Questions about God

[StoneAgeQueen]

I'm a convinced member of the Religious Society of Friends aka Quakers.

My school was originally run by Quakers, the society of friends it's the oldest school in Northern Ireland I think, 1774. Link

[MissMelsWell]

My school was originally run by Quakers, the society of friends it's the oldest school in Northern Ireland I think, 1774. Link

Oh very cool StoneAgeQueen! I'd imagine as religious schools go, they were pretty laid back. Although there are some schisms of Quakerism that are more traditionally Protestant than others (mostly in the UK). But, I'd imagine that you would have found a great deal of equality, pacifism, activism and social responsibility being stressed during your time there. Us Quakers are huge on education in general so it wouldn't surprise me that it would be one of the older schools in N. Ireland. Most people don't even realize that Cornell and Johns Hopkins Universities in the USA are Quaker schools. haha

Edited April 8, 2007 by MissMelsWell

[Jim88]

Actually, that's where you'd be wrong, it's actually a very OLD denomination and nothing new aged about it and no one would deny that it's anything but Christian. The denomination was estabished just after ther reformation. And no, I'm not a Unitarian Universalist--although it's quite old as well (several of the US Constitution signers were Universalists).

I'm a convinced member of the Religious Society of Friends aka Quakers.

I see so your a Christian but you believe there is truth in most religions. Every other Christian I have ever met thought Christianity was the true religion and all other religions were false. You're more openminded than other Christians apparently.

[MissMelsWell]

I see so your a Christian but you believe there is truth in most religions. Every other Christian I have ever met thought Christianity was the true religion and all other religions were false. You're more openminded than other Christians apparently.

It's not really a matter of openmindedness, it's more a matter that everyone has the ability to hear Gods Word, that Word comes from the light within, (something established in the Gospel of John). Jesus made no distinction regarding anyone's denomination, church, or creed, only that we are to treat each other as equals and realize that God is in everyone. Jesus was not a big fan of religion and dogma.

[StoneAgeQueen]

Oh very cool StoneAgeQueen! I'd imagine as religious schools go, they were pretty laid back. Although there are some schisms of Quakerism that are more traditionally Protestant than others (mostly in the UK). But, I'd imagine that you would have found a great deal of equality, pacifism, activism and social responsibility being stressed during your time there. Us Quakers are huge on education in general so it wouldn't surprise me that it would be one of the older schools in N. Ireland. Most people don't even realize that Cornell and Johns Hopkins Universities in the USA are Quaker schools. haha

Yeah it was a good school MissMelsWell very relaxed and laid back. it was integrated, something which was very good in northern ireland. We actually had boarders that came there from all over the world.

[brave_new_world]

Why do people feel they should have a religion? Do you really feel that weak? Why can't you have your own beliefs? I just don't understand how somebody can believe 100% everything a religion tells them..no questions. something that was essentially written by man so long ago. Each to their own I guess... I prefer to work things out for myself.

One's personal beliefs are one's religion. There is a vast difference between one's personal faith and an orthodox institutionalized religion. The essence of all religions encourages love, compassion, free-thinking etc.

[Jor-el]

Sorry if this topic has been dealt with before, there are 97 pages in the Spirituality, Religion and Beliefs section and I didn't feel like going through them all I have some questions that are troubling me and I am starting to think of God as a great big joke. (I am Christian btw)

Hi Escaperer,

These questions exist have been answered many times by many different people. While each of the answers to these questions may reveal something about the viewpoints of the poster, the answers alone are many times contradictory so they will probably leave even more confused than you were before. The acceptance of an answer will also show how your mind views the world and therin is the doorway to the truth you seek.

As a christian, you have a peconcieved notion of the world and sometimes a preconcieved notion of what a christian supposedly accepts as truth. Take this into consideration when reviewing all the answers you recieve.

1) Is God All Powerfull? I have asked a priest this and he said "yes", but when I asked an atheist friend he just said "Can God create a stone he cannot lift"...I have been thinking bout that for quite a time and still can't seem to come up with an answer

2) Was there a time before God? Was there a time when there wasn't a God? Has he always been here?

3) How was God "made"? How did he appear? Did he just become God from nothingness? I mean it had to start somewhere?

I decided to group this 1st set of questions, since they are in essence all related in many ways to one another.

What we are actually dealing with here, are Gods charactristics as a Divine Being. In other words we are dealing with Omnipotence, Omnipresence and Omniscience.

When dealing with these issues it is important to 1st look at what type of world we are living in. The universe as we percieve it is called the Space-Time Continuum. So called because we see our world in a 4D perspective. Space, being the X, Y, and Z axis which in effect create our 3 Dimensional world and then a linear T function for time.

So we see our world as 3 dimensional but percieve as having 4 dimensions when we include the passage of time, which is linear in nature. We cannot jump thrigh time we have to live through each second to get to the next and we can never go back.

This conceptual universe which forms the world we live in is called "The Space Time Continuum".

For a more detailed perspective, see:

1. Wikipedia: Space-time Continuum

2. Spacetime

Now let us look at this from a different perspective.

