what is god to you/what do you revere?

[guido tkp]

ah, but, atomic"...would that be god as we unfortunately, commonly understand him/her/it ...god as commonly presented by the mere mortals who then screw up the idea/message (usually to advance their own purposes/power) to such a point where it does not, in fact, make sense to discerning, intelligent people...

or, is there another possibility...

that some folks, being of a more discerning intelligence, think about this sort of thing, but are left theologically/intellectually wanting because the more common, debased thinking is not broad enough to fit a true, all-encompassing godlike reality

[smooth operator]

I used to believe in God - when I was a child. Not any more. I would never tell anyone what to believe. That is something you have to discover on your own. I do believe that the world is full of mysteries and magic - for lack of a better word. Life itself is a miracle. But the idea of an omnipotent and omnipresent being who created the universe seems more than unlikely to me. I have read the Bible, which was written by men, despite the credited source of the material. Men are prone to exaggeration and mistakes. I sometimes wish I had faith - if just to ease my fear of death. But what I really believe is that you are given only one chance at life and you should make the best of it. My main thesis statement regarding my theology is the first line of the Hippocratic oath - "First do no harm."

[GNTLGNT]

....this is my guy....seriously, I just love this take on the "totems" of Christianity...

[guido tkp]

in the semi-immortal words of sir paul mccartney, SO..."that's good enough...good enough for me"

i think i know how you feel...especially about the mischieviousness of mankind and all...

so, i went a different path... i kinda gave up on the man-made thing called 'church' and let god be god all by its little lonesome

[atomicinchworm]

Mostly, any God worth worshiping would have to be an emotionless, force of nature. God in the Old Testament is capable of jealousy and anger, and in the New Testament he is capable of love. A powerful being, sure, but not one I would worship. I am not going to worship a person, why would I worship a being capable of only the broadest strokes of human emotion?

Science is not infallible, but it will at least adjust it's views according to observable data.

I find it disturbing when people believe everything that is written down without thinking about it, whether it is on the internet, in a novel, or in the bible.

[guido tkp]

agreed, AIW....especially since we know, through history, that such writings are I]not[/I] be what would claim it is...

and that facing up to reality has nothing to do with science attempting to trump anything...but everything to do with just plain common sense

love that statue, Big G...

[vickilynn]

Mostly, any God worth worshiping would have to be an emotionless, force of nature. God in the Old Testament is capable of jealousy and anger, and in the New Testament he is capable of love. A powerful being, sure, but not one I would worship. I am not going to worship a person, why would I worship a being capable of only the broadest strokes of human emotion?

Science is not infallible, but it will at least adjust it's views according to observable data.

I find it disturbing when people believe everything that is written down without thinking about it, whether it is on the internet, in a novel, or in the bible.

Christians believe the Bible to be the infallible word of God so naturally we're going to listen to it. One things for sure. The day will come when everyone will know if it's true or not. In fact I think a person who rejects it finds our as soon as they die whether it's true or not.

[guido tkp]

how can you have an infallible word of god if it is, in it's entirety, made up of stories never written down at the time... passed down by word of mouth thru generations...then assembled from various, scattered areas...rewritten, then edited to suit their needs of whomever culled those tales at that time...

an infallible word that has been folded, spindled, mutilated, edited, rewritten, translated...had large sections deleted (can you leave out sections of the infallible word of god ? the catholic church did when it 'created' the king james version...edited, of course to please king james...of england...a mortal)...

and again rewritten each time there was a new power on the throne (whichever throne that may be) again...

rewritten again for martin luther and his POV...

often rewritten, to this day, for whatever new religious leader decides he/she doesn't like the version that came before it...

once again,..awfully judgemental for one who supposedly has read the book, has become infused with its word...in which we are all admonished not to be judgemental of others...that only god has that power...

but, then again...what else would one expect from a mere, inferior, fallible mortal

[Robert Gray]

Christians believe the Bible to be the infallible word of God so naturally we're going to listen to it. One things for sure. The day will come when everyone will know if it's true or not. In fact I think a person who rejects it finds our as soon as they die whether it's true or not.

To be fair Vickilynn there are people who consider themselves (and call themselves) Christians that do not think the Bible is the infallible word of God. These people believe in God and Jesus Christ as their savior. They simply don't agree that the Bible, written by men, is free of all flaw or human misunderstanding of the divine word. I only point this out because you are defining Christian the way YOU want to define it, disfranchising lots of folks. I expect there are lots of Christian denominations that you would (for other reasons) also consider not "real" Christians. We are back at that notion of "faith" again aren't we, as well as the notion of some people being better than others.

[not_nadine]

Well, the Pope resigned.