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Does God Love Humans

idav

Being
Premium Member
Does God love humans or has it grown into hate or anger towards humans?

When we look at the world around us, does it give you feelings that, if there is a God, that it's rather apathetic to the human plight or God is loving and benevolent? Perhaps God is just so perfect and all knowing that it just considers human suffering insignificant.

My take is God is within all, and as such, is right here with us, suffering as humans do, loving as humans do, and anger too. The reason it seems this way is because humans make it so, we all have the power to do great harm or good.

"Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required." Luke 12:48

Maybe you think it is all just wishful thinking, that we are just animals with overactive imaginations projecting feelings into the unknown?

What's the verdict?
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
Since I believe that God is in the heart of all, to me the question is does God as conceived of as separate love himself as sleeping in the heart of all.
 

Brickjectivity

Turned to Stone. Now I stretch daily.
Staff member
Premium Member
You are asking the big question about life, the universe and everything, and you want it in a tweet. People read descriptions, but unless they perceive it for themselves the descriptions never do service. There are things that we can perceive but that we cannot describe, and there are things that cannot be described. People have long struggled against the strange fact that not everything bears describing. We are very conceptual, and so we want to conceptualize things by approximating, visualizing and guessing.

Maybe you think it is all just wishful thinking, that we are just animals with overactive imaginations projecting feelings into the unknown?
I think God is a discovery that individuals make. I think your description of a force in our hearts is partly how many perceive God, however I tend to think God is bigger than that force for good in us. I mean that's great, and I care about that force. Whatever lets you perceive God, good for you. I think our concepts of God lack the dimensions necessary to really visit the topic. I think that our own existence is not what it appears to be, and so there is an order to things that we don't perceive easily. I'm not suggesting immortality or ghosts or anything specific. I'm just saying that some very beautiful and amazing things can go right past us without our noticing, simply because we lack the capacity to perceive anything more complicated than simple geometry. We can be blind even while seeing.
 

The Emperor of Mankind

Currently the galaxy's spookiest paraplegic
Does God love humans or has it grown into hate or anger towards humans?

When we look at the world around us, does it give you feelings that, if there is a God, that it's rather apathetic to the human plight or God is loving and benevolent? Perhaps God is just so perfect and all knowing that it just considers human suffering insignificant.

My take is God is within all, and as such, is right here with us, suffering as humans do, loving as humans do, and anger too. The reason it seems this way is because humans make it so, we all have the power to do great harm or good.

"Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required." Luke 12:48

Maybe you think it is all just wishful thinking, that we are just animals with overactive imaginations projecting feelings into the unknown?

What's the verdict?

If you're talking about the Christo-Islamic god, then no. It doesn't. It says in two volumes of scripture it intends to condemn us to eternal torture for the finite 'crime' of not believing the flimsy and unreasonable claims of one religion or another. That's sheer cruelty - especially on the part of an omnipotent deity who doesn't need to throw us into the fire.
 

danieldemol

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
I hope there is a God that loves humans, but whether there is or not we should still endeavour to care for our fellow humans
 

Lyndon

"Peace is the answer" quote: GOD, 2014
Premium Member
i think God is an immensely powerful force of goodness and love, loving each and every one of us, I think God is the reason life is as good as it is, that evolution was as successful as it was, and that the universe doesn't just self destruct, I do, though think that there are limits to God's power, that everything that goes wrong is not God's fault, and that there are very powerful forces of evil and destruction that fight against God's influence.
 

Polymath257

Think & Care
Staff member
Premium Member
I'm reminded of the W. C. Fields line, "I love children, if they are properly cooked'.

Maybe hell is the rotisserie.
 

Mister Silver

Faith's Nightmare
When we look at the world around us, does it give you feelings that, if there is a God, that it's rather apathetic to the human plight or God is loving and benevolent? Perhaps God is just so perfect and all knowing that it just considers human suffering insignificant.

The latter is my personal assessment regarding the world in which we live.

I look at us being the ants of the anthill called Earth while god is above it all and unconcerned with the ants. Unless the ants invade our lawns with anthills or enter our homes, we usually pay them no mind. In fact, we understand that ants are beneath us, literally and metaphorically. I assume god views us the same way we view ants.
 

