God

This article is about the biblical God. For the term as used to refer to any divine being, see Other gods

God is the Alpha and Omega, the first and last, the beginning and the ending

The Godhead
God the Father God the Son God the Holy Spirit

“

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

”

God is the sovereign creator and eternal ruler of all things and beings that exist, whether in the physical universe or in the spiritual realm (Heaven). Not only is God the creator and ruler of the things and beings within those two realms, but He is also the creator of the realms themselves. God created the physical universe, and before He acted in this creation, the universe did not exist. Likewise God did with the spiritual realm.

Read some of God's glorious acts here, Exodus 4:18-31, Numbers 31, Ezekiel 9:6, and Revelation 2:23. Now remember, no matter how shocking you find these verses, never question the benevolence of God, ever.

God is Revealed: How we know about God

Other than creation itself, God is revealed in several ways, including theological correlates, conscience, and special revelation (the Bible, and prophets). Most importantly though, God is revealed in Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God.

Cathedral Cordoba, Spain.

Attributes or Character of God

Rembrandt, Ascension.

The attributes of God are things that describe who He is. Similar to the way one might describe a close friend to another individual, so too do these attributes describe God's character and nature. Attributes of God include but are not limited to Wisdom, Infinitude, Sovereignty, Holiness, Trinity, Omniscience, Faithfulness, Love, Omnipotence, Self-existence, Self-sufficiency, Justice, Immutability, Mercy, Eternal, Goodness, Graciousness, and Omnipresence. These attributes all work in complete and perfect harmony with one another.

God exercises eternal and righteous judgment of the wicked in hell, because of an inherent problem in the human heart, namely Sin. According to the Bible, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross of calvary and then resurrection, is God's merciful and gracious response to the problem of the human heart.

God is Triune

For a more detailed treatment, see Trinity.

Although the Bible does not use the term, it is clear that God is a triune God, or three in one. These are sometimes referred to as God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit.

The first hint of the Trinity is in Genesis 1:26 which relates God saying, "Let us make man in our image", indicating that God is a plurality.

The three persons of God are treated as equivalents in these words of Jesus shortly after His resurrection:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19 (NIV)

Jesus is God

Pieta, Michelangelo.

The first verse of the Gospel of John, in which Jesus is referred to as the "Word", makes clear that Jesus is synonymous with God:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 (NIV)

This verse not only says that "the Word" (Jesus) is synonymous with God, but also says that the Word was "in the beginning", which means that He existed before all else existed, something that is only true of God.

This is reinforced two verses later, in which Jesus is described as the creator. Genesis refers to God as being the Creator.

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John 1:3 (NIV)

The Holy Spirit is God

In the following passage, the Holy Spirit is referred to as God:

Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God." Acts 5:3-4 (NIV)

God is omniscient

For a more detailed treatment, see omniscience.

God knows everything:

This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 1_John 3:19-20 (NIV)

Because God is outside of time, He can see and knows the past and the future as well as the present.

"God" sometimes used to refer to God the Father

God the Father by Jose Maria Velasco (1840-1912).

In the Bible, the word "God" (θεός) does not always refer to God's being as a whole, but more specifically refers to the Person of the Father (God the Father). Here are some verses which demonstrate this:

“

John 3:16 (NASB) For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

”

“

1 John 4:10 (NASB) In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

”

Notice how in each case, "Father" can be substituted for "God." For example, "For the Father so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son," and "not that we loved the Father, but that He loved us and sent His Son."

Terminology

The Bible uses several different words to refer to God. "God" itself is not a name, but an Old English word meaning supreme being, deity, which the translators who translated the Bible in to English chose as the appropriate English word for the Hebrew elohim and the Greek theos used in the Old Testament and New Testament respectively.

The other main term for God is the Hebrew adonai, usually translated Lord. There are various compound words also used in the Bible, such as el shaddai, which means God Almighty ("el" is a short version of elohim).

YHWH is given in the Bible as God's actual name. In most English Bibles it is translated as Lord, in small capitals. The name has various other English versions, including Yehovah, Jehovah, and Yahweh.

