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When a person believes in God, what do they really mean by that? What is it they are believing in?
Thanks.
Thanks.
They belive in a creator of all things. From that point some know exactly who the Creator is, how He came in the flesh and why He revealed Himself to us.When a person believes in God, what do they really mean by that? What is it they are believing in?
Thanks.
All kinds of different things. So it’s important to clarify your terms and ask each person what they mean by GodWhen a person believes in God, what do they really mean by that? What is it they are believing in?
Thanks.
When a person believes in God, what do they really mean by that? What is it they are believing in?
Thanks.
When a person believes in God, what do they really mean by that? What is it they are believing in?
Thanks.
The god of the Muslims is unknowable. The God of Jesus is knowable. Let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me” -GodOne of the core Christian teachings about God is that He is, in His Essence, wholly unknown and unknowable; ineffable, and incomprehensible.
Thus the question of "What is God?" cannot be answered. Or at least, it cannot be answered non-tautologically, (i.e. "God is God").
Thus God is unknowable in His Essence; and is only knowable by revelation. And it is God-in-revelation that Christians confess in the Creeds: "One God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and Jesus Christ His only begotten Son, our Lord, etc", to speak of God as Trinity is to speak of God-in-revelation; because God as Trinity is comprehended solely by the revelation of Jesus Christ, the Word and Son of the Father made flesh.
As such, when the Christian says "I believe in God", what is meant (or, what it should mean) is this:
"We believe in one God, the Father Almighty Maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ His only-begotten Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. He rose again on the third day, He ascended into the heavens where He sits at the right hand of the Father, from whence He will come again to judge the living and the dead. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen."
Namely, "God" can never be reduced to some philosophical metaphysic; but must always be understood and comprehended solely in Jesus Christ, who speaks of God His Father, Israel's God and the world's Redeemer, who makes Himself home in us by the Holy Spirit.
-CryptoLutheran
I like this explanation I think it’s really good, key word being wholly, WHEN this explanation is used as a description of reality (i.e. “Reality is Reality”). If you try to wholly describe reality your head will just explode (be it a theistic reality, an atheistic reality, no matter what it might be). Attaching a grand consciousness to reality itself (God with a capital G) is my biggest brain teaser.One of the core Christian teachings about God is that He is, in His Essence, wholly unknown and unknowable; ineffable, and incomprehensible.
Thus the question of "What is God?" cannot be answered. Or at least, it cannot be answered non-tautologically, (i.e. "God is God").
So are saying that you may as well just throw all the general revelation stuff out as far as evidence for proof of God goes? That special revelation alone is the only argument worth having when you wanna discuss proof of God? I’m interpreting that as being your point because even with special revelation you still can’t WHOLLY get your head wrapped around what God is. Even Jesus says “I tell you a mystery”, even Jesus knows that his own followers’ heads will explode if they tried to understand everything about special revelation lol, for example trying to wholly understand a triune God. So if I understood you correctly, you were asked the simply question of what is God, and you preferred to point out that all of the general revelation explanations are not ready worth much at all, but even though you also can’t wholly explain special revelation it is still the only answer to the question that has substance to it?Thus God is unknowable in His Essence; and is only knowable by revelation. And it is God-in-revelation that Christians confess in the Creeds: "One God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and Jesus Christ His only begotten Son, our Lord, etc", to speak of God as Trinity is to speak of God-in-revelation; because God as Trinity is comprehended solely by the revelation of Jesus Christ, the Word and Son of the Father made flesh.
As such, when the Christian says "I believe in God", what is meant (or, what it should mean) is this:
"We believe in one God, the Father Almighty Maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ His only-begotten Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. He rose again on the third day, He ascended into the heavens where He sits at the right hand of the Father, from whence He will come again to judge the living and the dead. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen."
Namely, "God" can never be reduced to some philosophical metaphysic; but must always be understood and comprehended solely in Jesus Christ, who speaks of God His Father, Israel's God and the world's Redeemer, who makes Himself home in us by the Holy Spirit.
-CryptoLutheran
I like this explanation I think it’s really good, key word being wholly, WHEN this explanation is used as a description of reality (i.e. “Reality is Reality”). If you try to wholly describe reality your head will just explode (be it a theistic reality, an atheistic reality, no matter what it might be). Attaching a grand consciousness to reality itself (God with a capital G) is my biggest brain teaser.
So are saying that you may as well just throw all the general revelation stuff out as far as evidence for proof of God goes? That special revelation alone is the only argument worth having when you wanna discuss proof of God? I’m interpreting that as being your point because even with special revelation you still can’t WHOLLY get your head wrapped around what God is. Even Jesus says “I tell you a mystery”, even Jesus knows that his own followers’ heads will explode if they tried to understand everything about special revelation lol, for example trying to wholly understand a triune God. So if I understood you correctly, you were asked the simply question of what is God, and you preferred to point out that all of the general revelation explanations are not ready worth much at all, but even though you also can’t wholly explain special revelation it is still the only answer to the question that has substance to it?
God can not be a certain species that wouldn’t make sense, so it would be interesting if you had a human Jesus hear on Earth, and then for any other enlightened species in the universe God also sends his Son but as their species. An Ewok Jesus, a Vulcan Jesus, an Avatar Jesus, etc.Thus to know God, in the Christian sense, can only ever mean to know God in Jesus Christ. That is what Jesus means when He says, "No one can come to the Father but by Me". Jesus isn't talking about "going to heaven" here, but how to encounter God personally, the personal encounter with God happens in the Person of the Incarnate Son and Word. The Father makes Himself known in and through His Son, so that whoever knows the Son, knows the Father as well; whoever sees the Son, clothed as He is in human weakness, humility, and suffering, sees the Father. It is here, in Jesus, that God is Deus Revelatus.
God can not be a certain species that wouldn’t make sense, so it would be interesting if you had a human Jesus hear on Earth, and then for any other enlightened species in the universe God also sends his Son but as their species. An Ewok Jesus, a Vulcan Jesus, an Avatar Jesus, etc.
You are a good writer. Very interesting summary of critical points! I wasn’t trying to make Jesus out to be some type of pocket hologram that God just whips out and uses like a flashlight and then puts away (I was referencing the aliens in the movie Avatar), my thinking was more along the lines that different worlds would require their own historical Jesus to run through their own history. Because if not they would be limited to that Romans style of general revelation that you said wasn’t good enough.
That is very interesting that Jesus would be a human body for all eternity I never heard that theory before. I just figured that if he could appear in different times like how he was Melchizedek, and how the Image of God doesn’t refer to a physical body but rather it refers to a rational and good/perfect being, that it would be no big deal for him to also appear in other parts of space, and that which specific organism of body that he utilized would be inconsequential.
Actually I think that the question "what is reality? " (at least "what is physical reality") must be addressed thorugh a rational analysis of our scientific knowledges.I like this explanation I think it’s really good, key word being wholly, WHEN this explanation is used as a description of reality (i.e. “Reality is Reality”). If you try to wholly describe reality your head will just explode (be it a theistic reality, an atheistic reality, no matter what it might be). Attaching a grand consciousness to reality itself (God with a capital G) is my biggest brain teaser.