God and omnipotence (faith, God)

[Merlin]

Originally Posted by The Truth

Do you have any proof that he is a part of this universe in case you believe in a god in the first place?

Nobody, including you, has any proof about anything. All of us only have our own beliefs. Of course, you think your beliefs that fact, and they might be - but equally they might not be. You might be completely wrong, that is what is interesting about these debates, the majority of people are wrong!

[Aurelian]

Great topic

I have a colorful understanding of God, though this belief is far from mainstream in our world nowadays. I liken it to how some Hindu sects believe in Vishnu or Krishna as God with an eternal Form, as opposed to being transcendant, formless and stuff like the Tao or the Force. I think even the highest God of all is like a person, with emotions just like us. This makes me feel much closer to God, and why I chose this path for me. I need Religion to be exciting and fun too, and know I connect well with God on an emotional, personal level as like a Father or good Friend

I simply can't connect with an Abrahamic or Eastern type of belief for the basic reason God is too transcendant and un-human...but I'm not against such beliefs or gods.

God to me is an all-powerful being, with a body of shining light, very attractive, delightful, and always young in appearance. He lives in a heavenly world with all his faithful and angels. He never grows old. He is Sol Invictus, Supreme Sun God of the late Roman Empire who usurped the earlier Polytheistic system (Christ would be the next God on the scene to do the same, although with Christ the whole pantheon of gods would disappear). His presence to us on earth is revealed through the life-giving Sun, who's rays are omnipotent and sustain us. The Hindus' most similar god to Sol Invictus would be Surya, their own important Sun god allthough Surya isn't considered the Supreme by most of the Hindus, maybe some I'm not sure.

Sol Invictus is not exactly Pervading everything, but His energies are. He also lets the angels, the lesser deities maintain the lesser functions of the earth and universe, like the rains, the moon, the seas, and the land.

Sorry if this is a bit long post, but It's hard to explain your feelings about God in just a few sentences

[Merlin]

Originally Posted by Aurelian

This makes me feel much closer to God, and why I chose this path for me. I need Religion to be exciting and fun too,

You need not apologise for your beliefs. We all settle into beliefs in which we are comfortable, and we do then convince ourselves that they are facts.

Yours is as valid a choice as anybody else's.

[Merlin]

Originally Posted by Skavau

Let's look at an example and assume that God is all-good and any suffering in this world indeed has a meaning of some sort.

Religious philosophers have debated this for centuries. Try reading C S Lewis

"The Problem of Pain" He Undertakes to answer the question, "If God is good and God is omnipotent, then why is there pain and evil in the world?"

it is possible to have a God in which you can believe and for whom is worth striving to fulfil His purpose, and yet that God is not totally omnipotent.

[Aurelian]

yep. Not that I believe I hold any truth to my beliefs, Pagan religion is a way to connect with the forces of nature and hold them sacred. Many of us like to personify them and make everything more colorful with gods and myths, whether they hold any truth or really interact with us or not is a mystery. I believe in them but It's just what I like and am comfortable with

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by Merlin

Somebody created them. If God cannot change them, whatever it was that created them was greater (whether you call he/she/it a God or not)

There is not necessarily any "higher power" who created these constraints on God. Æsahættr and I have been having the same discussion in another thread:
http://www.religiousforums.com/forum...47194#poststop

The limitions on God may simply be the limitations that are necessary for there to be creation. Things cannot exist without there being constraints to existence. That's the difference between potentiality and actuality. God may be potentially omnipotent but not actually omnipotent. Hopefully, what I mean by that is clear in the thread cited above.

Not making a distinction between the two is what leads to ridiculous questions like "Can God create an object so heavy that God cannot lift it?" Which is why I generally argue against using the word "omnipotence" with God.

[JerryL]

You need not apologise for your beliefs. We all settle into beliefs in which we are comfortable, and we do then convince ourselves that they are facts.

I'm somehow reminded of the saying "Beauty is on;y skin deep is something ugly people say".

If one admits that their belief has no real chance of beinf right, how can one possibly assert to believe them?

I certainly recognize, as a skeptic, that it's possible that reality doesn't exists, or exists in a manner completely seperate from how my senses percieve. However, I have no knowldege or stimuli of which I am aware would would make such a conclusion useful so I acknowledge it, assume my senses are generally accurate (as they seem to be) and move on.

From there, my beliefs are founded on that sensor input and my best-effort to impartially interperate it. I deliberately avoid adding assumption or interpreting speculation as fact. Often, my beliefs are downright uncomfortable to me, but they are what can be established or inferred emperically.

In short, I don't agree with your statement at all.

[michel]

Originally Posted by Merlin

"The Problem of Pain" He Undertakes to answer the question, "If God is good and God is omnipotent, then why is there pain and evil in the world?"

That, I believe is not too difficult a question to answer.

Without pain and evil, there would be no 'good' and we would not understand the relief of not feeling pain. For everything there is an opposite in existence.

[cardero]

Originally Posted by Merlin

is it important that we believe that he is omnipotent?

You should not base your relationship with any entity for what they have or what they can do. It should be based on the simple aspect that you enjoy being in each other's prescence.

[Skavau]

Originally Posted by Merlin

Religious philosophers have debated this for centuries. Try reading C S Lewis

"The Problem of Pain" He Undertakes to answer the question, "If God is good and God is omnipotent, then why is there pain and evil in the world?"

it is possible to have a God in which you can believe and for whom is worth striving to fulfil His purpose, and yet that God is not totally omnipotent.

Indeed it is. Obviously, you're a Process Theologian and believe God is not all-powerful. Does that mean he is not powerful enough to stop evil in this world or does he choose not to?