If I met Him...then He wouldn't be worth worshipping.
I had the thought the other day based on the apologetic argument, "There isn't proof that you would accept in order to believe in a God." When I first heard it, I was affronted, like, "No! You haven't made a good case! My standard of proof is just higher than yours."
But the more I tugged at the thread, the more I realized that is actually pretty accurate. At least when it comes to something demanding my worship, my reverence, my fear, and my obedience. We can talk about deity all we want but I'm going to tie these two things together because to me, they are linked: that the goal of proving existence of deity is tied to compelling my worship and veneration.
What proof would I need in order to accept the existence of a supernatural being that we'd call a God?
I'd need to speak to them directly and I'd need a demonstration of their power that couldn't be explained by the natural laws of our world(I know, I'm making very vague parameters but the more specific we get the more into the weeds I get trying to define what "counts" as empirical data, when really I want to understand the dependability of my own logic train; if we have to go there to get here, then we'll get into it).
But if they did that, I would no longer consider them a God worthy of worship. Like, we're talking a God who's the Biblical God, creator of everything, and He's gotta waste His time doing parlor tricks for me? Not to reduce my worth or anything but it feels...off. I would need to know their motivation for singling me out. If they didn't single me out and everyone could talk to this reality-altering being, how is that different from a superpowered mutant from X-Men or something?
It's a contradiction, I know. I'd need to speak directly to deity in order to confirm they were real but by doing so, the more contact I am able to have, the more normalized they become to the point of just seeming like another human or conscious being. It reduces their distance from me. Yet, if it was a deity that was so powerful and so big that it didn't have time or consideration for me and was untouchable...it probably doesn't matter if I worship them or not.
Like, even the need and desire for worship seems like such a petty, insecure thing. Asking for it already disqualifies you from deserving it. At least in my mind.
What do you think? I know there are probably holes in this and I'm super biased and specific yet vague. I'm a newb, and I've never explored these ideas before. Talk it through with me.
I had the thought the other day based on the apologetic argument, "There isn't proof that you would accept in order to believe in a God." When I first heard it, I was affronted, like, "No! You haven't made a good case! My standard of proof is just higher than yours."
But the more I tugged at the thread, the more I realized that is actually pretty accurate. At least when it comes to something demanding my worship, my reverence, my fear, and my obedience. We can talk about deity all we want but I'm going to tie these two things together because to me, they are linked: that the goal of proving existence of deity is tied to compelling my worship and veneration.
What proof would I need in order to accept the existence of a supernatural being that we'd call a God?
I'd need to speak to them directly and I'd need a demonstration of their power that couldn't be explained by the natural laws of our world(I know, I'm making very vague parameters but the more specific we get the more into the weeds I get trying to define what "counts" as empirical data, when really I want to understand the dependability of my own logic train; if we have to go there to get here, then we'll get into it).
But if they did that, I would no longer consider them a God worthy of worship. Like, we're talking a God who's the Biblical God, creator of everything, and He's gotta waste His time doing parlor tricks for me? Not to reduce my worth or anything but it feels...off. I would need to know their motivation for singling me out. If they didn't single me out and everyone could talk to this reality-altering being, how is that different from a superpowered mutant from X-Men or something?
It's a contradiction, I know. I'd need to speak directly to deity in order to confirm they were real but by doing so, the more contact I am able to have, the more normalized they become to the point of just seeming like another human or conscious being. It reduces their distance from me. Yet, if it was a deity that was so powerful and so big that it didn't have time or consideration for me and was untouchable...it probably doesn't matter if I worship them or not.
Like, even the need and desire for worship seems like such a petty, insecure thing. Asking for it already disqualifies you from deserving it. At least in my mind.
What do you think? I know there are probably holes in this and I'm super biased and specific yet vague. I'm a newb, and I've never explored these ideas before. Talk it through with me.
