IPFS
CONNECTING THE DOTS
Frosty Wooldridge
More About: Religion: BelieversA new definition of God for the 21st century
Who is God? What is God? Where did God come
from? How did God invent Itself? Is God two-gendered? Is God
a gray-haired old man with a silver beard sitting on a throne? Is God a
beautiful woman in a flowing gown standing on a pedestal? Does God
think? Is God self-aware?
Why is God almost always referred to as a male? Since
God created male and female genders, does that illustrate God’s male and
femaleness? Should God be feared or worshipped? Why?
Does God rule the universe with kindness or cruelty?
Love or hate? Compassion or disdain? Does God care about every
individual life on this planet whether it be an animal or human being? Is
the Universe out of God’s control?
Why is God called “The Great Spirit” by some and “The
Father” by others and “Yahweh” by still others and “Allah” by 1.5 billion
others? Still others call it the great “I am!”
After a lifetime of searching around the planet and
investigating dozens of major religions, and reading the Bible, some parts of
the Koran, some of Buddha, Confucius, Hinduism and other religious tomes—I
submit a new definition of God for the 21st century. What have
I come up with in the 21st century about the definition of God?
At some point in the evolution of Homo sapiens, meaning
“clever apes”, we formed groups, that formed communities, that formed
cities. Unlike all the other animals that never thought about the concept
of a “God or Creator”, we humans evolved and transformed our minds into
cognitive thinking intellects. We arrived at “self-awareness” and
speech. We humans are animals that think, but we are still animals.
Once we gained speech and self-awareness, we discovered
fear, love and a myriad of emotions. We learned to fear the unknown such
as lightning, earthquakes, death, eclipses of the moon and other natural
phenomena.
From our fears, we followed leaders who led us to
safety. Somewhere along the evolutionary path, we created gods such as
the Greeks, Romans and Australian aborigines with their “Dreamland.”
Other primitive cultures like the Vikings created the Norse gods. We humans
created religions to deal with our futilities and our fear of the unknown.
In fact, over 100 major religions and gods dominate the
minds of 7.1 billion human beings on this planet. It’s my contention that
every single one of the 7.1 billion humans possesses a different “take” on the
definition of God.
Many religions teach their adherents to “fear” God such as
Christians and Muslims. Some religions condemn their adherents as
sinners from the day they burst into this life such as “Original sin” by Christians.
Other religions preach that God’s wrath may visit you on any day such as
Muslims. Their God is a male and he is wrathful, mean and vengeful.
Some religions sacrificed virgins to appease their gods. In ancient
texts, prophets like Jesus and Mohammed “spoke” to God or “listened” to him
speak to them. God spoke to Moses via the “burning bush.”
When something goes well, we say, “Thank God for saving my
little girl.” If something goes badly and thousands die, we say,
“God works in mysterious ways or the devil caused all those bad things to
happen.”
We exculpate God from being the “bad guy.” In reality, if God
created everything, God features two faces, but we cannot bring ourselves to
deal with that reality. Example: 10 million human children starve
to death annually. If God showed compassion or concern, God could feed
them with one swish of God’s magic wand because God created the universe.
But since God fails to act, it becomes somebody else’s fault such as the devil
or bad people or a dozen other excuses.
In the end, no one really knows anything about God.
Essentially, we are the only animal to ever create a “god” to support our
existence.
God’s existence cannot be proven or disproven. It’s a
metaphysical question with an unknown answer. It’s pure speculation based
on myths, ancient conjectures and emotional bias. While books like the
Bible and Koran pretend to know what God means, their writers created those
books in a time of illiteracy, fear and ignorance of science, logic, biology,
math and enlightened thinking.
Today, we no longer fear eclipses, lightning, diseases or
other natural phenomena like the Northern Lights. We know what causes
them and how to deal with them.
Educated humans no longer “fear” God or any other creative
process. Today, we move toward greater understanding of ourselves and our
origins through anthropology, science and zoology.
Thus, I propose a more equitable, reasoned and enlightened
understanding of God in the 21st century. Buckle your
seatbelts for an amazing ride into the creative realm of the new definition of
God for all of modern times.
New
definition of God in the 21st century
Remember when Galileo defied the Pope by proving that the
sun did not revolve around the Earth, but the Earth revolved around the
sun? The Pope cried out, “That’s wrong! I am the final authority.
The Earth is the center of the universe and the sun revolves around the Earth.
I am the Pope and God’s mouthpiece on Earth.”
