Monotheists: How do you describe your God?

[nilsz]

Recently when I was reading the Old Testament, hoping to better understand the context of passages, perhaps even uncover some non-obvious wisdom in Abrahamic religion, I talked about it with a friendly acquaintance.

She said that it should probably not be taken too literally. In her view, God is the "goodness within our hearts," which I understood to mean our capacity for good, or the spirit of goodness. But that implies that I, who call myself atheist, believe in what she calls God, even though I don't call it God.

This leads me to wonder what common believers mean by God, so I ask. Here are some probing questions:


Do you consider your belief in God to be more an attitude than an opinion? And if so, do you believe atheists lack this attitude?

Do you consider God to be an intelligent being? Is the word 'intelligent' applicable to your God?

Do you consider God to be the supreme arbiter of morality? And if so, how do you tell what He considers moral?

 

[StarryNightshade]

Do you consider your belief in God to be more an attitude than an opinion? And if so, do you believe atheists lack this attitude?

I'm not quite sure I understand this question. What exactly do you mean by an "attitude"?

Do you consider God to be an intelligent being? Is the word 'intelligent' applicable to your God?

Define "intelligent". Do you mean if I consider God to be conscious or sentient? As in similar to the classical monotheistic concept? If we're going by those definitions, I guess my answer is "not really". As a Deist, the way I view God is akin to the Tao or Brahman.

Do you consider God to be the supreme arbiter of morality? And if so, how do you tell what He considers moral?

Again, as a Deist, I believe there is a higher being, but not one who micromanages everything or is where all morality comes from. So the answer to this question is "no".

 

[nilsz]

@StarryNightshade:

By attitude I mean an inclination to behave in certain ways or for a given purpose.

Do you define your God as at least the natural world? Does God include anything more than the natural world?

 

[The Sum of Awe]

Recently when I was reading the Old Testament, hoping to better understand the context of passages, perhaps even uncover some non-obvious wisdom in Abrahamic religion, I talked about it with a friendly acquaintance.

She said that it should probably not be taken too literally. In her view, God is the "goodness within our hearts," which I understood to mean our capacity for good, or the spirit of goodness. But that implies that I, who call myself atheist, believe in what she calls God, even though I don't call it God.

That's because God isn't a name, it's a title. You can believe in "manager" without the person being your manager, just a manager in general.

However, there are some religions that create an entirely different entity that hasn't been observed, and labeling it God. In that case, you might not believe in said entity, but even if you did, you still might not find it correct to rank it as God.

 

[Tumah]

Recently when I was reading the Old Testament, hoping to better understand the context of passages, perhaps even uncover some non-obvious wisdom in Abrahamic religion, I talked about it with a friendly acquaintance.

She said that it should probably not be taken too literally. In her view, God is the "goodness within our hearts," which I understood to mean our capacity for good, or the spirit of goodness. But that implies that I, who call myself atheist, believe in what she calls God, even though I don't call it God.

It seems to me that this is the type of thing you say when you don't really buy into the religion but still want to make it relevant for cultural reasons. I see this as a reinterpretation of Scriptures through the assumption that the author himself didn't believe in G-d.

This leads me to wonder what common believers mean by God, so I ask. Here are some probing questions:


Do you consider your belief in God to be more an attitude than an opinion? And if so, do you believe atheists lack this attitude?

No definitely not. At least from a Scriptural standpoint, there is much to indicate that G-d is not just a positive attitude.

Do you consider God to be an intelligent being? Is the word 'intelligent' applicable to your God?

I believe that G-d is intelligent in that He knows everything and is aware of everything. But I also think that I am only making these statements in order to relate an idea that can't actually be described. Knowledge as we understand it, is not something that is relevant to G-d. For instance, there is me and there is my knowledge. But G-d is One, so there is no difference between G-d and His knowledge. Or Him and His Intelligence. I think that is a classification that defies finite description.

Do you consider God to be the supreme arbiter of morality? And if so, how do you tell what He considers moral?

I think morality are a man-made invention. The fact that morality is dynamic proves that. Every nation and era has their own ideas of what is and is not considered moral. Which facets of Scriptural Law are considered moral today may not be the same as tomorrow. Scriptures though does not differentiate between not eating pig and not having an extra-marital affair.