PureX

Veteran Member
Does God love humans or has it grown into hate or anger towards humans?
As we love each other, so we are 'loved by God'. As we forgive each other, so we are 'forgiven by God'. And as we are kind and generous with each other, we are expressing the 'spirit of God' within us.

When we look at the world around us, does it give you feelings that, if there is a God, that it's rather apathetic to the human plight or God is loving and benevolent? Perhaps God is just so perfect and all knowing that it just considers human suffering insignificant.

My take is God is within all, and as such, is right here with us, suffering as humans do, loving as humans do, and anger too. The reason it seems this way is because humans make it so, we all have the power to do great harm or good.
"God" is the divine spirit that exists within us all. But we have to choose to recognize it, and to embody it, if we want to see it being manifested in our lives, and in the lives of others. This spirit is not being forced upon us, or forced within us. We must choose to embody it.

Maybe you think it is all just wishful thinking, that we are just animals with overactive imaginations projecting feelings into the unknown?

What's the verdict?
I don't think it's wishful thinking at all. I can see the truth of it plain as day. And I can become a part of that truth by my own volition. Or not, also by my own volition.
 

idav

Being
Premium Member
Since I believe that God is in the heart of all, to me the question is does God as conceived of as separate love himself as sleeping in the heart of all.
That is a good question, I definitely don't know but I think there would be no separation, the separation is one great illusion we cling to.
You are asking the big question about life, the universe and everything, and you want it in a tweet. People read descriptions, but unless they perceive it for themselves the descriptions never do service. There are things that we can perceive but that we cannot describe, and there are things that cannot be described. People have long struggled against the strange fact that not everything bears describing. We are very conceptual, and so we want to conceptualize things by approximating, visualizing and guessing.
That can definitely be a problem in itself, communication being more a tool to communicate our deepest desires and feelings but ultimately is entirely inadequate for such a thing.
I think God is a discovery that individuals make. I think your description of a force in our hearts is partly how many perceive God, however I tend to think God is bigger than that force for good in us. I mean that's great, and I care about that force. Whatever lets you perceive God, good for you. I think our concepts of God lack the dimensions necessary to really visit the topic. I think that our own existence is not what it appears to be, and so there is an order to things that we don't perceive easily. I'm not suggesting immortality or ghosts or anything specific. I'm just saying that some very beautiful and amazing things can go right past us without our noticing, simply because we lack the capacity to perceive anything more complicated than simple geometry. We can be blind even while seeing.
Indeed.
If you're talking about the Christo-Islamic god, then no. It doesn't. It says in two volumes of scripture it intends to condemn us to eternal torture for the finite 'crime' of not believing the flimsy and unreasonable claims of one religion or another. That's sheer cruelty - especially on the part of an omnipotent deity who doesn't need to throw us into the fire.
To be fair father and son seem to be in some disagreements. Maybe thats why he was rebelling. That doesn't make it much better, and one can just as easily justify what your saying , a cruel god, using the bible.
I hope there is a God that loves humans, but whether there is or not we should still endeavour to care for our fellow humans
Well said, nothing wrong with hoping for and having faith in a benevolent God, and if it isn't so, nothing wrong with acting in a state of love anyway especially if thats whats hoped for.
i think God is an immensely powerful force of goodness and love, loving each and every one of us, I think God is the reason life is as good as it is, that evolution was as successful as it was, and that the universe doesn't just self destruct, I do, though think that there are limits to God's power, that everything that goes wrong is not God's fault, and that there are very powerful forces of evil and destruction that fight against God's influence.
I don't disagree with any of this, it jives with a pantheistic outlook. I see it as if god shared his power and with that there are forces more than willing to take full advantage, in a not so loving way.
I'm reminded of the W. C. Fields line, "I love children, if they are properly cooked'.

Maybe hell is the rotisserie.
Oh my, LOL, that's entirely possible. Reminds me of something I said in another thread saying maybe God is doing it all for the sharks. Gods just plumping us all up for the day he can feed his lovely fish.
The latter is my personal assessment regarding the world in which we live.

