Atheists...

[wabisabi]

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that we are wrong and that some sort of deity(ies) created the Earth. Have you given any thought to what attributes that deity would or would not have?


I would guess that it would be genderless and incorporeal.

 

[Katzpur]

I would guess that it would be genderless and incorporeal.

Why?

 

[wabisabi]

Why?

Dunno. Gender and a solid body just seem like Earthly constructs to me.

 

[Katzpur]

Dunno. Gender and a solid body just seem like Earthly constructs to me.

Fair enough. The God I worship actually has both a gender and a corporeal body. Weird, huh?

 

[Father Heathen]

If there's a god, I think the deist perspective would be the correct one. The idea that a supreme omnimax creator being would just so happen to have both the physical and behavioral characteristics of a particular species of primate on a particular planet just seems so ridicilous.

 

[Father Heathen]

Fair enough. The God I worship actually has both a gender and a corporeal body. Weird, huh?

What use, need or purpose would a god have for such things? It's as if we made god in our image instead of the other way around.

 

[Smoke]

Dunno. Gender and a solid body just seem like Earthly constructs to me.

Gender and a solid body seem like earthly realities to me. I think the notion of genderless, noncorporeal beings seems more likely to be a fabrication.

 

[Sunstone]

I figure if there is a deity, that deity is co-extensive with the universe and cannot be distinguished from it.

 

[gnomon]

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that we are wrong and that some sort of deity(ies) created the Earth. Have you given any thought to what attributes that deity would or would not have?


I would guess that it would be genderless and incorporeal.

The assumption that God has a gender also assumes that it needs to mate which leads to pre-Christian concepts, such as ancient Greek mythology involving Gaia and what not, that the God needs to physically reproduce. This type of theistic belief lends credence to an imperfect God as oft describe by various European pagan beliefs involving Zeus or Wotan.

Then we have other anthropomorphic concepts such as jealousy, love, hate, etc. It should be noted that this theistic concept is no more or less valid then other concepts of God provided by the new monotheistic concept provided by Judaism and its antecedents or other various religious concepts found in China or tribal animistic beliefs. They all involve some sort of humanizing, or anthropomorphizing, of a divine concept.

Then the question becomes what value we find in attributing such physical values into a being that can also be posited as immaterial. The answer is it is meaningless or we must rely on an alien intelligence that is not theistic but rather a so called superior or more intelligent life form. In any event, it still amounts to a speculative conjecture that serves no practical function.

To be the party pooper I would have to say in the end that for all practical purposes such an endeavor is entirely useless. We have nothing to gain for positing attributes to a supposed being when everything we do relies nothing whatsoever on such a being.

 

[wabisabi]

Gender and a solid body seem like earthly realities to me. I think the notion of genderless, noncorporeal beings seems more likely to be a fabrication.

Oh, I agree, this is just a 'what if...' type question.

 

[Smoke]

The assumption that God has a gender also assumes that it needs to mate which leads to pre-Christian concepts, such as ancient Greek mythology involving Gaia and what not, that the God needs to physically reproduce. This type of theistic belief lends credence to an imperfect God as oft describe by various European pagan beliefs involving Zeus or Wotan.

Not that I believe in either, but the pagan, imperfect gods seem far more likely to me than the omnimax god of the Abrahamic religions.

 

[Jeremy Mason]

Fair enough. The God I worship actually has both a gender and a corporeal body. Weird, huh?

"Both a gender"....

While I can conceive our God as possiblly being genderless, from a Biblical POV and from what I have gathered a Mormon POV? God has a gender.

*runs for cover*

I think God was talking to people with an unfortunate mindset. Jesus corrected the them about a few of there mind sets.

..."an eye for an eye"...

*runs for cover*

corporeal...
corporeal - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

Weird, huh?

Was Jesus the a) and b)?

 

[Alceste]

I've given a lot of thought to my cosmology, being an intensely mystical non-theist. I think Taoism is quite similar to what I've come up with. The wellspring of creation (or, in Taoism, the "birthplace of the ten-thousand things") is at a point of equilibrium between opposites. Examples being male-female, heat-cold, action-stillness, rising-sinking, and especially (with a nod to Stuart Kauffman), order-chaos. This state, or point, or dimension, or universal law, or whatever you want to call it, has no attributes that can be understood or described by human thought or speech. It can only be experienced, and then only after decades of dedicated practice of some form of engagement.

