Who is God?
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| Thu, 09-14-2006 - 2:36pm |
No matter what faith you follow, here's something that I think everyone who bellieves that there is a God can agree on:
Not everyone believes in the "same" God (I don't know if God has a gender, I personally don't think so, when I say God it just means our creator), but one thing we can be sure of is that we all do SHARE the same God.
If humans try to come up with our own ideas about who God is, we are bound to have as many views as there are people on earth. Do you think that God wants us to know who he/she is? Do you think that God reveals himself/herself to us? Or do you think God just wants to stay at a distance and let us guess?
To be the first one to answer my own question, as a Christian, I believe that God tells us who He is, why He created us and what He wants.
How do you know God?

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> Not everyone believes in the "same" God <
Actually, I disagree with this statement. I believe that people, by whatever channel, do worship the same god-head--'a rose by any name would smell as sweet', after all. On a more personal note, I believe that God is a universal, omnipotent being & look for God in all things.
An excellent question... and one I still don't have a complete answer for, even after many years of pondering it.
That's interesting. Whether or not we are capable of understanding God, I can only answer from my perspective as a Christian. I think we are able to understand in part, but not in full. I think if we hold on to the belief that we are not able to understand God, then we are also closing our minds to the possibility of knowing God.
I don't think God is subjective. Someone can see you as mother, daughter, sister, friend, those are how they relate to you, it determines how you interact with each other, imo, its not who you are. For example, your daughter can think that you are superwoman and you can do anything, but that's not true, its just how she sees you. Your sister might get angry at you for not helping her out with something because you are her sister while your friend might not have the same expectation, but their different opinions about you don't determine whether or not you are a giving or helpful person. I do believe however, that God interacts with each of us differently, just as how we would relate to different people differently as you described.
Very interesting question,
I do think that we all believe in the SAME God, we just have different names for him/her/it.
The best "description" of god I found is in Hinduism where god is one and plural. Which means that while the divine energy is universal, God appears in many form, in Hinduism there are many gods and godesses, but they are ALL a manifestation of the supreme being with their flaws and personal traits. And what makes hinduism a tolerant religion toward other religion is exactly this concept...they do believe Jesus is son of God, they have no probleme believing the supreme being send him to some people while he sent Krishna to some others or Buddha to a thrid group. The creator created us all, gods and mortal therefore all path to him are valid through a medium or another. This conception of god makes me very confortable, as he is not one that punish but one that offers many path to him for all of us.
I view god just the way hinduism views him, and sometimes I pray to HIM, sometimes when my issue is more of a woman issue I feel like addressing my worries and concernes to a She god, sometimes I need a more human god to help me grasp something...but I know all those facets are part of the same divine being.
There is no reason why I should wear different labels : Wife, aunt, sister, daughter, cousin, grand daughter, professional. And God should be all white and have no facets.
I think we all see God as we want to see him/she/it and in the light that make us the most confortable. There is no right or wrong there, a relationship with God is a very intimate matter and to be intimate you need to be confortable.
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Wow, that's very interesting. I definitely think that God wants all people to know Him, and he does it in a way that we aren't capable of seeing or understanding. Is it literally only through Jesus Christ? Does He send everyone that's not Christian to Hell? I don't know. I think it's up to God and I think he would be fair in his judgement. The Bible suggests that those who don't know Jesus are judged by the laws written in their hearts. I think God will eventually get to all people in his own way, his own time.
I think we all do see God in different lights, but the attributes of God cannot be debated. For example, I think God is loving, and not evil. Someone else that might have had a hard life might think that God is a cruel and evil God, is that true? I don't think so. In my experience, the command to love your enemies might make certain people very uncomofortable since its very difficult to love your enemies, and some people don't see why they have to. But does that mean that God only expects the ones that are comfortable with it to love their enemies? I don't think so. In other words, I think that if we only believe what WE want depending on how WE feel, we're not necessarily all SEEING God.
Hello
Here is my belief in God.
"Do you think that God wants us to know who he/she is? Do you think that God reveals himself/herself to us? Or do you think God just wants to stay at a distance and let us guess?"
Well, what comes up for me with your questions is, "A rose is a rose, by any other name."