I look at us being the ants of the anthill called Earth while god is above it all and unconcerned with the ants. Unless the ants invade our lawns with anthills or enter our homes, we usually pay them no mind. In fact, we understand that ants are beneath us, literally and metaphorically. I assume god views us the same way we view ants.
I like this view a lot. When you look at ants they are going by just chemical reactions, cause and effect and we like to think we are so much higher than that. I can picture a god seeing humans as just cause and effect of chemical and physical interaction and they might just laugh at our thoughts of having any "free" will.
Yeah, He loves humans, but He has a way of showing it that seems unusual to us for whatever reasons.
Thats fair enough.
As we love each other, so we are 'loved by God'. As we forgive each other, so we are 'forgiven by God'. And as we are kind and generous with each other, we are expressing the 'spirit of God' within us.

"God" is the divine spirit that exists within us all. But we have to choose to recognize it, and to embody it, if we want to see it being manifested in our lives, and in the lives of others. This spirit is not being forced upon us, or forced within us. We must choose to embody it.

I don't think it's wishful thinking at all. I can see the truth of it plain as day. And I can become a part of that truth by my own volition. Or not, also by my own volition.
I agree though I tend to also believe that this force can be used for not so good things.
 

It Aint Necessarily So

Veteran Member
Premium Member
"God" is the divine spirit that exists within us all. But we have to choose to recognize it, and to embody it, if we want to see it being manifested in our lives, and in the lives of others. This spirit is not being forced upon us, or forced within us. We must choose to embody it.

Or just be good for goodness sake. Those with no gods can simply choose to be the best people they can be without having to choose to recognize any gods. You might be a better person for it than the one doing it for a reward from this spirit or to escape its punishment. Altruistic inclinations become habits of thought when they are continually reinforced, as do self-serving motives.
 

PureX

Veteran Member
Or just be good for goodness sake. Those with no gods can simply choose to be the best people they can be without having to choose to recognize any gods. You might be a better person than the one doing it for a reward from this spirit or to escape its punishment.
"God" is just a word. There's no need to fret over it. The spirit is real, and is really in us. And it is 'divine'. It will heal us and save us from ourselves if we will allow ourselves to embody it. Theist or atheist, ... it doesn't matter.
 

Brickjectivity

Turned to Stone. Now I stretch daily.
Staff member
Premium Member
I like this view a lot. When you look at ants they are going by just chemical reactions, cause and effect and we like to think we are so much higher than that. I can picture a god seeing humans as just cause and effect of chemical and physical interaction and they might just laugh at our thoughts of having any "free" will.
Happiness seems to be largely a function of luck. Knowledge is a pleasure, so you can count knowledge as favor from God. That is not very testable though. Knowledge does not guarantee happiness. As the ecclesiastical author says, it allows you to ponder your own death. You get to be on the bridge of the sinking ship. Ultimately nothing lasts, and so when it comes to favor with God you have to give yourself a zero score.

If we consult Ecclesiastes about it:
"(NIV) A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind." (Ecclesiastes 2:24)

"I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live...." (Ecc 3:12)

Here is where I disagree with Ecclesiastes:
"And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive." (Ecc 4:2) but maybe he is just being dramatic and doesn't really mean it. He is suggesting that God's favor lies with those who have never existed! That sounds stupid to me.

Overall, Ecclesiastes thinks that the happiest person is so busy enjoying life that they never ponder its length. I disagree. You know why? Because people enjoy everything even 'Being depressed'. All people are somewhat dissociated internally, never being just one thing. Even if we feel demotivated, buried and hopeless we get some kind of sick pleasure in it on a very deep level. In fact if a person is depressed for a very long time and kept alive they transform. You would think this to be impossible, but they transform. Their memory of the depressed time is as a terrible dream. As the Buddhists say, they become less attached. There is in fact no clarity about the real inner workings of human nature. We don't know what happens when we dream, whether happiness is a delusion or a real thing. It is a perception, and it has chemical effects.