 

[Levite]

Recently when I was reading the Old Testament, hoping to better understand the context of passages, perhaps even uncover some non-obvious wisdom in Abrahamic religion, I talked about it with a friendly acquaintance.

She said that it should probably not be taken too literally. In her view, God is the "goodness within our hearts," which I understood to mean our capacity for good, or the spirit of goodness. But that implies that I, who call myself atheist, believe in what she calls God, even though I don't call it God.

This leads me to wonder what common believers mean by God, so I ask. Here are some probing questions:


Do you consider your belief in God to be more an attitude than an opinion? And if so, do you believe atheists lack this attitude?

Do you consider God to be an intelligent being? Is the word 'intelligent' applicable to your God?

Do you consider God to be the supreme arbiter of morality? And if so, how do you tell what He considers moral?

I believe that God is Paradox. That He is both entirely immanent (present, close, knowable) and entirely transcendant (remote, unknowable). Though I think God has attributes not unlike those typically associated with an impersonal God (being the generative and maintaining force of all Creation), I also think He is ultimately personal-- intelligent, self-aware, reasoning, etc.

I think God is more than an attitude or an opinion-- He exists, He is. But I also don't think belief in His existence is necessarily tied to moral or ethical qualities: in other words, one can be an atheist and be a good person, and one can be a theist and be a bad person.

While I wouldn't call God an "arbiter of morality," I do think there are certain general ideas or behaviors God wishes to encourage in us-- seeing beyond ourselves, not getting wrapped up in greed and ego, recognizing the sacred and holy in other people and the world around us, striving to create just societies. And while I don't believe that God punishes (per se) those who reject those ideas and behaviors, I do think He offers limitless opportunities for such people to reconsider and to learn better. I believe that this is because He is a being of infinite mercy and compassion, and wishes His creations to evolve not only physically but also intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually.

 

[sindex.1983]

Do you consider your belief in God to be more an attitude than an opinion? And if so, do you believe atheists lack this attitude?

Do you consider God to be an intelligent being? Is the word 'intelligent' applicable to your God?

Do you consider God to be the supreme arbiter of morality? And if so, how do you tell what He considers moral?

God is infinite. That means, without limits; not finite. This also means that to a mortal mind - finite comprehension - God is literally incomprehensible in any way, shape or form.

This means that nobody knows the true name of God, or if God even has a name. We use the word God simply to refer to a region of our minds of which we are aware, but which remain ever-mysterious to us - our spirits. Unlike our bodies or our souls, the spirit is the essence of the creator inside us as Men. This image takes on a form that reflects the spiritual purity of the person thinking about God. A 'spiritually impure' person, ergo, cannot fathom God in any way, nor communicate with the Father.

But a spiritually pure person - one who has cleared away rational constructs from occluding their inner vision - can indeed interact with the image of God as it appears to them within their mind. The key to knowing that this is not self-delusion is that you are not inventing God as you go - you do not ascribe God any qualities, because you know you cannot comprehend him.

The biggest mistake people make in thinking about God is imagining God is a human being - that simply is not true. We may be reflections of God, yes, but that doesn't mean God feels, thinks, or experiences in any way like we do. So it is a clear mistake to think of God as a 'bearded man' who 'loves' you (and yet is judging you harshly at every moment).

Instead, recognize that God is hidden behind the images of Light that enter our minds, and that he speaks to us through mystery, using the material of our own minds to show us what he wants to say, because to hear the word of God would be to have one's mind obliterated (a finite comprehension would have all its boundaries destroyed by successfully receiving an essentially infinite communication).

Thus God does "work in mysterious ways", and this is only one of them.

Food for thought, hope you enjoy

 

[Urizen]

God is.

By saying that He is, one has said all else. His truth, goodness, beauty, compassion, infinitude, etc. - all are included by 'is'.

 

[Sand Dancer]

I like what Paul Tillich said. He is the Ground of All Being.

 

[Tumah]

God is.

By saying that He is, one has said all else. His truth, goodness, beauty, compassion, infinitude, etc. - all are included by 'is'.

That's an interesting take. Mine is the exact opposite. When I say G-d is, I mean since there is nothing that we can use to describe him -because everything in the world is subject to the creation and G-d is not-, the only thing that we can say about G-d Himself is that He is. More than that we don't know.

