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God: more questions than answers

Eddi

Agnostic
Premium Member
I've been trying to de-familiarise myself with God - to put aside my old assumptions and beliefs about him and look at him with new eyes:

To approach him as though I have never heard of him

This has lead to more questions than answers!

I am hoping to construct a fresh understanding of God from the ground up, as though I've never heard of him

So please, answer my questions...

I'm sure more people than just me would benefit from your answers :D

Here are my questions, which all assume he exists:

Who - or what - exactly is he? What type of thing is he?

Is he even a "he" - is he a person or something else?

What does he do?

What does he look like?

What does he want?

Does he care about us?

Does he have a mind?

Does he have a personality - and if so what is he like?

What has he ever done for us?

Who am I in relation to God?

Who are you in relation to God?

What does he do?

What does he want us to do?

Does he have a plan?

Where does he come from?

Does he favour some people over others? Or some groups over other groups?

What is he going to do in the future?

Is it possible to have a relationship with him?
 

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
Who - or what - exactly is he? What type of thing is he?
When you look up at the sky at night, the milkiness that is the swath of all stars and galaxies pushing out their light rays toward anything and everything out there can actually "go bad" - much like actual, protein-rich milk here on Earth. The "entities" that enact this fermentation of the "milkiness" of matter and space are just normal chemical and subatomic force processes that have always existed - just an immutable fact of our universe from the reaches of forever - think something like the radioactive decay of isotopes. The effects of this "going bad" produce a growth, of sorts, of various particles and energies and waves in configurations that don't exist without the process, and these are linked in vast chains underlying the entire universe from concentration of mass to concentration of mass - like the mycelium of vast fungal colonies. signals and energies can travel along these chains, and they pick up and sort of "become" information, as changes in various other forces and conditions around them along the way of their journey through the chain modify their behavior, charges or direction. This "information" given a long enough brewing time and ample opportunity for occurrences to duplicate over and over and over again produces a sort of "memory" that begins to formulate as a kind of "thought" of the universe itself. As this evolves and becomes more memory, and more experience, and as the signals whir around and around all the aspects of all parts of the entire spectrum of all that is, the "thought" in the form of memory gradually becomes a question of what the "memory" is. And as that abstract idea is able to be fomented in this "mycelium of the universe" the emergence of consciousness is imminent. The ongoing evolution of that "thought" process is "God", fostered by the particle and energy trail left behind by the universe "going bad."

Now... provided you believe all that (I mean... I do sound rather convincing at times, don't I?), I have a bridge I think you would be very, very interested in. PM me for details and pricing.
 

Rival

Si m'ait Dieus
Staff member
Premium Member
Basically: WHO OR WHAT IS HE????
I like the quote in my signature for these askings,

"Man does not have the sole answer. The Lord of Life confounds him." - 44th Maxim of Ani.
 

Eddi

Agnostic
Premium Member
I like the quote in my signature for these askings,

"Man does not have the sole answer. The Lord of Life confounds him." - 44th Maxim of Ani.
So, basically, we cannot hope to ever know these things?
 

Rival

Si m'ait Dieus
Staff member
Premium Member
So, basically, we cannot hope to ever know these things?
We can theorise and come up with our own answers, but ultimately it's all conjecture and God has a habit of throwing curveballs our way.
 

Eddi

Agnostic
Premium Member
We can theorise and come up with our own answers, but ultimately it's all conjecture and God has a habit of throwing curveballs our way.
So you're saying that he doesn't want us to know about him?
 

Nimos

Well-Known Member
I've been trying to de-familiarise myself with God - to put aside my old assumptions and beliefs about him and look at him with new eyes:

To approach him as though I have never heard of him

This has lead to more questions than answers!

I am hoping to construct a fresh understanding of God from the ground up, as though I've never heard of him

So please, answer my questions...

I'm sure more people than just me would benefit from your answers :D

Here are my questions, which all assume he exists:

Who - or what - exactly is he? What type of thing is he?

Is he even a "he" - is he a person or something else?

What does he do?

What does he look like?

What does he want?

Does he care about us?

Does he have a mind?

Does he have a personality - and if so what is he like?

What has he ever done for us?

Who am I in relation to God?

Who are you in relation to God?

What does he do?

What does he want us to do?

Does he have a plan?

Where does he come from?

Does he favour some people over others? Or some groups over other groups?

What is he going to do in the future?

Is it possible to have a relationship with him?
That's a lot of questions, but you missed some if you are going from scratch :)

What makes you think there is only one?

Why do you assume that its a "he"?
 

halbhh

The wonder and awe of "all things".
I've been trying to de-familiarise myself with God - to put aside my old assumptions and beliefs about him and look at him with new eyes:

To approach him as though I have never heard of him

This has lead to more questions than answers!

I am hoping to construct a fresh understanding of God from the ground up, as though I've never heard of him

So please, answer my questions...

I'm sure more people than just me would benefit from your answers :D

Here are my questions, which all assume he exists:

Who - or what - exactly is he? What type of thing is he?

Is he even a "he" - is he a person or something else?

What does he do?

What does he look like?

