Excaljnur
Green String
I have some interesting thoughts about the nature of God, how he resembles human beings and what conclusions that leads to. For this post I am assuming that the Bible is correct in its statement that humans were created in God's image. Obviously, for the sake of argument, I am also assuming God exists [bear with me, this is just for fun]. If God does exist and we were created in his image, then it seems important to consider what is meant by “image.” I take image could mean physical image or behavioral image.
If God resembled our physicality, it is safe to assume that we lack his power (among many other things), and he lacks our frailty (among many other things). However, to say that we resemble his image in our physicality would mean that his appearance is that of us, limiting his appearance of anything else. Perhaps he could shapeshift and transform which would lead us into a depiction of an eternal being like a super hero from the Marvel Universe. While all this and more is a possibility if God resembled our physicality, in this post I am only investigating the possibility that we resemble God in our behavior. This leads to many interesting conclusions.
If we resemble God in our behavior, then to identify what human behaviors could resemble God’s, a fair question to get the ball rolling would be: What human behaviors make us “human?” Essentially, I am asking what criterion can qualify humanity to indeed be humanity. Humans have a capacity for reason, we can be logical, but also illogical. Our irrationality manifests often enough in our limited perspective, our hastiness and our emotion. The two polar opposite human behaviors that can cause so many internal conflicts are emotional judgments and rational judgments. If there were anything significant semblance of humanity in God, it would be either our fundamental capacity for reason, or our fundamental capacity to ignore or bypass reason.
If we break down these two qualities of humanity to simply reason and emotion, then we need to know what reason and emotion consists of. In this post, I will only discuss emotion. Many strong emotions influence us to a disconcerting extent. Arguably, the two strongest emotions are revenge and love. Revenge is driven by an internalized sense of reciprocity with whatever justification is necessary. Love, on the other hand, is driven by our inherent need as humans for a sense of belonging, connectivity, stability, companionship and emotional attachment. According to the Bible, there is good reason to believe that God resembles us emotionally. The paradigm shift from a vengeful God to a loving God from the Old to the New Testament demonstrate this. There is something troubling however of this semblance to God. A God of the traditional nature in omnipotent—all-powerful and all-knowing. For a God like this to be vengeful admits of a childish immaturity or of emotional insecurity. For anyone who has ever criticized the Bible, you have most likely encountered this strange nature of God—you wouldn’t want to follow a vengeful leader so why is God the exception? Insofar as most contemporary Christians are concerned, however, the New Testament loving God is the “current God”. Maybe God finally grew up.
If you are a person who has philosophically criticized the New Testament God, you may have encountered the argument that a perfect God is impossible since by creating humans and a universe He demonstrated a dissatisfaction to whatever was prior. Thus He admitted, in action, to a need which contradicts an attribute of the nature of perfection: to be without need. But for the sake of this investigation, I am assuming that God is omnipotent; as eternal, benevolent, all-powerful and all-knowing. Returning to the emotional semblance of God to humans, the position that God is in is entirely unique. According to general Christianity, there is one God, only one God. If indeed God resembled our humanity in the emotion of love, God’s solitary existence as the only God of his kind must be quite lonesome. Imagine being a Being of infinite love and only being able to share that love with a mortal species only capable of finite love. That must be frustrating. If anything, it is sad. I pity the God that everyone believes to be eternal and all-powerful and all loving, but has no companion to love. He has no equal to share in his infinite power and infinite love. Some may argue that God has all of us! But that is like citing the love that Kim Jong Un feels from his citizens, its just not the same as an intimate partner. In fact, I feel very sorry and am sympathetic for the position God has been in for the past three millennia. We all as humans have misunderstood His existence as the One God as a good thing when it may actually be the bane of His existence. God probably wants companionship, so when He created humans, He hoped that humans would learn about the world, through science, so that some day, a human would be able to transcend to Godhood, so that God may have a chance for intimacy that he has envied of humans and desired for so long.
Just speculation here, but if transcendence into Godhood so that God may have a true friend was indeed the purpose of human existence. Then He must be quite aggravated to have witnessed religion in His name resisting human scientific progress for over a millennia. It makes me just want to give God a hug! God may even be so desperate for company that He wouldn’t care what gender transcends first, He or She will love anyone that would be with Him or Her!