Resources on becoming a Christian

Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane by Heinrich Hofmann.

see also: Resources on becoming a Christian

Below are some resources on becoming a Christian:

• Jesus film - free access

• Free audio Bible and Bible audio streaming

• Repentance

• AllAboutGod.com

• Video testimonies of Christians

Tips on choosing a Christian church:

• Choosing a Christian Church

Spiritual growth as a Christian:

• The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges
• The Practice of Godliness by Jerry Bridges
• The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ

See also

• Other gods
• Atheism
• Christianity in Conservapedia
• Bible Art Gallery

External links

• Who is God?, at GotQuestions
• What is God?, at GotQuestions
• Is there a God?, at GotQuestions
• 10 Biblical Reasons Jesus Is God, by Simon Turpin at Answers in Genesis, August 8, 2017
• Theopedia - God
• ChristianAnswers.net - God
• Wikible.org - God

File:God G Kinich Ahau 2.jpg

If you're choosing a deity to worship, choose one that's compatible with your values. Mayan god G Kinich Ahau seems easy to get along with.

“	At first glance, a person who is investigating the entire "God" concept for the first time might conclude that all of these diverse deities are purely human creations. That is: God did not create humanity — humanity created Gods.	”
—B.A. Robinson, religioustolerance.org

A god, goddess, or deity is a kinda-to-über powerful dude, gal, or creature that has supernatural powers to impact this world. Gods are also often attributed some degree of characterisation that gives them motive to interact with and care about the lives of humans and the natural world. Usually, though not always, someone, somewhere worships said deity. Most people believe that every deity but their own select few are a false deity or mere "mythology".

Gods and goddesses are generally mightier than minor supernatural entities like fairies, elves, or spirits; they can alter natural events and help or harm human beings. Most religions believe in one or more deities with distinct characteristics. Typically polytheistic religions rank their deities, some being dominant over others. Sometimes the supreme deity started the universe up but is no longer involved in human affairs, therefore lower ranking deities that do things for people may be worshiped more intensively than the supreme god.

A deity is a generic description of a divine being such as a god or a goddess. In some cases, entire anthropomorphic mythologies are developed about the deities, as in ancient Greek religion - the gods have feuds, are born, die, fight and often interact quite directly with mortals in these myths. In other religions, particularly the oldest ones, the gods are given more transcendent qualities and are simply representations of concepts such as fertility or natural forces.

As religion developed, the role gods played altered and monotheism developed to replace the pantheons of old. The most widely worshiped god in the present day is confusingly called "God", and is the monotheist deity of Christianity, Judaism, Bahai, Islam, and a handful of other religions, living and extinct. God is never referred to as Goddess by any of the Abrahamic faiths; even when formless or hermaphroditic, like in Kabbalah. In Islam as in Christianity, God is called by the speaker's usual word for God (this being "Allah" to Arabic-speakers); in Judaism, God has many names, including (but not limited to) "YHWH," "Jehovah," and "The Great I Am." The Zoroastrian God is called Ahura Mazda. Not to be confused with Azor Ahai aka Stannis Baratheon the one true king.

Sometimes rulers become gods while they are alive as with the Roman emperor and the Egyptian pharaoh. Other times rulers get promoted to become gods after they die.

A thing like money or the free market can become a metaphorical deity, see secular religions.

Among atheists, it's common to intentionally conflate God with other gods to highlight the identical absurdity of their existence.

Origins

“	God was a dream of good government.	”
—Morpheus, Deus Ex

Since humans first appeared, the world was surrounded by unexplained phenomena: the rise and set of the sun and moon; the ever-changing weather, including seasons, storms and other natural disasters; as well as other things. Once human intelligence reached the point of being able to comprehend time as having a past, present, and future, men realized that they would someday die, which was a quite depressing fact. The idea that these unexplained phenomena were controlled by possibly sympathetic entities, and that their psyche would survive bodily death as an immaterial entity, was comforting. Those who were able to buy into this comfort woo would be better able to get on with their harsh and brief lives. Evolution therefore created the first gods. A possible date for these events could be the first anatomically modern humans (~150 000 years ago), or maybe the time of the Cro-Magnons and the behavioral revolution (~40 000 years ago).^{[Citation Needed]}

As time went on, though, the climate changed. Over the past million or two years, the glaciers' grip on the Earth continued changing millennium to millennium in the current ice age. Sometimes, the ice would have most all of Europe in its grasp, other times not even reaching Scandinavia.^{[Citation Needed]} For most of Homo sapiens' life, the Earth was in its final glacial expansion, which peaked around 18 000 years ago.^{[Citation Needed]} Around 12 000 years ago, the ice began receding for the final time as of now.^{[Citation Needed]} This led to a change in the climate as yet unseen by men. Food was scarce as the megafauna (giant mammals, such as mammoths, saber-toothed cats, etc.) began dying out. In order to keep from starving to death, some of the inhabitants of the Near East began to grow figs and wild barley to eat. They built simple granaries so their food wouldn't spoil. The Holocene and the age of agriculture had begun.

