I was having a philosophical discussion with a friend of mine recently about religion, metaphysics and other good things. One of the topics that came up was the Catholic belief that God created man in his image. My friend postulated that as God is an omnipotent being, the concept of him with a physical body similar to a human being was both unreasonable and impossible. I concurred. It's been my belief for a while that the idea that Man and God are in some way physically similar to be a glaring and fundamental flaw in all variations of the common western religions. To say, "God made man in his image." would seem to me to be one of the most narcissistic statements ever written. I wondered: a) If God is a being contained in a physical body with two arms, two legs, a head and a torso, how he could create the universe. As a human being I have difficulty creating a house of cards, much less an entire plane of existence. b) Why would God need a physical body at all? What would God even do with a body? Its not like he needs a mouth to consume food, or hands to feel or legs to walk.... the whole idea seems preposterous. A being with unlimited powers of cosmic manipulation would neither think, nor feel like a human being. It seems far more reasonable to postulate that it was not God who created Man in his image, but rather the converse to be true. Man made God in his image, and as such God is as flawed as we are. The human mind has come a long way conceptually in the last two thousand years. Our improved understanding of science and the universe in general seems to contradict ancestral concepts of God. Two thousand years ago, the average person knew almost nothing of life beyond their particular niche in his or her village. The world was flat and modern medicine involved the application of leaches. How could God be something other than a more powerful version of a human being?
^ hmm my little input, take it or leave it. We are in Gods image, NOT Gods shape, God is a Spirit as the bible says, The heavens cant contain him. we are in his image: MAN: Body, Soul, Spirit God: Father, Word(Son), Holy Spirit 3 parts 1 person, PERFECT with freewill. Thats as far as the the image thing goes. Most Christians still say man is in Gods image, but man is not in Gods image, we born in Adams fallen image, a fallen creation. God (Word) came down and was manifest in a human body so that he could experience human trial and tribulation so that he could be an intercessor for his people understanding their weaknesses, lets not forget he died for us. Jesus' Body is nothing like our Body though it can do what our bodies do along with things we are not yet able to even imagine, it was the first glorified body, the same body his people receive when Jesus returns. anyway, hope that explains the image thing a little, if not, then i tried :(
Not reaaaaaaaaaaaaaally but that does play a part in many things, for example the bible says God is a spirit, not a man, it says we are in adams image not Gods image, its in black and white, but what a person says depends on how well a they actually know scripture, its fact that most of us dont read our bibles or we read a piece here and a piece there and we repeat what we hear others say. Its basically Chinese whispers with scripture, im sure you've played that game.. if not then organise a game and play it I had this convo with my bro today, he aint christian but i asked him to do something and he was trying to be a wise guy by saying God helps those who help themselves and i said that is not true nor is it in scripture and he said it was, he asked my mom and she said it was lol. of course he has never read that before but its what you hear people say, second hand information, i used to say it too >.<. if your wondering, the bible says "God helps the helpless", what a contrast. John 4:24 (King James Version) God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Genesis 5:3 (King James Version) And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth:
if god is a he than, a she must exist for a he to exist.. so is he a he, she or even what other than that?
ok ok buglar :stickpoke: cant be bothered to type it all out as i see it to often so i found a site with a decent answer. straight copy and paste -------------------------------------------------------- Is God male or female? In answering the question, "Is God male or female," it is important to note that God did not appear in physical form anywhere in the Bible. 1 John 4:12 say, "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." In Exodus 33:20 God says, "You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." God is Spirit and He does not have the physical reproductive parts of a man or a woman. John 4:24 says, "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." John is using the masculine term "Him" in this passage, and again he uses masculine terms when he reports the words of John 8:16: "But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me." God is a concept that we understand as being a Spirit and as such is an entity completely devoid of form and shape. Therefore, we must have spiritual eyes to "see" God, yet we as human beings have difficulty attempting to fit an infinite concept into our finite minds. So the term "Him" is frequently used when speaking about or referring to God. Genesis 1:26 reads: "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'" The term "man" is used to refer to the whole of humankind - both men and women. Men and women are only patterned after the image of God-not identical replicas. This fact does not require God to have a body like a man or a woman. Being made in the image of God has nothing to do with physical characteristics. The Bible contains around 170 instances where God is referred to as the Father. Fathers are traditionally the protectors of the family, and historically the bread-winners. God is proclaiming Himself as our protector and supplier. As we learned earlier, God is not a man. He is a Spirit. However, it is clear in the Bible that God chose masculine pronouns and responsibilities to reveal Himself to us. By using the male titles, God made it easier for us to understand Him. Do you have an answer for "Who is God" If not, that is an eternally important question!
yeah, i see the known "god" as an unknown form. now, i would like to add further thoughts. I believe god, well every religion seems to be putting to the same name "god" and have very similiar views upon "god". In my theory, i would say that the gods that people from around the world view could possibily be an entities that humans made thorughout time, don't know when. It would seem to my knowledge, that god is mearly an entity that people view as almighty because god has devine powers and god has set deciplines that we should or must adapt and follow them in order to be in a place so called heaven (in every religion, there is heaven). I would say in simple words, god of every religion is mearly an entitiy that is human made to set diciplines that will help make human's have morals, ethics....and hence be a better person. I think this seems quite correct, because you agree that religion does make you a better person, in what ever religion you belong to. this is just a sum of what i think of "god" or gods of all religion at the moment.
i dont think religion makes you a better person, some people are just not as bad as others. i know people of different faiths including my own who act like they were never taught how to behave, it may apply to some people though. An example of a made up god... The bible says the unsaved go to hell, yet a Christian may say "My god wont send anybody to hell!!!11!", that is true, their god wont do anything because it was made up in their head as they have deviated from scripture into 'their' own thing, that's a small example. anyway, if it interests you then you should search it out, we put a lot of effort into this life and hardly none into the next life, if its your eternal life at stake then i advise you be sure rather than resting on a theory. as i say time and time again, death will tell, when we die we will see what is real and what is not and what's ahead for us.
Is this the fanfiction section too? If there is/was a God, God would have to be a man. Only a man would fuck so much shit up.
Ohh little Tony, just because you fuck shit up doesn't mean all men fuck shit up... Some people just fuck shit down...
i totally agree, the only way to find out by then is death. So i was watching the news, according to scientests after you die, your brain still functions for up to a maximum of 30 years.
wow, that's got all bases covered, i thought you would be a skeleton within 10 years<_<, they tend to say a lot of things, hopefully not on my tax payers money, maybe they will know when they die too lol. i consider the brain to be a fantastic interface device, the remote control of the body.
