God is....

Originally posted by Kepler
... what exactly?

How would one know that one was in the presence of a god? Just for the sake of argument let us assume a plain vanilla god rather than a specific god. I don't want some tripe from a comic book regurgitated by the true believers and I don't want a blanket denial by the atheists.

Suppose someone knocks on your door, you open the door and ...[text shortened]... rk. If it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck etc. So what counts as quacking for a god?

for me it is the cumulative effect of those people who believe in that god. with Islam, you could say Allah does not exist prove me wrong. But the cumulative effect of Muslims believing in Allah is quite quantifiable.

God is tricky to prove but peoples propensity to believe in one, and the way this changes there actions is measurable, and very interesting.

Originally posted by e4chris
for me it is the cumulative effect of those people who believe in that god. with Islam, you could say Allah does not exist prove me wrong. But the cumulative effect of Muslims believing in Allah is quite quantifiable.

God is tricky to prove but peoples propensity to believe in one, and the way this changes there actions is measurable, and very interesting.

I'm not trying to "prove" god exists or doesn't. It just occurred to me that if we are to get beyond the shouting God exists! No he doesn't! stage we need to have some idea just what we are talking about. In addition, it's a big universe out there and there is no knowing what we might come into contact with. Would there be a point at which we accord the title god to the many-tentacled being from the planet Tharg?

Your idea that belief maketh the god is interesting. Can human belief create a god?

Originally posted by sonship

Seems we have evidence of illiteracy in the Spirituality forum. NOT a specific god so not this eponymous God character. How could you tell if some being was a deity of some sort? What attributes make a god?

Forgive me if I do not back track or apologize. I haven't any sense to retract what I wrote to you. You may claim my illiteracy if i ...[text shortened]... eryone else in the world grows strangly dims. You will have light on your OWN case, primarily.

As often squawked in this forum, this isn't about me and nor is it about you and your personal beliefs. I am just trying to ascertain what characteristics a god, any god, would have. I am not asking what makes your own personal god a deity. Try to think in general terms, if you had not already decided that one particular god is indeed a god, what would you require that god to have or be able to do to convince you?

Originally posted by Kepler
I'm not trying to "prove" god exists or doesn't. It just occurred to me that if we are to get beyond the shouting God exists! No he doesn't! stage we need to have some idea just what we are talking about. In addition, it's a big universe out there and there is no knowing what we might come into contact with. Would there be a point at which we accord the title ...[text shortened]... rg?

Your idea that belief maketh the god is interesting. Can human belief create a god?

Yes. thats what i think, and it has a very strong effect on people when you have a monotheistic god a Jewish / Christian / Muslim one.

I think believing in Gods, Hinduism, pre Jewish religions is superstitious, basically attributing what you don't understand about the world to gods. But having a single god is much more interesting and you can quantify that god by its believers yes...

Originally posted by e4chris
Yes. thats what i think, and it has a very strong effect on people when you have a monotheistic god a Jewish / Christian / Muslim one.

I think believing in Gods, Hinduism, pre Jewish religions is superstitious, basically attributing what you don't understand about the world to gods. But having a single god is much more interesting and you can quantify that god by its believers yes...

So we might say we know it's a god if enough people agree? I suppose that makes Prince Phillip a god as he is worshipped as such by the people of Tanna.

Originally posted by Kepler
... what exactly?

How would one know that one was in the presence of a god? Just for the sake of argument let us assume a plain vanilla god rather than a specific god. I don't want some tripe from a comic book regurgitated by the true believers and I don't want a blanket denial by the atheists.

Suppose someone knocks on your door, you open the door and ...[text shortened]... rk. If it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck etc. So what counts as quacking for a god?

Your query lends itself to specificity, whether you like the results or not.
Let me whack at the piñata a few times and see if we can get any candy to split.

Your description already narrows the search down to a personage who (at minimum) presents himself to man in a somewhat similar form, so let's start by taking that off the table and backtrack by one.

