# Describe God
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [February 5, 2011, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319 "2011-02-05T22:44:11Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@pinkyvee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkyvee)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319/61 "2011-02-06T20:56:46Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#):
>
> IOW, why should believers lay bald their deeply felt notions for you, just for the asking? There is an arrogance and presumption in your OP that does not set well with me, at least. **LHoD** , **Dio** and **Czarcasm** : to what purpose is your questioning and implied scorn? What on earth do you hope to achieve? Who are any of you to question another’s beliefs?
The question, as I understood it, was to describe how each of us experience God, if God is something we experience.
I think it is alright to ask a question out of of pure curiosity.
And so, I responded.
A response which was scorned.
God is a visceral and sensory experience for me.
Thus, I described my God.
Not intellectual.
Not measured by “power” to do this or that.
Not made of some imagined properties.
Alas, my description did not “measure up”.
Too bad. I would have looked forward to reading other sincere responses.
I doubt there will be many.
---
### Author:  [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319/62 "2011-02-06T20:58:55Z")
> [@The\_Conqueror\_Worm](#):
>
> To the first part, there certainly doesn’t seem to any evidence of their existence in this world. On another planet or in another universe? The truth is, I don’t know and neither do you.
And how does that affect your life? What decisions have you made differently because you are open to the possibilities that fairies exist on another planet?
> [@](#):
>
> To the latter part, I accept that in your reckoning the evidence does not exist. I wonder if you can legitimately do the same for my perspective?
>
> Honestly, I don’t usually talk about my thoughts regarding the existence or non existence of a deity for exactly the reasons I pointed out in my previous posts.
Then what you are saying is not that you think there may be a God because anything may exist, you believe because you have evidence. Those are not remotely the same stance.
---
### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319/63 "2011-02-06T21:03:15Z")
> [@The\_Conqueror\_Worm](#):
>
> Anytime someone tries to complete the statement “God is…” or “God is not…” they have in fact put a limit upon their deity. As I stated before, I am a finite being and so anytime I try to conceive (let alone explain) the infinite it will be so far removed from the truth so as to be less than useless.
>
> I have always been bothered by both “true believers” and “true believer atheists,” both are so narrow minded and certain of themselves that they can not even admit the possibility of the existence of something beyond their understanding. Incidentally, I have more than once said to “true believers” that my concept of the deity is large enough to include theirs and that I am sorry that their god is so small. To evangelical atheists I say that I’m sorry that their truth is real.
You really don’t see how condescending that is? Okay, whatever.
Anyway, I think I see what you mean. The problem with your earlier statement, that god is an infinity of infinities, is that something can be an infinity of infinities and still be incredibly limited: a line, for example, is an infinities of infinities, yet it encompasses 0% of space. A plane is an infinity of infinity of infinities, and still encompasses 0% of space. You see what I mean?
I think what you meant to say is that God is the sum of **all** infinities. Is that correct? But before you were too wrapped up in condescending to me to figure out what I was saying was wrong with your definition.
---
### Author:  [@loshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loshan)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319/64 "2011-02-06T21:09:12Z")
Although I have never really believed, as a child I told my mother God was probably a young boy, and we were nothing more than something akin to an ant farm. He set it up and now it just sits there in his room. Every once in awhile he taps on the glass, pokes it with a stick or shakes it. Just to see what we’ll do.
---
### Author:  [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319/65 "2011-02-06T21:12:59Z")
> [@sh1bu1](#):
>
> When I hear statements like that I just can not make any sense of it. Let’s say there is a God but he is not directly observable, nor does his presence influence any observable phenomenon that is not consistent with the rules of chance or the known physical laws, nor would we know if he stopped existing, nor will we ever know what his will is. In what way is that different from there not being a God?
>
> I can posit that everything in the universe is being multiplied by 1 every 13 seconds, but because 1\*X=X we can not see that it is happening. How is that different from someone asserting that God exists, but is unobservable?
It’s clear there’s more to our understanding of the fabric of the universe than we can make sense of from the gathered evidence. It’s not quite all adding up yet. Science is an evolution of knowledge, adapting to new revelations as our math, technology and motivation to dig ever deeper unlock these secrets. Who knows how far the rabbit hole goes?
There’s two things that can prevent us from directly observing something, scientifically:
\*\*1) We don’t have the technology.
1. As a matter of the principle of physics itself, _as we know it,_ it defies detection, assuming whatever it is you’re looking for actually exists.\*\*
As for #1, without a clear understanding of what to even look for, how would we know what technology to use.
