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The Function of God

SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
What is God's function in your religion?

BONUS QUESTION: By what means have you gained this knowledge of God's function aside from what you've read or have been told? Or is reading about it or being told by someone else enough for you?
 

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
What is God's function in your religion?

BONUS QUESTION: By what means have you gained this knowledge of God's function aside from what you've ready or have been told? Or is reading about it or being told by someone else enough for you?

I cannot comment but that is one (two) very interesting question (s). Can't wait to read the replies
 

Guitar's Cry

Disciple of Pan
To define the boundary between the individual being and its relationship with the rest of the Universe.

For the bonus: This is through much introspection and my own study of philosophy and world mythology, as well as debating and discussing the subject with many wonderful folks.
 

leov

Well-Known Member
What is God's function in your religion?

BONUS QUESTION: By what means have you gained this knowledge of God's function aside from what you've read or have been told? Or is reading about it or being told by someone else enough for you?
Teacher + Sustainer. Many ways to obtain knowledge but ultimate one is meeting G-d on G-d's terms - in spirit.
 

WalterTrull

Godfella
You're kidding, right?
God is the father.
"Our father, who art in heaven..."
A little boost to the mental universe folks there too.
 

Dawnofhope

Non-Proselytizing Baha'i
Staff member
Premium Member
What is God's function in your religion?

BONUS QUESTION: By what means have you gained this knowledge of God's function aside from what you've read or have been told? Or is reading about it or being told by someone else enough for you?

God for Baha'is is a Deity whom we revere and come to know through His Chosen Manifestations. In that manner He provides us guidance and in turn He turn rewards or punishes us for good deeds or misdeeds.

I have had personal experiences of God, for example through dreams.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
I find 'function' an odd word in the context of God (Siva). God just is. Still,
He has 5 aspects to the dance ... emanation, sustaining, dissolution, revealing, and concealing.

All my knowledge is the knowledge of another soul or 2 of whom I trust. I got very little of this from my own, although I suppose His revealing grace played a part.
 

Guitar's Cry

Disciple of Pan
How does God accomplish this?

God doesn't, we do. I suspect concepts of God are archetypes derived from a supernormal stimulus of innate response mechanisms related to "parents."

I find the Christian mythology relating to Christ the Son being reborn after dying on the cross (the crux between the Self and Not Self) and going back to the Heavenly Father as poetically significant to the concept of death being a reunion of the individual with the rest of the Universe. While there is no actual disconnect, being an individual human tends to feel like there is one.
 

siti

Well-Known Member
I suspect concepts of God are archetypes derived from a supernormal stimulus of innate response mechanisms related to "parents."
So "God" "functions" as a kind of surrogate parent - psychologically speaking? Makes sense.

To the OP question - I don't think I have a religion as such, but I would like "God" to function as a kind of "wholeness" of nature to which we are drawn, and in appreciation and respect of which we guide our own decisions and actions - i.e. with respect for the whole of nature - including our own of course. I suppose that's a kind of pantheism.

For the bonus question, I have slowly come to the conclusion that that (above) is what I want "God" to be - of course I have read about many different views of God from many different religious angles - but after a half century of careful searching, I can honestly say I have absolutely no idea what, or even if, God really is...the only thing I am reasonably sure of is that if anyone tells you that they are absolutely sure of what God is, they are either mistaken or dishonest.
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
What is God's function in your religion?

Excerpt of a private dialog provoked by the OP....

"Well. Well. Well. What have we here, Uncle Sunstone?"

"Hmm... Looks like someone is asking intelligent questions regarding religion on RF, Nephew Nathan."

"Oh my gods, Uncle! Intelligent questions on RF? Oh my gods! Is he possessed by demons, Uncle? Is that it?"

"I doubt he's possessed by demons, Nephew Nathan. All the same, I must advise that you go nowhere near such a man, you understand?"

"No worries, Uncle Sunstone. I'm just a dumb 16 year old kid, but even I know better than to hang out with someone capable of such ruthless behavior as posting intelligent questions on RF! You don't need to worry about me, Uncle! You helped to raise me right."

"Whew! That's a relief, Nephew Nathan. That's a relief!"​
 

dianaiad

Well-Known Member
What is God's function in your religion?

BONUS QUESTION: By what means have you gained this knowledge of God's function aside from what you've read or have been told? Or is reading about it or being told by someone else enough for you?

He is the Creator of the universe...and, quite literally, our Father. I have come to believe this through reading, studying, and praying, getting what I truly believe to be direct answers to those prayers.
 

Brickjectivity

Turned to Stone. Now I stretch daily.
Staff member
Premium Member
What is God's function in your religion?

BONUS QUESTION: By what means have you gained this knowledge of God's function aside from what you've read or have been told? Or is reading about it or being told by someone else enough for you?
God's 'Function'? That is asking what use we have for God. God is a fact, a principle. God is a mountain not a hammer. What function has the mouse in your kitchen or the tree that you have never seen in a forest where you have never walked? What function does Gravity have? What is the function of existence? What is the function of time? These are things we attempt to describe and coexist with not things we make and have functions for.
 

Nakosis

Non-Binary Physicalist
Premium Member
What is God's function in your religion?

BONUS QUESTION: By what means have you gained this knowledge of God's function aside from what you've read or have been told? Or is reading about it or being told by someone else enough for you?

God's function is to dream.

Supposing there is a God, it is simply the answer that would make the most sense to me. All of the spiritual experience and religions I've looked into, this made the most sense. God is the great dreamer of which God's dreams become experiences of reality.

God, by dreaming, creates the realities we experience.

There is no knowledge of God. There is an experience of God. Maybe it comes from God, maybe not. This is what my experience of God led me to believe before I decided to no longer believe in God.
 

Guitar's Cry

Disciple of Pan
So "God" "functions" as a kind of surrogate parent - psychologically speaking? Makes sense.

And a super powerful surrogate parent!

Supernormal stimuli stimulate innate response mechanisms--instincts, in a sense--in a way that makes our reactions so much larger. Humans, being able to manipulate our environment, tend to create our own supernormal stimulus--bigger buildings, plastic surgery, brighter colors, saltier and sugery-er foods, gods that exemplify certain endearing qualities.
 

SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
As you are an Advaita Hindu, what is your answer to this question?

While I am not on the path of bhakti yoga, there are those Advaitins who are.

The purpose, in my understanding, of love and devotion to a personal god(s) in Advaita Vedanta is aid the jiva in living in accordance with their dharma and to facilitate the realization of one's true nature as Atman.
 

George-ananda

Advaita Vedanta, Theosophy, Spiritualism
Premium Member
While I am not on the path of bhakti yoga, there are those Advaitins who are.

The purpose, in my understanding, of love and devotion to a personal god(s) in Advaita Vedanta is aid the jiva in living in accordance with their dharma and to facilitate the realization of one's true nature as Atman.
How would you answer the questions:

Do you believe in God?

Are you an atheist?
 

SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
How would you answer the questions:

Do you believe in God?

Believe? I believe it little that I have not experienced. The question is also problematic for me, as you have not defined "God," and I think you'll admit that there are many concepts of what "God" is.

If you are referring to "God" as a deity, no. But I respect and understand the reasons others do.

Are you an atheist?

No.
 
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