What is god??

[Sw3etdev1L]

What is god and where is he?

Do you believe in destiny??

why??

and why if there is destiny should there be free will?

I am always confused in this things..

I want to stop wondering already..it is just overwhelming to me...I always have this Idea that,, sometimes I do feel god exists..sometimes I don't...Sometimes I do believe he is watching and taking care of us..sometimes I don't...I don't know..

I was in this kabbalah thing about some time ago, it just confused me even more, it did not work and actually they promoted fear against god to do the right decisions in life but I don't believe god is cruel...so, anyway...wish I'd know.

[disgracian]

What is god and where is he?

You're going to get as many different answers to this as there are people who post in this thread. In my opinion He exists only in the minds of believers.

Do you believe in destiny??

Perhaps.

why??

Why not?

and why if there is destiny should there be free will?

It makes people feel better.

I want to stop wondering already..it is just overwhelming to me...

Try to stop thinking about it. This stuff has vexed humans throughout history and it's not about to be solved any time soon.

I always have this Idea that,, sometimes I do feel god exists..sometimes I don't...Sometimes I do believe he is watching and taking care of us..sometimes I don't...I don't know..

I suppose your best couse of action is to examine exactly why you believe when you do, and why you don't believe when you don't. Which seems the most likely? Do you believe sometimes simply because you want to or because it makes you feel better in some way?

 

It sounds to me like it may be a good idea to try to make peace with your doubt, because it won't be going away any time soon. Remember that doubt is not a bad thing, it keeps you open to new ideas and it means you're still thinking. Life doesn't owe us all the answers. It doesn't even owe us any.

 

Cheers,

D.

[JamesM]

What is god and where is he?

 

You're going to get as many different answers to this as there are people who post in this thread.

 

I agree with Disgracian here. This will result in another thread where people discuss God's existence. I disagree however...God either exists or He doesn't. To me the evidence is clear...He does. On the other hand, many people do create a god of their mind. And then that god exists in the mind of that person.

 

Do you believe in destiny??

 

Perhaps.

 

Agree again...depends on your definition of destiny. Do we have a predetermined course of events? Yes. Can we control our destiny? To an extent.

 

why??

 

Because I believe that the evidence shows that the God of the Bible exists and our destiny is in His Hands.

 

and why if there is destiny should there be free will?

 

It makes people feel better.

 

I like that answer. In a sense, it should make you feel better. As contradicting as this sounds (and I really don't want to turn this thread into a debate about free will vs destiny), your choices determine your destiny. That is as simple as I can make it. While you have not made the choices that determine your future, your future is determined based on your choices. If you decide to sit on the couch and wait for destiny, destiny has already arrived. The couch has become your destiny.

 

I want to stop wondering already..it is just overwhelming to me...

 

Actually, I think it is mentally stimulating to think about it. Your future depends on your thinking of it. Too many people ignore it, and their destiny is so determined.

 

I always have this Idea that,, sometimes I do feel god exists..sometimes I don't...Sometimes I do believe he is watching and taking care of us..sometimes I don't...I don't know..

 

I suppose your best course of action is to examine exactly why you believe when you do, and why you don't believe when you don't.

 

This is so true. And then it becomes important to discover why men throughout the ages HAVE believed in a God...and also why they have not believed on a God. Is your belief in a God based on simply feelings or is based on something more?

 

I hope that the people who respond to your thread keep it about YOUR questions and not about the responses you get. It is well known that we will not all agree. While you can see that Disgracian and I agree in some areas, it is also quite noticeable that we have different view points in others. For you, this gives you two alternatives to consider. I do know that another thing we agree upon is....

 

It sounds to me like it may be a good idea to try to make peace with your doubt, because it won't be going away any time soon. Remember that doubt is not a bad thing, it keeps you open to new ideas and it means you're still thinking. Life doesn't owe us all the answers. It doesn't even owe us any.

 

Yet the answers are here/there. We will have no excuse when we reach our final destination.

[knaveman]

no matter what anyone or any book tells you, God is a personal experience and personal belief. No one can tell you who or what God is or how to believe, only you can do that.

[lonelybird]

What is god ...?

.

who always has some new astonishing discovery about human nature for you

[Letranger]

always has some new astonishing discovery about human nature for you

Lonelybird, can you embellish a little more? I find what you say of much interest and would like to know more of what you mean.

[lonelybird]

Lonelybird, can you embellish a little more? I find what you say of much interest and would like to know more of what you mean.

Ok, I meant that God leads us to know many sides of human natures, quite like lessons he teaches, the class is the world we are living. and at the end of one class I realized that only God is perfect is reliable, other things that we want to hold onto is shaky and vanity. It seems the class is very dark during, but at the end is light, is understanding, is peace, more craving for God's goodness

 

maybe I need to sort out my thought more

[Pedigree]

What is god

 

Quite frankly, I don't know, I'm having a crisis of faith.

 

Do you believe in destiny??

why??

and why if there is destiny should there be free will?

