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| Does God Think?
Posted: 1/5/2008 5:15:23 AM | Jonah 3 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of [or changed his mind concerning] the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. Other passages are: Genesis 6:7; Exodus 32:14; 1 Samuel 15:11; Psalm 106:45; Hosea 11:8; Joel 2:13.
http://www.new-life.net/faq217.htm
So there you have it, "He" didn't always think straight... needed to be persuaded to change "His" mind... so I guess thinking wasn't too cool huh?  | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 1/5/2008 2:33:22 PM | Mayhaps god's omni-isms mean that he's always thinking. About everything. All at once. For eternity.
like having a tune stuck in your head that you can't get out. aw man, that would be enough to make ME bring about the apocalypse.
Appositely, prehaps because god does not actually think, but merely acts, seeing as nothing is imposing on him from actually acting, and he just says he thought about it to make us feel better about it because our poor human brains can't operate the same as one scaled to infinity. ? | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 1/5/2008 6:32:40 PM |
Mayhaps god's omni-isms mean that he's always thinking. About everything. All at once. For eternity.
Oh sure... and you know this because?
Nope... sound's more like me, after a skinfull.
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Nergal
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Joined: 4/29/2007
Msg: 29 | |
| Does God Think?
Posted: 1/5/2008 6:34:00 PM | | Its a lot to think about even after a skinful ... | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 1/6/2008 4:05:51 AM |
If you are talking about the imaginary god people believe exists, then he or she or it can think if people believe he or she or it can. The same goes for tap dancing or whistling Dixie.
How do you know God is an imaginary god?Your god may be an imaginary one,,but you can not speak for another,,because you dont know what another knows.
Just because you dont know God,,doesnt mean another doesnt,,you are assuming because you think he is not real,,that he isnt,,,and you dont consider that ,,the reason he isnt real,,is because he is not real to you.
You can only offer your opinion,,nothing more. | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 1/6/2008 4:16:35 AM |
So there you have it, "He" didn't always think straight... needed to be persuaded to change "His" mind... so I guess thinking wasn't too cool huh?
So what gods mind can be changed,,,a fathers mind can be changed also,,according to the behavior of his child.Just because God changed his mind doesnt mean he didnt know he would.
God deals with men,,according to what they do.your behavior and your words ,,matter,,and they will determine how you are treated by God.
I once was pulled over to recieve a ticket for not using my turn signal,,but I told the cop I was sorry,and almost missed my turn,,,I showed him respect also,,so he changed his mind,,and only gave me a warning.
had I been rude,,I would have no doupt recieved a ticket
God changing his mind doesnt mean he was wrong,,it shows us that he gives us free will to choose to do good,,or to do evil,,and he responds according to what we do. | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 1/6/2008 5:46:30 AM |
So what gods mind can be changed,,,a fathers mind can be changed also,,according to he behavior of his child.Just because God changed his mind doesnt mean he didnt know he would.
That's okay, I was addressing the OP, but you're welcome...
I'm not sure how the biblical concept of god being omni-everything needs to think about anything, since it already knows. This is what makes it fun to play along...
I believe everything changes... including god, we are all gods, parts of the whole, so things naturally change, constantly. | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 1/6/2008 7:18:38 AM | Scripture tells us we are created in God's image. IMO, we are a three part being consisting of body, mind, and spirit. This suggests that if we are made in His likeness and we ourselves think, than it is most likely that He also thinks. Now, while God is not confined to a physical body like we are, he has taken the time to experience what we experience by coming into the world as a child in the form of Jesus.
I personally don't believe any of us has experienced anything that God himself has not also experienced since He is able to know our very thoughts and what is in our hearts.
The bible mentions several times when God actually changes His mind. So this tells me He is a very personal God. This, to me, suggests a God who thinks. Scripture also tells us we can have our names written into the book of life but then also errased from the book of life. We are also told that there will come a day when God will judge us.
Fortunately God, IMO, probably does not think like us. | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 1/6/2008 9:48:55 PM |
That's okay, I was addressing the OP, but you're welcome... I'm not sure how the biblical concept of god being omni-everything needs to think about anything, since it already knows. This is what makes it fun to play along... I believe everything changes... including god, we are all gods, parts of the whole, so things naturally change, constantly 
I dont understand it either.Its over my head.