Today, we all know how that turned out!
In the 21st century, God might be seen as “The
emerging creative energy of the universe.” This energy moves
throughout the cosmos. It creates and destroys in a never ending cycle
throughout eternity. It may move slowly as in millions of years of
evolution to create one-celled animals all the way up to a whale. It may
continue with the intellect of human beings on a habitable planet for
carbon-based life-forms such as we see on Earth. Or, it can destroy an entire
galaxy when a star explodes or implodes.
The “emerging creative energy of the universe” aligns
with creative process to create life and non-life. Since we humans enjoy
“intelligence”, it is possible that “it” contains “intelligence” within itself
and expresses that intelligence through us humans. Or, it might express
its intelligence through other life-forms in the universe. You could call it
“The Great Spirit” or “God” or “Zelda” or “Divine Spirit” or another 1,000
names that we humans have given it. It offers the yin-yang of two sexes
of animals on this planet. Or, it offers no sexual orientation such as
rocks and water.
It runs through you and it runs through me. It runs
through plants and other creatures. It doesn’t feature evil or
righteousness or good or bad or fear. Heaven and hell do not exist in this
21st century understanding of “The Great Spirit.”
You are not guilty for living. Fear fades into the rear view mirror when
appreciating this 21st century definition of God.
This pure energy expresses itself in you and allows you to
express yourself through it. When you speak to “It”, it speaks
through “you” with equal creative process. If you want to make yourself
feel better by naming it “God” or “Divine Spirit”, well then, knock yourself
out. Yes, its energy thrives through you and not separate from you. It is
you and you are it.
It can be personal or non-personal as you choose to conceive
it within your being. Is it good, bad or indifferent? It depends on
your thinking, your creative ideas, your thrust within its energy field.
Actually, you make “God” into whatever thoughts you conceive “it” to warrant.
Once you finish with your body, do you go off to some
special place?
Does a whale, hummingbird or bug go off to some
place called “heaven”? We humans don’t think so! Do you
go to some special place? Just like other animals, you return to the
Earth. You live, you die, you’re done, you’re dust. The
“energy” that leaves your body and constituted your personality, I speculate,
does not enjoy a “toe-tag” as it re-enters the universe.
The key: while you’re still breathing, enjoy yourself.
Laugh, write, paint, run, walk, talk, eat, love and follow your heart’s desires
toward limitless creative process. Since God expresses through you, when
someone asks, “How are you doing today?” You might answer, “I am
showing God a great time by riding my bicycle, loving my children, going
camping, bowling or dancing….”
In the 21st century, we can forget “fearing” God
or worshipping “it” as something beyond us. We may express its energy
roaring through each cell in our bodies. At some point, this thesis may
evolve into an even more profound definition of God for the 22nd
century as we humans gain more knowledge.
In the end, Emerson said, “God laughs in flowers.”
If you’re laughing, God is laughing!
As for me, I discovered “The Great Spirit” in the burning
embers of a campfire. As I gaze into glowing cinders, I see God looking
back at me. She smiles at my face and I smile back. Together, we
watch the shooting stars overhead with a big smile on our faces. Vaya con
Dios~
##
Live well, laugh often, celebrate daily and
enjoy the ride,
Frosty
Wooldridge
Golden,
Colorado
6
Continent world bicycle traveler
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8 Comments in Response to A new definition of God for the 21st century
In the Old Testament, The Angel of the Lord is referred to at different times. Anyone researching this Angel throughout the Bible will find that, at times, that The Angel of the Lord is equated with God, Himself.
When Moses received the Ten Commandments from God, and he came down from the mountain, his face was radiant. It actually shown with a light of its own. But that radiance was fading away the longer Moses remained outside of the presence of God.
This point is that people are allowed to come near to God. We are allowed to pick up aspects of God's righteousness and become similar to Him in some ways. But we MUST do it in the prescribed way. We are allowed to lose the God similarity, as well.
The ancient city of Ugarit, in the land of ancient Canaan - the land on the eastern end of the Mediterranean, that God gave to Israel - was settled shortly after the Great Flood of Noah's day. It may have been a pre-Flood city that was simply repopulated. Many of the writings of Ugarit parallel Old Testament writings. Yet Ugarit was moving away from the truth about God, while Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were upholding the truth of God - which truth is... ONE GOD.
In the writings of Ugarit, there is the Great One God. Then there are His children, the prominent one of which is Yahweh. Yahweh has been given the authority for the things that happen on the Earth.