Let’s all take a moment to consider how we have taken advantage of God, used him to promote our own agendas, and diluted his being into philosophical discussion of his existence. God is a being to, and he needs love like everything does. lol
Thoughts? Questions?
Thanks!
If God resembled our physicality, it is safe to assume that we lack his power (among many other things), and he lacks our frailty (among many other things). However, to say that we resemble his image in our physicality would mean that his appearance is that of us, limiting his appearance of anything else. Perhaps he could shapeshift and transform which would lead us into a depiction of an eternal being like a super hero from the Marvel Universe. While all this and more is a possibility if God resembled our physicality, in this post I am only investigating the possibility that we resemble God in our behavior. This leads to many interesting conclusions.
If we resemble God in our behavior, then to identify what human behaviors could resemble God’s, a fair question to get the ball rolling would be: What human behaviors make us “human?” Essentially, I am asking what criterion can qualify humanity to indeed be humanity. Humans have a capacity for reason, we can be logical, but also illogical. Our irrationality manifests often enough in our limited perspective, our hastiness and our emotion. The two polar opposite human behaviors that can cause so many internal conflicts are emotional judgments and rational judgments. If there were anything significant semblance of humanity in God, it would be either our fundamental capacity for reason, or our fundamental capacity to ignore or bypass reason.
If we break down these two qualities of humanity to simply reason and emotion, then we need to know what reason and emotion consists of. In this post, I will only discuss emotion. Many strong emotions influence us to a disconcerting extent. Arguably, the two strongest emotions are revenge and love. Revenge is driven by an internalized sense of reciprocity with whatever justification is necessary. Love, on the other hand, is driven by our inherent need as humans for a sense of belonging, connectivity, stability, companionship and emotional attachment. According to the Bible, there is good reason to believe that God resembles us emotionally. The paradigm shift from a vengeful God to a loving God from the Old to the New Testament demonstrate this. There is something troubling however of this semblance to God. A God of the traditional nature in omnipotent—all-powerful and all-knowing. For a God like this to be vengeful admits of a childish immaturity or of emotional insecurity. For anyone who has ever criticized the Bible, you have most likely encountered this strange nature of God—you wouldn’t want to follow a vengeful leader so why is God the exception? Insofar as most contemporary Christians are concerned, however, the New Testament loving God is the “current God”. Maybe God finally grew up.
If you are a person who has philosophically criticized the New Testament God, you may have encountered the argument that a perfect God is impossible since by creating humans and a universe He demonstrated a dissatisfaction to whatever was prior. Thus He admitted, in action, to a need which contradicts an attribute of the nature of perfection: to be without need. But for the sake of this investigation, I am assuming that God is omnipotent; as eternal, benevolent, all-powerful and all-knowing. Returning to the emotional semblance of God to humans, the position that God is in is entirely unique. According to general Christianity, there is one God, only one God. If indeed God resembled our humanity in the emotion of love, God’s solitary existence as the only God of his kind must be quite lonesome. Imagine being a Being of infinite love and only being able to share that love with a mortal species only capable of finite love. That must be frustrating. If anything, it is sad. I pity the God that everyone believes to be eternal and all-powerful and all loving, but has no companion to love. He has no equal to share in his infinite power and infinite love. Some may argue that God has all of us! But that is like citing the love that Kim Jong Un feels from his citizens, its just not the same as an intimate partner. In fact, I feel very sorry and am sympathetic for the position God has been in for the past three millennia. We all as humans have misunderstood His existence as the One God as a good thing when it may actually be the bane of His existence. God probably wants companionship, so when He created humans, He hoped that humans would learn about the world, through science, so that some day, a human would be able to transcend to Godhood, so that God may have a chance for intimacy that he has envied of humans and desired for so long.
Just speculation here, but if transcendence into Godhood so that God may have a true friend was indeed the purpose of human existence. Then He must be quite aggravated to have witnessed religion in His name resisting human scientific progress for over a millennia. It makes me just want to give God a hug! God may even be so desperate for company that He wouldn’t care what gender transcends first, He or She will love anyone that would be with Him or Her!
Let’s all take a moment to consider how we have taken advantage of God, used him to promote our own agendas, and diluted his being into philosophical discussion of his existence. God is a being to, and he needs love like everything does. lol
Thoughts? Questions?
Thanks!
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