wanting God
Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:47 pm
This title is a phrase I've borrowed from zeezrom here.
Of course, zeezrom is addressing the desire for an attribute of god, maximal greatness, and zeezrom points out that a maximally great god is so beyond us as to be, basically, unapproachable.
Zeezrom's "wanting God" two-word phrase however reminded me that people that choose to be theists then each select attributes for the god that he or she will worship.
When the Old Testament was being written, a scary, angry god was just the ticket. As mankind began looking inward, we realized that we are each fallible against even pretty basic standards. So by the time that the New Testament was being written we needed a redeemer, a nice god One that would do something(s) for us. (But with a scary reminder at the end (Revelations) so that we will yet have some fear of god.)
As we've begun to unravel the mysteries of our environment (natural phenomena like floods, droughts, pestilence, lightning, thunder, etc.) and existence (realizing what we can and cannot as individuals control, and how to enhance our lives by taking command of those things we can control), the reason mankind wanted god in the first place. God was a convenient explanation for why some days were sunny and warm in the midst of a wet season that helped our crops grow (god was happy with us, we had been good), but other seasons were plagued with drought, hail storms, floods, etc (god was not then happy with us, we had been bad). As science as a method was developed and has been used to acquire knowledge, we no longer need god for explanatory purposes. We have better explanations than were ever attributed to god's unhappiness/wrath oscillations.
But we have this emotional hangover need for 'wanting god'. In recent centuries, mankind as a whole, and even believers as a subset, have been much more willing to acknowledge that each sculpts god with attributes the individual believer will or will not accept for this superior being, god. But one thread runs throughout with these believers, this god has qualities and powers that go beyond those of mortal man.
zeezrom takes issue with a maximally great god, preferring instead the gods of ancient Greek mythology. Approachable gods, gods with faults, gods with which we as mortals can relate to. But his god Athena yet has extra-mortal qualities, can do things we cannot. On the abilities scale, one's god inevitably has to have more abilities than the subordinate believer has.
Also in that thread is rather intriguing discussion of what extent is mankind capable of worship, how subservient is mankind capable given our egocentricity?
So what is the emotional attraction to subservience (to whatever degree) to a more enabled being that we craft from our own better sensibilities? Why do we need to think that we'd have more abilities, more power, if we could just overcome and eliminate our darker impulses? Is it not enough that we would simply be better people for others on this planet to be around if we master those darker impulses?
zeezrom wrote:Third, wanting God to be maximally great does not make God such.
Of course, zeezrom is addressing the desire for an attribute of god, maximal greatness, and zeezrom points out that a maximally great god is so beyond us as to be, basically, unapproachable.
Zeezrom's "wanting God" two-word phrase however reminded me that people that choose to be theists then each select attributes for the god that he or she will worship.
When the Old Testament was being written, a scary, angry god was just the ticket. As mankind began looking inward, we realized that we are each fallible against even pretty basic standards. So by the time that the New Testament was being written we needed a redeemer, a nice god One that would do something(s) for us. (But with a scary reminder at the end (Revelations) so that we will yet have some fear of god.)
As we've begun to unravel the mysteries of our environment (natural phenomena like floods, droughts, pestilence, lightning, thunder, etc.) and existence (realizing what we can and cannot as individuals control, and how to enhance our lives by taking command of those things we can control), the reason mankind wanted god in the first place. God was a convenient explanation for why some days were sunny and warm in the midst of a wet season that helped our crops grow (god was happy with us, we had been good), but other seasons were plagued with drought, hail storms, floods, etc (god was not then happy with us, we had been bad). As science as a method was developed and has been used to acquire knowledge, we no longer need god for explanatory purposes. We have better explanations than were ever attributed to god's unhappiness/wrath oscillations.
But we have this emotional hangover need for 'wanting god'. In recent centuries, mankind as a whole, and even believers as a subset, have been much more willing to acknowledge that each sculpts god with attributes the individual believer will or will not accept for this superior being, god. But one thread runs throughout with these believers, this god has qualities and powers that go beyond those of mortal man.
zeezrom takes issue with a maximally great god, preferring instead the gods of ancient Greek mythology. Approachable gods, gods with faults, gods with which we as mortals can relate to. But his god Athena yet has extra-mortal qualities, can do things we cannot. On the abilities scale, one's god inevitably has to have more abilities than the subordinate believer has.
Also in that thread is rather intriguing discussion of what extent is mankind capable of worship, how subservient is mankind capable given our egocentricity?
So what is the emotional attraction to subservience (to whatever degree) to a more enabled being that we craft from our own better sensibilities? Why do we need to think that we'd have more abilities, more power, if we could just overcome and eliminate our darker impulses? Is it not enough that we would simply be better people for others on this planet to be around if we master those darker impulses?