How do you picture God ?

I looked at the forum topics here on ats and noticed that religion, paranormal, metaphysics have pretty much equal amount of threads as science, space explorations..

Going through many religious threads with countless of clashes.. I still for nothing in the world can understand what people mean by God

Some say he exists others say not.. but no one describes the term

So how does God look like to you or what does the term God mean to you.. Also who made God?

So if we are saying he doesn't exist what you picture as does exist

a reply to: Layaly

My one and only experience in which I felt I was one with God, I was meditating and had an out of body experience.

It was as if I was floating in the universe itself and I could feel this mass of energy, and what resonated was love at its highest form.

The feeling of some sort of unconditional love, it was powerful and I identified it as my own experience with God.

a reply to: Layaly
This is what I normally post when someone asks for a definition;

The Creator.
That which is not the Universe, but the originator of the Universe.

Let's make it a really trinitarian one;

God is a Creator
God is one who Communicates
God is one who becomes Incarnate

God is a Creator

I see this view as distinct from both Monism and Dualism.

As I understand the difference;
Monism resolves everything to one point of origin.
Dualism resolves everything to two points of origin, distinct and independent.

Creation theory falls short of being genuine Monism, because the created universe is understood as distinct from God.

Creation theory falls short of being genuine Dualism, because the created universe is understood as dependent upon God.

My private theory is that Creation teaching ought to be called "One-and-a-half-ism", but I don't suppose it will catch on.

As far as I can see, this involves the traditional teaching of "ex nihilo" ("out of nothing") Creation.

Because if God is "creating" using pre-existing raw material, then the material is not genuinely dependent upon him- this has become Dualism.

Or if God is producing the material of the universe "out of himself", then the material is not genuinely distinct- this has become Monism.

"Ex nihilo" is the only logical alternative, which is presumably why the teaching was developed in the first place.

God is one who Communicates

This assumption is built into Biblical religion.

In the first place, the Bible is believed to contain examples of communication (as reported, for example, by the prophets).

Furthermore, the Bible is believed to reflect a policy of communication.
It is said that God is using the Bible to "reveal himself", and so Biblical religion used to be described as "revealed religion".

The belief that "God is one who Communicates" links back with the belief that "God is one who Creates".

In the first place, some of the content of the communication points to God as Creator.

The proper Biblical answer to the question "Why do you believe your God made the universe?" is not really "Becasue that's the only way to account for the universe."
The truly Biblical answer is "Because he says he did, and I believe him."

But I think the very act of communication also points to God as a Creator.

Any act of communication necessarily implies a distinction between the communicator and the other party.
I've already said the Biblical understanding of Creation involves a distinction between God and the universe.

An act of communication implies the existence of a "will" in the communicator, or at least some sort of analogy of one.
But the same could be said, surely, of an act of "Creation".

Finally, a God who creates a universe thereby sets up a relationship between himself and the universe.
The effect of communication is to set up a relationship between himself and individuals (or even a group of individuals) within the same universe.

I assume that a purely monistic deity would not be communicating with, or setting up a relationship with, parts of itself.

My point is that
The idea of the God who Creates
and the idea of the God who Communicates
are very akin to one another.

The kind of God who would Create would also be the kind of God who could Communicate.

God is one who becomes Incarnate

I could hardly, really, leave this out of a definition of the Christian God.

The understanding is that the Incarnation is a more direct presence of God within the created universe.

If this is true, it's the ultimate form of Communication, as the author of Hebrews points out;
"God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets
but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son".

But it's also the ultimate form of "establishing a relationship";

Because the doctrine of the Incarnation is that the Creator and his creation, divinity and humanity, are bound together within the person of the Son.
The bond is understood to be irrevocable.
It's impossible for a relationship to get any closer than that.

Anyone who tries to understand the church's teaching about the Incarnation will discover that it's all about finding the right "balance".

On the one hand, the distinction between the divinity and the humanity must not be exaggerated, to the point that the unity disappears.
O the other hand, the unity between them must not be exaggerated, to the point that the distinction disappears.
The correct position is somewhere halfway between the two extremes.

But this is exactly what I said, at the beginning of this piece, about Creation;
That it occupied a halfway position between Monism and Dualism.

So it seems to me that the "balancing act" which Jehovah's Witnesses love to mock, when it comes in the teaching about the Incarnation, is also inherent in the very doctrine of the Creation itself.

The kind of God who would Create is also the kind of God who could become Incarnate.


I began by naming the Christian God as
The one who Creates
The one who Communicates
The one who becomes Incarnate.

I now suggest that these three ideas are akin to one another.
They belong together, naturally.

Whether you can believe them or not, they all belong to the same kind of God.

a reply to: Layaly

I think this is an official image.

a reply to: Layaly

So how does God look like to you or what does the term God mean to you.. Also who made God?

Why don't you ask our CREATOR yourself? Ask that CREATORS LOVE fill your soul and life with IT'S purpose. Once that happens (it just comes to you,) you will understand - in our unfortunately limited way. You need not believe in any religion or God. Better yet, just ask Jeshua (Jesus) to help you - and He loves to help.

a reply to: Layaly

God's body is the infinite and self creating Universe. God's mind is the naturally occurring self awareness that arises from the universal body.

