• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

God's Thoughts

Status
Not open for further replies.

GoldenBoy89

We're Still Here
Sep 25, 2012
26,214
28,922
LA
✟646,817.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Humanist
Marital Status
Single
Politics
US-Democrat
We are told the bible is the word of God. That it was divine revelation that inspired men to write down what God had to say to us. God very clearly has thoughts. We are told he has a plan and a will of his own and how we fit into that plan. He has very specific rules for us to follow... etc. God has thoughts is my point.

With all that in mind (no pun intended), I have to ask what I think is a pretty obvious question.
Where are these thoughts coming from?

He very clearly has a mind with thoughts, intentions and desires, much like how we do... but we explain the mind as coming from the processes of the brain.

Where's God's brain? Does he even have one, and if he doesn't, why do we?
 

com7fy8

Well-Known Member
May 22, 2013
14,732
6,636
Massachusetts
✟654,559.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
I understand that God is spiritual in existence; so His "mind" is not a physical brain.

Also, even though we humans have physical brains, we have a spiritual mind, as I think is shown by Ephesians 4:23 >

"and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,"
 
Upvote 0

agua

Newbie
Jan 5, 2011
906
29
Gold Coast
✟23,737.00
Faith
Non-Denom
Marital Status
Single
Politics
AU-Liberals
With what brain?

Why do you conclude a brain is always needed to have thoughts ? You're correct that we have evidence that a human needs a brain to think ( and this has implications on the afterlife also ) but we have no evidence of this for a spirt being.

I'm going with you are begging the question and not presenting a valid conclusion from the premise.
 
Upvote 0

juvenissun

... and God saw that it was good.
Apr 5, 2007
25,452
805
73
Chicago
✟138,626.00
Country
United States
Faith
Baptist
Marital Status
Married
We are told the bible is the word of God. That it was divine revelation that inspired men to write down what God had to say to us. God very clearly has thoughts. We are told he has a plan and a will of his own and how we fit into that plan. He has very specific rules for us to follow... etc. God has thoughts is my point.

With all that in mind (no pun intended), I have to ask what I think is a pretty obvious question.
Where are these thoughts coming from?

He very clearly has a mind with thoughts, intentions and desires, much like how we do... but we explain the mind as coming from the processes of the brain.

Where's God's brain? Does he even have one, and if he doesn't, why do we?

God has a brain. So what?
 
Upvote 0

TillICollapse

Well-Known Member
Dec 12, 2013
3,416
278
✟21,582.00
Gender
Male
Marital Status
Single
We are told the bible is the word of God. That it was divine revelation that inspired men to write down what God had to say to us. God very clearly has thoughts. We are told he has a plan and a will of his own and how we fit into that plan. He has very specific rules for us to follow... etc. God has thoughts is my point.

With all that in mind (no pun intended), I have to ask what I think is a pretty obvious question.
Where are these thoughts coming from?

He very clearly has a mind with thoughts, intentions and desires, much like how we do... but we explain the mind as coming from the processes of the brain.

Where's God's brain? Does he even have one, and if he doesn't, why do we?
I believe the NT scriptures reference the Spirit of God as being what knows the thoughts of God, and that those thoughts are then made known to humans via the Holy Spirit (not sure if Spirit of God and Holy Spirit are one and the same scripturally speaking, I'm assuming they are).

Now, I don't know if that's implying that the Holy Spirit IS the mind of God ... as in, "Wherever the Holy Spirit is, there is the mind of God. It's not in a brain, it's wherever-that-Spirit-is" or not. If so, then perhaps that is the answer scripturally speaking: the mind of God is found wherever the Holy Spirit is. The Holy Spirit being the "brain" as it were. Whatever that means.

Along the same lines as what you've pointed out, the scriptures indicate God has a heart as well (or at least Yahweh/Elohim/etc does, I'm drawing a blank at referencing a NT scripture on the "heart of God" at this moment. I may be missing an obvious one). Does this "heart" circulate blood lol ? If so, in what body lol ? There are branches of Christianity that believe God was once a mortal human I believe (Mormonism).

