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What if God were one of us?

Muffled

Jesus in me
This concept grew out of Chinu's "Suppose" thread and a TV show where God appears to a teenage girl and gives her instructions.

"like a stranger on the bus" as the song continues.

Unless God identifies Himself it might be difficult to identify Him at first. Consider it a given that God could appear in any guise and our least likely person to be God image.

This is kin to Bible verse that says something to the affect that we could entertain angels unaware.

So 1. How would you know it was God.
2. If an unlikely person told you He was God would you believe Him or think He was nuts?
 

Madhuri

RF Goddess
Staff member
Premium Member
Based in my knowledge of Hinduism, God appears all the time without people knowing it's Him. He reveals his nature to some special individuals and when it happens, those people are left without a shadow of doubt. But using his illusory energy (Maya), he covers our perception so that we think we see an ordinary individual.

If God wanted us to know it was Him, he would make us know. If we see him but do not know him, it's because he is purposefully keeping the truth from us.

Therefore if a person told me he or she is God, I'd ask them to prove it to me, without a shadow of doubt.
 

BBTimeless

Active Member
This concept grew out of Chinu's "Suppose" thread and a TV show where God appears to a teenage girl and gives her instructions.

"like a stranger on the bus" as the song continues.

Unless God identifies Himself it might be difficult to identify Him at first. Consider it a given that God could appear in any guise and our least likely person to be God image.

This is kin to Bible verse that says something to the affect that we could entertain angels unaware.

So 1. How would you know it was God.
2. If an unlikely person told you He was God would you believe Him or think He was nuts?
This is why it is hard to take modern day "prophets" seriously. Since I have not had one of these experiences myself, I could only speculate. How would you know it was God? Outside of some divine demonstration, you wouldn't. I don't think asking for such a thing would be an outrageous request either for the reason you already addressed in the next part of your question. God would need to separate Gods-self from others who falsely claim the same thing.
 

Muffled

Jesus in me
Based in my knowledge of Hinduism, God appears all the time without people knowing it's Him. He reveals his nature to some special individuals and when it happens, those people are left without a shadow of doubt. But using his illusory energy (Maya), he covers our perception so that we think we see an ordinary individual.

If God wanted us to know it was Him, he would make us know. If we see him but do not know him, it's because he is purposefully keeping the truth from us.

Therefore if a person told me he or she is God, I'd ask them to prove it to me, without a shadow of doubt.

Is there something about His nature that is different from ours?

What would be proof? The Pharisees asked for a sign and then completely ignored it. Evidently they weren't so keen on knowing after all.
 

Muffled

Jesus in me
This is why it is hard to take modern day "prophets" seriously. Since I have not had one of these experiences myself, I could only speculate. How would you know it was God? Outside of some divine demonstration, you wouldn't. I don't think asking for such a thing would be an outrageous request either for the reason you already addressed in the next part of your question. God would need to separate Gods-self from others who falsely claim the same thing.

Welcome to RF.

So what kind of demonstration would define Him as divine?
 

YmirGF

Bodhisattva in Recovery
This is kin to Bible verse that says something to the affect that we could entertain angels unaware.
Oddly, this is one of my foundation class ideas on interacting with other human animals... It seems to work for me. Then again, I tend to expect the same, in return...
 

Storm

ThrUU the Looking Glass
This concept grew out of Chinu's "Suppose" thread and a TV show where God appears to a teenage girl and gives her instructions.
I adore Joan Of Arcadia! Well, s1 at any rate.... Have you seen Wonderfalls, by any chance? It's essentially a comedic take on the same premise.

Unless God identifies Himself it might be difficult to identify Him at first. Consider it a given that God could appear in any guise and our least likely person to be God image.

So 1. How would you know it was God.
Well, in the show, He proved it by working miracles through her, harkening back to the verse that "by their fruits you shall know them." There was also the bit about continuing one conversation through multiple avatars.

2. If an unlikely person told you He was God would you believe Him or think He was nuts?
As a panentheist, I don't believe it works that way, so I'd go with "nuts" until proven otherwise, a la the show.