I dont understand this,,that if all beings were created at some point,,except God,,,then who was the first angel,or being created?Since all beings have a begining,,but,,if God has always been,,,and has no begining,,and has no end,,then he always at some point created someone.
So my mind can not grasp the concept of an endless God,,with no begining,,no more than I can grasp the concept of an endless space,,with no end,,an eternity of endless space in our galaxie,and beyond,,where does it end?How can it go on forever?Where did it come from?
Who set the laws of the universe in motion?Who established them?How can any man know if God is out there?We cant even begin to search out the endless space and time,,with our short70 plus or so years on the planet if we are lucky.
But,,I suppose God dwells in the spirit realm,where the laws of the universe dont apply.
I feel loved by God,and I feel loved by Goddess,,but I have never seen either of them.
But like love,,I feel them inside me.To me they are as real as love is.You cant see love,,but you can see the effect of love in a persons heart,,because it manifests in the life they live.
I told someone who said to me once,,that he didnt believe in anything he couldnt see,,I told him,,if he were blind,,would he believe in light?
As to changes,,some things never change,,like the behavior of man,,we do today the same as we have always done,,fight,war,,hate,,love,,kill each other in gods name,,and so on.
While it is true most in the craft consider themselves god/goddess(thou art God/Goddess)I dont feel comfortable calling myself divine,,nor a god,,because if I am a god,,I am a lousy one,,and if I am responsible for judging all,,everyone is going to be in deep do-do,,except me of course,I will forgive myself,,and everyone else who pleases me
I do consider myself a child of the Goddess,,whom i love dearly. | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 1/6/2008 10:15:13 PM | Jonah 3 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of [or changed his mind concerning] the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. Other passages are: Genesis 6:7; Exodus 32:14; 1 Samuel 15:11; Psalm 106:45; Hosea 11:8; Joel 2:13.
http://www.new-life.net/faq217.htm
So there you have it, "He" didn't always think straight... needed to be persuaded to change "His" mind... so I guess thinking wasn't too cool huh?
At first glance the scriptures may send this line of reasoning...but I think when completely examined in fulness and balance, there is a revealing of God being given to the world that instead demonstrates God keeping in line with His plan for creation.
In most cases with the scriptures shared where God repented of bringing His wrath, His purpose was not to reveal His wrath, but to reveal His mercy through the working of one of His human agents.
To quote francis frangipane
When we hear that the Spirit of God is threatening wrath, the very fact that He is warning us first gives us the opportunity, even with fear and trembling, to embrace the role of Christ-inspired intercession. He desires that we touch His heart with mercy, thus averting wrath. In truth, the primary reason God warns is not so we can run and hide, but so we can stand and pray. He seeks to inspire mercy in His people. Even when the Almighty shows Himself angered or grieved and poised for judgment, He tells us that He is still seeking a means of mercy. He says, "I searched for a man among them who should . . . stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it" (Ezek 22:30).
The Ultimate purpose of God is to reveal His image in mankind. The full revelation of God's image to mankind is Jesus Christ, and this revelation is one of His mercy triumphing over His judgment and wrath. God can demonstrate His anger and serious issue that He holds towards sin, and at the same time reveal His mercy as what He truly seeks to accomplish.
Who actually placed the prayer of mercy on the intercessor's heart that sought to have God turn away His wrath?? This was done and initiated entirely by God Himself as described in Ezekiel 22:30. | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 1/8/2008 8:56:24 AM |
I dont understand it either.Its over my head.
I dont understand this,,that if all beings were created at some point,,except God,,,then who was the first angel,or being created?Since all beings have a begining,,but,,if God has always been,,,and has no begining,,and has no end,,then he always at some point created someone.
So my mind can not grasp the concept of an endless God,,with no begining,,no more than I can grasp the concept of an endless space,,with no end,,an eternity of endless space in our galaxie,and beyond,,where does it end?How can it go on forever?Where did it come from?