1 Dimensional being

Consider a 1-dimensional being, living on a line, it can only go backward and forward. Now, to make that being's universe infinite but yet finite, we simply mess around in the 2nd dimension and make the line a circle. For the 1-dimensional being it is still a line because it has no knowledge of the 2nd dimension and thus, it does not know it isn't actually following a line but is in fact in an infinite loop or circle.

2 Dimensional being

The same scenario would hold true for the 2-dimensional being if you make that circle a sphere. The 2-dimensional being would think his universe is infinite while a higher dimensional being would recognize that it is clearly not. That leads to the idea that our 3-dimensional perspective of the universe might actually be 'fake'. We are actually in a finite universe, yet it appears infinite from our perspective.

A 2 dimensional being can only percieve things in those two dimensions (x, y axis). If we draw a circle on a piece of paper and we theoretically put a 2 dimensional being within that circle in a 2 dimensional world, that being would be trapped because he would literally have an unclimable wall surrounding him on all sides (the circle we drew).

We as 3 dimensional beings can see a way out of that circle that is not available to the 2 dimensional being because we can always reach inside and free that being. That would in effect make us godlike in that 2 dimensional beings thoughts

3 Dimensional being

If we extrapolate from this analogy, we can see that we ourselves are limited by a 3 dimensional universe (x, y, z axis). We can also seemingly experience a fourth dimensional part of this 3 dimensional world which to our senses we call time. That is why we call this plane of physical existence, the space time continuum.

How this universe would actually look to a 4-dimensional being is beyond our capability to fully comprehend, as we are not yet on a level where we can interact effectively with the 4th dimension, even though we are aware of it and are influenced by it.

Now, if God exists in a higher order dimension, he cannot only manipulate space and time but all matter in that lower dimension, he is above and outside of space-time but can be anywhere within it at will. This is why we have the concepts of omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence. They are characteristics of a higher order dimensional existence to our own.

Yet just as a 2 dimensional being cannot identify our presence because he is limited to 2 dimensions, we cannot prove the existence of God who is part of a higher order of existence. We are essintially and simply limited to our 3 dimensional universe.

Now, can God create a stone he cannot lift?

The error of the question is in our perception of God and the stone. A stone as we know it is created by matter. Even if all the matter of the universe was used to create such a stone, God would still be able to lift it because he created all matter. Since God can be said to exist outside of the spce-time continuum but still interact and be a part of it at will, one cannot ask this question unless we either reduce God to a merely physical level which undermines the concept of the question or we are able to concieve of a higher dimensional world, which God inhabits, which is unanswerable to human thought anyway since we cannot think outside of our 4 dimensional structural concept.

Was there a time before God?

Again this unanswerable due to the same limitations as the above. God is above and outside time, although he can manipulate and control it at will. In our sense of him it is why we came up with the word "eternal".

How was God "made"? How did he appear? Did he just become God from nothingness? I mean it had to start somewhere?

Again, this is unanswerable because of our limitations in existing within the space-time continuum. From our perspective there was never a beginning for God. "Beginning" is a linear time function ad cannot be applied to higher dimensions without a significant change in concept. Imagine, if you were able to change your relative time at will, how would you know what the beginning was? You would be living the present, past and future at the same time.

4) With so many different religions, which should I believe in? I mean with so many different religions and views, and everyone thinking they are right, which is truly the correct one? If one is correct, does that automatically mean the others are wrong?

I know some answers will be "Faith", but I would really want some answers and opinions on there questions. They have been bugging me for a while.

The following questions only have answers depending on your perspective of the world. Since you state that you are a christian, why don't you start there and see how it goes.

Edited April 9, 2007 by Jor-el

[Radian]

Every other Christian I have ever met thought Christianity was the true religion and all other religions were false.

So, you're saying that Jews and Muslims don't believe their religion is the one true religion?

[Lee Harvey Oswald]

Lee, maybe you believed in God before you got thrown into MKULTRA???

LOL..I've no idea what 'MKULTRA' means, but no doubt you're right.

[LONELY_1]

1) Is God All Powerfull? I have asked a priest this and he said "yes", but when I asked an atheist friend he just said "Can God create a stone he cannot lift"...I have been thinking bout that for quite a time and still can't seem to come up with an answer

2) Was there a time before God? Was there a time when there wasn't a God? Has he always been here?

3) How was God "made"? How did he appear? Did he just become God from nothingness? I mean it had to start somewhere?

4) With so many different religions, which should I believe in? I mean with so many different religions and views, and everyone thinking they are right, which is truly the correct one? If one is correct, does that automatically mean the others are wrong?

I know some answers will be "Faith", but I would really want some answers and opinions on there questions. They have been bugging me for a while.

1) Well if he isn't physical could he really touch something in the physical? Then again he's all powerful. I'm going to have to give you a no on that question. There is no stone too big.

2) God has always been here, or at least that's what my religion says. I know it's hard to imagine.

3) If he has always been here then he had no beginning.

4) But that't the beauty of it. There isn't just one. You have a choice.