Your Oppinion?

[3556]

A friend of mine recently almost died, it caused me to look into death, and peoples oppinions on it, i eventually came to a site, where someone who had almost died (or died.... and came back to life or something im not really sure) said:
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"The Biblical "I am" really has a question mark after it. "I am? What am I?"

So creation is God exploring God's Self through every way imaginable, in an ongoing, infinite exploration through every one of us. Through every piece of hair on your head, through every leaf on every tree, through every atom, God is exploring God's Self, the great "I am". I began to see that everything that is, is the Self, literally, your Self, my Self. Everything is the great Self. That is why God knows even when a leaf falls."
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This kind of confused me, and i was wodnering what your thoughts on this were. It seems as if the author is trying to say that God was created along with the big bang or something, and that God created the earth and the universe, and all people by wondering about himself (?!?!?). What do you all think about this?

 

[Critias]

To me it sounds as if the person is placing themselves as an equal to God. I don't think God needs to figure out who He is.

 

[Crusadar]

It would seem that the person is envisioning his/her own version of god - his is not what scripture plainly tells us and thus borders on idolatry. An infinite God doesn't need to wonder about anything to explore His godhood because He is the source of all wonders. God doesn't require creation to make Him complete, it is creation that requires God to make itself complete.

 

[gluadys]

A friend of mine recently almost died, it caused me to look into death, and peoples oppinions on it, i eventually came to a site, where someone who had almost died (or died.... and came back to life or something im not really sure) said:
_________________________________________________
"The Biblical "I am" really has a question mark after it. "I am? What am I?"

So creation is God exploring God's Self through every way imaginable, in an ongoing, infinite exploration through every one of us. Through every piece of hair on your head, through every leaf on every tree, through every atom, God is exploring God's Self, the great "I am". I began to see that everything that is, is the Self, literally, your Self, my Self. Everything is the great Self. That is why God knows even when a leaf falls."
__________________________________________________________________________

This kind of confused me, and i was wodnering what your thoughts on this were. It seems as if the author is trying to say that God was created along with the big bang or something, and that God created the earth and the universe, and all people by wondering about himself (?!?!?). What do you all think about this?

Actually it is pretty standard for any sort of mystical writing--including Christian mysticism. Check out some of the writings of Meister Eckhart and St. John of the Cross for historical examples. For more modern insights you might explore the theology of Matthew Fox, Thomas Merton and Annie Dillard.

Probably the writer would consider the big bang irrelevant. Just one small incident in history from God's perspective. I don't think any mystic would consider that God's existence began with the big bang.

As for creating everything by wondering about himself....not a bad idea. After all, creation is an expression of the Creator. And one way a creator discovers his/her own self is through the action of creating.

 

[FreezBee]

"The Biblical "I am" really has a question mark after it. "I am? What am I?"

So creation is God exploring God's Self through every way imaginable, in an ongoing, infinite exploration through every one of us. Through every piece of hair on your head, through every leaf on every tree, through every atom, God is exploring God's Self, the great "I am". I began to see that everything that is, is the Self, literally, your Self, my Self. Everything is the great Self. That is why God knows even when a leaf falls."

Hi 3556 and welcome to these forums

Well, it's not easy to answer your question, because as gluadys says, this is mysticism, almost pantheism.

By definition God is always subject, so God sees, but is not seen, God knows, but is not known.

We are created in the image of God, but we do not even know, what that means. But if God needed to mirror himself in creation, then God would be both subject and object, and that may be, what we want, a God that is here among us, observable.

God may listen, but he may not answer all prayers with a "yes".


- FreezBee

 

[3556]

Wow, thanks for the replies, gave me alot to think about!

 

[LewisWildermuth]

Thoughts like this have been part of Christianity from the beginning; it is interesting to see some dismiss them so offhandedly. In the infancy gospels by Thomas, Jesus, as a child must learn what his powers are for. In Mark, Jesus asks if He must go through with His own death. Throughout the gospels Jesus often answers the question of “Who are you?” with another “Who do you/they say I am?”

It is part of the mystery about God that we will never be able to answer. Does God know Himself? We will not know until we meet God.