3 ms·

Which God? Vishnu? Ra? Amatarasu?

ben_w 1y ago
Prince Philip? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Philip_movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Philip_movement
hshshshshsh 1y ago
Assume God exists. Various isolated cultures are going to come up with different names for God. This like saying which Sun? Surya, Ra or Helios? All are different names of sun. But there is only one sun.
- nathan_compton 1y ago
  On the other hand, there are a lot of stars and different cultures might give them different names and yet there really are many of them. Furthermore, assume God doesn't exist. Lots of cultures might invent god for various reasons and they'd naturally have different names and attributes for them, which in fact seems to be the current state of affairs. In fact, if we assume God exists and is actively in communication with humans, its actually a bit weird that different human cultures would have different conceptions and names for that being. Why didn't it just give everyone the same name and information?
  - hshshshshsh 1y ago
    Why do you think God will have a name? Name is used by humans to identity a person among a lot of other persons. Why will God have a name if it is the only thing in existence? To answer the question of why humans give name to God. It's to make god more relatable so that they can workshop it. And use devotion to come closer with it. Look up Bhakti Yoga.
    - yibg 1y ago
      How about just having one God vs many? If there is a single omnipotent being, why do various cultures have multiple gods? And why do different cultures’ gods tell them different things?
      - hshshshshsh 1y ago
        Fair question. So my understanding is God is consciousness. It's omnipotent, all knowing and eternal. It's the only thing which is constant in your life and it sees everything you do. Now, you cannot worship consciousness as humans because it's invisible and you can never imagine it. You need a version of consciousness that you can see as well as you can relate to. So cultures invent localized version of God which people can relate to. And of course it will have attributes similar to that of the culture. But the properties kind of still hold. Like all knowing, powerful etc.
        yibg 1y ago
        I’m sorry but that’s a lot of words to provide no additional clarity. God is consciousness. So if there are no conscious beings in the universe there is no god? Or is this just renaming something that already has a meaning into god?
        lukas099 1y ago
        This reminds me of what Jordan Peterson does, which is to define "God" as something that we know exists. He defines it as the fundamental value upon which other values are built; you define it as consciousness. I've always thought arguments like these are unnecessarily applying a term loaded with human conceptions and biases in a way that doesn't shed any further light on the thing it's applied to. Like, what do we gain by defining "God" as consciousness? Why can't we just say "consciousness"? And is it worth the added confusion that when we say "God", we now don't mean what most people think "God" is? The only reason I can come up with to do this is discomfort at saying, "I don't believe in God."
    - nathan_compton 1y ago
      I didn't say he'd have a name, I said he'd give humans a uniform one since, according to, for instance, the Christian worldview he is purported to be interested in human affairs.
- devnullbrain 1y ago
  But that sun has never been a pharoah of Egypt. If the only common factor is a belief that 'something' created 'something', you're really not saying anything worth evaluating.
- steve_taylor 1y ago
  > Various isolated cultures are going to come up with different names for God. People hate not knowing the answer to the big questions so much that they'll readily accept whatever answers are served up to them. > This like saying which Sun? Surya, Ra or Helios? The difference is that the sun is readily observed. A conveniently invisible god isn't. > All are different names of sun. But there is only one sun. And there's only one human nature, which is why it's not surprising that common artefacts of human nature (e.g. religion) emerged universally throughout ancient human cultures.
  - hshshshshsh 1y ago
    Try to find who you are and you will find god.
- lukas099 1y ago
  The gods in different cultures aren't just named differently, have different properties.

Prince Philip? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Philip_movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Philip_movement

hshshshshsh 1y ago

Assume God exists. Various isolated cultures are going to come up with different names for God. This like saying which Sun? Surya, Ra or Helios? All are different names of sun. But there is only one sun.

nathan_compton 1y ago
On the other hand, there are a lot of stars and different cultures might give them different names and yet there really are many of them. Furthermore, assume God doesn't exist. Lots of cultures might invent god for various reasons and they'd naturally have different names and attributes for them, which in fact seems to be the current state of affairs. In fact, if we assume God exists and is actively in communication with humans, its actually a bit weird that different human cultures would have different conceptions and names for that being. Why didn't it just give everyone the same name and information?
- hshshshshsh 1y ago
  Why do you think God will have a name? Name is used by humans to identity a person among a lot of other persons. Why will God have a name if it is the only thing in existence? To answer the question of why humans give name to God. It's to make god more relatable so that they can workshop it. And use devotion to come closer with it. Look up Bhakti Yoga.
  - yibg 1y ago
    How about just having one God vs many? If there is a single omnipotent being, why do various cultures have multiple gods? And why do different cultures’ gods tell them different things?
    - hshshshshsh 1y ago
      Fair question. So my understanding is God is consciousness. It's omnipotent, all knowing and eternal. It's the only thing which is constant in your life and it sees everything you do. Now, you cannot worship consciousness as humans because it's invisible and you can never imagine it. You need a version of consciousness that you can see as well as you can relate to. So cultures invent localized version of God which people can relate to. And of course it will have attributes similar to that of the culture. But the properties kind of still hold. Like all knowing, powerful etc.
      - yibg 1y ago
        I’m sorry but that’s a lot of words to provide no additional clarity. God is consciousness. So if there are no conscious beings in the universe there is no god? Or is this just renaming something that already has a meaning into god?
      - lukas099 1y ago
        This reminds me of what Jordan Peterson does, which is to define "God" as something that we know exists. He defines it as the fundamental value upon which other values are built; you define it as consciousness. I've always thought arguments like these are unnecessarily applying a term loaded with human conceptions and biases in a way that doesn't shed any further light on the thing it's applied to. Like, what do we gain by defining "God" as consciousness? Why can't we just say "consciousness"? And is it worth the added confusion that when we say "God", we now don't mean what most people think "God" is? The only reason I can come up with to do this is discomfort at saying, "I don't believe in God."
  - nathan_compton 1y ago
    I didn't say he'd have a name, I said he'd give humans a uniform one since, according to, for instance, the Christian worldview he is purported to be interested in human affairs.
devnullbrain 1y ago
But that sun has never been a pharoah of Egypt. If the only common factor is a belief that 'something' created 'something', you're really not saying anything worth evaluating.
steve_taylor 1y ago
> Various isolated cultures are going to come up with different names for God. People hate not knowing the answer to the big questions so much that they'll readily accept whatever answers are served up to them. > This like saying which Sun? Surya, Ra or Helios? The difference is that the sun is readily observed. A conveniently invisible god isn't. > All are different names of sun. But there is only one sun. And there's only one human nature, which is why it's not surprising that common artefacts of human nature (e.g. religion) emerged universally throughout ancient human cultures.
- hshshshshsh 1y ago
  Try to find who you are and you will find god.
lukas099 1y ago
The gods in different cultures aren't just named differently, have different properties.