Phenomena theists attribute to their god/s are manipulations of this creative dimension / law / state / force, which appears to respond (sometimes) to intent when coupled with the conscious experience of it.

All of the above is only metaphorically true.

 

[Jeremy Mason]

I've given a lot of thought to my cosmology, being an intensely mystical non-theist. I think Taoism is quite similar to what I've come up with. The wellspring of creation (or, in Taoism, the "birthplace of the ten-thousand things") is at a point of equilibrium between opposites. Examples being male-female, heat-cold, action-stillness, rising-sinking, and especially (with a nod to Stuart Kauffman), order-chaos. This state, or point, or dimension, or universal law, or whatever you want to call it, has no attributes that can be understood or described by human thought or speech. It can only be experienced, and then only after decades of dedicated practice of some form of engagement.

Phenomena theists attribute to their god/s are manipulations of this creative dimension / law / state / force, which appears to respond (sometimes) to intent when coupled with the conscious experience of it.

All of the above is only metaphorically true.

Frubals!

 

[Nepenthe]

I figure if there is a deity, that deity is co-extensive with the universe and cannot be distinguished from it.

Same here.
Any sentient omni-present being I can invent would not have any attributes to speak of. The closest I can conjure up in my head would be a form of pantheism, a god that is synonymous with the universe. A god that came into being moments after the Big Bang and is part of physical existence. A god who never intervened, a god whose consciousness is composed of galaxies and universes in the same way ours is the complex interaction of neurons.

 

[Willamena]

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that we are wrong and that some sort of deity(ies) created the Earth. Have you given any thought to what attributes that deity would or would not have?


I would guess that it would be genderless and incorporeal.

I suppose it would be attributeless.

 

[Caladan]

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that we are wrong and that some sort of deity(ies) created the Earth. Have you given any thought to what attributes that deity would or would not have?


I would guess that it would be genderless and incorporeal.

I'm always getting to the conclusion that the concept of pure 'divinity' is too abstract to define by my own psychological projections.
The Universe is vast, our history is young, we have a much to explore, I will leave God to the realm of concepts for now.

 

[Inky]

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that we are wrong and that some sort of deity(ies) created the Earth. Have you given any thought to what attributes that deity would or would not have?

I'm with Smoke. I would expect a god or gods that are powerful, knowledgeable, long-lived, and possibly involved in human affairs, and they may even have created humans or interfered with nature to encourage the creation of humans. But I wouldn't expect them to be all-powerful or to be the creators of the universe.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that we are wrong and that some sort of deity(ies) created the Earth. Have you given any thought to what attributes that deity would or would not have?

Most likely nothing at all like god as defined by human religions.

 

[Katzpur]

What use, need or purpose would a god have for such things? It's as if we made god in our image instead of the other way around.

Obviously, as a Christian, my belief that God created us in His image instead of the other way around is based on the fact that this is what the Bible says. As to what use God would have for a body, here's a quote from the "Clementine Homilies," a Jewish Christian document based on a second-century source:

And Simon said: "I should like to know, Peter, if you really believe that the shape of man has been moulded after the shape of God." And Peter said, "I am really quite certain, Simon, that this is the case... It is the shape of the just God."

"For He has shape, and He has every limb primarily and solely for beauty's sake, and not for use. For He has not eyes that He may see with them; for He sees on every side, since He is incomparably more brilliant in His body than the visual spirit which is in us, and He is more splended than everything, so that in comparison with Him the light of the sun may be reckoned as darkness. Nor has He ears that He may hear; for He hears, perceives, moves, energizes, acts on every side. But He has the most beautiful shape on account of man, that the pure in heart may be able to see him... For He moulded man in His own shape as in the grandest seal..."

The Bible states that we are His "offspring," not merely His creations. Can you name the offspring of any species that does not resemble its parents? If you can, I'll reconsider my perspective. I don't really want to get off on my beliefs. The author of this thread was looking for responses from atheists, and I don't want to derail her thread. I just thought that since there were no posts at the time I put in my two cents, my comments might get the ball rolling. Always trying to be of service. :angel2: