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Conceptions of God inclassical theist,monotheist,pantheist, andpanentheist traditions – or of the supreme deity inhenotheistic religions – can extend to various levels ofabstraction:
The first recordings that survive of monotheistic conceptions ofGod, borne out ofhenotheism and (mostly inEastern religions)monism, are from theHellenistic period. Of the many objects and entities that religions and other belief systems across the ages have labeled as divine, the one criterion they share is their acknowledgment as divine by a group or groups of human beings.
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In hisMetaphysics,Aristotle discusses the meaning of "being as being". Aristotle holds that "being" primarily refers to theUnmoved Movers, and assigned one of these to each movement in the heavens. Each Unmoved mover continuously contemplates its own contemplation, and everything that fits the second meaning of "being" by having its source of motion in itself, i.e., moves because the knowledge of its Mover causes it to emulate this Mover (or should).
Aristotle's definition of God attributes perfection to this being, and, as a perfect being, it can only contemplate upon perfection and not on imperfection; otherwise perfection would not be one of his attributes. God, according to Aristotle, is in a state of "stasis" untouched by change and imperfection. The "unmoved mover" is very unlike the conception of God that one sees in most religions. It has been likened to a person who is playingdominos and pushes one of them over, so that every other domino in the set is pushed over as well, without the being having to do anything about it. Although, in the 18th century, the French educatorAllan Kardec brought a very similar conception of God during his work of codifyingSpiritism, this differs from the interpretation of God in most religions, where he is seen to bepersonally involved in his creation.
In the ancient Greek philosophicalHermetica, the ultimate reality is called by many names, such as God, Lord, Father, Mind (Nous), the Creator, the All, the One, etc.[1] However, peculiar to theHermetic view of the divinity is that it is both the all (Greek:to pan) and the creator of the all: all created things pre-exist in God,[2] and God is the nature of the cosmos (being both the substance from which it proceeds and the governing principle which orders it),[3] yet the things themselves and the cosmos were all created by God. Thus, God creates itself,[4] and is bothtranscendent (as the creator of the cosmos) andimmanent (as the created cosmos).[5] These ideas are closely related to thecosmo-theological views of the Stoics.[6]
The term "Abrahamic God", in this sense, refers to the conception of God that remains a foundational point of belief and doctrine in all three of the largest and best-knownAbrahamic religious traditions:Judaism,Christianity, andIslam. (While similar views also predominate among those Abrahamic faiths to which there are far fewer adherents, such asSamaritanism andBabism, the quintessentially-Abrahamic conception of deity is most well-attested in the aforementioned three overarching faiths.)
In this view, God is conceived of aseternal,omnipotent,omniscient and as thecreator of the universe. God is further held to have the properties of holiness, justice, jealousy,[7][8]omnibenevolence andomnipresence. Proponents of Abrahamic faiths believe that God is alsotranscendent, meaning that he is outside space and outside time and thereforenot subject to anything within his creation, but at the same time apersonal God, involved, listening toprayer and reacting to the actions of his creatures.
TheBaháʼí Faith believes in asingle, imperishableGod, the creator of all things, including all the creatures and forces in the universe.[9] In Baháʼí belief, God is beyond space and time but is also described as "a personal God, unknowable, inaccessible, the source of all Revelation, eternal, omniscient, omnipresent and almighty."[10] Though inaccessible directly, God is nevertheless seen as conscious of creation, possessing a mind, will and purpose. Baháʼís believe that God expresses this will at all times and in many ways, includingManifestations, a series of divine "messengers" or "educators".[11] In expressing God's intent, these manifestations are seen to establish religion in the world.Baháʼí teachings state that God is too great for humans to fully comprehend, nor to create a complete and accurate image.[12] Bahá'u'lláh often refers to God by titles, such as the "All-Powerful" or the "All-Loving".
In manyGnostic systems, God is known as theMonad, orthe One.
"Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer" is reportedly a "common phrase" inProtestantism in the United States, specifically inBaptist liturgy.[13]
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WithinChristianity, thedoctrine of theTrinity states thatGod is asingle being that exists,simultaneously andeternally, as aperichoresis of threehypostases (i.e. persons;personae,prosopa): the Father (the Source, the Eternal Majesty); theSon (the eternalLogos ("Word"), manifest in human form asJesus and thereafter asChrist); and theHoly Spirit (theParaclete or advocate). Since the 4th Century AD, in both Eastern and Western Christianity, this doctrine has been stated as "One God in Three Persons", all three of whom, as distinct and co-eternal "persons" or "hypostases", share a single divineessence, being, or nature.
Following theFirst Council of Constantinople, the Son is described as eternally begotten by the Father ("begotten of his Father before all worlds"[14]). This generation does not imply a beginning for the Son or an inferior relationship with the Father. The Son is the perfect image of his Father, and isconsubstantial with him. The Son returns that love, and that union between the two is the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is consubstantial and co-equal with the Father and the Son. Thus, God contemplates and loves himself, enjoying infinite and perfectbeatitude within himself. This relationship between the other two persons is calledprocession. Although the theology of the Trinity is accepted in most Christian churches, there are theological differences, notably between Catholic and Orthodox thought on the procession of the Holy Spirit (seefilioque). Some Christian communions do not accept the Trinitarian doctrine, at least not in its traditional form. Notable groups include theJehovah's Witnesses,Mormons,Christadelphians,Unitarians,Arians, andAdoptionists.
Within Christianity,Unitarianism is the view that God consists of only one person, theFather, instead of three persons as Trinitarianism states.[15] Unitarians believe that mainstream Christianity has been corrupted over history, and that it is not strictlymonotheistic. There are different Unitarian views on Jesus, ranging from seeing him purely as a man who was chosen by God, to seeing him as a divine being, as the Son of God who hadpre-existence.[16] Thus, Unitarianism is typically divided into two principal groups:
Even though the term "unitarian" did not first appear until the 17th century in reference to the Polish Brethren,[20][18] the basic tenets of Unitarianism go back to the time ofArius in the 4th century, an Alexandrian priest that taught the doctrine that only the Father was God, and that the Son had been created by the Father.Arians rejected the term "homoousios" (consubstantial) as a term describing the Father and Son, viewing such term as compromising the uniqueness and primacy of God,[21] and accused it of dividing the indivisible unit of the divine essence.[22] Unitarians trace their history back to theApostolic Age, arguing, as do Trinitarians andBinitarians, that theirChristology most closely reflects that of theearly Christian community andChurch Fathers.[23]
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Binitarianism is the view that there exist two equal co-ruling powers in heaven.[24] Within Christianity, it is the belief that there were originally two beings in the Godhead – the Father and the Word – that became the Son (Jesus the Christ).[citation needed] Binitarians normally believe that God is a family, currently consisting of the Father and the Son.[citation needed] Some binitarians[who?] believe that others will ultimately be born into that divine family. Hence, binitarians arenontrinitarian, but they are also not unitarian. Binitarians, like mostunitarians andtrinitarians, claim their views were held by the original New Testament Church. Unlike most unitarians andtrinitarians who tend to identify themselves by those terms, binitarians normally do not refer to their belief in the duality of the Godhead, with the Son subordinate to the Father; they simply teach the Godhead in a manner that has been termed as binitarianism.
The word "binitarian" is typically used by scholars and theologians as a contrast to a trinitarian theology: a theology of "two" in God rather than a theology of "three", and although some critics[who?] prefer to use the term ditheist or dualist instead of binitarian, those terms suggests that God is not one, yet binitarians believe that God is one family. It is accurate to offer the judgment that most commonly when someone speaks of a Christian "binitarian" theology the "two" in God are the Father and the Son... A substantial amount of recent scholarship has been devoted to exploring the implications of the fact that Jesus wasworshipped by those first Jewish Christians, since in Judaism "worship" was limited to the worship of God" (Barnes M. Early Christian Binitarianism: the Father and the Holy Spirit. Early Christian Binitarianism - as read at NAPS 2001). Much of this recent scholarship has been the result of the translations of theNag Hammadi and other ancient manuscripts that were not available when older scholarly texts (such asWilhelm Bousset'sKyrios Christos, 1913) were written.
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In the Mormonism represented by most of Mormon communities, includingthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "God" meansElohim (the Father), whereas "Godhead" means a council of three distinct entities; Elohim,Jehovah (the Son, or Jesus), and theHoly Spirit. The Father and Son have perfected, material bodies, while the Holy Spirit is a spirit and does not have a body. This conception differs from the traditional ChristianTrinity; in Mormonism, the three persons are considered to be physically separate beings, or personages, but indistinguishable in will and purpose.[25] As such, the term "Godhead" differs from how it is used in traditional Christianity. This description of God represents theorthodoxy ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), established early in the 19th century. However, the Mormon concept of God has expanded since the faith's founding in the late 1820s.[citation needed]
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Allāh, withoutplural orgender, is the divine name of God mentioned in theQuran, while "ʾilāh" is the term used for a deity or a god in general.[26][27][28]
Islam's most fundamental concept is a strict monotheism calledtawḥīd. God is described in thesurahAl-Ikhlas as: "Say: He is God, the One; God, the Eternal, the Absolute; He begot no one, nor is He begotten; Nor is there to Him equivalent anyone."[29][30] Muslims deny the Christian doctrine of theTrinity and divinity ofJesus, comparing it topolytheism. In Islam, God is beyond all comprehension or equal and does not resemble any of his creations in any way. Thus,Muslims are noticonodules and are not expected to visualize God. The message of God is carried byangels to 124,000messengers starting with Adam and concluding withMuhammad. God is described and referred in the Quran by certain names or attributes, the most common beingAl-Rahman, meaning "Most Compassionate" andAl-Rahim, meaning "Most Merciful" (seeNames of God in Islam).[31]Al Qayyum, sometimes rendered "the Sustainer", is one of the 99 Names of God in Islam.[citation needed]
Muslims believe that creation of everything in the universe is brought into being by God's sheer command “‘Be, and it is.”[32][33] and that thepurpose of existence is to please God, both byworship and by good deeds.[34][35] There are no intermediaries, such asclergy, to contact God: “He is nearer to his creation than thejugular vein”[36]
InJudaism,God has been conceived in a variety of ways.[37] Traditionally, Judaism holds thatYahweh, the God ofAbraham,Isaac, andJacob and thenational god of theIsraelites, delivered the Israelites fromslavery in Egypt, and gave them theLaw of Moses atbiblical Mount Sinai as described in theTorah. According to the rationalist stream of Judaism articulated byMaimonides, which later came to dominate much of official traditional Jewish thought, God is understood as theabsolute one, indivisible, and incomparablebeing who is the ultimate cause of all existence. Traditional interpretations of Judaism generally emphasize that God ispersonal yet alsotranscendent, while some modern interpretations of Judaism emphasize that God is a force or ideal.[38]
Jewish monotheism is a continuation of earlier Hebrewhenotheism, the exclusive worship of theGod of Israel as prescribed in the Torah and practiced at theTemple of Jerusalem. Strict monotheism emerges inHellenistic Judaism andRabbinical Judaism. Pronunciation of the proper name of the God of Israel came to be avoided in theHellenistic era (Second Temple Judaism) and instead Jews refer to God asHaShem, meaning "the Name". In prayer and reading of scripture, theTetragrammaton is substituted withAdonai ("my Lord").
Some[who?]Kabbalistic thinkers have held the belief that all of existence is itself a part of God, and that we as humanity are unaware of our own inherent godliness and are grappling to come to terms with it.[citation needed] The standing view inHasidism currently, is that there is nothing in existence outside of God – all being is within God, and yet all of existence cannot contain him.[citation needed] Regarding this,Solomon stated while dedicating theTemple, "But will God in truth dwell with mankind on the earth? Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You."[39]
Modern Jewish thinkers have constructed a wide variety of other ideas about God. Hermann Cohen believed that God should be identified with the "archetype of morality," an idea reminiscent of Plato'sidea of the Good.[40]Mordecai Kaplan believed that God is the sum of all natural processes that allow man to become self-fulfilled,[41] andHumanistic Judaism fully rejects the notion of the existence of a God.[42]
InMandaeism,Hayyi Rabbi (Classical Mandaic:ࡄࡉࡉࡀ ࡓࡁࡉࡀ,romanized: Hiia Rbia,lit. 'The Great Life'), or 'The Great Living God'[43] is the Supreme God from which all thingsemanate. He is also known as 'The First Life', since during the creation of the material world,Yushamin emanated from Hayyi Rabbi as the "Second Life."[44] According to Qais Al-Saadi, "the principles of the Mandaean doctrine: the belief of the only one great God, Hayyi Rabbi, to whom all absolute properties belong; He created all the worlds, formed the soul through his power, and placed it by means of angels into the human body. So He createdAdam and Eve, the first man and woman."[45] Mandaeans recognize God to be the eternal, creator of all, the one and only in domination who has no partner.[46]
The non-adherence[47] to the notion of asupreme God or aprime mover is seen as a key distinction betweenBuddhism and other religious views. In Buddhism, the sole aim of the spiritual practice is the complete alleviation ofdistress (dukkha) insamsara,[48][49] callednirvana.The Buddha neither denies nor accepts acreator,[50] denies endorsing any views on creation[51] and states that questions on the origin of the world are worthless.[52][53] Some teachers instruct students beginningBuddhist meditation that the notion of divinity is not incompatible with Buddhism,[54] but dogmatic beliefs in a supreme personal creator are considered a hindrance to the attainment ofnirvana,[55] the highest goal of Buddhist practice.[56]
Despite this apparent non-theism, Buddhists consider veneration of the Noble Ones[57] very important[58] although the two main schools of Buddhism differ mildly in their reverential attitudes. WhileTheravada Buddhists view the Buddha as a human being who attainednirvana orarahanthood through human efforts,[59]Mahayana Buddhists consider him an embodiment of the cosmicdharmakaya (a notion of transcendent divinity), who was born for the benefit of others and not merely a human being.[60] In addition, some Mahayana Buddhists worship their chiefBodhisattva,Avalokiteshvara[61] and hope to embody him.[62]
Buddhists accept the existence of beings known asdevas inhigher realms, but they, like humans, are said to be suffering insamsara,[63] and not necessarily wiser than us. In fact, the Buddha is often portrayed as a teacher of the gods,[64] and superior to them.[65] Despite this, there are believed to be enlighteneddevas on the path of Buddhahood.
In Buddhism, the idea of themetaphysical absolute isdeconstructed in the same way as of the idea of an enduring "self", but it is not necessarily denied. Reality is considered as dynamic, interactive and non-substantial, which implies rejection ofBrahman or of adivine substratum. A cosmic principle can be embodied in concepts such as thedharmakaya. Though there is a primordial Buddha (or, inVajrayana, theAdi-Buddha, a representation ofimmanentenlightenment in nature), its representation as a creator is a symbol of the presence of a universal cyclical creation and dissolution of the cosmos and not of an actual personal being. An intelligent, metaphysical underlying basis, however, is not ruled out by Buddhism, although Buddhists are generally very careful to distinguish this idea from that of an independentcreator God.[66]
InHinduism, the concept of god is complex and depends on the particular tradition. The concept spans conceptions from absolutemonism tohenotheism,monotheism andpolytheism. In the Vedic period monotheistic god concept culminated in the semi-abstract semi-personified form of creative soul dwelling in all god such asVishvakarman,Purusha, andPrajapati. In the majority ofVaishnavism traditions, he isVishnu, and the text identifies this being asKrishna, sometimes referred assvayam bhagavan. The termisvara - from the root is, to have extraordinary power. Some traditionalsankhya systems contrastpurusha (divine, or souls) toprakriti (nature or energy), however the term for sovereign god, ishvara is mentioned six times in theAtharva Veda, and is central to many traditions.[67] As perAdvaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy the notion ofBrahman (the highest Universal Principle) is akin to that of god; except that unlike most other philosophiesAdvaita likens Brahman toatman (the true Self of an individual). ForSindhi Hindus, who are deeply influenced bySikhism,God is seen as the omnipotent cultivation of all Hindu gods and goddesses.[clarification needed] In short, the soulparamatma of all gods and goddesses are the omnipresent Brahman and are enlightened beings.
The conception of a deity in a sustaining/conserving/preserving mode is also used in Hindu theology where the Godhead, orTrimūrti in Sanskrit, consists ofBrahma the Creator,Vishnu the Preserver/Sustainer, andShiva the Destroyer.[citation needed]
Brahman is the eternal, unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality which is the divine ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being and everything beyond in this Universe.[68][69] The nature of Brahman is described as transpersonal, personal and impersonal by different philosophical schools. The wordBrahman is derived from the verbbrh (Sanskrit: to grow), and connotes greatness and infinity.
Brahman is talked of at two levels (apara andpara). He is the fountainhead of all concepts but he himself cannot be conceived. He is the universal conceiver, universal concept and all the means of concept. Apara-Brahman is the samePara Brahma but for human understanding thought of as universal mindcum universal intellect from which all human beings derive an iota as their mind, intellect etc.[citation needed]
Ishvara is a philosophical concept in Hinduism, meaning controller or the Supreme controller (i.e. God) in a monotheistic or the Supreme Being or as anIshta-deva of monistic thought. Ishvara is a transcendent and immanent entity best described in the last chapter of the Shukla Yajur Veda Samhita, known as theIshavasya Upanishad. It states "ishavasyam idam sarvam" which means whatever there is in this world is covered and filled with Ishvara. Ishvara not only creates the world, but then also enters into everything there is. InSaivite traditions, the term is used as part of the compound "Maheshvara" ("great lord") later as a name forSiva.
Bhagavan literally means "possessing fortune, blessed, prosperous" (from the nounbhaga, meaning "fortune, wealth", cognate to Slavic bog "god"), and hence "illustrious, divine, venerable, holy", etc. In some traditions of Hinduism it is used to indicate the Supreme Being or Absolute Truth, but with specific reference to that Supreme Being as possessing a personality (a personal God).[citation needed] This personal feature indicated in Bhagavan differentiates its usage from other similar terms such as Brahman, the "Supreme Spirit" or "spirit", and thus, in this usage, Bhagavan is in many ways analogous to the general Christian and Islamic conception of God.
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Jainism does not support belief in acreator deity. According to Jain doctrine, theuniverse and its constituents—soul, matter, space, time, and principles of motion—have always existed. All the constituents and actions are governed byuniversalnatural laws. It is not possible to create matter out of nothing and hence the sum total of matter in the universe remains the same (similar to law ofconservation of mass). Jain text claims that the universe consists ofJiva (life force or souls) and Ajiva (lifeless objects). Similarly, thesoul of each living being is unique and uncreated and has existed since beginningless time.[70]
The Jain theory ofcausation holds that a cause and its effect are always identical in nature and hence a conscious and immaterial entity like God cannot create a material entity like the universe. Furthermore, according to the Jain concept of divinity, any soul who destroys its karmas and desires, achieves liberation/Nirvana. A soul who destroys all its passions and desires has no desire to interfere in the working of the universe. Moral rewards and sufferings are not the work of a divine being, but a result of an innate moral order in thecosmos; a self-regulating mechanism whereby the individual reaps the fruits of his own actions through the workings of the karmas.
Through the ages,Jain philosophers have adamantly rejected and opposed the concept of creator and omnipotent God. This has resulted in Jainism being labeled asnastika darsana (atheist philosophy) by rivalreligious philosophies. The theme of non-creationism and absence of omnipotent God and divine grace runs strongly in all the philosophical dimensions of Jainism, including itscosmology, concepts ofkarma andmoksa and its moral code of conduct. Jainism asserts a religious and virtuous life is possible without the idea of a creator god.[71]
The term for God inSikhism isWaheguru.Guru Nanak describes God asnirankar (from the Sanskritnirākārā, meaning "formless"),akal (meaning "eternal") andalakh (from the Sanskritalakśya, meaning "invisible" or "unobserved"). Sikhism's principal scripture, theGuru Granth Sahib, starts with the figure "1", signifying the unity of God. Nanak's interpretation of God is that of a single, personal andtranscendental creator with whom the devotee must develop a most intimate faith and relationship to achievesalvation. Sikhism advocates the belief in one god who isomnipresent (sarav vi'āpak), whose qualities are infinite and who is without gender, a nature represented (especially in the Guru Granth Sahib) by the termEk Onkar.
Nanak further emphasizes that a full understanding of God is beyond human beings, but that God is also not wholly unknowable. God is considered omnipresent in all creation and visible everywhere to the spiritually awakened. Nanak stresses that God must be seen by human beings from "the inward eye" or "heart" and thatmeditation must take place inwardly to achieve this enlightenment progressively; its rigorous application is what enables communication between God and human beings.
Sikhs believe in a single God that has existed from the beginning of time and will survive forever. God is genderless, fearless, formless, immutable, ineffable, self-sufficient, omnipotent and not subject to the cycle of birth and death.
