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FAITH & BELIEFS
Re: Imagine God Evolving.
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aninsomniac
Uploaded on 02/16/2008
What you have done here is formed a more modern adaptation of the watchmaker God. The inherent flaw to this idea is that it is completely based on our current understanding of how the universe functions, which may or may not be true. If you look through all of human history, we have always created deities which mirror our understanding of the world. Inevitably, there is a revolution of human progress which causes the old deities to look antiquated, so new ones can emerge. In the earliest of times, we had gods for almost everything around. There were the forest gods, the river gods, the ocean gods, fire gods, mountain gods, and a whole array of others. Any force in the world which could not be explained had an associated deity. As man became more civilized and started building the first great cities, a Pantheon of powerful gods emerged to reflect the aristocracy which came to power in those cities. This simply created a divine justification for the consolidation of power. Though monotheistic religions had been around for a while, the first truly influential one was Christianity. The Jewish and Zoroastrian Gods were the God of a tribe of people who would protect them at the expense of everyone else. The emergence of Christianity reflected the rise of the absolute monarch in Europe. A single, pure, all-powerful God allowed for a monarch with all those attributes. Unfortunately, it soon became clear that these monarchs and the Pope were not infallible. Thus, the Great Schism occurred. When the Enlightenment took hold in Europe, religion became more focused on a personal understanding of God. After this, more and more sects emerged, all claiming to truly understand God. At the same time, the scientists of the world began searching for a universal theory for all observable phenomenon. They believed they could form a model of the universe which could accurately model the entire world, trace that model back through history, then predict where the model would move in the future. From this, the idea of the watchmaker God emerged as a deity which created the world, then stepped back and watched move along its inevitable path. As the study of particle based and quantum physics emerged, it became clear that the universe is not entirely predictable. This led to the emergence of religions like Pentecostalism, born-again Christianity, and Scientology, which are based upon the believer having a profoundly cathartic experience which cannot be logically explained. Christianity will not always be the dominant religion of this world. It arguably already isn't. Your idea of an evolving God cannot be disproved, but is almost inherently false, because it is based on ideas which are popular among the scientific community right now. In order for a singular God to be significant, it must be universal and timeless. An evolving God is neither of these things.
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Re: Re: Imagine God Evolving.

I'm glad to hear I've formed a more modern version of something. The inherent flaw you mention is actually one of the main points of the idea. By using the current understanding of the universe, I can imagine a new God more evolved than a previous God.

The same God, just updated.

As for it may or may not be true, I would have to put my money on it not being true. We constantly prove ourselves wrong. (It's a necessary process in the act of improving).

So even this form of God that I have put forth, is not a true God.

Never thought it was. It's just the best version I have going. The idea is "Imagine God Evovling". All three words are of equal value.

Imagine is a command. It's a personal challenge to use your imagination when thinking about God.

God is an almost knowable idea. An idea that can make your life, and the lives around you, better.

Evolving is the ability to survive, through change, and adaptation.

So if you believe there is no God, or you can't image there is a God, then there is no God. But you are the one making the choice to go it alone...and for what reason? To prove that you are right, and nondelusional?

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