What does he want?

Does he care about us?

Does he have a mind?

Does he have a personality - and if so what is he like?

What has he ever done for us?

Who am I in relation to God?

Who are you in relation to God?

What does he do?

What does he want us to do?

Does he have a plan?

Where does he come from?

Does he favour some people over others? Or some groups over other groups?

What is he going to do in the future?

Is it possible to have a relationship with him?

What type of thing is he? -- We seem to be made to be like Him -- John 10:34 Jesus replied, "Is it not written in your Law: 'I have said you are gods'?

What does he do? -- So many kinds of things. The Old Testament is very full of very entertaining accounts of what God does. You can skim past parts that don't seem interesting like genealogies or other listings, and get to parts where God does things, quite easily, as most chapters or passages have headings.
So, one could read about dozens of things God did in the texts in just an hour or 2.

What does he look like? -- We don't know precisely, as we could not in these mortal bodies look at His face and the mortal body survive that, but we are made "in His image" -- so much like us in that way it would seem.

What does he want? -- From reading fully through the common bible with listening to try to get the intended meanings, God wants us to trust in the Good, trust/value Love. Thus to trust in Him, since "God is Love" (1rst John chapter 4). And, to wish/long for righteousness, which is doing what is best, doing the good, living in mutual peace/love/brotherhood.

God Is Love
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
-- Bible Gateway passage: 1 John 4:7-21 - English Standard Version


Does he care about us? -- Yes, like a very wise parent, that lets us learn from our mistakes, but forgives us quickly whenever we repent of wrongs (like attacks on others, etc.). And He cancels all death of these mortal bodies -- transports us.

Does he have a plan? -- Yes, the Teacher, Jesus, came to instruct us in very many things about what God wants from us, and what is His plan for us.
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Does he favour some people over others? Or some groups over other groups? --
No. Romans 2:11 For God does not show favoritism.
and: "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Bible Gateway passage: Galatians 3:28 - New International Version
 

Nimos

Well-Known Member
That's how I've been raised to think about him but yes, very true, there may be more than one!

I don't, but I use that pronoun as that seems to be the convention
Probably because you start from the assumption that the Christian God is the right one right? there are lots of female gods in other religions. :)

And if there are more or just one it could be both, there is not really anyway to tell, you just have to pick one I guess :D
 

Eddi

Agnostic
Premium Member
I hadn't realized you were Christian when I wrote that answer above, but thought I was responding to @Nimos , since I didn't look closely at your info, and ya'll both have small animal pics ! heh heh So, Nimos, my answer was sorta to you also, if you like.
Easily done :D
 

Nimos

Well-Known Member
I hadn't realized you were Christian when I wrote that answer above, but thought I was responding to @Nimos , since I didn't look closely at your info, and ya'll both have small animal pics ! heh heh So, Nimos, my answer was sorta to you also, if you like.
I assume that it is post #11? :)

What type of thing is he? -- We seem to be made to be like Him
That doesn't really answer the question of what he is suppose to be :) I don't believe that the bible tells exactly what he is, except that he is the creator and obviously they assign a lot of attributes to him.

What does he look like? -- We don't know precisely, as we could not in these mortal bodies look at His face and the mortal body survive that, but we are made "in His image" -- so much like us in that way it would seem.
I didn't get the impression that God looked anything like a human when I read the bible at least, except maybe in genesis but otherwise, I would probably understand him as one of two things depending on what passage you talk about, one as presence, something that is there and unseen or he have taken some form to his liking, such as the burning bush etc.

What does he want? -- From reading fully through the common bible with listening to try to get the intended meanings, God wants us to trust in the Good, trust/value Love. Thus to trust in Him, since "God is Love" (1rst John chapter 4). And, to wish/long for righteousness, which is doing what is best, doing the good, living in mutual peace/love/brotherhood.
Yes and no, depending how and what parts of the bible one read :) In the OT, God is only interested in the Jews and them doing what he tells them and them seeing him as their God. He really doesn't give a rats *** about anyone else to be honest, in general. Depending on how one define love, I guess you are right, but lets just say that a lot of people, especially the Jews as his chosen ones die a lot, because they don't do as God want them to. He even tried to kill Moses :D

Exodus 4:20-26
20 - So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.
21 - And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.
22 - Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son,
23 - and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’”
24 - At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and sought to put him to death.
25 - Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!”
26 - So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.


So the OT God is a very different kind of love, I would say to put it nicely. :) Also remember despite all the stuff that Moses have done for God, he won't allow him to enter Israel, because Moses "pissed" him off.

As you move to the NT and Jesus comes into the picture, God is mostly in the background and we follow Jesus and him talking about love etc. However Jesus at no point, say that what God said in the OT is not true. So if I should put it in regards to love, then God want his version of what love means, which doesn't really seem to take general human beings into consideration. He again, seem to care somewhat for the Jews, all the stuff about everyone else, is added in the NT and barely found or mentioned in the OT as far as I remember, unless its in relationship to the Jews, such as them having to take care of foreign traders and so forth. Meaning something that would benefit the Jews.

