The question "Who is God?" is a good question. It is better than asking "What is God?" This is because God exists, created us, loves us, is concerned for our being, desires to provide for us, and sent the Son to redeem us. If we were to ask "What is God?" we might be tempted to say that God is the infinite being, the creator, a presence, or something like that. In some respect, this would be true. But the first question brings us closer to understanding more of who God really is in His character and His love for us as revealed in the Bible.
The Bible teaches us that in all existence, from all eternity, there has been and always will be only one God. God was never created, is completely loving, completely just, completely holy, completely merciful, and that He desires the best for us. God is holy and He can have nothing to do with sin as the Bible says, "His eyes are too pure to look upon evil," (Hab. 1:13). This does not mean that God cannot see what someone does that is wrong. It is a way of describing how holy God is. God cannot sin. He is perfect.
In Christianity, God is a Trinity. This means that God is three persons, not three gods. Technically, the doctrine of the Trinity states that in the one God is the person of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each is not the same person as the other; yet there are not three gods but one. This is similar in analogy to the nature of time. Time is past, present, and future. The past is not the same as the present, which is not the same as the future. But, there are not three times. There is only one thing called time.
The reason the word "person" is used in describing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is because each exhibits attributes of personhood -- not in a body of flesh and bones, but in personality. In other words, each has a will, loves, speaks, is aware of others, communicates with others, etc. These are attributes of personhood and we see the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit each demonstrate these qualities.
Because of the Trinity, God can become flesh in the form of the Son, and still exist in such a way so that He can run the universe. Therefore, the Son can communicate to us on our level.
Following are a couple verses that hint at the Trinity.
Matt. 28:19, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit."
2 Cor. 13:14, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all."
The Bible says there is only one God: "I am the Lord, and there is no other;
Besides Me there is no God," (Isaiah 45:5). Yet, the Bible teaches that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each called God.
Below is a very brief chart that shows that each of the persons in the Trinity share the same attributes that only God shares. But remember, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit each have wills, and speak, etc. Therefore, we say there are are three persons.
FATHER SON HOLY SPIRIT
Called God Phil. 1:2 John 1:1,14; Acts 5:3-4
Creator Isaiah 64:8 John 1:3; Job 33:4, 26:13
Everywhere 1 Kings 8:27 Matt. 28:20 Psalm 139:7-10
All knowing 1 John 3:20 John 16:30; 21:17 1 Cor. 2:10-11
A Will Luke 22:42 Luke 22:42 1 Cor. 12:11
Speaks Matt. 3:17; Luke 5:20; 7:48 Acts 13:2
2007-01-28 23:50:46
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answer #1
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answered by Anonymous
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1. He is the one God, Who has no partner.
2. Nothing is like Him. He is the Creator, not created, nor a part of His creation.
3. He is All-Powerful, absolutely Just.
4. There is no other entity in the entire universe worthy of worship besides Him.
5. He is First, Last, and Everlasting; He was when nothing was, and will be when nothing else remains.
6. He is the All-Knowing, and All-Merciful,the Supreme, the Sovereign.
7. It is only He Who is capable of granting life to anything.
8. He sent His Messengers (peace be upon them) to guide all of mankind.
9. He sent Muhammad (pbuh) as the last Prophet and Messenger for all mankind.
10. His book is the Holy Qur'an, the only authentic revealed book in the world that has been kept without change.
11. Allah knows what is in our hearts.
2007-01-29 10:11:56
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answer #2
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answered by BeHappy 5
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Who is God?
God is the human identity of the omnipotent natural force that many believe controls the physical universe.
What is his duty?
Duties are given by someone, there are no above God to give it.
Where is he?
If the idea of God is logical, it must be true that such a being has no physical form, and therein takes up no space.
Can we feel him?
'Feel' is a very versatile word.
2007-01-29 07:52:43
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answer #3
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answered by Theophile 2
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The Eternal Creator with no beginning and no ending. His duty is to be Himself. He exists in the hearts of His children who accept Him as their Savior and we most definitely can feel Him - talk to Him - know Him - hear Him talk to us etc.