Where I agree with Ecclesiastes is that it is really nice when you know that you're enjoying yourself; but where I disagree with them is in the assumption that God's favor rests with happy people. Even if you believe you are depressed, there is a part of you that relishes in it. Its sicko, but its true. That piece may be tiny, but its there. So people are always in favor with God from that standpoint.
 

idav

Being
Premium Member
Happiness seems to be largely a function of luck. Knowledge is a pleasure, so you can count knowledge as favor from God. That is not very testable though. Knowledge does not guarantee happiness. As the ecclesiastical author says, it allows you to ponder your own death. You get to be on the bridge of the sinking ship. Ultimately nothing lasts, and so when it comes to favor with God you have to give yourself a zero score.

If we consult Ecclesiastes about it:
"(NIV) A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind." (Ecclesiastes 2:24)

"I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live...." (Ecc 3:12)

Here is where I disagree with Ecclesiastes:
"And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive." (Ecc 4:2) but maybe he is just being dramatic and doesn't really mean it. He is suggesting that God's favor lies with those who have never existed! That sounds stupid to me.

Overall, Ecclesiastes thinks that the happiest person is so busy enjoying life that they never ponder its length. I disagree. You know why? Because people enjoy everything even 'Being depressed'. All people are somewhat dissociated internally, never being just one thing. Even if we feel demotivated, buried and hopeless we get some kind of sick pleasure in it on a very deep level. In fact if a person is depressed for a very long time and kept alive they transform. You would think this to be impossible, but they transform. Their memory of the depressed time is as a terrible dream. As the Buddhists say, they become less attached. There is in fact no clarity about the real inner workings of human nature. We don't know what happens when we dream, whether happiness is a delusion or a real thing. It is a perception, and it has chemical effects.

Where I agree with Ecclesiastes is that it is really nice when you know that you're enjoying yourself; but where I disagree with them is in the assumption that God's favor rests with happy people. Even if you believe you are depressed, there is a part of you that relishes in it. Its sicko, but its true. That piece may be tiny, but its there. So people are always in favor with God from that standpoint.
At that point its optimist vs pessimist. Nihilism vs whatever we can ponder. The mere fact that we are having this discussion precludes full nihilism.
 

It Aint Necessarily So

Veteran Member
Premium Member
"God" is just a word.

We're in agreement there.

The spirit is real, and is really in us. And it is 'divine'.

Here's where it's so much easier to be a faith based thinker. You get to make pronouncements like that as if they are fact. Look at this thread and the one on whether god has a sense of humor. No two believers seem to agree, but all are so sure, expressing whatever it is that they prefer to be the case as if it were.

It will heal us and save us from ourselves if we will allow ourselves to embody it.

Here's where you lose me again. I don't need healing or saving from myself. Heal what? As I've told you before, I'm happy.

What do these ideas have to offer somebody that is content with how life has proceeded without them?
 

Hawkins

Well-Known Member
Does God love humans or has it grown into hate or anger towards humans?

When we look at the world around us, does it give you feelings that, if there is a God, that it's rather apathetic to the human plight or God is loving and benevolent? Perhaps God is just so perfect and all knowing that it just considers human suffering insignificant.

My take is God is within all, and as such, is right here with us, suffering as humans do, loving as humans do, and anger too. The reason it seems this way is because humans make it so, we all have the power to do great harm or good.

"Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required." Luke 12:48

Maybe you think it is all just wishful thinking, that we are just animals with overactive imaginations projecting feelings into the unknown?

What's the verdict?

The analogical question is, do you like apples? How about the ones rotten and full of worms?
 

Hawkins

Well-Known Member
We're in agreement there.



Here's where it's so much easier to be a faith based thinker. You get to make pronouncements like that as if they are fact. Look at this thread and the one on whether god has a sense of humor. No two believers seem to agree, but all are so sure, expressing whatever it is that they prefer to be the case as if it were.



Here's where you lose me again. I don't need healing or saving from myself. Heal what? As I've told you before, I'm happy.

What do these ideas have to offer somebody that is content with how life has proceeded without them?

Christianity is about the believing of what have been written down by eye-witnesses, together with personal experience. He's talking about the second part. Experience and perception of the same thing may vary from person to person.
 
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