However, in order to maintain a tribe under agriculture, it would be necessary to have some sort of government so the people did not destroy themselves over land squabbles. Some people were able to realize that some are more easily led than others. A position of authority was created, as some men claimed to be in touch with the already-thought-of gods. Tribes would be united under these theological ties. Organized religion had formed in the earliest theocracy, existing in what is now Turkey some 12 000 years ago. Organized religion was used to get the idiotic to act somewhat sensibly (e.g., the dietary laws in Leviticus). Religions would allow people to be coerced with threat of supernatural punishment.

Of course, the world has changed since the Neolithic Revolution. In 1620, Francis Bacon created the modern scientific method and humanity began to actually mature. At first, theological ties gave way to nationalistic ones: people felt more proud of their nation than religion. In many ways, religion was becoming obsolete as science forced God into the continually shrinking gaps yet to be explained. (Although some gaps cannot possibly be filled, so God will always have a little gap to hide in.)

Concepts of God

As pantheons of multiple gods fell out of favour in world religions, so the concept of a more almighty and overarching god began to be developed. Although the name hints at an overly Christian bias, the idea is often captured by the name God, distinguished by a capital G. This would be a transcendent force that was responsible for creating the world, and was blessed with powers such as omnipotence and omniscience, and qualities such as overwhelming goodness. The idea was described in Science of Discworld by Ponder Stibbons as "a god built-in to the universe itself", to distinguish it from the usual gods of Discworld who were merely characters within the universe controlling it. So the idea of God is far more difficult to describe than the anthropomorphic characters of older religions, and numerous views of what this force actually is have been put forward.

God looks remarkably like an elderly Italian man from the Renaissance. Quite possibly because this was painted by one.

• Monotheists (Abrahamic religions, with the possible exceptions of trinitarian Christianity and, of course, Mormonism) believe that there is a single entity which is the supreme being, responsible for the creation of the Universe. This god usually nurtures its creation, watches over proceedings, and intervenes from time to time in the affairs of humanity. Claims made for such a god can verge on the dramatic: omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent. Given how most religions portray God, such claims may be hyperbole inherited from less-enlightened times. Adherents of the religion wishing to honour their god credit him with supreme powers, without considering whether or not such powers might be self-contradictory.
  • The Holy Trinity doctrine of Catholic Christianity is seen as polytheistic by Judaism and Islam, as well as many splinters of Christianity itself such as Oneness Pentecostalism, Marcionism, and Unitarianism. Most Christians strenuously disagree, going so far as to assert (as the Eastern Orthodox churches do) that it's not supposed to make sense because we can't explain with our limited terms the unexplainable; hence why all metaphors for the Trinity are clearly wrong break down at some point.

• Polytheists (some branches of Hinduism, Maya and Aztec mythology, ancient Greco-Roman mythology, and numerous others) believe that there are multiple divine entities, which are usually responsible for different aspects of human life and the natural or supernatural world. There are, broadly, two sorts of polytheism:
  • Hard polytheism holds that all the gods are distinct and separate. Many ancient pagan religions and some neopagan religions, such as Asatru, fall into this category.
  • Soft polytheism holds that while there are many gods, they are all manifestations of a single god (kind of the different versions of James Bond and Doctor Who played by different actors). Modern-day Hinduism falls into this category.
    
    Pure polytheism implies that these entities are worshiped more or less equally, according to the needs of the individual worshipper, but several other subtypes exist:
  • Henotheists, like pure polytheists, recognize a pantheon of gods, but only worship one of these at a time. The Israelite religion was originally henotheistic; Yahweh was the Israelites' god, but not the only god that existed, as seen in the wording of the First Commandment.
  • Monolatrists believe that while multiple gods of similar power exist, only one of these is worthy of worship (another position which is attested in the Old Testament, where Yahweh orders the destruction of shrines to other gods).
  • Dualists (not to be confused with Cartesian dualists) are midway between monotheists and polytheists, seeing nature as being ruled by opposing forces in a constant conflict. The two forces can be seen as either opposite, but complementary (think of yin and yang and Taoism, or the creator/destroyer aspects of the Hindu triad), or defined as good and evil struggling for domination, the latter view often being described as Template:Wpl after an extinct Gnostic religion (such views are also found in Zoroastrianism, some aspects of Norse mythology, and, paradoxically, among many Christian fundamentalists (see spiritual warfare)).