This is probably one of the more interesting theories I've come across, which is essentially a time-travel plot: Jesus is actually the origin point for "God". The reason this universe exists in it's current state, is because it's the one that God was born in, via Jesus. Jesus is "God", just not *yet*. He hasn't evolved into that state fully yet. It "had to exist" in order to facilitate the creation of God directly. Once Jesus died, he transcended and resurected, by way of a time paradox lol. He should technically not exist, yet does, and the death and resurection are an example of the time paradox at work. He is evolving in time to become what he will eventually be: God all in all, able to manipulate time and space, etc. So linearly speaking, the creation of the universe and God happened not in the past, but the future ... Jesus' future. It seems like our past, but it's Jesus' future, according to his own timeline. Once it's all said and done, the universe gets closed up, the time paradox sealed, and "eternity" can now exist as "God" has become all that God is supposed to become, and can now effectively end the time loop and paradox, creating something "new" from what is left.

IOW ... everything concerning God started with Jesus. Thus the "brain of God" was at one time Jesus' brain, etc. I can't remember all the details of the theory, but I thought it was rather fascinating ... an interesting story in the hands of the right person :)
 
Upvote 0

Received

True love waits in haunted attics
Mar 21, 2002
12,817
774
42
Visit site
✟53,594.00
Gender
Male
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
You need a brain for thinking and thoughts. But assuming consciousness isn't reducible to brain activity (and so far, at least according to the good neuroscientist Sam Harris, it isn't), you don't need a brain to be aware of things in the present moment. This is where we get into complicated things about God being eternal and therefore having a different perspective of time, seeing it all at once or whatever. If he sees everything at once, he technically isn't thinking, because boom! There are the ideas right before him, laid out like little shells on the beach to our perception.
 
Upvote 0

Belk

Senior Member
Site Supporter
Dec 21, 2005
30,711
15,177
Seattle
✟1,178,015.00
Gender
Male
Faith
Agnostic
Marital Status
Married
We are told the bible is the word of God. That it was divine revelation that inspired men to write down what God had to say to us. God very clearly has thoughts. We are told he has a plan and a will of his own and how we fit into that plan. He has very specific rules for us to follow... etc. God has thoughts is my point.

With all that in mind (no pun intended), I have to ask what I think is a pretty obvious question.
Where are these thoughts coming from?

He very clearly has a mind with thoughts, intentions and desires, much like how we do... but we explain the mind as coming from the processes of the brain.

Where's God's brain? Does he even have one, and if he doesn't, why do we?

Thought requires change. Free will requires the ability to make choices. If the Chrisatians are correct and their deity is eternally unchanging, knows everything that is going to happen, and is outside the realm of time then God is no more capable of thought (at least how we understand the term) or free will then the characters in a movie.
 
Upvote 0

Emmy

Senior Veteran
Feb 15, 2004
10,200
940
✟66,005.00
Faith
Salvation Army
Dear GoldenBoy89. God made this Universe and all in it, then God made Man in God`s imagine, that tells us that God did not want to be alone. God wanted to be surrounded by sons and daughters, which all could enjoy together, God our Creator and loving beings in God`s image. The Bible tells us how it all went wrong, Satan the destroyer, spoiled God`s wonderful planning. God realised we were not ready yet, and had to learn to accept the great future which God has for us. The Old Testament shows us how very far we have strayed from God our Heavenly Father.
In time Jesus, God`s own Son, born of a Virgin, came to rescue us from Satan and his satanic followers. Jesus showed us what God wants from us, and Jesus told us in Matthew 22: 35-40: " The first and great Commandment is:
Love God with all our hearts, with all our souls, and with all our minds.
The second is like it: Love our neighbour as we love ourselves." In verse 40:
Jesus tells us: " On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." ( easy to understand and to follow) In Matthew 7: 7-10: we are told
" ask and you shall receive," we ask for Love and Joy, then thank God, and share all Love and Joy with our neighbour: all we know and all we meet, friends and not friends.
The Bible tells us: " Repent and be Born Again," change from being selfish and unloving- to be loving and caring. God will see our loving efforts, and God will approve and bless us. We keep asking and receiving, then thank God and carry on loving and caring. The Holy Spirit will help and guide us, and Jesus our Saviour will lead us all the way. JESUS IS THE WAY. That is all so very simple and straightforward, GoldenBoy. I say this with love. Greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ. P.S. God is Love and God wants loving sons and daughters.
 