I do vehemently agree with one of the quotes, though: "Miracles happen within the rules. That's why I came to YOU."
 

Muffled

Jesus in me
I adore Joan Of Arcadia! Well, s1 at any rate.... Have you seen Wonderfalls, by any chance? It's essentially a comedic take on the same premise.


Well, in the show, He proved it by working miracles through her, harkening back to the verse that "by their fruits you shall know them." There was also the bit about continuing one conversation through multiple avatars.


As a panentheist, I don't believe it works that way, so I'd go with "nuts" until proven otherwise, a la the show.

I do vehemently agree with one of the quotes, though: "Miracles happen within the rules. That's why I came to YOU."

The show made me laugh. Anyone who has walked with God knows how frustrating He can be and also how insistent at times. I haven't seem Womderfalls. What media is it in?

True. An ordinary person is totally surprised to find God doing miracles that way.

Did God do that simultaneously? He is capable of doing that. That would be so confusing, so in reality I wouldn't expect it unless God had a purpose such as demonstrating His omnipresence.

The reality is that we don't know all the rules. We don't know all a magician's tricks either so we just think of it as magic. Take healing for instance. God created the body so he knows how all the DNA fits together and He has the power to maniplate down to the sub-atomic level. That fits the rules; change camcer cells into healthy cells by changing the DNA and presto the cancer is healed.
 

chinu

chinu
This concept grew out of Chinu's "Suppose" thread and a TV show where God appears to a teenage girl and gives her instructions.

"like a stranger on the bus" as the song continues.

Unless God identifies Himself it might be difficult to identify Him at first. Consider it a given that God could appear in any guise and our least likely person to be God image.

This is kin to Bible verse that says something to the affect that we could entertain angels unaware.

So 1. How would you know it was God.
2. If an unlikely person told you He was God would you believe Him or think He was nuts?
:D..loll.

Well.. let everybody finish, i'll respond to this thread later.:)
 

Storm

ThrUU the Looking Glass
The show made me laugh. Anyone who has walked with God knows how frustrating He can be and also how insistent at times. I haven't seem Womderfalls. What media is it in?
DVD. Fox screwed it over, as they do most of their brilliant shows, and only aired 4 episodes, but you can get the complete series for like $20.

Did God do that simultaneously? He is capable of doing that. That would be so confusing, so in reality I wouldn't expect it unless God had a purpose such as demonstrating His omnipresence.
Well, not simultaneously until the season finale. But in the pilot, for instance, He appeared as Cute Guy, and asked her to get a job. When she didn't, the Lunch Lady avatar told her the same.

The reality is that we don't know all the rules. We don't know all a magician's tricks either so we just think of it as magic. Take healing for instance. God created the body so he knows how all the DNA fits together and He has the power to maniplate down to the sub-atomic level. That fits the rules; change camcer cells into healthy cells by changing the DNA and presto the cancer is healed.
I agree with the spirit of what you're saying, though again, I'm not a theist in the proper sense, so I differ on the minutia.
 

Madhuri

RF Goddess
Staff member
Premium Member
Is there something about His nature that is different from ours?

What would be proof? The Pharisees asked for a sign and then completely ignored it. Evidently they weren't so keen on knowing after all.

Yes, of course his nature is different. He is the Origin and the Whole. We are only tiny representations of a particular energy of his own being. Of course I speak from a Hindu perspective.

There are different ways that Krishna shows his divinity. In one story, as a child his mother was chastising him for stealing butter. When she opened his mouth to see the evidence she saw the entire universe within. Krishna demonstrated that all things exist within His Self.

As he says in the Gita: ""All this universe is pervaded by me in my invisible form; all things exist in me, but I do not exist in them."

Krishna%20opens%20mouth.JPG


In another instance, actually from the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna showed his universal form to Arjuna. His universal (or cosmic) form is the entire material existence in all its shapes and variations. It is generally depicted as literal faces and forms but it includes all aspects of the universe.