• Pantheists and Animists believe that God is Nature and Nature is God. Pantheism is sort of a theologized ancestor to vitalism, but is embraced by many neopagans as well as native religions around the world. Greek mythology, though polytheist, included hints of pantheism in its nymphs, naiads, and other assorted nature spirits.
• Panentheists (most other branches of Hinduism) believe that God exists inside of everything, but is at the same time, transcendent of everything. God is seen as an eternal spark of all things, the Prime Mover, the First Wind from some Native American religions, the Force, etc. God is not creator, for all things are part of God (god), the manifest, physical parts of god.

• Deists (many forms of Buddhism and some branches of Hinduism) believe that God/Gods/deities exist(s) but is/are irrelevant to the workings of the universe, sitting behind the scenes but seldom if ever interacting with the material world. Buddhists, in particular, do not believe in a supreme, all-knowing, all-perfect being, but believe in Karma, heaven and hell (both based solely on karma, not the belief in Buddhism), and 'angels' (deities that people become after they have done enough merit in their lifetime). It is a common misconception to think that this means that God may as well not exist - some deists, such as Thomas Paine, believed in the immortality of the soul in a condition outside the universe. Many of the people of the Enlightenment, particularly American revolutionaries such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, were deists.

• Maltheists (from "mal" meaning bad, or illness, and theism, from... well, theism) is the idea that God is just out to get us and that he or she or it is malicious, like a kid who keeps removing the pool ladders in The Sims. A Maltheist, therefore, is someone who believes that a god or gods exist, and that they are evil, malicious, incompetent, or otherwise causing the suffering of humanity. In essence, Maltheism is the idea that God exists and is not worthy of worship.

• Agnostics would contend that it is impossible to determine whether or not God exists, and that arguments about the existence or non-existence of God are counterproductive. Other agnostics maintain that, as it is very difficult to prove a negative, and hence absolutely disprove Gods (or God) exist, then the most logical scientific position is that of extreme skepticism. This position is separate from atheism, but usually accompanies it.
  • Fideists (a term coined by Martin Gardner, one of the few prominent theist skeptics) are essentially agnostics that have chosen to believe in a god despite an acknowledged lack of evidence.

• Atheists do not believe in deities. There are many types of atheism, discussed elsewhere, but generally atheists can be classified as pragmatic (or "weak"), where they live life as if no gods exist, or theoretical (or "strong") where they make an explicit statement of lack of belief in gods. It is generally believed that "strong" atheists are rather uncommon, though most arguing in favor of God's existence believe that they are the norm. The Ajivika and Charvaka branches of Hinduism also hold the same views.

Existence

Do gods exist? We may never truly know, but we can damn sure try to find out.

For

File:Ceiling Cat Iz Awsum.jpg

Our God is an awesome God

Throughout history, various arguments have been proposed that supposedly prove God's existence. Sadly for their proponents, not one of these arguments has yet been successful.

• Cosmological argument
• Ontological argument (Oenological argument)
• Argument from morality

There is also the question of the nature of the god whose existence is being debated, a question at the heart of theology. Muslims see Allah as powerful, remote, and unfathomable by man. Jews argue that Yahweh is focused on the descendants of Jacob. Christians argue that God is united with humanity in the flesh in the person of Jesus. Pantheists say that God is the whole universe. Deists say that God created the universe in the beginning but now has nothing to do with it. Mormons say that God and man are the same species at different levels of advancement, and God was once a man, and man will someday be God. Others say that God did not create the universe (but does create life), yet gets the credit for it anyway.

Against

File:Godisnotgreat.jpg

WolframAlpha's take.

The concept of the God of classical theism, with what Anselm described as its 'perfections', may lead to logical impossibilities. There is a great deal of debate, to put it lightly, over this topic - one of the most common contentions is that the problem of evil renders God's existence with the above attributes impossible.

For some believers however, there are versions of God which appear to be at least logically possible, and as it is impossible to prove that something does not exist, even the most hardened skeptic has to concede that there is a remote possibility that such a being (or for that matter fairies) might conceivably exist in some form or another.

However, in rational terms, logic and evidence appears to dictate that there almost certainly is no requirement for God to exist in the monotheistic sense, and it can be argued that the existence of God leads to logical contradictions.