I didn't understand it until recently... the way I made sense of it is that being part of God we never die as souls... we just assume another form, or continue on the cosmic wheel... our choice. Free will is also an immortal truth. If you think of God in terms of immortal - and being part of that which applies to us, then nothing can die... nothing ever did and nothing ever will. "Conversations With God" tells me all I need to know, I think you would find it totally illuminating. | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 1/10/2008 9:58:17 AM | So my mind can not grasp the concept of an endless God,,with no begining,,no more than I can grasp the concept of an endless space,,with no end,,an eternity of endless space in our galaxie,and beyond,,where does it end?How can it go on forever?Where did it come from?
I can concieve of an endless God... There is the potential for an infinate amount of humans and since I believe we are all aspects of God, I believe that eventually, each one of us would start a multiverse where we are the creator which splits itself into all the infinate aspects of itself (which is us and all things)... I think it started as potential(or the Tao) and got personality once we evolved to have personality.
When did it start? When does it end? These are intangibles... All that is tangible is Now... It's all happening right Now.(imo)
I realize this sounds kinda confusing, but I'm still forming an opinion, lol.
I also think that God thinks through us... I think that's the whole point... To know thyself. | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 1/13/2008 8:40:03 AM |
Jonah 3 And G-d saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and G-d repented of [or changed his mind concerning] the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. Other passages are: Genesis 6:7; Exodus 32:14; 1 Samuel 15:11; Psalm 106:45; Hosea 11:8; Joel 2:13.
http://www.new-life.net/faq217.htm
So there you have it, "He" didn't always think straight... needed to be persuaded to change "His" mind... so I guess thinking wasn't too cool huh? It's a little simpler than that. Policemen will try and capture a criminal and tell him that they will lock him away for 20 years. But at the last moment, those same policement will tell those criminals to turn themselves in, because it shows the court that they won't repeat their actions. Does that mean that the policeman has "repented", or "changed his mind"? No. This was the policeman's intent from the start. But he wants the criminal to think he's "persuaded" the policeman to change his mind, because that gives the criminal the conclusion that if he changes his life decisions, then over time, he can persuade others to accept him as a law-abiding citizen, and give him a chance to keep the law and stay out of prison. So the policeman "pretends" to change his mind. It's all a part of positive encouragement.
When did it start? When does it end? These are intangibles... All that is tangible is Now... It's all happening right Now.(imo) A second ago, right now didn't exist yet. A moment later, right now is in the past, and already ended. So right now is an intangible as well. But we as finite time-bound beings, can only affect what happens right now. Nothing is truly tangible. But all that is affected by is is right now. So the Tao is not about living in the Now. The Tao is about focussing on how we can affect right now, and thus what we have to do right now. Because how we can affect right now and what we have to do, right now, is what is going to make our lives and everyone else's lives, better or worse, and nothing else. We live eternal, but our capacity for change exists only in this moment. | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 1/20/2008 6:42:21 PM | Great comments!!! My favorite response so far was "why don't you ask Him?"
I tried that and got something like this in a kind of non verbal reply.
Your existence represents my past thought. What I'm thinking now is about what will be the ACTUAL future beyond your existence. | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 1/20/2008 7:25:01 PM | I'd say with more then two major instances of incest we could not be to close to "his Image"
1st Bottle Neck.
Adam and Eve being of one DNA
2nd Bottle Neck.
Cain, Abel, and Seth let alone their twin sisters that the new bible (less then 300 years old) forgets to mention.
3rd Bottle Neck.
The whole Noah debacle. | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 1/20/2008 10:43:07 PM |
while God is not confined to a physical body like we are, he has taken the time to experience what we experience by coming into the world as a child in the form of Jesus.
I personally don't believe any of us has experienced anything that God himself has not also experienced since He is able to know our very thoughts and what is in our hearts.
Here's a thought -- and it's just a thought...
