What is a God

[Oni]

What makes a God?
What defines who a God is?
Why is there a God(s)?
Were did they come from?
Who are they?
Are they a leader?
Do they have power?
What kind of Power?
Are Gods Created by humankind?

[Eternimus]

What makes a God? Depends on your definition.

What defines who a God is? As I said before. Definition.

If you ask a monotheistic person, there response would be something like "a supernatural being, the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator and ruler of the universe and all things in it." In other words, the object of worship in monotheistic religions

If you ask a polytheistic person they'd answer similar to this: "a deity, or a supernatural being controlling some part of the world, some aspect of life or who is the personification of a force such as nature or fire." In other words, the supernatural beings that polytheists worship.

If you want a more modern or scientific view, it'd be "a man or woman of such superior qualities that they seem like a deity to those around them." In other words, a very advanced human in some aspect of existence.

If you were looking for a physical description, then you'd need: "an idol or material effigy that is worshipped as the symbol or manifestation of a deity."

Why is there a God(s)? Once again depends on your definition. They could have always been there, carved by men, or created by men.

Were did they come from? One way or the other, with the stories passed down, or writ, they come from our minds and hearts.

Who are they? They are the guiding light and inspiration for the bulk of the world's population.

Are they a leader? They should be. Otherwise why would anyone follow?

Do they have power? Yeah.

What kind of Power? Depending on the deity, you have basic shapeshifting to omnipotent power over the cosmos.

Are Gods Created by humankind? Some, quite possibly. Others, no.

[Rachael]

I think you can look at someone who created something wonderful and say "He/she is a god" without being blasphemous.  I think people who strive to "become God" are really seeking something within themselves...to recognize their full potential.  I think every human being wishes to do that.  I sometimes use phrases like "achieving godhood" to be poetic, but it's not the same as "becoming God."

I don't believe anything created God.  This used to drive me crazy...but think of it this way: If something doesn't have an end, why does it need to have a beginning?  Of course, even the human soul, which I do not believe has an end, still has a beginning.  And yet, I believe God put a little bit of his spirit into our soul so we could know he is there and call him "Father" or "Mother" or whatever he is to us.  Even those who don't believe in God feel him when they show love towards their fellow human beings, or even compassion towards an animal.  I believe animals have some of God's spirit in them, too.  Maybe even trees, although that's probably crossing over into a different realm entirely.  The natural world is full of God's works.

I think God's power lies in the power of creation and love.  He created each one of us with the utmost love and imbued us with a little of his spirit, just as a child is created from the sperm and egg of his or her parents.  And just like a parent, God is there to guide us with a gentle but firm hand...and the freedom he has given us is one of his most precious gifts.  He has given us a need for each other, for love and compassion, and to express ourselves by creating as he has.

[Oni]

So then Can a man become a God?
What Makes a God?
Why did the old Gods leave?
Were they no longer needed, or just disapeared because of lack of followers, and if that's  the case then could it not be argued that one day Cristiananity could disapear do to lack of followers because a bigger badder god came along.

[Rachael]

I don't believe in the old gods--at least, not as gods.  I think they may have been angels, or demons, or maybe even humans who became legendary and surrounded with mythology.  I personally like the "legendary human" theory because a lot of the old gods were very human, with the same strengths, weaknesses, and vices that we as humans have.

Even so, I'm not going to go up to somebody and say "Your gods aren't real."  That would be rude, and as I have no proof one way or the other, I have no right to say that.

[Oni]

and so what proof do you have of your god?

[Oni]

http://www.philosophersnet.com/games/whatisgod.htm

This is what I got back on mine.

The Report

Plausibility Quotient

Plausibility Quotient = 0.5

The metaphysical engineers have determined that your conception of God has a plausibility quotient (PQ) of 0.5. A PQ of 1.0 means that as far as the metaphysical engineers can determine your conception of God is internally consistent and consistent with the universe that we live in. A PQ of 0.0 means that it is neither internally consistent nor consistent with our universe. More than likely, your PQ score will be somewhere between these two figures. But remember that this is your PQ score as determined by the metaphysical engineers. The editors of TPM have no control over their deliberations, so don't blame us!

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The problem of suffering

Your God is omnipotent (all-powerful, able to do anything), omnibenevolent (all-loving) and omniscient (all-knowing).

The metaphysical engineers have found it hard to model this God in a universe like our own. The problem is this: our universe contains vast amounts of suffering, much of which seems either entirely unnecessary or unnecessarily severe. Although some of this is the result of human action, and thus may be seen as an inevitable consequence of human free will, much is not. Plagues, floods and famines are not all the result of human action. Even the idea that human free will explains the existence of much suffering is hard to accept, since God, if all-powerful, could surely limit our capacity to harm others or suffer at their hands (after all, there are many other limits on what we are able to do).

So why is there all this suffering? If God cannot prevent it, it would seem she is not all-powerful. If God doesn't want to stop it, it would seem she is not all-loving. If God doesn't know about it, she can't be all-knowing.

The metaphysical engineers are continuing to study theodicies, which are attempts to resolve this difficulty, known as the problem of evil.

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Not so personal after all?

The metaphysical engineers are finding it hard to understand how, on your conception of God, one can have a personal relationship with her.

Personal relationships appear to depend on a number of things. Sufficient similarity between the persons in the relationship is one. Another is that both are persons, or are, at least, person-like, as some higher primates, for example, appear to be. The problem is that in our universe there seem to be no genuine personal relationships between things of great difference. And God, as you have described her, is vastly different from human beings.

People can have feelings for things which are similar to those they have towards people. Affection or love for places or objects, for example, is common. But this is not the same as having a personal relationship with them. In a similar way, people have relationships with animals, maybe a cat. But this does not seem to be the same as a personal relationship, because of the great difference in the way the person relates to the animal and the way the animal relates to the person. Perhaps this is the kind of relationship which you envisaged?

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Can God do the illogical?

The metaphysical engineers request clarification of what you mean when you say God is able to do anything.

In the model, God was asked to make 2 + 2 = 5 (where all the terms hold their common meanings). She could not do so and the model broke down. It seems that no being can ever do what is logically impossible. It is not just beyond the wit of humanity to make 2 + 2 = 5, such a thing is a contradiction in terms.

So the metaphysical engineers seek your permission to understand by all-powerful that God can do anything which is logically possible. Before accepting this, however, you should understand that by accepting the limits of logical possibility on God, you are leaving open the possibility that, if some characteristics you attribute to God turn out to entail logical contradictions, you must give these up. It means, in effect, accepting that rationality is a constraint on God (though it is a moot point exactly what the word constraint means in this regard).

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For eternity?

The metaphysical engineers request clarification of what you mean when you say God exists eternally.

You may mean that God exists through all space and time. But according to our best physics, space and time exist only within the confines of a universe. This would seem to constrain God's existence to within a universe.

You could mean that God exists "outside" space and time. But the metaphysical engineers find it hard to understand what you mean by "eternally", if that's the case. Doesn't the concept "eternally" require some notion of time to make sense? The metaphysical engineers are still puzzling over these issues.

[brattyyetbright]

What Is GoD? I think that's  where alot of people make there mistake. God can not and will not ever be defined. Instead of asking ourselves what God is we should ask ourselves what God is not. Everyone will have different opinions on what they believe God to be. Even if God "herself" was to give us the right definition of what she is we would on all account agrue with her. We will never truly agree on what God.  God could be a figment of our imaginations just so we would have one more thing to debate about and take our attention away from what we should be questioning: What are we?

[Oni]

Meow. God is what you need it to be. I would not ask “What are we?” but rather “what do we aspire to be and how can we get there?”