Personal God vs. Abstraction
By Tiaridakdyl
@Tiaridakdyl (114)
United States
April 15, 2010 10:51am CST
In a forum discussion, the idea of "God" was discussed - is God a personal god and what does that mean? I find it easier to believe God is a sentient SOMETHING way beyond a being; God is not restricted to sentience or really any other words we have.
Here's the question and one person's response:
What do you think when you hear someone say "personal God"?
1. A creator that chose to create mankind and is aware that She/He/It created mankind
2. A God belief system that includes the passing of judgment after death
3. A God that one prays to, and addresses by a name (whatever that may be)
4. A God that has a special interest in the fate of mankind
I don't believe in a personal God. I believe in a unifying consciousness that is within us all, but it is impersonal and indescribable by language.
I'm very interested in views on this because I first heard about God and Jesus as a young teen; I was told about the mainstream christian beliefs. I accepted it but started investigating religion overall. It was a matter of head belief, well, mostly. Until God revealed himself to me - that's a serious eye-opener!
Now I have answers of my own:
1. God is creator in the sense of being EXISTENCE - life arose from that. I do believe God is a sentient whatever God is, but far beyond anything sentience means. Way beyond definition in words or personality.
2. Judgment I think is the natural consequence of whatever you are. Whatever is not of God in you will not last in the full presence of holiness, purity that is God.
3. Prayer is a connection with God which involves unity with all. God truly is everywhere, in everything in a way I had never conceived before and hardly can now.
4. Special interest in mankind? It's hard to say, God does intervene in human lives but the details of how/when/why I don't have a clue. I can tell God's intervention is more than coincidence or merely my own ideas because "He" keeps surprising me! Things happen differently when I'm connected to God.
I hope this isn't too long but I would love to hear others views, experiences, and beliefs.
1 person likes this
3 responses
@Bengogogo (8)
•
31 Oct 10
Yes, certainly I think you're right in that God is not some sort of separate entity. What is coming to mind right now and a perspective that makes sense to me is that God is Life. So this means that God is in and in fact is all of life. Therefore God is right at the tip of our noses and is our noses. Somehow our egos or thoughts or something seem to be playing hide and go seek with God, which is sorta silly, cause that is us. Like a dog running away from its tail. Still, I feel I had perhaps a similar experience to you, and it really wasn't easy at all, just nothing this ego was anywhere near prepared for.
Blessings and good vibes to you!
1 person likes this
@innertalks (22093)
• Australia
5 Jan 16
"It is wonderful to experience the impersonal nature of God, how that presence is universal and all-inclusive. However, the danger in accepting that as an absolute is that in doing so we can fall into the trap of believing that transcending or going beyond our humanity is a virtue.
When individuality is left out, a sense of God’s presence is lost, because one can’t feel personal about the impersonal. As a result, the human being then finds himself or herself comfortless."
This quote is from an author called Walter Starcke. He believes that we can have our cake and eat it too, on this issue.
He reckons that God is both impersonal and personal, all at the same time.
I would tend to agree with him. We are personable people ourselves, and if God really created us in his image, so to speak, he must be personable in his own way too.
"As above, so below" goes an old saying, which might just apply here too, methinks.
Here's a link to his whole article on this:
There is only one infinite being, one person, since God is One and God is infinite. There is only one life appearing infinitely. When we realize that God is One, we never fear because we, too, are …
@jaysunportofino (11)
• United States
28 Aug 10
ENERGY!!!!!!!!!!! Something that can't be destroyed nor created. It is creation. Father of mother nature. If you really want to be crude, one might say GOD(as funny as that word is)is the falice that sparked all life on earth(mother nature).The idea that GOD is a single hermaphroditic parent(my own way of putting it)is the earliest idea known to man. The energy that connects us all can and will be use against us in the most vast court in the land. Maybe man has subtracted the famine, to selfishly wreak havoc on the earth and it's creatures in the sporting event so grand that the heavens are the front row seats(if that's what you believe).
Jaysun Portofino