I already know who They are, the Goddess and God. ;) They are the names and spiritual construct that I worship through, and evolve through the religion of Wicca. What they're "true" names are, who knows? I believe that every religion gives a human name, designs ways to worship and believe, reflective of ourselves, our cultures, our intellect, based on this physical plane of existence, and a life plan of how best to live our life/lives (I believe in Reincarnation). It is a way to make this Supreme Being, Ultimate Spirit, whatever, more personal and something we can more ably wrap our brains around.
I think as far as we are able to understand in this physical realm, the Ultimate reveals through our religious and spiritual concepts. In my beliefs, we know the truth in our true home, the spirit realm, I believe. But when we come into this realm, we are to learn and evolve, with the use of Karma and Incarnation, to become who we are meant to become, in all our possibilities, as Spirit.
It doesn't matter to the Ultimate, I don't think, as long as the religious/spiritual tools we develop for ourselves, lead to our continuing evolution as Spirit, to the spiritual beings we are meant to become. We worship the essence of the Ultimate through the religious tools and deity names we choose, but the essence is the same.
Gypsy
Blessings,
Gypsy
)O(
Hi Gypsy, just wanted to say I love your posts. Do your Goddess and God give you a specific goal to achieve? How do you know how to improve as Spirit? If I have to take a guess, the goal is "Harm None"?
The Christian concept is that we don't know what's good for us so its impossible for us to become what God wants by relying on our own will power, thus we must rely on God to help us become as you said "what we were meant to be", while Wiccans believe that we evolve on our own through whatever tool we invent, and God kind of has a "lassire faire" (sp) policy.
Different means intented for the same end.
I wonder though, what role do your God and Goddess play in your Spiritual journey? Is it to answer prayers that you feel would help you in your journey? Do you ask for guidance? Can your God and Goddess tell you what to do even if you never even thought of doing something?
"Do your Goddess and God give you a specific goal to achieve? How do you know how to improve as Spirit? If I have to take a guess, the goal is "Harm None"?"
My goal, as I wrote, is to become fully evolved Spirit, having learned all the lessons I need to learn, and then come back and incarnate to help others along their evolutionary path to spirit. Harm None is the edict that helps us get there, as we learn and go deeper as we explore and try to live this edict. In my beliefs, the Goddess and God are within me, and that they speak to me through my intuition, through inner revelation and wisdom and discernment.
"what role do your God and Goddess play in your Spiritual journey? Is it to answer prayers that you feel would help you in your journey? Do you ask for guidance? Can your God and Goddess tell you what to do even if you never even thought of doing something?"
I pray to them, I cast a sacred Circle, and worship them. They join their power to mine, for spell work to change my reality. Magic is their gift to me, and the power within me to activate it, if I so choose. Not all Wiccans are Witches or work with Witchcraft. Some do (I do, to a small extent) and some do not. Witchcraft is a practice all it's own, as a path, and not necessarily a religious one. Yes, I pray by casting my Circle, doing spell work, making requests for guidance. Part of my practice is meditation, to learn to go within, to hear Their voices in my own center, through my insight, intuition and inner wisdom. It's an inner knowing they gift me with. :) I also use divination tools such as Tarot and Stones, to read indications of things going on in my life, and get some information that way as well. I don't ask them to DO stuff for me, no. That is up to me. That is why they gave me Magic, my inner powers, to connect and join with them. I have to act. Not just be passive and ask them to fix my life. :P They also send me books, people, animals, experiences to awaken me to something I need to learn. I have to be awake enough spiritually to recognize these "teachers" when they arrive, though. No worries if I miss one, though. The lessons and sendings of information to help me, will keep coming until I recognize them.
Here are some links that might help you learn more about Wicca. Keep in mind, though, that Wiccans are an individual lot, LOL! Many of us are Solitary on our journey. Some follow various traditions, such as Celtic and others. Some follow family traditions handed down in their families for generations. It depends on the Wiccan. There are many Pagans as a general category, but not all Pagans are Wiccan. ;))
http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_intr.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_faq.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/witchcra.htm
There is also information on my web site, link in my profile here.
Hope this helps! :))
Gypsy
Blessings,
Gypsy
)O(
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