What do you think of this opinion on belief in God?

Question

If you prove God exists or realize (assume or form an image for Him) His existence you have really destroyed Him as your god. You have in this case made an object of Him just like any other object in the universe. That depreciates His value as a superior consciousness capable of creating all that is including you.. It is necessary for God to remain an abstract principle of faith for Him to have value for you other than an object of argument.

Answer 1

Nice work and well said.

This is one iteration of Nietzsche's "god is dead" aphorism. This piece is less a proclamation about the destruction of god than a description of how Enlightenment thinking made unconditional belief in a quantified deity pretty much impossible, thereby throwing everything into question and forcing us to confront our not only our mortality, but the possibility of being utterly alone and random.

Needless to say history shows us most people prefer the safety of illusion.

You may like this book:

"God as Otherwise than Being" by Calvin O. Schrag

Answer 2

In a court of law, or public opinion, you want to know what happened, an eye witness.

This man TESTIFYs what is truth relative to what the Court requires.
Consider reading the First Letter of John in the back of the Bible. At the end of John's life, he tells of his reasoning and the need for God and His Love.

Pick out the subject of every 2 or 3 verses, i.e., in the 1st chapter, 2nd verse, two words give the PURPOSE of the entire Bible.

Forgiveness is 1:8, 1:9. Purity is 3:2,3. Love is 4:7,8. Knowing all this, 5:13. So much is in between, and beside.

Security is knowing Love.

Answer 3

Hi Mad Mac,
In regards to your opinion on belief in God, my first thought was to disagree depending on a particular description of God. Because not all that believe in a higher power or God have the same idea for that God. For example, in the Christian religion, the idea is that Jesus is God. That he came to earth, was born and lived as a man. But his sacrifice in the Christian tradition was necessary for the salvation of humanity. In other words, he is still God, but not an abstract principle of faith and his humanity, sacrifice and Godliness make Him have value for more than an object of argument.

Answer 4

Then that leads me to believe that god really is just a creation of men to serve the purpose of keeping people in line and themselves rich. If god is a superior conciousness, then what does it mean we were created in his image? Wouldn't that mean we are also a superior conciousness, capable of knowing our creator on the same level? Or is that just something someone said to make us feel better? The idea that this is all there is to my existence does not give me faith. That I could truly know who and what I am, that I could know without a doubt why I was created, by who and for what purpose gives me a reason to search for faith.

Answer 5

The fact is God is not abstract nor can He be speculated upon with our tiny brain. God is who He is and is perfectly explained in great detail in Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatm translated with purports By the Great saint and spiritual master Bhaktivedatnt Prabhupada asitis.com you can read it on line. Krishna Is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (Also known as Allah, Jehovah, Vishnu, Rama, etc.) He has an eternal, Unlimited Spiritual, Supremely beautiful form. He made us in His image (two hands tow legs head eyes ears nose mouth etc.) The great light people talk about is His energy effulgence emanating from His Spiritual body. This world is His material energy and we are His Parts and parcels, yet he is always full within Himself. (He doesn't need us to be complete)We are meant to serve Him with love and devotion but we have free will and that is why He created this world so we could be separate from Him. If we want to reunite He gave the Process of Self realization (Bhakti Yoga) for info go to harekrishnatemple.com Read the Gita on line asitis.com Now I know who He is and I am so satisfied.

Answer 6

The whole basis of religion is faith. If you create an image of God or are determined on gathering proof god excists your undermining the basis of religion and therefore worshiping an Idol (An object in your mind) In saying this though my person belief is that religion is ridiculous and God is already an Object made up in our mind, yes imaginary.

But off course, we all have our own opinion and beliefs. That's what makes the world so great.

Answer 7

Proof of existance or non-existance can never be proven. All arguements tend to either begin with or end with an assuption - that is as inductive or deductive reasoning. There can be a whole discourse on this alone.

To the theists, it is a matter of faith. The definition of faith suggests belief when rational perception cannot prove or support.

Answer 8

If you have ever read the bible you will know what it says about that. Your answer can be found in the ten commandments. there is not anyone on this earth that knows what God looks like. It's just some people dream up some sort of image. but as i said, read the ten commandments. about what it says about idols or any objects as that type.

Answer 9

I agree from a slightly different angle. I don't give God attributes because he is so much more than I can ever understand with this finite brain. To do so would only serve to limit him, even if it's the good attributes like "loving, good, wise," etc. People Put God in a tiny box & limit him in their concepts, & when we limit him we place limits on ourselves also. The only statement you can make about God that is no way limiting him is God is.

Answer 10

This is a reverse of the ontological proof for the existence of God. The objectification of God is a reductio ad absurdem, a logical fallacy.