God truly "knows" (in the fullest and most meaningful sense of the word) what it is like to be us because of Jesus becoming one of us. Jesus grew up in a rather normal home, probably bruised His knees, wore a diaper, had to rely on His mother to feed Him, cried when He was teething, got a treat on special days and felt real good about it, had a crush on the little girl down the street, had the little girl down the street have a crush on Him, sprained His ankle, skipped stones on the lake, caught fish, made stuff in His dad's workshop, felt good when Joseph said, "Nice job. I'm proud of you, son.", sucked His thumb, played hide and go seek, stubbed His toe (did He cuss up a storm when He did?), got a splinter (and had it fester), cried, felt sorrow and needed a hug from His Mom, and generally went through all the usual good and bad stuff that anyone reaching 30 has gone through. Because of His rather unremarkable but still full of good and bad stuff life, God can now "know" what it is like to be one of us. And, as it says in Hebrews, we can approach Jesus knowing that He knows exactly what it's like to be one of us, to be stressed out and pulled in all directions, to be hungry, to be in pain, to lose someone close to us (Lazarus, John the Baptist), to be misunderstood (pretty much all the apostles and disciples, and the the crowd), to be betrayed by someone close to you, to be all alone in the face of injustice and evil, to know that there is no escape, no way out, no way to turn, to face a certain death with faith that God will redeem you, and to feel that God has abandoned you to evil men.
We can approach the throne of God knowing we have Someone there who truly KNOWS what we are going through. Before Jesus, it cannot be said that God really knew what it was like to be one if us. And that takes nothing away from God's omniscience. And if it does, so be it. Because it's true. God only really knows what it is to be one of us AFTER Jesus.
Like I said, it's just a thought. | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 1/22/2008 4:37:14 AM | I guess we can approach this from two points, one on revelation (if we accept God reveals himself in certain ways) and also reason.
The Bible clearly speaks at some points about God having thoughts. God also has emotions in the Bible, such as love, compassion, anger and so on. Yet the scriptures also seem to imply God is omnipotent, unchanging, perfect, and transcendends finite pictures and concepts.
Theists from the Christian, Jewish and Islamic traditions have tried to understand in what sense we can predicate words and concepts from our own experience onto the reality of God. Asides from the names and attributes of God theists accepted as revealed in scripture, there is also the obvious issue that the names and attributes revealed in scriptures are drawn from finite sources, called creatures.
Philosophy has also influenced how God is conceived. The philosophy of Aristotle and Plato and their interpretations influenced how Christian theologians have talked about God and drawn up concepts of God. Anselm argued that God is an infinite, perfect and necessarily existing Being. By this he means that you can't think God doesn't exist without contradicting yourself. Augustine also thought that God is infinite Being, and also that God is eternal and unchanging. God also has various attributes and has emotions.
Thought or mind or what we would now call conciousness are terms theists have not been hesitant to apply to God. Yet clearly if God does exist, there are certain ways his mind cannot be like our own. Firstly God is not mortal, so his mind would not involve mortality. Also traditionally, God has been seen to be eternal and unchanging, so the divine will and mind does not change. Yet the scriptures of the monotheistic religions do seem to indicate God does change his mind, in response to prayer or repentance for example.
There was also the debate in the Middle Ages as to what God knows and how God knows things, and also how God's thought creates all things. The concepts are quite technical and involved, but the medieval theologians believed God knew himself and his attributes and perfections in one instant act in all eternity. There are also some ideas about the inner life of the Trinity, such as how the Son and Holy Spirit proceed from the Father, and how three persons exist in one Godhead.
Augustine believed that God knows all things in eternity. For Augustine, this means God sees all things in an 'eternal present' without temporal succession. Temporal succession only occurs for us, finite creatures bound in time. As to the question of whether God knows future contingents (for example whether or not it will rain tomorrow) there are a number of possible answers, but the most difficult occurs when we try to defend human free will. If God knows how everything will happen, doesn't this mean all things merely unfold due to brute necessity and we have no true freedom at all? Some theologians defended human freedom, while others (like Calvin) focused on the absolute freedom of God, in the doctrine of predestination. To Calvin, God decrees from all eternity everything that will and will not happen, including whether or not someone is saved. There are also paralells to this view in some Islamic theologians.
A more satisfactory resolution to this problem has been tried by philosophers like Kretzmann and Stump, using modified concepts of eternity. Still, the question of whether God knows future contingent situations and also how this can be reconciled with human freedom is an outstanding question for theologians and philosophers. | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 2/25/2008 10:53:05 PM |
A more satisfactory resolution to this problem has been tried by philosophers like Kretzmann and Stump, using modified concepts of eternity. Still, the question of whether God knows future contingent situations and also how this can be reconciled with human freedom is an outstanding question for theologians and philosophers.