2007-02-02 06:21:09
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answer #4
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answered by wd 5
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“Know thou of a certainty that the Unseen can in no wise incarnate His Essence and reveal it unto men. He is, and hath ever been, immensely exalted beyond all that can either be recounted or perceived. … He Who is everlastingly hidden from the eyes of men can never be known except through His Manifestation, and His Manifestation can adduce no greater proof of the truth of His Mission than the proof of His own Person."
2007-01-29 08:14:00
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answer #5
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answered by Linell 3
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there is no such thing as god... you should try and apply yourself for what your seeking through outside nonsense... god only exists in ones mind who has no control over their very existence...
2007-01-29 08:04:50
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answer #6
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answered by Angel 2
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God is your creator
2007-01-29 07:55:09
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answer #7
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answered by Uthman A 5
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God is eternal having neither beginning of days or end of life, a Spirit fire or light called life. The Word begins with thought from conscious awareness I am, acquiring wisdom to reason thought to self with the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God. This wisdom of thought with words is not any substance or matter but Spirit, the Holy Spirit. God is One, by Himself or alone with His Words the Holy Spirit. This timeless existence of reasoning wanted company and God’s thoughts turn to creating company or sons. Sons to behold, abide with, and communion with. God discovered love, not of the thought, but of the sons He envisioned. God felt this love, the magnificence of it and wanted His sons to love Him. God realized He could not create true love or forced it upon a being, but true love would only manifest in sons of freewill. The wisdom of God also knew it would be necessary to govern sons of freewill by laws that are fair and righteous, to hold them accountable. God was willing to risk rejection and rebellion against the law. Sons of freewill could choose not to love Him but must obey the law. The sons would need a place to abide, explore, and grow. God created the heavens and the earth, His kingdom.
Then, God the Father created all souls with intellect within a spirit body and with freewill. The law/s of this kingdom is unknown, but God is King and this was His dominion. One of God’s sons with freewill named Satan rebelled against God and the law. One third of God’s children followed Satan. God sentenced Satan to perish. The soul that sins shall die. Satan accused his followers of his same sin. Satan has the power or legal right, to accuse one third of the sons of God. God loved His children and could not destroy the one third. Instead, God destroyed that earth age. The earth became waste and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Now in this earth age, sons of freewill placed in flesh bodies, are born innocents through the womb. With no knowledge of events of the rebellion are free to choose to follow God or Satan, a choice of eternal life or eternal death.
Satan and his close followers continued to rebel. God allows Satan and his followers some headway. Using this as the negative part of His plan, this is ultimately positive.
God’s plan forasmuch then, as the children are partakers of flesh and blood. He also Himself in the Son Jesus Christ likewise took part of the same. That through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil or Satan. Delivering them whom through fear of death was all their lifetime subject to bondage. Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son and the express image of God’s person, God with us, became legal inheritor of the kingdom. Paid the price for sin, for the life of the flesh is in the blood. God has given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls. For it is the blood, that makes atonement for the soul. God made Christ to have dominion over the works of His hands and has put all things under Christ’s feet.
2007-01-29 08:21:35
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answer #8
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answered by Anonymous
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god is a fairy tale not real
2007-01-29 07:50:50
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answer #9
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answered by andrew w 7
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The Concept Of God In Islam
The most concise definition of God in Islam is given in the four verses of Surah Ikhlaas which is Chapter 112 of the Qur’an:
«"Say: He is Allah, The One and Only.
Allah, the Eternal, Absolute.
He begets not, nor is He begotten.
And there is none like unto Him."»
