If there be a GOD, which GOD is the real one and how can I know it for certain?

Question

Living in a multi-cultural information age society, where the various religions origins and essential differences can be studied, it becomes clear that GOD, as understood by believers, vary enormously in character, form and nature.

Even in one religion, such as Christianity, the nature of GOD and his/ her/it's (he/his from here on) participation or intervention or interaction with his creation varies form the vengeful and smiting interventionist GOD of the Old Testament, to the compassionate and forgiving loving God, absent since departure, of the new.

Many educated people realise that their contextual based conditioning from youth regarding their views concerning truth are but another perspective. Thus they search for the immutable aspects amongst the multitude of visions trying to find a firm basis from which to rebuild an understanding of the world which transcends culturally biased paradigms in order get closer to the truth about reality.

For such a person GOD seems to exist as a conjecture. So how can I know the face of the GOD and if there be one at all?

Answer 1

You have already seen any number of people give you any number of answers. They each have their opinion about which god or gods are real and which are not. But if all you needed was someone telling you an opinion, you would have falled into one of those folds long ago. So I won't tell you what I think.

Instead, let's look at this reasonably. If there is some kind of god, and this entity wants to communicate with you, don't you think he, she, it, or they would be able to do so in such a way as to leave you little room for doubt about their identity? I cannot think of any example of a person cited as a religious prophet who spoke with a god and then wondered if perhaps it had really happened (or at least, not for long).

So there's your answer. Try and communicate with whatever entity is out there, and if it wants to communicate with you, then it will. If it doesn't respond to your earnest requests for guidance, then either it is completely unreasonable (who would want to follow an unreasonable god anyway?) or doesn't care too much what you are up to.

Go have a conversation. I think it's the least one can expect.

Answer 2

If you have doubts about organised religion...forget them for the time being. Religion takes God a step further. First establish what you believe God to be.

Philosophers have come up with their own definitions of God through the ages. Here are a few:

Richard Swinburne:
God is disembodied, omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing) morally perfect and completely free.

St Anselm:
God is the greatest possible conceivable thing.

Descartes:
God has all perfections.

Alvin Plantinga:
God has maximal greatness or maximal excellence in all worlds.

Norman Malcolm:
God is not contradictory.

Classical Definition:
God is disembodied, omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing), a free agent, the creator and sustainer of the universe, wholly good, and worthy of worship.

These are philosophical definitions of God, which came from philosophy which came long before organised religion. For example, Christianity, Judaism and Islam are based on the teachings of Aristotle. As you can see, all these definitions say more or less the same thing. The most important thing about God, is that you believe he not only exists, but is worthy of worship.

Unfortunately, as you pointed out, organised religion is full of contradictions, in the Bible for example. There is a very good reason why this has occured: the Bible was written by men, who are not perfect, not by God. God did not write the Bible, so my suggestion is that if you are looking for the truth about God...you don't let yourself get to bogged down with all the scriptural details.

In organised religion this is indeed what happens. In several sects of Christianity, every detail of the Bible is studied and taken into account. A lot of these details are not important. People should instead concentrate on the overall message of the Bible, which is that, God came down to Earth, and sacrificed himself as Jesus so that humans would be cleansed of sin and could reach salvation.

(Now similarly, philosophers have proved the existence of God in different ways. Some I accept...others I don't. I would be only too happy to explain them to you if you want me to, but I'll leave it for now because it will be extremely lengthy.)

Answer 3

So, you'll accept a faceless "invisible dimension" as the cause, but not an overall Creator? Who created the "invisible dimension"? Either the principle of an always-existing God in some form is true or it is not. If it is not true, then we're always going to be working our way back, looking for the cause of the cause of the cause. "Why is the Christian God immune from mistaken identity" He is only immune by those who hold to said God as true. You attack Him daily. That's hardly being immune. As for the assumption of immunity, the same could be said for the adherent to any faith. They will consider their god immune. How do you not understand that?

Answer 4

When we come to know things and try to find facts about them we naturally adapt an objective approach. We prefer to see as if things were laid in front of us, detached and therefore observable. When we first get interested into religion, if we have never been before, then an intellectual debate is the most common start. The reality however is that we can know a religion to fairly good degree of understanding, we can appreciate its values and underpinning inherent philosophies, but when it comes to having an insight into the very ideals of devotion round which a religion suggests that human mind should be structured, we do not find anything that would satisfy us rationally or intellectual.

The concept of God, and an understanding of this concept are not only for the domains of human reason and rationality. With a better understanding of our own self, however, we can transcend the bounds and dependencies of knowing without 'going out of our mind'. We can know what God means in this world. This is the divine purpose that we knwo we have innately in our nature. And religion suggests us the way to fulfil teh very purpose supreme human purpose, that is to know thy self in gracious the name of God Almighty.

The ultimate in human nature thus is not an inquiry into the supreme, or God Almighty, with a forgetfulness of our own self, but an inquiry into our own life, and self with a complete mindfulness of God Almighty.

