Yes, that's why Catholics (or is it Protestants too? I don't know) that believe this from the definitions:Originally Posted by Madhuri
Which makes this highly complex in that it is both an impersonal and personal God at the same time.In the case of the Christian belief in the Trinity, God is an impersonal 'ousia' or substance, manifested in three 'hypostasis' or persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
LET THERE BE LIGHT
"Love follows knowledge." – St. Catherine of Siena
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The protestants are divided on the issue of the trinity. Some believe in it, some don't.
'Personal', in the context of that article, refers to having the quality of personhood. I would imagine that the percentage of Britons who believe that they have their own individual gods is even lower.
What is the use of a violent kind of delightfulness if there is no pleasure in not getting tired of it.
- Gertrude Stein
A washerwoman with her basket; a rook; a red-hot poker; th purples and grey-greens of flowers: some common feeling which held the whole together.
- Virginia Woolf
I like that. There is a song I sing sometimes, I don't know who wrote it, I first heard it sung by The Gaither Vocal Band: He came Down to My Level, When I Couldn't Get Up to His. God Bless.
Some of us laugh
Some of us cry
Some of us smoke
Some of us lie
But it's all just the way
that we cope with our lives...
So, then, from the standpoint of an atheist or western materialist/physicalist, a belief in a personal god would be explicable as a psychological state wherein the believer in such has personified nature to the point that he, the believer, hears god's voice, has conversations with god, feels god's presence, etc.
So, then, no matter where you are, you are never alone, because your special friend is there too (either lurking over your shoulder, inside your head, or just permeating everywhere, inside and outside your skin.
I think I'll stick with atheism. When I close the door to the bathroom I like to feel confident that I am alone. TOTALLY alone.
Umm, no. Belief in a personal God means belief in a God who is also a person. Whether or not one can have conversations with him is an entirely different question.
What is the use of a violent kind of delightfulness if there is no pleasure in not getting tired of it.
- Gertrude Stein
A washerwoman with her basket; a rook; a red-hot poker; th purples and grey-greens of flowers: some common feeling which held the whole together.
- Virginia Woolf
That's why I included "feeling god's presence" as an option. Certainly, more liberal or sophisticated believers don't view god as a personal friend - many may think of "him" as a reification of love, intelligence or whatever that is far removed from mundane experience. My late brother was an Episcopalian who viewed god in this way.
I am speaking of those who have a personal relationship with a person, named "god", who just happens to be invisible, immaterial, all-powerful, a strict but loving parent, a close personal friend, etc. THAT'S the idea of god that engenders the thought that paranoia would be the result. Personally, I must eschew that kind of thinking. I would find it incompatible with my goal of maintaining my sanity at all costs.
Your own personal jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who cares --Depeche Mode
Humm You know what Ive just got myself confused now....*sigh* God is God hes not a person ,
My mission in life is to make YOU smile
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The time has come," the Walrus said,"To talk of many things:
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Not a person in the sense of a member of the species Homo sapiens sapiens, but a person in the sense of having the qualities of personhood, such as a distinct personality, the capacity for emotion and rational thought, &c.
What is the use of a violent kind of delightfulness if there is no pleasure in not getting tired of it.
- Gertrude Stein
A washerwoman with her basket; a rook; a red-hot poker; th purples and grey-greens of flowers: some common feeling which held the whole together.
- Virginia Woolf
I second that!Humm You know what Ive just got myself confused now....*sigh* God is God hes not a person ,
"The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of the people and then they take themselves out of the slums. Christ changes men, who then changes their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature." ~ Ezra Taft Benson
We have Godhead in India, for India is a fertile ground where God and His offspring can flourish and expand and that is why there is a billion Gods for a billion people, each has his own particular deity. It is amazing.
“Those who seek to satisfy the mind of man by hampering it with ceremonies and music and affecting charity and devotion have lost their original nature””
“If water derives lucidity from stillness, how much more the faculties of the mind! The mind of the sage, being in repose, becomes the mirror of the universe, the speculum of all creation.
"each has his own particular deity"
The Bible speaks of each person having guardian angels. Are these personal deities that you speak of angels or gods?? How do people communicate with them or do they do so at all???
When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent
~ Isaac Asimov
The deities are Gods.
For example, if a person is starting a new venture or any new task, they will pray to Lord Ganesha, for good luck; there is a goddess of knowledge and learning -- Saraswati, there is a goddess of money -- Lakshmi, and likewise. So, people pray accordingly to each. There are different manisfestation of the same god. They can pray to all the gods and godesses or only one.
Last edited by Madhuri; 05-16-2008 at 07:26 AM.
Aha, I see.
BTW, you're not Memsahib from "Lagaan" are you? That was one of my all time favorite movies!
When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent
~ Isaac Asimov
God is the savior, and if he saved me, he can save you too before you go to hell!
Find your dream and stick with it...or your life will have slipped past in a whisper with you still on the bottom.
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