Moses's face became radiant as he moved into oneness with God. The Angel of the Lord, Who often takes on the aspect of God, Himself, appears to be Yahweh - the real Yahweh. It is very difficult distinguishing between The Angel and God, Himself, at times.
Now, who would better fit the description of being the Son of God, as well as, The Angel of the Lord, Who could take the name Yahweh, Who talks with people, Who gives the Word of God to people, Who brings the people into Godness (consider Moses, and "You are gods" from both the O.T. and the N.T.)... Who better than Jesus?
This is fascinating stuff to study. And it is exciting to think that we can become like God IF WE WAIT PATIENTLY FOR HIM TO CALL, AND THEN COME WHEN HE CALLS.
So, Frosty is partially right. But all who try to take up Godness without becoming the way God is, will fail miserably, and will ultimately lose even the right to take up Godness. All who do it the right way, by filling themselves on the Word of God (look at the beginning of the Gospel of John), will become sufficiently like God, that they will become sons and daughters of God, and will be called gods.
It is so extremely interesting how many people use the word "we" when speaking of the human race. It's like they want to include their thoughts and opinions into everybody's lives. The reality is that no two people who completely agree on anything actually have exactly the same understanding of it. So, what about all those who disagree?
If the past is any indicator of the future, all of us who are commenting in Freedom's Phoenix will not be around by the time the 21st century is over. Everybody lives and dies to himself/herself, no matter how many people are around.
What is really interesting is that God's understanding of us is complete. And it is the truth. Yet our understanding of God is not complete, and therefor is not truth. Besides, each of us has a different understanding of God.
Thank you Dennis,
Excellent response and you bring up many outstanding points on the question of God. In the end, it all gets down to individual interpretation. I thought it might be fun to kick out some new ideas on what constitutes God. Obviously, I go against the old concepts because I bring new concepts. Thus, some throw rocks and names. They cannot help themselves. It's easier to throw names than deal with reality. I find it ironic that animals do not need a god or worship or any knowledge of God and they do just fine. Humans, still animals themselves, created the God concept and seem to think they cannot survive without religion. In fact, religion must be the worst invention of humans because it creates fear, wars and duress among people, tribes and other groups. At some point, I suspect if the human race survives the 21st century, we will come to even greater understandings about God and probably realize that 'It' is a figment of our imaginations. Such is life. FW
My little thoughts on this go something like...
Matthew 8:8-12 (NIV)
8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
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God certainly enjoys you as you exercise your key.
The key: while you’re still breathing, enjoy yourself. Laugh, write, paint, run, walk, talk, eat, love and follow your heart’s desires toward limitless creative process. Since God expresses through you, when someone asks, “How are you doing today?” You might answer, “I am showing God a great time by riding my bicycle, loving my children, going camping, bowling or dancing….”
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But as He is amazed at the faith of some - like the centurion - He is also amazed at the lack of it in others:
Isaiah 59:15b-18 (NIV)
The Lord looked and was displeased
that there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no one,
he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm achieved salvation for him,
and his own righteousness sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate,
and the helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments of vengeance
and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
18 According to what they have done,
so will he repay
wrath to his enemies
and retribution to his foes;
he will repay the islands their due.
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What's interesting is that the word "islands" in verse 18, above, refers to all the lands across great waters, outside of the known world of the day... Europe, Asia, and Africa. "Islands" is a warning to America, as well.
Frosty, your reply to me is just as extraordinarily revealing and dull as was the original post to which I first replied.
You think your words on God are original and "new for the 21st century."? You are very wrong. They are old, as old as the words of the serpent in the Garden of Eden, repeated periodically throughout history and epochs of humanity.
You have come up with no new material here. It's available in Margaret Sanger's works, it's available in Julian Huxley's works, one can find it in most New Age Gaia namby pamby writing.
I do know you. Your name is legion. I imagine you think that's a good thing.
There are many points in your article to pick up from for a discussion - arguably, almost too many. This is not a complaint.
At various places in the Judeo-Christian Bible, the Deity (God) assume the role of creator, teacher, lawgiver, destroyer, healer, guide, angry tribal chieftan, origin of absolution, etc.
If I recall Genesis 1:26 - 28 correctly, God created man(kind) in his own image, after his likeness. Male and female created He them. So your rhetorical question related to God's maleness/femaleness has some affimative support in the Bible itself.