God, in the meantime, has usually declined to participate in this discussion. This is unfortunate, as it is certain that she would have many fascinating insights to add. However, she is just too busy. (After all, being god, she has other civilisations and even alien races to attend to. You wouldn't expect her not to be busy! Especially if they're as messed up as this species.)

In general, it would seem to make little sense to seriously discuss the existence of a particular god, as the many tales about gods tend to be mutually exclusive.

Examples

• Allah
• Ba'al
• Cernunnos
• Gaia
• Eris
• Fidem Turbare
• Flying Spaghetti Monster
• Invisible Pink Unicorn
• Loki
• Pan
• Quetzalcoatl
• Satan
• YHWH
• JHVH-1
• Alain de Botton

Quotations

Some people like talking about god(s).

God at the movies

George Burns played God in the Oh, God! movies, based on the novel by Avery Corman. In the third installment, Oh, God! You Devil, Burns played the dual roles of God and Satan.

"The Supreme Being" in Time Bandits is played by Sir Ralph Richardson.

Now he is usually played by Morgan Freeman (or, on one regrettable impressively iconoclastic occasion, Alanis Morissette).

God is the only recurring character to have appeared in all but one of the "Monty Python" motion pictures (The exception being Life of Brian, and his son was in that one).

Why do some people write G-d or Gd?

Judaism holds that, as a mark of respect to God, His name should not be erased or defaced. There is no prohibition on writing God's name (or names), but Orthodox Jews (and some Christians) avoid casually writing his name in order that they lessen the risk of defacement or erasure. This custom would have begun in Hebrew - which lacked indications of vowels in its written script before the 7th century CE anyway - but some carry it over to English and other languages. This practice prevented God from ordering business cards and advertising space/airtime, thus restricting Judaism to being a tribal religion focused on a relatively small ethnic group.

The practice of not writing down the name of God, either for fear of its defacement or for the same reason you don't say "Beetlejuice" out loud, has been around since the time of the first major translation of the Old Testament. It has carried over into the King James Version, and all other English translations of the Old Testament that render the Hebrew YHWH as "the LORD".

As with the majority of inconvenient religious customs, some smart-ass will always find a workaround that respects the letter of the law, if not the spirit. This is done by writing "G-d" or "Gd" instead of God. The omniscient creator of the universe has yet to see through this devious trick, allowing theologians to safely use a black board or Etch A Sketch® without risking the ineffable and baffling vengeance of He whose Name shall not be written in any way that makes sense. The ridiculous thing is that "God" is not even his name—it is a title or position—so, by analogy, people should also write "L-rd" or Lrd".

The word "God" may also be omitted or obliterated in contexts where it would be perceived as blasphemous or improper, along with other perceived obscenities. This was common in publishing in the Christian world during the 18th and 19th centuries, and explains why it is not uncommon in novels from those eras to find characters using phrases such as "by G___" or "d___ it". This practice continues in the use of "f**k" and similar typography in tabloids and other contexts where it is handy to repeat a swearword while pretending that you haven't.

Lording it and lauding it

The idea of a "Lord" makes a lot of sense in the conditions of medieval feudal or semi-feudal society - as in the golden age of Christianity - where every decent person had a lord to serve loyally - a patron and a superior of great power and importance who nevertheless had an interest in looking after the relative well-being of his collective of human economic assets. It makes a good deal less sense in the degenerate 21st century West, where equal citizens have become infected with the mind-virus of seeing themselves semi-solipsistically as individuals and seldom even think about barons and dukes and sundry nobility and their social rank in a divinely-ordained hierarchy.

See also

• Babel Fish
• Eric Clapton
• GodTube
• Idolatry
• Essay:What God would have to be (an opinion piece by User:EVDebs)
• Essay:of Islands (a piece by Eira arguing that a perfect Christian God could not exist in a finite universe without an intelligent designer establishing the rules of existence)
• Examples of God personally killing people
• Evidence for God's existence
• Misotheism
• Wak mythology

External links

• The "Official" God F.A.Q.
• True Facts About God
• Over Three Hundred Proofs of God's Existence (Silly)
• Over Three Hundred Disproofs of God’s Existence (Also Silly)
• god.com (She's commercial), god.org (She's organized), god.net (She's 'networking'), god.edu Template:Unbroken but not much for education.
• Video on the conversation which brought organized religion into the world
• Stephen Hawking makes it clear: There is no God
• God's Facebook
• http://www.conservapedia.com/God (Super silly)