restate the words of John by stating, “When time began, God was.” God has always been and He shall always be. God is eternal in His existence. Of the eternal nature of God, the Psalmist wrote, “I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations. Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end” (Psalms 102:24-27). The God of the Bible is eternal in His existence!
2006-12-04 16:29:15 · update #1
On that point...I must agree!
The creator is not limited.
We are limited in our understanding of the creator.
2006-12-04 16:38:01 · answer #1 · answered by ? 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Traditionally, we still limit god by the rules of logic. Why? Because you can't argue about things without said rules. So sure, maybe god transcends said rules. Maybe God is cheese, but god isn't cheese. Logically, that's impossible (unless you have two meanings of the word god or cheese or isn't or something like that, but that's linguistics difficulty not logic), but maybe God can do it. We don't have any idea WTF it MEANS that he can do it, but maybe he can't do it. It certainly doesn't make SENSE, but you can parrot the saying.
Point is, when you're trying to convince someone of something (and the assumption is that athiests and the like feel like religion is trying to convince them they're wrong), you have to be able to argue about something rationally. And if your basic arguement boils down to "he doesn't follow the rules of logic" then you can't have any reasonable discourse. If you believe god can transcend logic, then good for you, but good luck convincing others that he can.
With the limitations of logic, God suddenly has a bunch of other limitations: he can't change what's already happened (as Dr. Phil likes to point out for some reason), or else it never would have had happened in the first place. The whole "Create a stone so big even he can't lift it" thing? Well, omnipotence would sugguest he can create an infinitely large stone, and he can lift an infinitely large stone. Of course, if he's omnipotent and omniscient, then he already KNOWS what he's going to do, and can't do anything differently (but it's irrelevant, because he doesn't want to and never WILL want to do anything differently).
These aren't physical limitations (like time and space) but rather logical limitations based on the definitions of the words we're using to describe God. I'll agree with you that the words we use to describe God may well be off, but if you admit to that, then you admit that people don't have to agree with you when you tell them what God is, so people can say "The Big Bang was god" and it's hard to disagree with them.
2006-12-04 16:36:19 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
The logical paradox in your statement is that God can't exist in a form that is supernatural. Saying that something is natural refers only to what we know or understand about nature and our ideas of what is or is not natural develop over time and become more and more elaborate and complex.
If tomorrow we devised something that would allow us to see a God or talk to a God who is all knowing, omnipotent and omnipresent, he would in fact be natural because we would know a creature that can transcend time and space, just like we know about odd cosmological phenomena that seem to defy all that we know about time and space and we consider it just a part of nature and the universe.
By saying that God is supernatural, you are just placing an arbitrary definition on what is and isn't natural. Everything that we know to exist is natural no matter how bizarre, shocking or wonderful.
2006-12-04 16:50:23 · answer #3 · answered by Greg 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because God made us in his likeness, it becomes easy to forget that he is better. We all just assume that He has faults as all the rest of us do. Humans have limits, and I think that Humans just want to believe that God has limits as well, as a way to relate better. It's all just different perspectives that people have on faith, not everyone is going to have the same ideas about what God is and isnt able to do, regardless of what is written, Religion is 100% acception of what is being told, so perhaps that is just one of those things that people just arent willing to accept.
2006-12-04 16:34:36 · answer #4 · answered by Bri B 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Oddly enough, people don't understand that God isn't as limited as human beings because they ARE limited human beings. It's a catch-22 from Hades!
2006-12-04 16:50:49 · answer #5 · answered by Baron Hausenpheffer 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
God has given us life after death. But, that is not good enough for you. You also want him to be unlimited. Do you mean all powerful, how about all knowing, let's throw in omnicient - being everyplace at one time.
Then answer this:
if God is benevolent, if God is love, if God is all powerful, if God is all knowing, if God is everywhere, then why did he allow that tornado to destroy those mobile homes and kill those innocent children?
Some religious leaders actually blame the victims. Why? In order to scare us into supporting their particular religious empire.
Now, let's get back to God giving us eternal life. That is good enough for me. I love him for that. And, unlike religious leaders I am willing to follow his message.
What is God's message?
Harmony is harmony.
Disharmony is the only sin against God.
2006-12-04 16:42:43 · answer #6 · answered by MrsOcultyThomas 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I think the major reason people dont consider the Lord, our GOD, to be all powerful, and all-knowing God is because if they admit to that, then they feel as if they should answer to him. And people seem to have a problem with that.
2006-12-04 16:32:46 · answer #7 · answered by J Teeter 2 · 6⤊ 1⤋
Because we are finite and he is infinite. If we weren't finite, we'd have a better understanding of the infinite and we wouldn't struggle with trust as much. That's why faith must come from Christ living in us and not ourselves.
2006-12-04 16:33:21 · answer #8 · answered by Princess Purple 7 · 3⤊ 2⤋
You could scare the daylights out of some people with that.
I think some of that was turned the way you wanted it to read.
2006-12-04 16:31:24 · answer #9 · answered by bettyboop 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
They don't want to acknowledge that, then they might have to own up to their own shortcomings!
Don't listen to ppl like "rubber cord" or whatever she calls herself
and that guy with the ...whatever it is up his butt.
2006-12-04 16:37:27 · answer #10 · answered by softspot 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