Is there really a God?

Timara

I believe there is a God and I was quite religious in my younger days. But eventually I began to feel that the term 'God' came with just too much baggage. So now I use the term 'Power of the Universe' as it a lot less specific (and I always had a problem with the 'God as male' bit anyway) and can be used to express the underlying power that is in everything. Maybe it isn't so personal? But you can always read the writins of the great teachers to get some idea of God and spirtiuality. I'm currently reading The Power of New' which I find helpful.

hiorta

God, Allah, Jehovah, Jesus, Buddha, The Great Spirit, The Source of All. Love and many more.
All trying unsuccessfully to describe the Supreme Being.

As we grow, names become less and less important, until the Spirit within all Life awakens the Soul.
Then there is no need for names.

Dave!

hiorta wrote: »

God, Allah, Jehovah, Jesus, Buddha, The Great Spirit, The Source of All. Love and many more.
All trying unsuccessfully to describe the Supreme Being.

As we grow, names become less and less important, until the Spirit within all Life awakens the Soul.
Then there is no need for names.

Woah. Deep.

studiorat

I frequently order from the Universal Catalogue. Sometimes it arrives sometimes it doesn't.

Dagon

hiorta wrote: »

God, Allah, Jehovah, Jesus, Buddha, The Great Spirit, The Source of All. Love and many more.
All trying unsuccessfully to describe the Supreme Being.

As we grow, names become less and less important, until the Spirit within all Life awakens the Soul.
Then there is no need for names.

That is basically what I was trying to say earlier, but I think you've put it even better :cool:

As for the comments on Christian Mysticism - if you look at the works of Anthony De Mello, you will find a man who brought together christian mysticism and buddhism. He worked in both areas, and discovered many similarities... so much so, that he doesn't really make much of a distinction between buddhism, christianity, etc. it's all the same source, as hiorta has said [much to the distate of the catholic church whom employed De Mello!].

kelly1

johndaman66 wrote: »

Finally a question about the Irish catholic church as opposed to religion...How come in catholic Ireland not too many years back it was considered that you were on a highway to hell if you ate red meat on a Friday but now its pretty much acceptable?...What has God said or changed since?...How does religion tie into God in such an instance?

Hello John, I haven't read all the replies so sorry if this has been answered already. The answer is that the Church has the God-given power to bind and loose i.e. to decide what is morally acceptable and what isn't. This has a scriptural basis and can be found here:-

Matthew 16:16 Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.

Matthew 18:18 Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven.

The first was addresses to Peter alone and then to the apostles collectively.

As regards the existence of God, scripture has this to say:

Luke 11:9 And I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you. 10 For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.

Hope this helps.

God bless,
Noel.

ironingbored

cue wrote: »

I have tried not to believe in a god for as long as I can remember. I can manage about 30 seconds and my mind gives in to the belief. It bugs the hell out of me.

Get over it!

ironingbored

Answer: No

1. Who wants to live forever worshipping the egomaniacal control freak so insecure as to crave perpetual adoration? As Hitchen's puts it, "at least you can fcuking die in North Korea". Whereas the celestial dictatorship is really hell forever.

2. Even if there is a god (0.0000000000000000001%), he/she/it surely will not resemble the misogynistic and cruel individuals of the three main abrahamic monotheistic religions.

3. Let's all live our present lives to the fullest now and make it our goal in life to better understand the world we live in without silly recourse to magic and the supernatural. (As in the above post! he said, she said, where, there, everywhere....)

ironingbored

kelly1 wrote: »

As regards the existence of God, scripture has this to say:

Luke 11:9 And I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you. 10 For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.

Are you seriously trying to say that the above proves anything about the existence of a supernatural deity?

kelly1 wrote: »

Hope this helps.

It doesn't.

kelly1

ironingbored wrote: »

Answer: No

1. Who wants to live forever worshipping the egomaniacal control freak so insecure as to crave perpetual adoration? As Hitchen's puts it, "at least you can fcuking die in North Korea". Whereas the celestial dictatorship is really hell forever.

2. Even if there is a god (0.0000000000000000001%), he/she/it surely will not resemble the misogynistic and cruel individuals of the three main abrahamic monotheistic religions.

3. Let's all live our present lives to the fullest now and make it our goal in life to better understand the world we live in without silly recourse to magic and the supernatural. (As in the above post! he said, she said, where, there, everywhere....)