The great "I am". In Exodus, Moses asked for God's name. Some say the entire Hebrew Old Testament is the name of God. But Moses gets a reply often translated into these 5 words, "I am that I am." It is not immediately apparent, but after dwelling upon this for some time, I have concluded that God constantly creates God. If this is so, he cannot offer anyone a name, because to do so changes God and the appropriate name.
This thought is disquieting to contemporary rationalists because it involves an aspect of recursion. See M.C. Escher's drawings. Rational thought was all the rage back before the days of the electronic computer. Kepler did his orbital calculations that showed the Sun was the center of the Solar System using pencil and paper (or was it a quill pen?!!!). He did not even have the benefit of Newton's calculus, having made the grave error of being born about a century too soon. Kepler bemoaned the tedium of his work. He wrote in his diary that he was almost driven to madness during that work.
Even ultimately rational calculations such as the ones Kepler performed were avoided for simpler ones. Imagine how far and fast mathemeticians of that day fled from infinite recursion! Escher's drawings are a good way to go.
But just because mathemeticians fled from such calculations does not mean that such calculations are not a necessary element in describing what the universe actually is.
In a chemistry 101 course, I remember a quote cited at the opening of one of the chapters in the textbook, (gist wise) "The reason everybody wants to go around naming everything is because man believes if he knows the name of something, he can control it." Maybe God avoided giving Moses a name in the usual sense to prevent that. What this about taking God's name in vain? Some Hebrew sects will not say out loud any word taken to "name" God. This was brought to my attention in an episode of "Northern Exposure" that was adapted from Jonah.
Before moving on from the great "I am", I want to mention another 5 word sentence offered up by the noted, famous, and beloved theologian Popeye the Sailor, who often said, "I am what I am."
Having completed that discussion, I now offer two more definitions of God. In Christian Science, God is synonymous with mind. You ask whether God is self-aware. If this definition is any indication, many disciples of Christian Science would most likely answer, "Yes" to that question.
And they're not alone. In the monistic idealism school of quantum physics, consciousness is considered to be the foundation of all that is. So they would likely believe that God is conscious.
And the last definition I have to offer for God is "God is that which ultimately concerns humanity." Is an angry tribal chieftan that which ultimately concerns humanity? Maybe law and medicine are high on the list. Closer to the top of the list than these is mind. Is mind that which ultimately concerns humanity?
You write: "The key: while you’re still breathing, enjoy yourself. Laugh, write, paint, run, walk, talk, eat, love and follow your heart’s desires toward limitless creative process."
The sage of old wrote: Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. (Ecclesiastes 9:10)
The stuff about the sinfullness of man is one of the (many) old essence philosophies. Man is this or Man is that or man is (insert approprate noun with adjectives here). Your thought just cited and the thought expressed in Ecc 9:10 is of a more existential nature. Man exists. His aim in life is one of his own choosing (or lack thereof). Your thought and the thought of the sage of old is to make the best of it you can in a method of your own choosing. Your words indicate the actions you choose and the attitude you choose. In my view, the ability to make those choices are the very definition of individual freedom.
Those choices are your religion.
Those choices answer the question, "What is that which ultimately concerns Frosty Woolridge?" Yep, those choices, in the most profound manner, express your definition of God.
DC Treybil
John Green,
Shame on your for making such false statements. Your lack of intelligence and inability to extrapolate beyond your nose does not give you any special blessings. I respect all races, creeds and colors. I support all people. I stand for birth control to bring about human population stabilization so humans and the rest of God's creatures stand a chance of surviving the 21st century. Your lack of thought or intellectual horsepower only shows that you cannot grasp my work. But, please remain silent in the future so as Lincoln said, "It's better to be thought an idiot rather than opening your mouth and proving it." You are like most ancient believers in that you can't think for yourself so you throw stones at those who do. FW
You have just proven what I've always known about you
a) you're ignorant (Jehovah means "the Great I Am", moron)
b) you're a satan worshipper. God is eternal and immutable. He is the Most High. He cannot lie, even about himself. Therefore, your view necessarily means that you are under the direct influence of Satan, attempting to change the definition of The Eternal.
But here's the best part [sarcasm] and why I think you are really at this. God loves ALL his children. That includes MEXICANS (yes!) and Pakistanis AND... AFRICANs (oh my goodness.) That even includes their UNBORN CHILDREN, yes, the very ones you want to never be born!
That is why you need a new definition of God, so you can justify infanticide of races you don't like.
You are extraordinarily transparent (and dull), Frosty.