Great thoughts Greg, I enjoyed all of your post it was right on topic and well thought out.  | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 2/26/2008 8:02:15 AM | | well, lots of looking at God as AN image of man here, but some good stuff too. As the bible says, God speaking, my thoughts are not your thoughts, niether are my ways you ways, First of all we can't comprehen that unless it is specificaly revealed to us from God himself. so trying to make God think as we consider thinking to be might be a big step down from Gods thinking, I think a few have come very close to understanding God, when they say he knows the begining as well as the ending as well as the inbetween. To take it one step farther he knows the begining the middle and the end all at once and there never was a time he didn't know it all at once, even before creation he knew what man would do and fore ordained the salvation plan as well as the end . One has only to look at the creation to see it's far more thought out in the smallest detail, I see no reason to presume GOd has stopped Ray C | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 2/26/2008 5:24:08 PM | A second ago, right now didn't exist yet. A moment later, right now is in the past, and already ended. So right now is an intangible as well.
I disagree... A second ago is past... Right Now is all we have... A moment later is still right Now when we reach it.
So the Tao is not about living in the Now. The Tao is about focussing on how we can affect right now, and thus what we have to do right now.
The Tao simply means the "way"... The Tao isn't really about anything, it's just the way everything goes.
Because how we can affect right now and what we have to do, right now, is what is going to make our lives and everyone else's lives, better or worse, and nothing else. We live eternal, but our capacity for change exists only in this moment.
That's why I said the only tangible we have is Now. | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 3/8/2008 1:55:30 PM | [quotefrank zappa noted that, "if we're dumb, then god must be dumb, and maybe even a little ugly on the side..."
LOL that's perfect! :) | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 3/8/2008 2:16:03 PM | I certainly believe God thinks.
As to the question of omniscience, in my opinion, having chosen to give us free-will, God has deliberately chosen not to know all of the future.
It's simple logic. If God knows all of the future, He knows how we will choose to act, and thus we really do not have free-will. But He has chosen to give us free-will. Therefore, He does not know all of the future.
I don't believe this is a deficiency in God, but a choice. | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 3/8/2008 2:45:48 PM | hiya Magic:) interesting thoughts...
Although I'm not of the craft.. so to speak..not in this current life, anyway:)
For me, we all ARE God. I'm sure yov've heard the concept:
That God/source is a lake and we are all drops of water from the lake...etc.
Complete drops, not any less because we are a a smaller amount..etc.
I guess the first ones to be created would be those that left the pond:) so to speak and ventured out to have experiences in other places than in keeping with the source.
While it is true most in the craft consider themselves god/goddess(thou art God/Goddess)I dont feel comfortable calling myself divine,,nor a god,,because if I am a god,,I am a lousy one,,and if I am responsible for judging all,,everyone is going to be in deep do-do,,except me of course,I will forgive myself,,and everyone else who pleases me
You are judging yourself based on your current thoughts, ideas, experiences. You don't and cannot really see your total self, experiences, learning until you're back on the other side and in totality again.
I don't feel we 'judge' ourselves or others in the way we think of it in human terms. It's more like a review of the life we have lives an inventory of learning, compression of knowledge and 'notes' made on how we can apply that to our total learning and experiences we may have in the next life.
just adding my 'non-judgmental' 2 cents:)
good to see your post! | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 3/8/2008 6:22:53 PM |
cause us humen's were perfect intill he made Eve. Then it all went done hill.Sorry women.
Some women out there take the mind set that God created man then said OOPS shyt made a error and then corrected the errors in the next version. | |
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| Does God Think?
Posted: 3/8/2008 7:56:55 PM |
Great question Tim. If you believe in God, then there are only two possibilities, either He does think (intelligent design, etc) or God does not think and is not a person but more of a force in the Universe (kind of like Star Wars). What does God think about? I don't think we would understand it even if it was explained to us.
If the various churches are to be believed he spends every waking moment checking up on what humans are doing to each other in privacy of their bedrooms... | |
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