How do you picture God ?

Like this.....

Watching his uncaring and heartless creation ignore him....




I think in the Holy Word is says that man was created in his [God] own image.....

a reply to: Layaly

I do not have a picture of god in mind, I prefer to think in terms of spiritual power and do not believe in some fictional character with a name. If thinking in these terms, I have to give you a color, purple. Spiritual power is a combination of the darkest black with the brightest gold, to me that equals the color purple. I do not even know if those 2 colors actually make the color purple, but that it is what comes to my minds eye, a beautiful purple cloud of energy.

You'll never get a description or an explanation of exactly what a god is or how one would function from theists. You'll just get a tedious list of attributes and characteristics as they have no idea of what actually constitutes their beliefs which in turn defines their entire lives (if they're unlucky).

That or the old 'he's mysterious' chestnut...

a reply to: Layaly

Try a read of the Kybalion, By Three Initiates. Would highly recommend YouTubing Manly P. Hall.

Cheers!

a reply to: Layaly
This is who she is to me:






And this is close to how she has appeared to me:




ps - Keep in mind, I am not a monotheist so this is but one (primary) iteration.

originally posted by: Layaly
Some say he exists others say not.. but no one describes the term

The people who claim they do not believe in god have no reason to describe something they lack of belief in. The soul 'describer' are the theists

originally posted by: Layaly
So if we are saying he doesn't exist what you picture as does exist

Most definitely not within our image even remotely. If a god did exist, there is no reason it (or they) would appear anything like us, or even physical at all. There would simply be no need for a physical body if you can exist outside of space and physicality as we know it.

a reply to: Layaly

Non-believer here. When I was a kid I pictured a white skinned, white bearded, old and powerfully built Zeus-ish figure with a laurel wreath around his forehead, surrounded on his left and right by clouds and heaven babes, grasping a huge bolt of lightning about to throw it.

I loved mythology as a kid, that's probably why lol.

I couldn't really describe myself as a believer when I was a child either though I guess. God was like an idea in the background that I didn't decide to focus on and make a decision about until I was in my early to mid-teens.

The great universal soul, or the soul of the universe/multiverse. Generally way beyond human comprehension.
Split a branch open, there it is, crack open a rock, it's there too...in/around, encompassing all in existence, or out of existence. Everywhere and nowhere at the same instant. Chaos, and order.
Does it hear us, listen to us? Maybe, maybe not.

My closest experience of what I can only describe as the divine comes from a dream I had a year or so ago.

I was in what felt almost like an academic setting. I was at some shelves full of books. Everything was alive with color, and I was pulling some books off the shelves. I remember the spines were vividly colored: blue, golden yellow and I couldn't decide if the last was pink or a purple. The covers were decorated with patterns that suggested vines and the blue one had something that was either an hourglass or an hourglass-shaped goblet on it.

I was interrupted by someone coming up from behind who spun me around to face him. I couldn't see the face, only bright, really bright. There was the sense of a smile and embrace and love, so much love. The only times in my life I've ever felt anything approaching it are when I've been with my husband (not "with" in the sexual sense) and with my son, and those are pale imitations.

The feelings was so powerful and so strong that it still brings tears to my eyes, and I don't exaggerate. I'm feeling them even now, thinking about it. It was that profound.

Anyhow, there was a sense of a gentle laugh the words seemed to say, "Just checking ..." before I woke up. I feel disloyal to say it dwarfs the love I feel for my husband and son, but it did, oh, it did. I didn't know you could feel anything like that! And I try to love them all the more for having felt it, and I miss it at the same time.

a reply to: threeeyesopen

My one and only experience in which I felt I was one with God, I was meditating and had an out of body experience. It was as if I was floating in the universe itself and I could feel this mass of energy, and what resonated was love at its highest form.

I have experienced this many times during deep meditation. I do not perceive it as a divine presence as you do. To me the experience suggests human potential which is not shackled.

Regarding the OP. I believe there is something that transcends humanity and physicality, a natural process rather than divinity.

Ok so .. So far I have:

Mass of energy

Creation and Communication

Love

Infinite self creating universe

Colour and cloud of energy

Not physical

Universal soul

Divinity and Embrase

The answers are amazing thank you everyone

God in my view is within everything, it is what makes the universe tick, it is also the universe itself. We are expressions of what people call God, we are the way in which it experiences itself.

The word "god" could mean almost anything the limits of human imagination. People have worshiped deities representing different things, other people, objects, and so forth. From the ancient past to the present day humans worship a wide range of different deities.

In my opinion this doesn't make "God(s)" real, it just shows that religion and spirituality has and will always be apart of human nature. Though I wish humanity was more rational.

"God" to me is one of two things.
First, I believe in spiritual beings; I've had my own paranormal experiences which can be explained as nothing other than spiritual phenomena. As such, I find it possible that there may be a hierarchy of spiritual beings, kindof like how we have hierarchies here on Earth with humans, such as mayors, governors, presidents, etc etc. If this is true, then I guess "God" would be whatever is at the top, so to say.
For the most part though I basically just see "God" as being a collective universal energy... Not something that consciously watches over us, but an energy more or less.

If you ask my mother, however, "God" is an older man that's probably white.