Upvote 0

BL2KTN

Scholar, Author, Educator
Oct 22, 2010
2,109
83
Tennessee, United States
✟25,644.00
Gender
Male
Faith
Deist
Marital Status
Engaged
Politics
US-Libertarian
Received said:
But assuming consciousness isn't reducible to brain activity (and so far, at least according to the good neuroscientist Sam Harris, it isn't), you don't need a brain to be aware of things in the present moment.

Bull excrement: Sam Harris always posits that we have no reason to believe consciousness arises from anything but the physical brain.
 
Upvote 0

Tree of Life

Hide The Pain
Feb 15, 2013
8,824
6,252
✟55,667.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Reformed
Marital Status
Married
We are told the bible is the word of God. That it was divine revelation that inspired men to write down what God had to say to us. God very clearly has thoughts. We are told he has a plan and a will of his own and how we fit into that plan. He has very specific rules for us to follow... etc. God has thoughts is my point.

With all that in mind (no pun intended), I have to ask what I think is a pretty obvious question.
Where are these thoughts coming from?

He very clearly has a mind with thoughts, intentions and desires, much like how we do... but we explain the mind as coming from the processes of the brain.

Where's God's brain? Does he even have one, and if he doesn't, why do we?

God is pure Spirit. A disembodied person. He does not have a body nor does He need one.
 
Upvote 0

ViaCrucis

Confessional Lutheran
Oct 2, 2011
39,621
29,200
Pacific Northwest
✟816,563.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Lutheran
Marital Status
In Relationship
Politics
US-Others
Where's God's brain? Does he even have one, and if he doesn't, why do we?

Why do we have brains? Well, about five hundred+ million years ago very primitive bilateral creatures evolved which had a more centralized nervous system. This basal organism radiated and as such we have everything from arthropods to gastropods to chordates like us. All with some form of animal brain, whether a very primitive neural cluster or something as incredibly complex such as the mass of grey matter between our ears.

That's why humans have brains.

God, being God, isn't an erect bipedal primate like you and I are.

-CryptoLutheran
 
Upvote 0

ViaCrucis

Confessional Lutheran
Oct 2, 2011
39,621
29,200
Pacific Northwest
✟816,563.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Lutheran
Marital Status
In Relationship
Politics
US-Others
God is pure Spirit. A disembodied person.

This would suggest God is basically a ghost; which would clearly not be in keeping with Christian teaching. God is God, which makes God entirely other. In the Gospel of John Jesus does indeed say "God is spirit", but it's probably a good idea we don't start thinking that "spirit" here is a kind of "stuff" and God is that "stuff"; Jesus' point seems to be about not locking God down in any one place, as evidenced by the context that it doesn't matter whether God is worshiped at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem (as Judaism said) or Mt. Gerizim (as Samaritanism said); but that God "is spirit, and those who worship Him must do so in spirit and truth"--God can't be locked down in this or that place, true worshipers of God will be found everywhere vis-a-vis the future pouring out of the Spirit on Pentecost, the going forth of the Gospel, the establishment and spreading out of the Church throughout the world, etc.

-CryptoLutheran
 
Upvote 0

Received

True love waits in haunted attics
Mar 21, 2002
12,817
774
42
Visit site
✟53,594.00
Gender
Male
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Bull excrement: Sam Harris always posits that we have no reason to believe consciousness arises from anything but the physical brain.

Evidence?

Because I'm reading his latest -- Waking Up -- and he explicitly states that although he believes that consciousness could be reducible to brain activity in an epiphenomenal way, he says explicitly that he's (unlike many other scientists and philosophers) "agnostic" on this issue, pointing out how the contents of consciousness are clearly biologically correlated to brain activity, but that consciousness as a whole isn't.

And really, if you're appealing to (neuro)science, it's epistemologically impossible to associate consciousness to neurological changes (e.g., as evidenced by an fMRI) and say that therefore the one causes the other. This is why even the staunchest materialist scientist still uses the carefully worded phrase "biological correlate".

And you can go a philosophical step further. As Graham Hancock argues, to say consciousness is brain changes is like saying a star is the focusing mechanisms inside a telescope that allow a person to see the star.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Status
Not open for further replies.