We can say God is vengeful, powerful, or kind and compassionate, but these are the attributes that constitute our own nature. And if we have an ideal in our life realised in a most elevated manner by what we believe in then it is for the purpose of first of all knowing what qualities our mind has and then making the best of them for the good of both ourselves and the world around us at large.

The solution to religious matters would be found in the times to come. People will be better aware of themselves and their links to this life and to an essential divinity that capacitates us to shape our end before every new start into life.

Answer 5

The concept of a God doesn't make any sense; there is therefore no reason to believe in any of them. The greatest arguements for the existence of a god were believed to have been devised by Thomas Aquinas, but none of those arguements have withstood the test of time. His longest lasting arguement was called 'The Arguement from Design/Analogy', which was first proven an inadequate explanation and was later replaced by a better alternative arguement devised by Charles Darwin. If you haven't already read Richard Hawkins book 'The God Delusion', I suggest you do. If you already have or just don't like Richard as I do, then I also have a book you might be interested in.

Answer 6

Maybe I can only answer from my own personal experience, but you've asked a question and I will answer...

One definition of GOD is unchanging, always was and always been, and omnipresent or in every place at the same time. By that definition, energy qualifies as that answer: Unchanging, always was and always has been, and omnipresent or in every place at the same time. Yes, the GOD of my understanding is the New Testament GOD. And that is my own personal belief of that which I believe to be right. But I have also discovered somehow and in someway that the Universe gives me whatever I ask, both good and bad. The vessel by which I seek my own success is in my thoughts and my feelings and these are described by one definition as energy of which my thoughts and feelings are a part.

I cannot even begin to tell you what to believe, but I can tell you this. I died on the operating room table in 1994 and I had my own experience with death and it was everything that I had been told was true. And now I am living on borrowed time, and could not maintain a positive attitude were it not for my faith in GOD (See definition). I hope this answers your question in a different light.

Answer 7

God is about your own perceptions of morality. It is how you relate to others, not just people but all Life.
Personally i don't believe that God is a little old man with a beard or something.
I think what we find in the Bible, for example, tells us more about the people who wrote it, than it does about God him/herself.
My "God" is about my relationship with my inner self and the rest of creation.
I try to respect others views, sometimes that can be difficult, particularly when i consider religious extremists. It is very sad how people can promote hate and destruction in the name of their God.
Life is a Spiritual journey. All any of us can do is try to be an honest, caring person.

Answer 8

Seems to me that you are a complex, and truly thinking being (not many of you about).
I'm afraid that you will have to dig deep on this one. Our current Christian beliefs seem to be steeped in the history of older, mythological religious beliefs.
You yourself, will have to find that alchemical formula in which you will find your faith. And you will know it when it comes along, but more importantly, it is the journey as they say that is the more enlightening.
I agree that God seems to exist as a conjecture. But there is the mysterious aspect of life in which no answer exists (at least, not yet).
And how can you know the face of God when their is no face. A face suggests physical form, and "my interpretation" is that we are looking for something greater, beyond the physical form.
Christianity is a form of understanding known as the outer mysteries. There are many philosophical groups that exist today, specifically aimed at guiding you through the inner mysteries, such as the "hermetic order of the golden dawn" or "AMORC". I might add, a good group would be one that allows you to learn from the sacred texts, but allows you to draw your own conclusions.
We have been given a brain to think with, why should someone wish for our thoughts to be identical? Our goal should be to find our own connection to the universal collective mind.

Answer 9

Hello,

(ANS) I make no apologies for being an Atheist, its my sincerely held belief that although millions & millions people have a faith. I think they remain misguided.

The truth of the matter is there is No! God, there never was a god & never will be a god!!

Why?? because God is a human construct, an idea invented by humans for humans.

**Other examples of human constructs are:- the idea of time, the idea of money, the idea of a calender, the idea of capitalism itself.

**People need a faith or religion's in order to feel OK! about themselves, they cannot face the reality of life without something to help them.

**All organized religions are about :- No.1 The politics of controlling peoples real spirituality, No.2 The control of woman specifically No.3 The desire to control peoples sexuality, especially true of the pope & the roman catholic church & Islam too.

**Humans cannot bear much existential reality?? Cannot face the truth about death and that when you die your gone, finished, not coming back ever again. Of course what rational human being wouldn't be fearful of that? But religion or faith wont take that way.

**There is No! heaven or hell when you die, only that you return to the primal void from where we all came from in the first place. Dust to Dust thats very very true!!

Ivan

Answer 10

I don't think you can ever 'know' the answer to that question, but it sure is fun sometimes to look at all the different ideas on the subject.
Some ideas seem foolish, some are nice happy ideas, others more complex. Whatever there may or may not be, I find more freedom in not having made up my mind about the whole business. That way I don't have illogical or outdated paradigms to overcome.