To Muslims, this four line definition of Almighty God serves as the touchstone of the study of God. Any candidate to divinity must be subjected to this ‘acid test' and since the attributes of The Creator given in this chapter are unique, false gods and pretenders to divinity can be easily dismissed using these verses.
i) The first criterion is «"Say, He is Allah, one and only". »
Can there be more than one god? This verse tells us that The Creator is the only one who has total and absolute power, unique in His names and attributes.
ii) The second criterion is, «'Allah is absolute and eternal’»
The word that is translated as “The Eternal, Absolute” from Arabic is something that can be attributed only to The Creator, as all other existence being temporal or conditional. It also means that Allah is not dependant on any person or thing, but all persons and things are dependant on Him.
iii) The third criterion is «‘He begets not, nor is He begotten’».
This means God was not born, nor does He give birth and share his divinity with others. Nor does He have a family or relationship with another being.
(iv) The fourth test, - which is the most stringent - is, «"There is none like unto Him".»
The moment you can imagine or compare ‘God’ to anything, then he (the candidate to divinity) is not God. It is not possible to conjure up a mental picture of the One True God because of the simple fact, as creation, we only know creation.
Many are tempted to make anthropomorphic comparisons of God. For example, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the famous body builder and Hollywood actor, who won the title of ‘Mr. Universe - the strongest man in the world.'
Suppose someone says “Almighty God is a thousand times stronger than Arnold Schwarzenegger.” This is a false claim to make because the moment you can compare any entity to God, whether the comparison is to Schwarzenegger or to King Kong, whether it is a thousand times or a million times stronger, it fails the Qur’anic criterion, «"There is none like unto Him".»
Thus, the ‘acid test’ cannot be passed by anyone except the One True God. The following verse of the Glorious Qur’an conveys a similar message: «"No vision can grasp Him but His grasp is over all vision: He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things."»[Al-Qur’an 6:103]
By what name do we call God?
The Muslims prefer calling the Supreme Creator, 'Allah', instead of the English word ‘God’. The Arabic word, ‘Allah’, is pure and unique, unlike the English word ‘God’, which can be played around with.
For example, If you add ‘s’ to the word God, it becomes ‘Gods’, that is the plural of God. Allah is one and singular, there is no plural of Allah. If you add ‘dess’ to the word God, it becomes ‘Goddess’ that is a female God. There is nothing like male Allah or female Allah. Allah has no gender. If you add the word ‘father’ to ‘God’ it becomes ‘God-father’. God-father means someone who is a guardian. There is no word like ‘Allah-father’. If you add the word ‘mother’ to ‘God’, it becomes ‘God-mother’. There is nothing like ‘Allah-mother’ in Islam.
Allah is a unique word, which does not conjure up any mental picture nor can it be played around with. Therefore the Muslims prefer using the Arabic word ‘Allah’ for the Almighty.
Unity of God.
Some say that the existence of more than one God is not illogical. Let us point out to them that if there were more than one God, they would dispute with one another, each god trying to fulfill his will against the will of the other gods. This can be seen in the mythology of the polytheistic and pantheistic religions.
If a ‘God’ is defeated or unable to defeat the others, he is surely not the one true God. Also popular among polytheistic religions is the idea of many Gods, each having different responsibilities. Each one would be responsible for a part of man’s existence e.g. a Sun-God, a Rain-God, etc. This indicates that one ‘God’ is incompetent of certain acts and moreover he is also ignorant of the other Gods’ powers, duties, functions and responsibilities. There cannot be an ignorant and incapable God. If there were more than one God it would surely lead to confusion, disorder, chaos and destruction in the universe. But the universe is in complete harmony. The Glorious Qur’an says: «"If there were, in the heavens and the earth, other gods besides Allah, there would have been confusion in both! But glory to Allah, The Lord of the Throne: (High is He) above what they attribute to Him!" »[Al-Qur’an 21:22]
If there were more than one God, they would have taken away what they created. The Qur’an says: «"No son did Allah beget, nor is there any god along with Him: (if there were many gods), behold, each god would have taken away what he had created, and some would have lorded it over others! Glory to Allah! (He is free)from the (sort of) things yhey attribute to Him!" »[Al-Qur’an 23:91]
Thus the existence of one True, Unique, Supreme, Almighty God, is the only logical concept of God.
