Define god

[pocaracas]

I hear people claiming they know god from the bible.
Well, my challenge is to get the definition of god, using your holy book (preferable) or not.

[Ben Davis]

*cue 'God can't be defined/God's ineffable' responses. Here's mine:

A supernatural deity(ies) who's properties cannot be distinguished from that which does not exist. Strangely, many people still insist on the existence of god/s and live their lives dependently on that premise.

[Ryantology]

God is whatever we do not know and cannot explain. God lives in the asymptote of ignorance, from which he will never be dislodged as long as people are afraid of what they do not understand.

[Norfolk And Chance]

An absolute twat.

[Akincana Krishna dasa]

I can give a few definitions from my tradition (not Christianity). One important point is that the definitions transcend religious boundaries - these are mostly philosophical propositions or definitions, not sectarian definitions. I have no problem with religious diversity, and am quite ready to respect sincere followers of other religious traditions. There is a common atheistic argument that points to religious diversity as evidence that religion is untrue - I find this view quite mistaken. In any case, I think many of the definitions of God I'll present here may be universally appreciated.

There first verse of Srimad Bhagavatam describes many important qualities of God:

SB 1.1.1: O my Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmājī, the original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.

Here are some relevant verses from Sri Isopanishad:

Iso Invocation: The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance.

Iso 4: Although fixed in His abode, the Personality of Godhead is swifter than the mind and can overcome all others running. The powerful demigods cannot approach Him. Although in one place, He controls those who supply the air and rain. He surpasses all in excellence.

Iso 5: The Supreme Lord walks and does not walk. He is far away, but He is very near as well. He is within everything, and yet He is outside of everything.

Iso 8: Such a person must factually know the greatest of all, the Personality of Godhead, who is unembodied, omniscient, beyond reproach, without veins, pure and uncontaminated, the self-sufficient philosopher who has been fulfilling everyone's desire since time immemorial.


Here are relevant verses from Bhagavad gita (spoken by Krishna, God):

BG 9.4: By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.

BG 9.5: And yet everything that is created does not rest in Me. Behold My mystic opulence! Although I am the maintainer of all living entities and although I am everywhere, I am not a part of this cosmic manifestation, for My Self is the very source of creation.

BG 9.6: Understand that as the mighty wind, blowing everywhere, rests always in the sky, all created beings rest in Me.

BG 9.7: O son of Kunti, at the end of the millennium all material manifestations enter into My nature, and at the beginning of another millennium, by My potency, I create them again.

BG 9.8: The whole cosmic order is under Me. Under My will it is automatically manifested again and again, and under My will it is annihilated at the end.

BG 9.9: O Dhananjaya, all this work cannot bind Me. I am ever detached from all these material activities, seated as though neutral.

BG 9.10: This material nature, which is one of My energies, is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, producing all moving and nonmoving beings. Under its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.

BG 9.11: Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord of all that be.

BG 9.12: Those who are thus bewildered are attracted by demonic and atheistic views. In that deluded condition, their hopes for liberation, their fruitive activities, and their culture of knowledge are all defeated.

BG 9.13: O son of Pritha, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.

Of course, this is just a small sample, explaining just some qualities of God. Many more elaborate descriptions exist.

I've taken all these quotes from: http://vedabase.net/

[Ryantology]

There is a common atheistic argument that points to religious diversity as evidence that religion is untrue - I find this view quite mistaken.

A follower of Yahweh will insist that all other religions are untrue because their God said there are no others.

You did not present the atheist's argument properly. Religious diversity is evidence that many religions must be untrue because many of them insist on exclusivity and contradict one another. They cannot all be true. So, which one of them actually is? If we can't agree on which one is, why should we believe that any of them are?

In any case, I think many of the definitions of God I'll present here may be universally appreciated.

In the sense that your definitions represent the total ignorance of nature and physics necessary to take any of that seriously, I can agree with it.

[Akincana Krishna dasa]

There is a common atheistic argument that points to religious diversity as evidence that religion is untrue - I find this view quite mistaken.

A follower of Yahweh will insist that all other religions are untrue because their God said there are no others.

You did not present the atheist's argument properly. Religious diversity is evidence that many religions must be untrue because many of them insist on exclusivity and contradict one another. They cannot all be true. So, which one of them actually is? If we can't agree on which one is, why should we believe that any of them are?

It's true that the claim of authoritative exclusivity that exists in many religions can't all be true. Still, there may be all kinds of things in various religions that are still true besides that. Ever taken a history of religions class? The similarities that exist in many religious traditions are incredible.

It seems to me that religious diversity tends to support the truth of God. Lots of people, from lots of places, that never met or each other or even have a language in common are getting a similar idea about a supreme God. To me, that's interesting evidence for God, not against.

In the Bhagavad gita, Krishna reconciles things like this:

BG 4.11: As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pritha

So whether someone is worshiping the Muslim God or Christian God or Jewish God, whether an aborigine in the jungle is worshipping a totem pole out of respect for the powers of nature, or whether a scientist is trying to discover the laws of nature - in various ways, different people are respecting and trying to approach and understand the powers higher than us, according to our respective realizations.

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In the sense that your definitions represent the total ignorance of nature and physics necessary to take any of that seriously, I can agree with it.

Specifically, do you feel those definitions contradict knowledge of nature and physics? Or are those definitions simply unsupported by science?

[Drich]

I hear people claiming they know god from the bible.
Well, my challenge is to get the definition of god, using your holy book (preferable) or not.

The word itself is a title that describes 3 deities. These deity describe themselves as: The Great I am. The Alpha and Omega. (The Beginning and end of all things)

[Minimalist]

God is a figment of the imagination of the clueless.

[Ryantology]

It's true that the claim of authoritative exclusivity that exists in many religions can't all be true. Still, there may be all kinds of things in various religions that are still true besides that. Ever taken a history of religions class? The similarities that exist in many religious traditions are incredible.

The propagation of a story says absolutely nothing about its credibility.

It seems to me that religious diversity tends to support the truth of God. Lots of people, from lots of places, that never met or each other or even have a language in common are getting a similar idea about a supreme God. To me, that's interesting evidence for God, not against.

The propagation of an idea says just as much nothing about its credibility.

Specifically, do you feel those definitions contradict knowledge of nature and physics? Or are those definitions simply unsupported by science?

As you are not actually asking two opposing questions, my answer is one 'yes'.

Why would a god boast about himself with such grandiloquence until we actually start trying to find evidence he exists? Shocking that now he only whispers to a very select few. And, it is not just one god affected by a sudden case of meekness, but all of them. All these many thousands of beings, many of whom claim the power to create the entire universe, have conspired, to the last, to vanish. Are we supposed to accept this? Are we supposed to believe that not a single one of this enormous pantheon doesn't feel the urge to shake the heavens and make it obvious they are there, when that is probably the defining behavioral trait of most deities?

If I didn't know any better, I'd say they are all terrified of humans and their science.