My take on God, if anybody cares.

Great Debates
#1

I am no physicist nor do I claim to be. However, I’ve been overcome by an obsession to watch/read anything regarding quantum physics, time, space, the true nature of reality, etc. I am so fascinated by these themes because I believe they so perfectly pertain to God, something else my mind has always been obsessed with.

I believe there is a God, and I do not believe in any organized religion, for several reasons, none of which really matter. I believe that, if theories like String Theory and M-Theory are true and 10 or 11 dimensions of reality exist then it provides a convenient explanation. I do not believe that as a simple human being that exists in a 3 dimensional snippet of time on a tiny planet in a tiny universe within the multiverse I am even capable of truly grasping what God is but I can at least attempt to rationalize it. If 10 dimensions exist, and the 10th is absolute infinity then I believe that God exists there. God can exist simultaneously in every possible moment and place in every possible universe and is the infinite consciousness. God, essentially, exists in everything.

God is an infinite infallible force. I do not believe God can circumvent the laws of nature because God is infallible even to Gods-self. God is not a guy with a white beard sitting on a cloud. God does not condemn people to hell. To condemn me as a person to hell would be condemning God to hell because God is in me. Like St. Thomas Aquinas said, God is prima causa.

Love this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNvHdCosX08&feature=fvsr

#2

That’s deep man.

#3

Replace the word “God” with “Pomplamousse”, and it makes the same amount of sense.

Why do you have to call this “infallible force” that “can exist in every possible moment” a god?

If it’s anything like Yahweh, we don’t need it. The universe is fine without it and vastly more powerful to begin with.

#4

God is a solution looking for a problem.

How’s that for deep? :cool:

#5

So just what exactly does he do? How would the world be different if he didn’t exist or if he died last Friday?

#6

The OP’s created a god that helps him feel better and lets him believe the universe is orderly and just, but makes no demands.

As gods go, it’s pretty harmless, I guess.

#7

I think you have a very negative connotation of the word “God.” Why does God have to have anything to do with Yahweh, Allah, Jesus etc.? I doubt God carries any human traits whatsoever. God does not want anything from us. We just get to enjoy it’s grand design that’s so marvelously put together. When you describe to me the vast power you think the universe has I wonder what that power is and where it came from…

#8

God is the design. Whatever existence is, it wouldn’t exist without God. God can’t die

#9

So it would make no difference to you to replace the word “God” with, say, “Codora” or “Fallano”?

#10

Who cares what you call it. Call it hamburger if you want. God is more convenient

#11

I would call him Dick.

#12

I dunno, I like the sound of “Codora”. Anyway, my take on your take is that it’s indistinguishable from (and as useful as) saying “God/Codora is everything and everything is Gog/Codora.”

#13

My sense of God is my sense of wonder about the Universe.

Albert said it, I believe it.

#14

But is using the word “God” really convenient? I agree that this particular definition of the word isn’t something unique to you.

But the trouble is that most people don’t use the word “God” that way. Suppose for a moment that instead of saying “God” you said “Zeus”. Wouldn’t you agree that calling the Uncaused First Cause of the universe “Zeus” leads people to believe that this ineffible force has some sort of characteristics in common with Zeus? Like, that it sometimes takes the form of a swan or a bull or a shower of gold and has sex with human women and fathers demigods and heroes? Or maybe cause a virgin to become pregnant and give birth in a stable and lay the baby in a manger?

Using the word “God” tends to drag in all sorts of unexamined premises about the nature of this uncaused first cause. If you want to talk about an uncaused first cause without dragging in all sorts of unintended mythology, then instead of using the word “God”, why not just use “Uncaused First Cause”, or “The sum total of all physical laws in the Universe”, or whatever it is you exactly intend to refer to?

This the way you should proceed if you wish to communicate clearly. On the other hand, perhaps you really do wish to sneak in these sorts of unexamined assumptions about the nature of reality. Then go ahead, but don’t get upset when people start arguing with you and chasing their tails when talking to you, because that’s what you wanted in the first place.

#15

While I certainly wouldn’t want to denigrate your religious beliefs, I do think that your understanding of dimensions is not right.

Dimensions aren’t locations. God wouldn’t be in dimension #10, any more than he would be in dimension #1 (height), #2 (width), or #3 (depth). These aren’t places, they’re … well, dimensions.

#16

That isn’t completely inaccurate, I am just trying to rationalize what “God is everything” actually means.

#17

You are right. Like I said, I use the word “God” because it is convenient but I am not opposed to using a different term or description.

#18

I admit I do not have a complete understanding of these concepts. If, say, atoms are composed at their very core by strings of energy vibrating in 10 dimensions then how would they not in a sense “exist” in the 10th dimension or exist in all 10 dimensions simultaneously?

#19

They exist in dimension #7 in the same way they exist in dimension #2 (height - or whatever order they’re listed in).

Dimensions #5-#whatever aren’t parallel universes or places any more than “width” or “height” is a parallel universe or place.

You wouldn’t say “God is located in width”; so you wouldn’t say “God is hanging out in Ogglebiggle” (or whatever name you decide to call dimension #10).

#20

Best way to think of them is directions in space time. Dimensions are a coordinate system.

For example, in 3 dimensions, you can be located at coordinates X, Y, Z. That tells me exact where you are.

In 4 dimensions, you add time. So you’re 200 miles west, 300 miles north, 400 feet up, in four days’ time. So I know when and where to meet you.

Those things are dimensions. We operate commonly with four - length, breadth, height, time. Those four will locate any event in space time.

But none of these things are “place”. Length isn’t a place, neither is breadth or height. They’re axis on a coordinate system.