(January 11, 2015 at 2:18 pm)ChadWooters Wrote:(January 10, 2015 at 12:26 am)robvalue Wrote: I'm not looking for a definition of God that encapsulates everything. I'm just looking for enough that demonstrates you actually know what it is.Fortunatly the great minds have done the heavy lifting for us already...
Aristotle: Unmoved mover, i.e. that which persists in its being throughout all change. (In Aquinas, this means that God is in complete actually)
Anslem: that which the greater than which cannot be conceived.
Plotinus: The All, i.e. the perfect source of Form in which the forms of all contingent things partially partake. (That one needs to be unpacked some, but I think is a fair summary)
Aquinas: Among other things, the Supreme Intelligence that determines the final causes toward which efficient cause are directed.
Each of these encapsulates very nuanced and rigorous philosophical conclusions that withstand the mis-characterizations and strawmen of doubters.
Because I want to understand and not mischaracterize what you wrote, is it okay if I break down those statements? I am not trying to be disrespectful but I really like to make certain that I understand clearly another person's viewpoint before I respond.
Quote:Aristotle: Unmoved mover, i.e. that which persists in its being throughout all change.
Something that moves others but doesn't move itself or maybe it changes others and doesn't change itself?
Quote:Anslem: that which the greater than which cannot be conceived.
Something that is so much more powerful than everything else that is beyond comprehension
Quote:Plotinus: The All, i.e. the perfect source of Form in which the forms of all contingent things partially partake. (That one needs to be unpacked some, but I think is a fair summary)
This one sounds almost Hindu. God is all. Does that mean that god is a tree or rock like in some religions? God is the perfect form of everything else. Is my interpretation correct?
Quote:Aquinas: Among other things, the Supreme Intelligence that determines the final causes toward which efficient cause are directed.
The most intelligent being that invented the end toward which the beginning is headed? Okay, that one can't be right.