there are many posts about god.

my question is, when you think about god, do you think of god as a force, a father figure, or what.

what do you visualize god looks like if you think about that.

Charleton Heston

Like most people........my default image of God has always been a father figure. I have no reason for this other than it is a result of my upbringing.

I have spent the last few years convinced that God is a "force", or a universal energy or something along those lines.

I'm on the fence. My logical brain doesn't allow me to ascribe human characteristics to God, but my Christian upbringing is still imprinted on my subconscious.

What andy said . . . and donutboy had a good analogy . . .

Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

"IF" God exists, and I am not truly sure that there is one, I would imagine that "IT" would be more of an energy/force rather than a fatherly figure. I can't see how a benevolent deity would allow so much depravity to exist in this world, and not put a stop to it.

R

I think of the Him several ways, in the form of a dove (Holy Spirit), as a 33 year- old man (Jesus), and as a white- haired Father figure.

Yes, I also think of him as a caucasian man, possibly due to my cultural upbringing but that part is truly irrelevant to me.

I accept the Blessed Trinity this way and have absolutely no intellectual qualms about it.

What donut boy said.....LOL!

Charlie

James Lipton.

I think of God as the Holy Trinity of the scriptures, He manifests Himself in three persons.

There is God, the Father, the Creator of the Heavens and Earth. He is Spirit, without a body as humans know it. He is righteous, all knowing, all powerful and nothing unrighteous can exist in His presence.

There is God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour. He alone can, will and wants to make us able to stand in the presence of God the Father. He loves us, cares for us, and sacrificed His human body to pay our sin debt.

There is God, the Holy Spirit, who is in us (believers, all who will have Him) and with us at all times. He is everywhere present, hearing our prayers, working with men, guiding, protecting.

NiteOwl - As I said in the "When Chimps & Humans Split" thread, "John 4:24: God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." From this, God is clearly a spirit, and does not have a physical body. So, when we read that we were created in His image, are we to assume our physical bodies were created in the image of His spirit? Or (more likely) were our spirits patterned after His?

Also, don't forget (this was also covered in the Humans/Chimps thread). Being created in His image doesn't mean we are exact duplicates of Him.

Another thought... if we (all) are created in His image, how do you account for so much diversity in shape, size, color... and how do we explain birth defects?

Tuck,

Do you believe there is also an "unholy" trinity? I've met people who believe this (for every good there is a bad, etc.). Just curiosity on my part. It makes sense to me that the universe, by nature, would want to keep things even and balanced.

I think of God like a Grandfather figure. I use to think of George Burns from the "Oh God" movies. Now I envision a fogy figure in human form. Truth is I don't have the slightest idea how I should invision God but wouldn't it be a trip if God looked like the South Park cartoon's God.

My dad died back in the 80s. I don't think anyone or anything could replace him.

I like to think of my fellow humans as educated enough not to tremble with fear before imaginary deities. I notice when I put my 5 year old to bed, he gets really afraid and pulls the covers up around his head, all over things that exist in his mind.

Obviously me or anyone else here doesn't know anything definitively about god, no matter how much they spew. But I do know there is nature and the universe, which we now have instruments to measure and know. I have found that studying as much as I can about the world I live in and also knowing my place and limits in that world suffice to give enough of a spiritual foundation about my place here, plus I get to maintain some measure or integrity and honesty in this system of belief I have adopted; no way I'm joining an ugga-bugga cult: but that's just me.

To me morality is what one does for theirself to feel right and honest with the world, therefore, critisizing others' beliefs isn't necessary; everyone else believes as they do for the same approximate reasons I do. I'm not better or worse or righter or wronger than the next bloke, and I imagine I feel as comfortable in my belief system as others do in theirs.

If I had to pick a god though, it might as well be Venus.

honest truth....and i'm not just saying this

i do put a human form to my idea of god, just cause it's easier for me to approach that

and my human form of god looks a lot like.........

rickamaven

12. Author: BAC_zero Date: 12/22/2005 12:20 PM Reply "Tuck, Do you believe there is also an "unholy" trinity? I've met people who believe this (for every good there is a bad, etc.). Just curiosity on my part. It makes sense to me that the universe, by nature, would want to keep things even and balanced."

BAC - Yes, I do. The bible plainly states that Satan attempts to mimic all that God is, and does. Satan is a real being, a former angel of very high rank, who became jealous of God and was cast out of Heaven. He is as real as you or I, not a figment of imagination, or a hypothetical figure. He has demons and spirits in a heirarchy of evil to do his bidding as he competes with God and all that is good. Tuck

1. Author: RICKAMAVEN Date: 12/22/2005 03:02 AM Reply "there are many posts about god. my question is, when you think about god, do you think of god as a force, a father figure, or what. what do you visualize god looks like if you think about that."

Rick - You seem to have God on your mind much lately. This is a good thing. The Jewish people and all descendants are His chosen people, whether born Jewish, or "born" into the nation of Jews through acceptance of Christ as their Lord and Saviour. He loves you and wants you to love Him. It's a wonderful thing when the Holy Spirit of God is working with you. My prayer is that you will be sensitive to Him. Tuck

tuck

if you ever hear a quiet voice in your conscious tell you to evangelize, it's probably not the holy spirit

just the ghost of DL Moody

Billy, while I may not agree with you, Dwight L. was a pretty good man.

My understanding of God and is not so much and understanding or way that I look at him, but a relationship that I have with him. I am a Christian so I believe in the Holy Trinity, Three person in one God. God the father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

The term person comes from the Roman "persona" which they learned from the Greek term "prosopone" which means mask. They visualized the person like an actor who gets his message across to his audience through a mask. Human persons were not considered so until the 13th century. Before that the term person was only spoken of about the Gods and then the Holy Trinity.

I mention this because usually we think of human persons when we think of a person and not God, when in ancient times it was the other way around. All this talk about the person should lead us to understand that we can have a personal relationship with God.

How close should we be? Jesus says,

"Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kindom of God like a child shall not enter it." Mark 10:15-16

He said this to his disciples as they tried to drive away the kids that were trying to get his blessing. Yet Jesus tells them, and us, that we must accept the kingdom of God like a child. What does it mean to be like a child? Well, they were running to him like kids do when they want something good or when they go to get a priest's blessing. They run and they are so excited and happy about what they have recieved.

Another way children act that we might learn from is that they are constantly at their parents side learning, asking, giving signs of affection and the like. This is the relationship we should try to maintain with God.