Were your spitting venom when you wrote this? That is such a twisted post!

ironingbored

kelly1 wrote: »

Were your spitting venom when you wrote this? That is such a twisted post!

Absolutely not. I was actually quite serene especially on point three.

What are your opinions on points 1 & 2?

I believe the god of the old testament is exactly how is described above.

Poloman

My opinion:

There is no God.

It is the greatest story ever told. It is a way of keeping kids good and humanity. "If you are bold you will spend forever burning in flames and in pain". Come on.. seriously.. think about it.

There are so many different gods in so many parts of the world. indians pray to cows that we chomp on every day. Whats Holy about a cow? Just an example.

Why are rules being changed in Catholic society.. eg.. before you werent allowed even eat meat every friday, now you can, contreception.. women priests etc.. the list is endless. Things change as they need to keep crowds coming to churches to get our money at the plate collection. The church had this country on its knees for years abusing people, naming how much the donate to the church every week on the pulpit. And these are the people involved in spreading the word of the lord? (Yes most are good)

I am a complete non-believer. I believe that there could be life elsewhere in this universe but no god. How did things come into existence? I have no idea. one thing is for sure. People are afraid of what they dont know/understand. And being told to believe in God makes people do so rather than risk the fear of going to something called Hell. Its rubbish. Complete fabrication.

I dont laugh at anyone who believes though. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I respect that.

kelly1

ironingbored wrote: »

Absolutely not. I was actually quite serene especially on point three.

What are your opinions on points 1 & 2?

I believe the god of the old testament is exactly how is described above.

My opinion is that God doesn't change but that His people have been changing like unruly children being chastized and formed into mature adults. The istuate has also changed since His Son died on the cross to atone for our sins.

The bible is essentially the story of how God leads His people towards the ideal that is His Son Jesus.

I believe that God is loving and corrects us like any good father would correct unruly children. God wants us to mature spiritually so we reach the point where we leave all selfishness behind and live to love God alone. God is the only true good since all goodness comes from God directly and through others.

kelly1

Poloman wrote: »

It is the greatest story ever told. It is a way of keeping kids good and humanity. "If you are bold you will spend forever burning in flames and in pain". Come on.. seriously.. think about it.

The primary pain in hell, you should know, is separation from God. All good comes from God so separation from God means eternal loss/evil/remorse etc. Clearly natural fire can have no effect on a soul so the fire must be supernatural.

Poloman wrote: »

Why are rules being changed in Catholic society.. eg.. before you werent allowed even eat meat every friday, now you can, contreception.. women priests etc.. the list is endless. Things change as they need to keep crowds coming to churches to get our money at the plate collection. The church had this country on its knees for years abusing people, naming how much the donate to the church every week on the pulpit. And these are the people involved in spreading the word of the lord? (Yes most are good)

OK so the Church has relaxed the rules on fasting but it still encourages it. The Church has the power to bind and loose which you'll find it in the bible (Matthew 16:16 and 18:18). But I'm not aware of any changes as regards women priests and contraception? Please tell me what else has changed? I think you'll find there's very little!

Poloman wrote: »

I am a complete non-believer. I believe that there could be life elsewhere in this universe but no god. How did things come into existence? I have no idea.

I really think you should think about it! Something that has a beginning must have a cause. So you either have an infinite chain of cause and effect or you have a chain which begins with something which has always existed and has no creator. Which in all honesty do you think is more likely?

Dagon

Poloman, how do you know there is no God? You seem very convinced about that, but don't believe it because "The God Dellusion" told you... find the proof for yourself, and then believe it. Can you prove there is no god?

"If you are bold you will spend forever burning in flames and in pain". Come on.. seriously.. think about it.

You don't need to wait. A lot of people on this planet are already burning in flames... just look around you. The human body contains all the elements, fire being one of them. We condemn ourselves to this fire through our actions, and you can actually feel it, right here, right now. The burning is inside, and we multiply it, and we continue on the deep suffering. You don't need to wait for an afterlife, you can go very far into hell and far from the light right here, right now...

Dave!

Dagon wrote: »

You don't need to wait. A lot of people on this planet are already burning in flames... just look around you. The human body contains all the elements, fire being one of them. We condemn ourselves to this fire through our actions, and you can actually feel it, right here, right now. The burning is inside, and we multiply it, and we continue on the deep suffering. You don't need to wait for an afterlife, you can go very far into hell and far from the light right here, right now...

What the hell are you talking about?