A possibly new perspective on this thing that we know as God.

[unityconversation]

So I guess this topic ran it's course.

This conversation has been interesting.

Have a good one.

I'm familiar with some of the ideas you've been discussing here. I've never seen how they were expressed in Bahai, however. So that's interesting to me.

It's normal in Neoplatonism and Christian Neoplatonism to say that God is the Good, and that wherever we see good in the world this is a reflection or embodiment of God. And I've often read that since humans aren't capable of seeing the Good in its totality, that we know of God through his various names. The list of names you gave earlier was longer than what I've seen before, and that was interesting to me.

However in Platonism, embodiments of the Good are not limited to people. That is, the divine shows itself in anything that is good. Dante is at pains to show that the kind of good which appeals to us varies from person to person -- someone might be most attracted to the beauty of music, while another might devote his life to the goodness of justice. But he's clear that both of these attractions are entryways to God. 

Note, though, that beauty (which is also Plato's primary example) is not only human beauty. The beauty of art or music is as much a portion of God as the beauty of a beautiful person. 

So I don't see yet why you're saying the divine is only a characteristic of people, and not of, say, landscapes or starry skies. Or perhaps you limit the divinity of beauty to human creations, ruling out natural products but including human creations like symphonies. This would be something I'm not familiar with. 

Thanks in advance for your explanation!

Baha'u'llah says:

"From that which hath been said it becometh evident that all things, in their inmost reality, testify to the revelation of the names and attributes of God within them. Each according to its capacity, indicateth, and is expressive of, the knowledge of God. So potent and universal is this revelation, that it hath encompassed all things, visible and invisible. Thus hath He revealed: “Hath aught else save Thee a power of revelation which is not possessed by Thee, that it could have manifested Thee? Blind is the eye which doth not perceive Thee.” Likewise, hath the eternal King spoken: “No thing have I perceived, except that I perceived God within it, God before it, or God after it.” Also in the tradition of Kumayl it is written: “Behold, a light hath shone forth out of the Morn of eternity, and lo! its waves have penetrated the inmost reality of all men.” Man, the noblest and most perfect of all created things, excelleth them all in the intensity of this revelation, and is a fuller expression of its glory."


Baha'u'llah says:

"The traditions and sayings that bear direct reference to Our theme are divers and manifold; We have refrained from quoting them for the sake of brevity. Nay, whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth is a direct evidence of the revelation within it of the attributes and names of God, inasmuch as within every atom are enshrined the signs that bear eloquent testimony to the revelation of that most great Light. Methinks, but for the potency of that revelation, no being could ever exist. How resplendent the luminaries of knowledge that shine in an atom, and how vast the oceans of wisdom that surge within a drop! To a supreme degree is this true of man, who, among all created things, hath been invested with the robe of such gifts, and hath been singled out for the glory of such distinction. For in him are potentially revealed all the attributes and names of God to a degree that no other created being hath excelled or surpassed. All these names and attributes are applicable to him. Even as He hath said: “Man is My mystery, and I am his mystery.” Manifold are the verses that have been repeatedly revealed in all the heavenly Books and the holy Scriptures, expressive of this most subtle and lofty theme. Even as He hath revealed: “We will surely show them Our signs in the world and within themselves.” Again He saith: “And also in your own selves: will ye not then behold the signs of God?” And yet again He revealeth: “And be ye not like those who forget God, and whom He hath therefore caused to forget their own selves.” In this connection, He Who is the eternal King... hath spoken: “He hath known God who hath known himself.”