I think the artistic depictions, with the faces, represent the personification of the various elements of reality.

universal+form.jpg


Those are two examples.

As far as I know, nobody ever doubted the divinity of Krishna when he revealed his nature.
 
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Breathe

Hostis humani generis
So 1. How would you know it was God.
Because I believe everyone is part of God.

2. If an unlikely person told you He was God would you believe Him or think He was nuts?
Believe him in so much as I am a panentheist and it's the only possibility for myself to believe this; think he was nuts unless I was given evidence to support it for any claims of being specially God.

And, of course, I would say "The God in me salutes the God in you." :D
 

Sir Doom

Cooler than most of you
So 1. How would you know it was God.
2. If an unlikely person told you He was God would you believe Him or think He was nuts?

1. I would assume that they believe it at least. One never really knows anything.

2. I wouldn't necessarily believe him, but I would act as though he were telling the truth. I would test his resolve in this regard. In other words I would fight him. Not necessarily in the physical sense, although circumstances would dictate this. It should become clear rather quickly whether he is god or not.
 

chinu

chinu
This is why it is hard to take modern day "prophets" seriously.
Jesus was taken very seriously, That's why he was hanged on the cross using sharp nails.

Muhammed was also taken very seriously, That's why his flesh was removed from the bones.

Guru aurjan dev was also taken very seriously, That's why he was forced to sit on a hot griddle.

Buddha was also taken very seriously by the people of that time, That's why he was rewarded as great madman.

Yes! as compare to old age, its very difficult to take such people very seriously . :)
 

Penumbra

Veteran Member
Premium Member
This concept grew out of Chinu's "Suppose" thread and a TV show where God appears to a teenage girl and gives her instructions.

"like a stranger on the bus" as the song continues.
I loved that show until they cancelled it!

But I was a teenage girl at the time so it kind of fit.

Unless God identifies Himself it might be difficult to identify Him at first. Consider it a given that God could appear in any guise and our least likely person to be God image.

This is kin to Bible verse that says something to the affect that we could entertain angels unaware.

So 1. How would you know it was God.
2. If an unlikely person told you He was God would you believe Him or think He was nuts?
1. I think it would be nearly impossible to know if a being was god or not. And for those that believe god is everything, then by "god" I mean a character identifying as god and expressing omniscience and so forth.
2. I would not believe this person, unless they could prove it, and even then, there are doubts.

In the show, god made it pretty clear to her by appearing in so many different forms. It's pretty strong evidence to think that whoever she was talking to was either god or powerful enough to pretend to be.

But later in the series during a story arc, she started to feel a bit confused and abandoned, and the story was constructed to make it seem like she could be schizophrenic and making it up, casting doubt during that arc on the idea that she communicates with god. So they made it clear at first but then started to make it murky.
 

Nakosis

Non-Binary Physicalist
Premium Member
This concept grew out of Chinu's "Suppose" thread and a TV show where God appears to a teenage girl and gives her instructions.

"like a stranger on the bus" as the song continues.

Unless God identifies Himself it might be difficult to identify Him at first. Consider it a given that God could appear in any guise and our least likely person to be God image.

This is kin to Bible verse that says something to the affect that we could entertain angels unaware.

So 1. How would you know it was God.
2. If an unlikely person told you He was God would you believe Him or think He was nuts?

I suspect God would know what you need to convince you and provide.

Probably more so then you know yourself. So I don't think it'd be a problem if that was what God really wanted.
 

Storm

ThrUU the Looking Glass
But later in the series during a story arc, she started to feel a bit confused and abandoned, and the story was constructed to make it seem like she could be schizophrenic and making it up, casting doubt during that arc on the idea that she communicates with god. So they made it clear at first but then started to make it murky.
No, she had Lyme disease. Hallucinations were a symptom, but the question was resolved (for the audience), when the original avatar visited her while sleeping. I adored that... it was the most eloquent portrayal of the mystics dilemma I've ever seen.
 
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