As for #2, our incomplete understanding of the universe may prevent us from unlocking new fundamentals of reality.
Then there’s the caveat; the most frustrating aspect. There is most likely a limit to how much humans can possibly grasp, understand, and unravel when it comes to the complexities of the universe and existence itself. We have no idea where that limit lies, and we can only hope our brains are vast enough to make sense out of everything there is to know about this existence.
---
### Author:  [@The\_Conqueror\_Worm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Conqueror_Worm)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319/66 "2011-02-06T21:13:02Z")
What I believe is really of no consequence except to myself. I’ve stated my thoughts about as clearly as I can manage. I don’t ask that you believe them. Hell, I don’t even ask that you believe that I believe them. There is a Hindu saying that more or less means “What you believe is true is true for you. Until it isn’t.” Thudlow paraphrased the Tao Te Ching, but I’m going to finalize my contribution with the actual sentence that appears in most English translations.
The Tao that can be spoken of is not the true Tao.
And with that I wish you all well.
---
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319/67 "2011-02-06T21:43:49Z")
> [@pinkyvee](#):
>
> The question, as I understood it, was to describe how each of us experience God, if God is something we experience.
You (and a few others, it seems) understand wrong, and although your re-write of the question in the OP may make it easier for you to answer, it is not the answer to the question I asked in the first place.
[QUOTE=Czarcasm]
For the purpose of this thread I am not interested in proofs and/or evidence, and I don’t care to read responses such as “I would tell you, but you would just…”. Describe the characteristics of the deity you believe in. How powerful is she/he/it, what is she/he/it made of, what can/can’t she/he/it do, where does she/he/it reside, and any other specifics you can throw in, please.
Again, this is not the a thread for proving or disproving God-this is a thread for describing God.
[/QUOTE]
edited to add: Nobody is forcing you to come up with a description if you cannot(or will not) do so, but I resent the implication that I doing something underhanded by the mere asking of the question.
---
### Author:  [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319/68 "2011-02-06T22:03:51Z")
> [@The\_Conqueror\_Worm](#):
>
> What I believe is really of no consequence except to myself. I’ve stated my thoughts about as clearly as I can manage. I don’t ask that you believe them. Hell, I don’t even ask that you believe that I believe them. There is a Hindu saying that more or less means “What you believe is true is true for you. Until it isn’t.” Thudlow paraphrased the Tao Te Ching, but I’m going to finalize my contribution with the actual sentence that appears in most English translations.
>
> The Tao that can be spoken of is not the true Tao.
>
> And with that I wish you all well.
You said it very well. I admit to being mystified by the insistence on the concrete in this thread, but like you, I have said my piece and am now done. Believe or don’t believe, it is an individual choice. Requesting descriptions of the unknowable and indescribable is asking the wrong question IMO.
---
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319/69 "2011-02-06T22:11:26Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#):
>
> You said it very well. I admit to being mystified by the insistence on the concrete in this thread, but like you, I have said my piece and am now done. Believe or don’t believe, it is an individual choice. Requesting descriptions of the unknowable and indescribable is asking the wrong question IMO.
Sorry, but it is the only question this particular thread is concerning itself with at the moment. If you wish to enlighten us with the “right” questions, feel free to start a new thread on the subject, although I am mystified as to what such a question might be since you insist that what you worship is totally unknowable.
---
### Author:  [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319/70 "2011-02-06T22:11:35Z")
So by the strict textual definition of the OP describing the god one used to believe in is a violation of the stated intent of the thread?
I don’t know why I bothered then. I don’t think the fact that it’s past tense should change the validity.
---
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319/71 "2011-02-06T22:19:13Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#):
>
> So by the strict textual definition of the OP describing the god one used to believe in is a violation of the stated intent of the thread?
>
> I don’t know why I bothered then. I don’t think the fact that it’s past tense should change the validity.
I have no problem at all with what you presented as a former believer, since it _is_ what you believed at that time. I _am_ having difficulty with those that claim that
1. God cannot be described—why bother responding, then?
2. I am asking the wrong question—it may be a question one cannot or will not answer, but _wrong_?
3. I _should_ not be asking this question, because somehow it offends.
4. By asking this question, I am somehow “trolling”.
---
### Author:  [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319/72 "2011-02-06T22:51:19Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#):
>
> You said it very well. I admit to being mystified by the insistence on the concrete in this thread, but like you, I have said my piece and am now done. Believe or don’t believe, it is an individual choice. Requesting descriptions of the unknowable and indescribable is asking the wrong question IMO.