 

No, because by saying that there is destiny there is no free will. By saying that there is destiny, one is implying that everything has already been scripted. People might think they have free will but they're like characters in a story. Characters in a story think they have free will do but they've been scripted by the writer to do certain things.

[disgracian]

Free will is philosophically problematic. It's necessary for most religions to maintain it exists, otherwise it might make their gods look a tad harsh for judging us for actions that we were predetermined to carry out. But is it valid to presume free will on that basis alone?

 

Some will say that it wouldn't be fair if we didn't have free will. But look at the world around you and ask yourself if it's fair. We're born, we live for a little while and then we die, always before we have a chance to figure everything out. Many die young, sometimes as young as infants. How is that fair?

 

So, why presume free will when everything about our minds can be attributed to physical causes. All our thoughts and emotions are chemicals and electrical activity in the brain. Does the thought cause the physical activity, or the other way around, or are they one in the same? From what do they arise other than external stimulus?

 

Remember, life does not owe us a warm fuzzy explanation.

 

Cheers,

D.

[DutchGuy]

The destiny thing is an interesting concept.

People are genetically prewired to believe in 'destiny'.

For a kid it's important to connect events with each other so that later on he/she can predict the outcome of an event.

So, if a kid connects 'falling' to 'pain' and 'slippery surfaces' to 'falling', he/she will avoid slippery surfaces to avoid pain.

Naturally, a kid that is not accurately genetically prewired is less 'fit'.

 

This learning mechanism has the side effect that we tend to read consequences in all actions.

Everything happens because something triggered it, and in turn, itself will trigger another event, it's destined to.

In this way, every little event since birth was unavoidable and therefore destined to happen.

 

Now, is this wrong?

Because, is a murderer destined to kill?

What IS free will, isn't it just the accumulation of prewired behavioral patterns?

Does someone freely choose to be a jerk or a nice person?

 

Where does instinct end and free will start?

Blinking in respond to loud noise?

Laughing in respond to a joke?

Scratching an itch?

Falling in love with a certain person?

Marrying a certain person?

 

Is it free will?

 

Jeez, I won't sleep tonight...

[4luvnmoney]

What is god and where is he?

Do you believe in destiny??

why??

and why if there is destiny should there be free will?

I am always confused in this things..

I want to stop wondering already..it is just overwhelming to me...I always have this Idea that,, sometimes I do feel god exists..sometimes I don't...Sometimes I do believe he is watching and taking care of us..sometimes I don't...I don't know..

I was in this kabbalah thing about some time ago, it just confused me even more, it did not work and actually they promoted fear against god to do the right decisions in life but I don't believe god is cruel...so, anyway...wish I'd know.

 

I don't know what god is. I'm very agnostic in the fact that I have no idea if God exists, and I absolutely do not believe it is possible to know. No one really knows. It is also not possible to know if there is an afterlife, though I tend to ere on the side that there probably is. Then again, I am also a "believer" in reincarnation.

 

I believe that some people are destined to do and be certain things. I'm not sure why this is, but I am open to the possibility that it is just a rule of the universe and has nothing to do with any divine power. But, do I believe everything happens for a reason? No.

 

I currently believe in free will. I'm not sure if I believe that the dead are punished for the bad things they do in life. Again, I don't think it is possible to know for sure. I believe that humans can literally do anything we want too, and sometimes we can do horrible things to other humans and not get punished. Free will is just a very complicated philosophical discussion. I don't know enough about it though to comment further. I will say, however, that I don't believe that our actions are dictated by a divine power, or that we can change our destiny's by praying to such a power. I believe human beings have more power than we think, and I believe that if there is such a thing as fate or destiny, it is up to us to shape it.

 

The best thing I can tell you is that you won't find answers to your questions on this forums. Answers come from study, looking within, and making the best decisions for your life, spiritually speaking. The answers are within you. May try some meditating on this questions? Once you clear your mind, the answer that best fits your life might come to you.

[quankanne]

Remember that doubt is not a bad thing, it keeps you open to new ideas and it means you're still thinking.

 

even though D speaks more from a practical and scientific bent, he's hit the nail when it comes even to spiritual matters, because doubt keeps you searching for the Truth that is God. (And before things take a left turn here, no, I don't mean truth in the sense of things scientific that are validated and tested with the same results over and over, but Truth (capital T) in the sense that God, who created heaven and earth, and all of mankind, loves you unceasingly. Questioning is a good thing, because it propels you along your faith journey.

 

Do you believe in destiny??

 

Paulo Cuelho wrote a book called The Alchemist, which details a young shepherd boy's spiritual journey as he travels from his home seeking his "destiny." Anyhow, there's a part in there where the shepherd discovers that if he is truly meant to have a certain experience in his life, then the universe will conspire to see it realized even as the boy makes certain choices/decisions. And I think of "destiny" in those terms, that it is a fruition that comes from the choices you make, and outcome can go any way because of all the possibilities of choices.