Fallen from the Grace of God... (Creator, Earth, mysticism, salvation)

[Leirda]

I'm doing research on all types of religion...and I was wondering what would happen if God turned away from earth?

Like if he ceased to exisit or just turned his back on us? Maybe if the whole world became evil and he turned away?

Obviously...I'm looking for everyone's opinion.

[Sunstone]

Originally Posted by Leirda

I'm doing research on all types of religion...and I was wondering what would happen if God turned away from earth?

Like if he ceased to exisit or just turned his back on us? Maybe if the whole world became evil and he turned away?

Obviously...I'm looking for everyone's opinion.

Welcome to the Forums, Leirda!

I don't think your question can be answered since we cannot know if deity exists, and because we cannot know if deity exists, we cannot know what role, if any, that deity plays in sustaining the earth.

[CelticRavenwolf]

Hypothetically, if one were to assume they could answer that question, they would first have to know which 'God' you are referring to. While the Christian/Jewish God has been known to wipe out all but a chosen few people because evil became too rampant, other religions have deities that thrive on chaos and dissention among humans. They deliberately allow evil to thrive to challenge the good in humanity.

I think that the duality of nature means that there always has to be both. How would we know what is good without evil to compare it to? Could we understand pain if there was no pleasure?

Or, simply put, a God that would create an entire world only to turn Its back on it when things don't go the way It intended isn't one that I would have any desire to worship anyway.

But more importantly, how would we know if said God did turn away? Maybe It already has!

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by Leirda

I'm doing research on all types of religion...and I was wondering what would happen if God turned away from earth?

Like if he ceased to exisit or just turned his back on us? Maybe if the whole world became evil and he turned away?

Obviously...I'm looking for everyone's opinion.

As I view God as the ground of all being, if God ceased to exist or "turned away" from us, existence would cease to exist.

[Sunstone]

Originally Posted by lilithu

As I view God as the ground of all being, if God ceased to exist or "turned away" from us, existence would cease to exist.

But my dear Lilithu, are you seriously suggesting that all meaningful existence DID NOT already cease to exist six years ago when Bush took office?

[Scuba Pete]

Sunstone,

God only left America when Shrub came into power and there is hope for the rest of the world. However, maybe a study on the decline of our fair country is in order.

I don't think God would ever completely abandon us or even could. He might leave us to our own devices so we would learn from our inabilities, but he won't abandon us.

[James the Persian]

Originally Posted by lilithu

As I view God as the ground of all being, if God ceased to exist or "turned away" from us, existence would cease to exist.

You sound like an Orthodox Christian. This is the case for us. God is not just the Creator but also the Sustainer. In other words, He can't just create something and then wander off because the only thing with true existance is God with the existance of all creation being contingent upon Him, hence why we say that hell cannot be separation from the presence of God, for such would result in our annihilation - there is, and can be, nowhere where God is not present.

James

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by JamesThePersian

You sound like an Orthodox Christian. This is the case for us. God is not just the Creator but also the Sustainer.

I came to this view of God from studying Kabbalah/Jewish mysticism, and then found a similar view in Hinduism. (The Hindu trinity is creator, sustainer, destroyer.) But the language that I used, God as "the ground of (all) being," comes from Paul Tillich, a Protestant theologian.

[Scarlett Wampus]

In a sense I think God has turned away from us. Or rather, God has turned on us because the times they are a changin.

Perhaps its off topic but let me try to explain what I mean. Superficially I think the New Age movement was a break with the old dominant traditions that split spirit from the body and typically treated the latter as fallen or sinful. I think its symptomatic of a much deeper shift that has been slowly gaining pace for many centuries: Improvements in standards of living make physical existence less of the nasty, brutish & short affair it was for so many of our ancestors, science & technology has advanced so quickly that the traditions of theology & philosophy that previously mostly contained it are now under increasing threat from it and we are coming to realise just how vital the health of the biosphere is to our continued existence. It all adds up to transcendence not being the only suitable response to existence it once seemed. At this time it may not only be desirable to search for effective ways to reconcile matter & spirit but irresponsible to avoid the struggle to do so. Gnosis must wash the dishes after its done and the Rapture is not an exit strategy.

As I see it spirit (as it has been interpreted) has been rendered as fallen & sinful as the flesh. That is what I meant when I said God has turned on us. Salvation now rests in uniting Heaven and Earth - we need that middle way, that double walk. Unfortunately I don't think we're going to know exactly what that really means until its all over, assuming something capable of understanding it survives. I wish I knew what that something is but I don't. The solution is a work in progress.