Does he have a plan? -- Yes, the Teacher, Jesus, came to instruct us in very many things about what God wants from us, and what is His plan for us.
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Its not really obvious what exactly God want, again in the OT, he want the Jews to follow him and he will be their God. There is no mentioning of an afterlife or people being judged and going to heaven or hell or a new Earth etc. At least not what I remember. All that is added later in the NT. But even here, it doesn't really tell us anything about why or what his plan is, because if that is what he wanted, he could just do it. According to revelation it doesn't seem to be a huge problem for him to do.

Does he favour some people over others? Or some groups over other groups? --
No. Romans 2:11 For God does not show favoritism.
and: "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Bible Gateway passage: Galatians 3:28 - New International Version
Again, the God of the OT is completely different than the one in NT, he does not care about the gentiles or anyone else for that matter general speaking, except the Jews and only as long as they do not **** him off, as he will then spend most time killing and punishing them or complain to Moses about how ungrateful and useless they are, and Moses have to talk God out of killing to many of them. In regards to those that don't like or are the enemies of the Jews, God help or order the Jews to kill them, with no regards to whether they are children, women or whatever, that you would expect from a loving God, if he did in fact love all people. There is a lot of killing going on :)
 

1213

Well-Known Member
...

Who - or what - exactly is he? What type of thing is he?

Is he even a "he" - is he a person or something else?

What does he do?

What does he look like?

What does he want?

Does he care about us?
...

Here are few answers:

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
John 4:24

He who doesn't love doesn't know God, for God is love.
1 John 4:8

But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.
Mat. 5:44-45
 

halbhh

The wonder and awe of "all things".
I'll address the circumcision issue you pointed out at the end, but first something more important:

Yes and no, depending how and what parts of the bible one read :)
All of it. Reading the entirety.

If you read the entire Old Testament you would see the same conclusion as if you read the New Testament in some key ways:

God wants us to stop doing evil things to other people, and do good instead.

And... don't wait too long, because though God is slow to anger, He won't allow evil to continue without end.

He warns (many times) don't continue in evil, or He will remove those people, destroy their city (and then we know that the guilty among that people that are destroyed will become "spirits in prison").

Have a look at a great summary of the overall theme:

"Woe to the sinful nation,
a people whose guilt is great,
a brood of evildoers,
children given to corruption!
They have forsaken the Lord;
they have spurned the Holy One of Israel
and turned their backs on him.

5 Why should you be beaten anymore?
Why do you persist in rebellion?
Your whole head is injured,
your whole heart afflicted.
6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head
there is no soundness—
only wounds and welts
and open sores,
not cleansed or bandaged
or soothed with olive oil.

7 Your country is desolate,
your cities burned with fire;
your fields are being stripped by foreigners
right before you,
laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.
8 Daughter Zion is left
like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a hut in a cucumber field,
like a city under siege.
9 Unless the Lord Almighty
had left us some survivors,
we would have become like Sodom,
we would have been like Gomorrah.

10 Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom;
listen to the instruction of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!
11 “The multitude of your sacrifices—
what are they to me?”
says the Lord.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

12 When you come to appear before me,
who has asked this of you,
this trampling of my courts?
13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
14 Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
I am not listening.

Your hands are full of blood!

16 Wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong.
17 Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.


18 “Come now, let us settle the matter,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
(all sins forgiven....if you repent of evil doing)
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the good things of the land;
20 but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

------

This is an excellent summary from the Old Testament of the general theme, and can be expanded on with examples of promises of rewards for doing good, and destruction for doing evil.

------------
What is the symbolic meaning of the covenant of circumcision that Moses (and Israel) was required to follow? -- the practice itself is way to point out that we are not to be led by our flesh: our lusts and impulses to steal and abuse others.... But in the end God wants a circumcision of the heart. == stop doing evil, begin to do good.
 
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Rival

Si m'ait Dieus
Staff member
Premium Member
In the OT, God is only interested in the Jews and them doing what he tells them and them seeing him as their God. He really doesn't give a rats *** about anyone else to be honest, in general.
Job was a non-Jew.

Everyone in the Book of Genesis is a non-Jew.

Yonah was sent to Nineveh to preach to the people there, who weren't Jews.

The prophets mention non-Jews streaming to Jerusalem to worship God in the Messianic Era. He also has good things to say about non-Jews in these books as well.

Ruth was a non-Jew who joined the Jews.

God declared Koresh (Cyrus), a Persian likely Zoroastrian, in any case a non-Jew, his anointed.
 

halbhh

The wonder and awe of "all things".
Job was a non-Jew.

Everyone in the Book of Genesis is a non-Jew.

Yonah was sent to Nineveh to preach to the people there, who weren't Jews.

The prophets mention non-Jews streaming to Jerusalem to worship God in the Messianic Era. He also has good things to say about non-Jews in these books as well.

Ruth was a non-Jew who joined the Jews.

God declared Koresh (Cyrus), a Persian likely Zoroastrian, in any case a non-Jew, his anointed.
And Rahab. My favorite. A prostitute Canaanite that became part of the direct line of descent to King David and to Christ.
 
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