How do you conceptualise god?

[OMG12]

Just that really. Atheist, believer or agnostic what do you think of when someone says god? Not a judgement about existence, what concept comes to mind, if you’re a believer (of any faith) how do you conceptualise your god (inc in the plural and feminine)

How do you define God though?

I’ve already posted - an imaginary character in some peoples mind. Isn’t in my life as I don’t believe in things which don’t exist. Am often amazed that people do believe in a concept which supports the idea of heaven and hell.

Not really a description though. What characteristics does this imaginary being have, what powers? Harry Potter is imaginary but people could provide a detailed description of him beyond “he’s imaginary”.

No powers as it doesn’t exist.

I always wonder about the arrogance of these "God is just like the tooth fairy" / "you must be thick to believe in God" people. 2000+ years of extremely intelligent people have believed in God. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but it's certainly not something to be dismissed as a stupid fairytale. The Bible is an incredibly complex document with a firm grounding in historical fact.

Old and complex does not equal true.

I don't blame some peasant in medieval times for believing in, but we have much better explanations for the origins of ourselves and the Universe now.

I don't believe that religions are just a stupid fairytales - I think they are fascinating examples of how different societies throughout history have attempted to make sense of the world. I do believe that there is no more good evidence to think religion is true than there is for a child to think Father Christmas or the Tooth Fairy are true.

I think if you know about evolution and relativity or even pretty basic physics and biology and still believe in what the Bible or the Koran say is true because they are old and complex, it's the equivalent of your mum and dad telling you Santa's not real but you still clinging on to it. Thick as mince.

Plenty of extremely intelligent people manage to square the circle of religion and science. Yeah doesn't mean they're right, but I'd love to see you debate some of the "thick as mince" religious people I've come across. Do you seriously think someone like Justin Welby or Rowan Williams has just not had your incredibly original insights? I'm not saying they are necessarily right - just that you can't dismiss them as "thick as mince". Unless you genuinely consider yourself their intellectual superior, in which case good luck you you.

Atheist here. I don't visualise anything much when I think of the word 'god'. I'm more a wordy person than a visual person anyway. I guess the word conjures up lots of fairly obvious associations and other words - religion, faith, church etc. 'God' to me would mean the Christian god, because I was brought up in the UK, so culturally I wouldn't think of god as female unless I were thinking about female gods from other religions.

Thank you, this was the point I was trying to make (you’ve done a much better job). People can take whatever perspective, no one can ever be 100% sure they’re correct. Like you say, some extremely intelligent and scholarly individuals have a belief in God. They might have varying concepts of that god but, they most certainly aren’t, “as thick as mince”.

Plenty of extremely intelligent people manage to square the circle of religion and science. Yeah doesn't mean they're right, but I'd love to see you debate some of the "thick as mince" religious people I've come across.

Absolutely. I'm as atheist as they come, and although I find it a bit hard to get my head around the idea that intelligent people believe in deities, there is certainly no denying that lots of them, including very, very intelligent ones, do.

Everything our limited human mind can imagine as God is not God.
. Say, “He is God, the One

1. God, the Eternal and Absolute

3.None is born from him and no was He Born.

1. And there is nothing comparable to Him.”( Quran,Chapter Sincerity).

I conceptualise God as the projection of what is good in people. The good qualities, the charitable work, morality, kindness, compassion etc. I conceptualise the Devil as a projection all of the bad qualities people have greed, manipulation, narcissism, cruelty, dehumanisation etc. I don’t believe in heaven and hell except here on Earth. I think we all become a part of the energy of the universe where we came from when we die. None of the wrongs we do in life matters anymore than it matters what cats do to mice.

Amongst other nonsense, Christians believe that an otherworldly figure impregnated a human woman who gave birth to the son of God who later died but then came back to life - in physical form. Muslims believe Prophet Muhammad took a night trip to heaven aboard a trusty winged pony-horse-mule-ish creature called Buraq.

You can show as many other signs of intelligence as you like, if you are living your life on the basis that these things are true historical accounts, you are as thick as mince.

Actually, not all Christians believe that as a physical fact… but carry on.

I don’t. I can’t conceptualisé something that I am reasonably convinced doesn’t exist.

@MasterBeth So you think people of faith believe those things because they're so thick they don't realise they are impossible by the known laws of physics? Ok. I'm not trying to convince you that any of this is true by the way. Just asking you to open your mind a tiny fraction.

When someone talks about 'God' openly, I assume they are a Christian. If they go to church it's usually a huge source of comfort and friendship. Many of these chur he's do good in their community.

My own take is that The Bible and other religious text were created in the absence of education and a need for shared tenets to guide/control society. I tend to think all big world religions have similar core concepts around how humans should behave in society and the world.

It's great that people get help from religious belief. But it's responsible for practically every war on earth.

Nature is the only true God and exists as the life force in people, the 'good' coming from 'God'.

Of course. Over time, many religions have shrunk their claims of what actually they believe to fit in with what is proven and rational. "We don't actually believe the universe was created in 7 days like we said." "We don't literally believe in the virgin birth."

Different Christians believe in all sorts of shit. Mormons believe they are Christians and believe an additional layer of bollocks. Christians who aren't Mormons look at Mormons and see their theology as the most obvious nonsense.

It's not some great "gotcha" on your part to point out some area of theology that not all Christians adhere to.

No. I think they are thick because they realise they are impossible but still choose to believe in a god or gods without good evidence.

Actually many of those beliefs predated what I assume is your very poor representation of the Nicene creed. But do carry on

@MasterBeth to a Christian the Bible is good evidence. You might disagree with that but there is a long and rich history of scholarly research and research which supports it. You might disagree with it but that doesn't make it "thick as mince". I would struggle to understand a biochemistry research paper but that doesn't make it meaningless. Now I understand the difference between science and theology, but I don't think you can completely write off religion because you don't understand it.

As a form of mass delusion, which evolved as a way for humans to try to explain aspects of the natural world they didn’t understand, and as a means of coping mechanism to deal with the brutal realities of life & death.
For example, if you lived in an era before modern medicine and your child died, and you don’t understand why, it was easier to make up stories about their ‘soul’ surviving them & going to ‘heaven’ than to accept the reality that they are dead, their death is final and that their body is worm food.

And..?

Longevity of belief doesn't mean anything. People believed the earth was flat for centuries. Some still do. I hope we can agree that they are as thick as mince.

To a Christian the Bible is good evidence.

A book of assertions, many of them provably false ( the universe was created in seven days etc.) or open to interpretation as myth or metaphor, is not good evidence.

@MasterBeth "and" you said that beliefs ha e shrunk over time, which was the assertion being disproved. I'm beginning to wonder who is really thick as mince here.