 

[sindex.1983]

Do you consider your belief in God to be more an attitude than an opinion? And if so, do you believe atheists lack this attitude?

Do you consider God to be an intelligent being? Is the word 'intelligent' applicable to your God?

Do you consider God to be the supreme arbiter of morality? And if so, how do you tell what He considers moral?

It is neither an attitude, an opinion, or even a belief. God for me is an undeniable reality that I see in every pattern of every thing I perceive every single day. The word "God", or any other word at all, falls short of the true intended meaning, which cannot be expressed in words.

Intelligence is a word which refers to the acquisition and application of information. Yes, God is intelligent, because in a sense everything we are aware of in existence is represented as rational information, whether that is a word, a picture, or a perception. I would even go so far as to say God is the Supreme Intelligence, the source of intelligence itself. God sees all, and knows all; God conditions all, and controls all, through patterns, without stripping away the ability to exercise free will. For example, each of us is faced with a myriad of choices we can partake in every single moment of our lives, but these choices, despite their seeming limitlessness, are finite. Thus we are constrained to a pattern of existence - we cannot choose to literally sprout wings and fly away, just as we cannot choose to wield the true power of God for ourselves. Yet within the choices available to us, we have free will. This is the design of a Supremely Intelligent Creator.

God is the creator of existence, and this includes the creation of morality itself. Thus God is indeed the arbiter of all morality. The way in which you ascertain to know what morality is is by consulting your conscience before acting; you are built with a moral compass that tells you whether something is right or wrong, it all depends on whether you are willing to use it or not, and contemplate with it. Essentially though, all morality boils down to the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" (or conversely, "Don't do unto others what you wouldn't have them do unto you", since we inhabit a universe which is a duality).

 

[Darkness]

I am a panentheistic Roman Catholic, so I believe that God is Pure Being. Or as the Book of Sirach says, "He is the all."

 

[Matemkar]

Salam.

Regarding the first question(s), I would say, the relation with God is the relation with ourselves, knowing ourselves and our potentials.. Since man is created from the image of God and is to return to Him, knowing God is more like knowing the self and wishing to meet the maker, the originator of the self..

[youtube]hxZoAni-8CE[/youtube]
The Reason of Creation - Hajj Khalil Jaffer - 4 Minutes
also

Prophetic Self-Conscious / Knowing the Self and Lord

About the last question, here is a good article on morality and moral values;

Eternity of Moral Values | Eternity of Moral Values | Books on Islam and Muslims | Al-Islam.org

ma salam

 

[Contemplative Cat]

God can be described as indescribable.

 

[ThePainefulTruth]

Do you consider your belief in God to be more an attitude than an opinion?

My God is Truth, which is basically everything that is. The belief in Truth isn't an attitude or opinion. Whether that Truth is conscious or not would be an attitude. You can claim absolute certainty that It is, that It isn't, or abstain due to lack of information and hyphenate "agnostic-" to your beliefs.

And if so, do you believe atheists lack this attitude?

Atheists can be hard or agnostic as well. In fact, as far as I can tell, atheists and deists are the only two reasonable positions on God, as long as certainty is not claimed (or expected to be communicable).

Do you consider God to be an intelligent being? Is the word 'intelligent' applicable to your God?

If Truth is conscious and the creator of the universe, it would be hard to think otherwise. If....

Do you consider God to be the supreme arbiter of morality? And if so, how do you tell what He considers moral?

If God exists, It created the universe ostensibly to spawn creatures like us with full self-awareness. That awareness automatically makes us aware of what it's like to be in the shoes of another. When we kill someone, we know that it's as final for them as it would be for us. This self-awareness enables us with an innate moral free will whereby we can choose to place a greater value on ourselves than on others, or not. It's a built in, natural moral code, which if God created the universe, you could say God put there.

From this, and the universal benefit of social good order (for all but anarchists and despots), we can deduce certain universal rights which none of us should violate in others. I think there are four such rights: To life, liberty, property and self-defense. We negate these rights when we violate the rights of another. All else is something other than morality, and should can be termed by convention as virtue. Morality is the only thing that should be made into law.