God does not take human form:
Many religions at some point believe, directly or indirectly, in the philosophy of anthropomorphism i.e. God becoming a human. Their contention is that Almighty God is so pure and holy that He is unaware of the hardships, shortcomings and feelings of human beings. In order to set the rules for human beings, He came down to earth as a human. Let us now analyze this argument and see if it stands to reason.
Suppose I manufacture a video cassette recorder (VCR). Do I have to become a VCR to know what is good or what is bad for the VCR? What do I do? I write an instruction manual. "In order to watch a video cassette, insert the cassette and press the play button. In order to stop, press the stop button. If you want to fast forward press the FF button. Do not drop it from a height or it will get damaged. Do not immerse it in water or it will get ruined". This instruction manual lists the various do’s and don’ts for the machine.
Similarly, our Lord and Creator, Allah need not take human form to know what is good or bad for the human being. He chooses to reveal the instruction manual. The last and final instruction manual of the human beings is the Glorious Qur’an. The ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ for the human beings are mentioned in the Qur’an.
If you allow me to compare human beings with machines, I would say humans are more complicated than the most complex machines in the world. Even the most advanced computers, which are extremely complex, are pale in comparison to the physical, psychological, genetic and social factors that affect individual and collective human life.
The more advanced the machine, greater is the need for its instruction manual. By the same logic, don’t human beings require an instruction manual by which to govern their own lives?
Therefore Allah does not come down personally for giving the instruction manual. He chooses a man amongst men to deliver the message and communicates with him at a higher level through the medium of revelations. Such chosen men are called messengers and prophets of God.
God does not perform ungodly acts:
The attributes of Almighty God preclude any evil since God is the source of justice, mercy and truth. God can never be thought of as doing an ungodly act. Hence we cannot imagine God telling a lie, being unjust, making a mistake, forgetting things, or having any such human failings. Similarly God can do injustice if He chooses to, but He will never do it because being unjust is an ungodly act. The Qur’an says: «"Allah is never unjust in the least degree."»[Al-Qur’an 4:40] God can be unjust if He chooses to be so, but the moment God does injustice, He ceases to be God.
God does not make mistakes
God can make mistakes if He wants to, but He does not make mistakes because making a mistake is an ungodly act. The Qur’an says: «"…my Lord never errs."»[Holy Qur’an 20:52] The moment God makes a mistake, he ceases to be God.
God does not forget
God can forget if He wants to. But God does not forget anything because forgetting is an ungodly act, which reeks of human limitations and failings. The Qur’an says: «"…my Lord never errs, nor forgets."»[Al-Qur’an 20:52]
God only performs Godly acts:
The Islamic concept of God is that God has power over all things. The Qur’an says in several places (Al -Qur’an 2:106; 2:109; 2:284; 3:29; 16:77; and 35:1): «"For verily Allah has power over all things"»
Further, the Glorious Qur’an says:«"Allah is the doer of all that He intends."»[Al-Qur’an 85:16] We must keep in mind that Allah intends only Godly acts and not ungodly acts.
Attributes of God:
To Allah belong the most beautiful names. The Qur’an says: «"Say: Call upon Allah, or Call upon Rahman (The Most Merciful): By whatever name you call Upon Him, (it is well): For to Him belong The Most Beautiful Names."[»Al-Qur’an 17:110]
A similar message regarding the beautiful names of Allah is repeated in the Qur’an in Surah Al-A’raf (7:180), in Surah Taha (20:8) and in Surah Al-Hashr (59:24).
The Qur’an gives no less than ninety-nine different attributes to Almighty Allah. The Qur’an refers to Allah as Ar-Rahman (Most Gracious), Ar-Raheem (Most Merciful) and Al-Hakeem (All Wise) among many other names.
http://beconvinced.com/en/article.php?articleid=0109&catid=03&subcatname=Attributes%20&%20Names%20Of%20God
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see also:
some articles about God
http://www.islamreligion.com/category/51/
2007-01-29 08:32:09
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answer #10
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answered by raYah 2
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