Monday 24 November 2008

Conceptions of god


How many Xians think that they worship the god of the Bible? I'm sure that all of them think that. In reality, however, probably none of them do.

If you take two Xians, from the same church even, and ask them about their conception of god - which would be the god they would worship - you would get two different answers. Change that number to X and you would get X different answers. No two people conceptualize the same god. Logically speaking, only one of those conceptions can be correct, so only one person can really worship the god of the Bible.

Can they get close enough at least? Probably, but not most modern Xians. This is because Xianity has certainly changed/evolved since god set down his rules/dictates/words in his hold books. Modern Xian thought is more about the love and justice of god. Yet, these attributes are not in abundant supply in the Bible. The god there is definitely not loving, nor just. But, in accordance with the modernization, and more importantly, the secularization of the world, Xianity has had to adapt to survive. So, now we have the kindler, gentler god (or sometimes the more mysterious god that can evade our senses/science, even though the old god showed up all the time to intervene in our affairs and appeared to people regularly). Yeah secularism.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So no one really worships the God of the Bible because no two people have the same conception of him? That's like saying no two people can have the same parents because the conceptions of their parents differ. Ridiculous. No point in addressing the rest of your faulty logic becuse you do not understand logic.
The question you need to ask yourself is...if the God of the Bible could be proven to be true would you follow him or continue to deny him? Because if the God of the Bible is true, then that means his Son Jesus Christ did indeed die for the sins of humanity and if he actually gave his son, then all of our protestations and misconceptions about him do not matter because he has alresdy shown his ultimate love for us. What matters is that we find out where our perspective and reasonongs about God are wrong. On the other hand, if the God of the Bible is not true then none of this matters. Each person needs to find out...not merely speculate with ridiculous reasoning like you are doing.

Kind regards

GCT said...

"So no one really worships the God of the Bible because no two people have the same conception of him?"

Correct. Considering that what you choose to worship is what you believe god is.

"That's like saying no two people can have the same parents because the conceptions of their parents differ."

Except that parents are verifiable empirically and we can determine parental lineage. Plus, we don't worship our parents - at least not in the same way.

"No point in addressing the rest of your faulty logic becuse you do not understand logic."

I understand logic quite well actually.

"The question you need to ask yourself is...if the God of the Bible could be proven to be true would you follow him or continue to deny him?"

I would believe that this god exists. I would certainly not deny his existence if that is what you are asking. As for following, the god of the Bible is not a moral entity, so it would be immoral to follow him.

"Because if the God of the Bible is true, then that means his Son Jesus Christ did indeed die for the sins of humanity and if he actually gave his son, then all of our protestations and misconceptions about him do not matter because he has alresdy shown his ultimate love for us."

Wrong on multiple accounts. If the god of the Bible is true, that doesn't necessitate that Jesus came and died for the sins of humanity. Secondly, it doesn't show love to kill your child in order to go through some pointless ritual in order to convince yourself to forgive others for the sins that you yourself made them commit. In fact, it's rather perverse, bizarre, and evil.

"What matters is that we find out where our perspective and reasonongs about God are wrong."

Meaning what?

"On the other hand, if the God of the Bible is not true then none of this matters."

It still matters so long as believers continue to try and force their irrationalities on everyone else.

"Each person needs to find out...not merely speculate with ridiculous reasoning like you are doing."

How is it that you suggest one "finds out?" I must also object to what it sounds like you are assuming (if you aren't simply say so) - that the existence of god is at least a 50/50 question and that it's just as rational to believe as not to believe. It is not rational, however. I suggest that before you reject leprechauns that you find out whether they exist or not, for instance.

"Kind regards"

Happy Thanksgiving.