Thursday, September 18, 2008
What is God - Higher. Lorenzo Albacete
What are the main points, note these on paper. Here discuss any further questions that arise, or any points you feel help us to answer the question "What is God?"
EXTENSION
http://meaningoflife.tv/video.php?speaker=safi&topic=whatsgod
Go to this link. Listen to at least 2 more people. For all clips, on paper make notes on their views, and list questions you might want to further ask or discuss. Add them to your thoughts, where relevant, on the blog.
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2 comments:
"When I think about ‘God’ I think about … whatever it is that corresponds to the fulfillment of certain needs and desires of my heart and mind."
Listening to him, it is as if he sees God as an entity that fulfills his needs. Does this mean that God is secondary to him/to man? but what if someone is naturally inclined and has instinctual 'need' for violence? does 'god' fulfill that person's desire for violence. and would it still be 'god', since 'god' is supposed to be ultimate goodness?
the man in the video also says his heart is looking for a beauty/justice/truth that never ends and is eternal. just because his heart wants eternal goodness, this does not mean there is eternal goodness in reality. he is looking for somethign that 'fits' with what he wants, so how does he know what fits is not something he imagines himself?
He also wants to experience ultimate/absolute perfection, and yet does not demand knowledge of the source of it. does this approach similar to that of the people who follow their faith 'blindly' since neither party knows (or -in the case of the man in the video- wants to know) the truth to whatever it is they are following/experiencing?
7 comments:
Luca said...
Questions - Karen Armstrong
- how obscure does the image god have to be before it becomes unbelievable?
- how can we claim a version of god is unbelievable if we have no reference to what god is?
- How should people react to god?
- does a person who commits himself fully have more right to an afterlife than a person who only goes to church on sundays?
- if everybody has their 'own version of god' does the person choose what his/her image of god is based on needs?
- is god omnipotent if we have the power to kill him?
Questions - Omid Safi
- where do you find truth, for the existance of god?
- what is truth?
- does the human heart need god?
Omid Safi said that to find god you can only experience it and understand it, but how can that be possible if you are mentally retarded, does that mean that this person can never be with god?
Questions - Arthur Peacock
Panentheism
- if we trash the planet with global warming ect. will we kill god?
- if no part of the world is absent from god then why does he allow deforestation, overfishing...?
- is he really omnipotent
- if god has human characteristics can he be the world, or everything in the world, or everywhere in the world?
not sure if this is what you wanted... hope its ok
September 18, 2008 3:58 AM
Luca said...
do you want my notes as well or is this enough?
September 18, 2008 3:59 AM
April said...
Lorenzo Albacete:
- God has a human face
- Fulfillment of human wants and needs: Justice Beauty etc. God is the origin of these concepts
- We should not define it, as we'll lose God by doing that
Questions: Is the origin of justice, beauty, truth etc important? Is there an origin in the first place? Is he suggesting that humans have moral only because God made it so?
Karen Armstong - Questions: If God can be too 'absurd' to be believed in, then does it mean humans change God - or the concept of God - to their own wishes? If God cannot be seen, does it really matter whether we believed in him or not? Does God need human beliefs to stay alive, since a god that no one believes in will 'die'?
On a different note, Terry Pratchett's novel 'Small Gods' has some interesting ideas about the existance of God. I think we have it in the libary if any of you are interested.
September 23, 2008 10:00 PM
nathan said...
Lorenzo Albacete:
- What is Infinite how can we place time with god?
- Does the heart have to be fulfilled as well as the mind?
- What about the people who are atheists?
- Is there such thing as justice or truth as a dictation? or just connotations
- If you cant understand love, how do people base their lives on it?
Brian swimme:
- Feelings are complex, but how can we define feelings what affects how someone feels?
- the universe is something, what what is that thing?
- the universe is beyond our reach, what if in 100 years time it isnt, what happens then?
- do we find a solution as to how we were created?
John Haught:
- How can you have evolution of god if he is eternal, is he always evolving?
- how does he evolve?
- what does he evolve into?
- God is suppose to be humble, self giving, loving. What about suffering, evil and hell?
- If god really has suffered why doesn't he help the suffering?
September 25, 2008 2:56 AM
Ziggy said...
Lorenzo Albacete Clip:
Main points
- if we make God too literal and real we lose the whole point of God... He's meant to be mysterious and divine. There is meant to be this superiority and transcendence.
- I liked the fact he said that understanding of God doesn't require a definition it's something personal in his heart.
This clip as well as the Karen Armstrong clip both say:
- God is an individual understanding and interpretation that is personal and unique to each individual
- When God is too the extremes i.e. too abstract/too literal then we forget what His purpose is which is, from my understanding, to (confuse us and) guide us in our lifestyles and give human life meaning and purpose (which leads onto this great afterlife)....
September 29, 2008 6:59 AM
Jack said...
Lorenzo Albacete:
God is transcendent and it is easier to assume that he can be clearly defined but he says that, that is not what he knows god is...
is it difficult to believe in something that loses it's "power" or true nature by definition?
Omid Safi
-God is not restricted by gender
- By human terms God cannot be understood fully but can be progressively understood as humanity develops
If we can learn more and more about God but never fully understand him, then does that mean we can come so close to an understanding that a full understanding becomes irrelevant?
September 29, 2008 8:04 AM
miss hudson said...
please add your brainstorms for the question " In order to believe in God, it is necessary for God tohave human characteristics " here.
September 30, 2008 1:20 AM
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