Etymology of 'God'

god
O.E. god "supreme being, deity," from P.Gmc.
*guthan (cf. Du. god, Ger. Gott, O.N. guð, Goth. guþ😉,
from PIE *ghut- "that which is invoked" (cf. Skt. huta-
"invoked," an epithet of Indra), from root *gheu(e)-
"to call, invoke." But some trace it to PIE *ghu-to- "poured,"
from root *gheu- "to pour, pour a libation"
(source of Gk. khein "to pour," khoane "funnel" and khymos "juice;"
also in the phrase khute gaia "poured earth," referring to a burial mound).

It seems that the origins of the term 'god' refer to the spirit immanent
in a burial mound. I wonder how it changed to the more encompassing
modern day version?

"I want my lawyer, my tailor, my servants, even my wife to believe in God,
because it means that I shall be cheated and robbed and cuckolded less often. ...
If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him." [Voltaire]

Was it necessary to invent the word 'God' in our dictionaries to describe
a supreme being or to describe a system of control?

Originally posted by Thequ1ck
"I want my lawyer, my tailor, my servants, even my wife to believe in God,
because it means that I shall be cheated and robbed and cuckolded less often. ...
If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him." [Voltaire]

Was it necessary to invent the word 'God' in our dictionaries to describe
a supreme being or to describe a system of control?

Did you know Isaac Asimov wrote a commentary on the Bible?

I read some of it. Not too much.

Originally posted by Thequ1ck
"I want my lawyer, my tailor, my servants, even my wife to believe in God,
because it means that I shall be cheated and robbed and cuckolded less often. ...
If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him." [Voltaire]

Was it necessary to invent the word 'God' in our dictionaries to describe
a supreme being or to describe a system of control?

The invention is, "there is no God."

Originally posted by josephw
The invention is, "there is no God."

In this life, in this life, in this life
In this oh sweet life
We're coming in from the cold
We're coming in, coming in, coming in
Coming in from the cold

It's you, it's you, it's you I'm talking to
Well you, it's you, it's you
It's you I'm talking to now
Why do you look so sad and foresaken
When one door is closed
Don't you know another is open

Would you let the system
Make you kill your brotherman
No dread no
Would you make the system
Make you kill your brotherman
No dread no
Would you make the system
Get on top of your head again
No dread no
Well the biggest man you ever
Did see was just a baby

- Coming in from the cold. - Bob Marley

Originally posted by josephw
The invention is, "there is no God."

Do you believe that that was invented? Or were you just being rude?
What about religions other than your own? Did they invent their gods?

Originally posted by twhitehead
Do you believe that that was invented? Or were you just being rude?
What about religions other than your own? Did they invent their gods?

Whether they invented them or not has nothing to do with the existance or non-existance of god, the two concepts are completely separate. God may or may not exist but certainly not because some person just up and said, there is a god, therefore there is a god.

Originally posted by sonhouse
Whether they invented them or not has nothing to do with the existance or non-existance of god, the two concepts are completely separate. God may or may not exist but certainly not because some person just up and said, there is a god, therefore there is a god.

That depends upon how the person acts. One person saying there is a God may not mean too much.

Another person saying so and acting in a convincing way that there really is, has to be taken more seriously.

Originally posted by jaywill
That depends upon how the person acts. One person saying there is a God may not mean too much.

Another person saying so and acting in a convincing way that there really is, has to be taken more seriously.

I think sonhouse was saying than in no way do such actions create reality.

Originally posted by sonhouse
Whether they invented them or not has nothing to do with the existance or non-existance of god, the two concepts are completely separate. God may or may not exist but certainly not because some person just up and said, there is a god, therefore there is a god.

I agree, I just wanted to know whether he seriously thinks that atheists are essentially closet theists who 'invented' their professed beliefs.

Originally posted by Thequ1ck
god
O.E. god "supreme being, deity," from P.Gmc.
*guthan (cf. Du. god, Ger. Gott, O.N. guð, Goth. guþ😉,
from PIE *ghut- "that which is invoked" (cf. Skt. huta-
"invoked," an epithet of Indra), from root *gheu(e)-
"to call, invoke." But some trace it to PIE *ghu-to- "poured,"
from root *gheu- "to pour, pour a libation"
(source of Gk. khein "to und. I wonder how it changed to the more encompassing
modern day version?

This is very dependent on which language you chose, so I believe we can't really know much about the origin of that belief throught etimology alone.

For example, in my own language we still keep the Latin word for God (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus) which comes directly from the main Proto-Indo-European deity "Dyeus" (from which the name Zeus also stems from).

Originally posted by Palynka
This is very dependent on which language you chose, so I believe we can't really know much about the origin of that belief throught etimology alone.

For example, in my own language we still keep the Latin word for God (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus) which comes directly from the main Proto-Indo-European deity "Dyeus" (from which the name Zeus also stems from).

'The word "Deus," through "Dei," is the root of deism, pandeism, panendeism, and polydeism, ironically all of which are theories in which any divine figure is absent from intervening in human affairs. This curious circumstance originates from the use of the word "deism" in the 17th and 18th centuries as a contrast to the prevailing "theism", belief in an actively intervening God'

I'm beginning to wonder if the adaptations of how we perceive 'God'
were in some part driven by the greater need for control as
society grew and adapted. Could this also be the mark of our current
situation and our need to yet again redefine 'God'?