When we speak of someone in possession of anything 'god-like,' we're generally referring to their attribute as exceeding all other men in the consideration.
This typically references physical prowess, mastery, or just brute strength when it comes to athletic endeavors.
In non-athletic endeavors, we are usually considering analytic abilities, problem-solving prowess or even concision in thought.
These are but two main fields of activities man involves himself, with the assortment of others typically revealing themselves in one aspect or the other, and sometimes with combinations of both.
Yet none of us would mistake such individuals displaying such deftness as gods, per se.
We just merely acknowledge their isolated abilities as god-like.

To truly consider a being as a god, we would have to see more than simple parlor tricks of mastery over a select and limited scale.
We would want to see the origination of power, the creator of the attributes and aspects in question.
It is one thing to lasso a star with a rope of light, but it is another thing altogether to create the light in the first place.

Originally posted by Kepler
So we might say we know it's a god if enough people agree? I suppose that makes Prince Phillip a god as he is worshipped as such by the people of Tanna.

yes, Haile Selassie, he always denied being a prophet, quite a few times, but the rastas believe in him nonetheless. You can end up a prophet / god even if you don't want to be.

EDIT 🙂

Originally posted by e4chris
yes, Haile Selassie, he always denied being a profit, quite a few times, but the rastas believe in him nonetheless. You can end up a profit / god even if you don't want to be.

Depends on the fiscal year, really.

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
Your query lends itself to specificity, whether you like the results or not.
Let me whack at the piñata a few times and see if we can get any candy to split.

Your description already narrows the search down to a personage who (at minimum) presents himself to man in a somewhat similar form, so let's start by taking that off the table and backtrack by on ...[text shortened]... a rope of light, but it is another thing altogether to create the light in the first place.

I don't mind the specific results except that all just say God (a very specific god) is a god because he is one. I would be happier if those who believe in the godliness of said being put up something more than that or he's a god because I know he is and you would too if you knew he was.

Back to the task at hand. You would say that godlike abilities don't necessarily make a god? Hmmmm, the duck test fails then. If it quacks like a duck it might be a duck but not necessarily.

I suppose we could start by asking what one would consider godlike powers? We'd at least have a baseline then for something that might be a god. Or a duck.

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
Depends on the fiscal year, really.

And what tax dodges are being employed.

Originally posted by Kepler
I don't mind the specific results except that all just say God (a very specific god) is a god because he is one. I would be happier if those who believe in the godliness of said being put up something more than that or he's a god because I know he is and you would too if you knew he was.

Back to the task at hand. You would say that godlike abilities don't ...[text shortened]... ike powers? We'd at least have a baseline then for something that might be a god. Or a duck.

Then I guess you'll have to read my post again, since this has already been addressed!

Originally posted by FreakyKBH
Then I guess you'll have to read my post again, since this has already been addressed!

I know it has. I am thinking aloud. I am beginning to think a god is actually what enough people are willing to agree is a god. Even if something with the power to create whole universes with a wave of its metaphorical or allegorical appendages were to turn up there would be those willing to agree it is a god but there would still be others who would refuse to grant it god status for various reasons.

Originally posted by Kepler
That's a start. Our god job description can start with "Must be able to keep an infant happy for several hours".

Not every god has the same powers. Thor for example has a different set of god-powers than Jupiter, so it would be incorrect to demand a given god-power from a particular god.

Originally posted by Kepler
I am beginning to think a god is actually what enough people are willing to agree is a god.

I think generally, a god is just about any being that is super-human. However, the categories might be adjusted if you include a lot of super-human beings, so for example you might have lesser gods, or other beings below them but above humans.

This reminds me of the film 'The Avengers' where a god refers to humans as 'puny humans', but Hulk thrashes a the god around a bit then remarks 'puny god'.

Originally posted by twhitehead
I think generally, a god is just about any being that is super-human. However, the categories might be adjusted if you include a lot of super-human beings, so for example you might have lesser gods, or other beings below them but above humans.

This reminds me of the film 'The Avengers' where a god refers to humans as 'puny humans', but Hulk thrashes a the god around a bit then remarks 'puny god'.

I don't think we even need to include super-human. Prince Phillip is all too human and yet he is evidently a god by consensus.