Why do you believe in just one unknowable and indescribable thing? Why not 2 or 17?
---
### Author:  [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319/73 "2011-02-06T23:05:08Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> For the purpose of this thread I am not interested in proofs and/or evidence, and I don’t care to read responses such as “I would tell you, but you would just…”. Describe the characteristics of the deity you believe in. How powerful is she/he/it, what is she/he/it made of, what can/can’t she/he/it do, where does she/he/it reside, and any other specifics you can throw in, please.
> Again, this is not the a thread for proving or disproving God-this is a thread for _describing_ God.
All powerful, all knowing, all good.
He is a spirit, so “made of” cannot get a correct answer.
I use “He” because He’s always presented Himself as such, althoug sex in a spirit must be something different than for humans.
He lives in heaven, which is not part of the materil world, while at the same time being everywhere.
He existed before time, even though I understand that “bfore time” is not physically or matheatically correct.
He wants us all to go to heaven with us but gave us the free will not to.
Of course, this definiton is incomplete.
---
### Author:  [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319/74 "2011-02-06T23:10:17Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> Sorry, but it is the only question this particular thread is concerning itself with at the moment. If you wish to enlighten us with the “right” questions, feel free to start a new thread on the subject, although I am mystified as to what such a question might be since you insist that what you worship is totally unknowable.
Yes, I can see that you are mystified. Perhaps a more percipient question to ask (and this is merely a suggestion; I have little interest or time in pursuing this topic with you) is why you feel a detailed description of any God is needed? I notice that you do not answer my questions as to why you need to know this or by what right you ask others to divulge personal beliefs while you do not.
---
### Author:  [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319/75 "2011-02-06T23:12:35Z")
> [@sh1bu1](#):
>
> Why do you believe in just one unknowable and indescribable thing? Why not 2 or 17?
Who said it was one thing? I said God was indescribable and unknowable. I am not about to indulge the concrete here and specify “that which we call by the name of God but may contain multitudes etc”.
I don’t see the point of this thread at all. Perhaps the OP could fill us in.
---
### Author:  [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319/76 "2011-02-06T23:24:29Z")
> [@Gymnopithys](#):
>
> **Dio** : If God is not a biological entity, what makes him “male?”
Easy. Power and authority.
---
### Author:  [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319/77 "2011-02-06T23:26:24Z")
His huge, ethereal cock.
---
### Author:  [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319/78 "2011-02-06T23:40:46Z")
> [@cmyk](#):
>
> His huge, ethereal cock.
[Cut to a scene of Mary giving an enthusiastic thumbs up.]
On topic:
> [@eleanorigby](#):
>
> I don’t see the point of this thread at all. Perhaps the OP could fill us in.
The point would seem to be that theists are unable to articulate clearly something they’re asserting as true. If you assert that something is real and flounder when asked to describe that thing, it doesn’t really say anything for the rigor of your beliefs.
---
### Author:  [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2011, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319/79 "2011-02-07T01:00:56Z")
> [@Lobohan](#):
>
> The point would seem to be that theists are unable to articulate clearly something they’re asserting as true. If you assert that something is real and flounder when asked to describe that thing, it doesn’t really say anything for the rigor of your beliefs.
If the assertion is “I have faith in a creator whose purpose is beyond my understanding,” it’s not floundering to attempt no further definition of that creator.
The OP’s error is in thinking that faith requires intellectual acceptance of a concept.
Frankly, I haven’t encountered any good objective evidence for a creator or loving God, nor do I find any of the philosophical arguments convincing. My feeling is that all evidence points toward the physical truth best espoused in this thread by [**Una**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13435511&postcount=41). And I came to that conclusion decades ago.
But I could not shake my faith that there is a purpose and that we are all parts of it. So rather than continue to try and strangle that [completely subjective and nonverifiable] axiomatic experience, I decided to embrace it. None of that requires a belief in “woo” or omni-entities of any particular stripe, and it certainly doesn’t require me to describe something I can’t measure or understand.
---
### Author:  [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319/80 "2011-02-07T01:51:40Z")
A lot of people have posted responses along the lines of “God is ineffable.”
Perhaps a better question would be “What does God do?”
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319.md?page=3)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/describe-god/570319.md?page=5)