God in Sikhism is depicted in three distinct aspects: God as deity; God in relation to creation; and God in relation to man. During a discourse withsiddhas (wandering Hinduadepts), Nanak is asked where "the Transcendent God" was before creation. He replies: "To think of the Transcendent Lord in that state is to enter the realm of wonder. Even at that stage of sunn, he permeated all that void" (GG, 940).
Theesoteric Christian teachings of theRosicrucian Fellowship, promulgated to the western world in the early 20th century asWestern Wisdom Teachings, present the conception ofThe Absolute—unmanifested and unlimited "Boundless Being" or "Root of Existence", beyond the whole universe and beyond comprehension—from whom proceeds the Supreme Being at the dawn of manifestation: The One, the "Great Architect of the Universe". From the threefold Supreme Being proceed the "seven GreatLogoi" who contain within themselves all the great hierarchies that differentiate more and more as they diffuse through the six lowerCosmic Planes.
In the Highest World of the seventh (lowest) Cosmic Plane dwells the God of the solar systems in the universe. These great beings are also threefold in manifestation, like the Supreme Being; their three aspects areWill,Wisdom andActivity.[76][77]
According to these teachings, in the beginning of aDay of Manifestation a certain collective Great Being, God, limits himself to a certain portion of space, in which he elects to create theSolar System for the evolution of added self-consciousness. In God there are contained hosts of glorious hierarchies and lesser beings of every grade of intelligence and stage of consciousness, fromomniscience to anunconsciousness deeper than that of the deepesttrance condition.During the current period of manifestation, these various grades of beings are working to acquire more experience than they possessed at the beginning of this period of existence. Those who, in previous manifestations, have attained to the highest degree of development work on those who have not yet evolved any consciousness. In the Solar system, God's Habitation, there areseven Worlds differentiated by God, within Himself, one after another. Mankind's evolutionary scheme is slowly carried through five of these Worlds in seven great Periods ("Days") of manifestation—the pilgrimage through a succession of Solar systems throughout theCosmic Day of the Universe;billions and billions of years during which the evolving virginSpirit becomes first human and, then, a God.[78]
Concepts about deity are diverse among UUs. Some have no belief in any gods (atheism); others believe in many gods (polytheism). Some believe the question of the existence of any god is most likely unascertainable or unknowable (agnosticism). Some believe God is a metaphor for a transcendent reality. Some believe in a female god (goddess), a passive god (Deism), an Abrahamic god, or a god manifested in nature or the universe (pantheism). Many UUs reject the idea of deities and instead speak of the "spirit of life" that binds all life on Earth. UUs support each person's search for truth and meaning in concepts of spirituality. Historically, unitarianism and universalism were denominations within Christianity.Unitarianism referred to a belief about the nature of Jesus Christ that affirmed God as a singular entity and rejected the doctrine of the Trinity.Universalism referred to a theological belief that all persons will be reconciled to God because of divine love and mercy (Universal Salvation).[79]
According toBrahma Kumaris, God is theincorporeal soul with the maximum degree of spiritual qualities such as peace and love.[80][81]
Some comparatively new belief systems and books portray God asextraterrestrial life. Many of these theories hold that intelligent beings from another world have been visiting Earth for many thousands of years and have influenced the development of our religions. Some of these books posit that prophets or messiahs were sent to the human race in order to teach morality and encourage the development of civilization (see, for example,Rael andZecharia Sitchin).
The spiritual teacherMeher Baba described God as infinite love: "God is not understood in His essence until He is also understood as Infinite Love. Divine Love is unlimited in essence and expression, because it is experienced by the soul through the soul itself. The sojourn of the soul is a thrilling divine romance in which the lover, who in the beginning is conscious of nothing but emptiness, frustration, superficiality and the gnawing chains of bondage, gradually attains an increasingly fuller and freer expression of love and ultimately disappears and merges in the Divine Beloved to realize the unity of the Lover and the Beloved in the supreme and eternal fact of God as Infinite Love."[82]
Anton LaVey, founder of theChurch of Satan, espoused the view that "god" is a creation of man, rather than man being a creation of "god". In his book,The Satanic Bible, the Satanist's view of god is described as the Satanist's true "self"—a projection of his or her own personality—not an external deity.[83] Satan is used as a representation of personal liberty and individualism.[84] LaVey discusses this extensively inThe Book of Lucifer, explaining that the gods worshipped by other religions are also projections of man's true self. He argues that man's unwillingness to accept his own ego has caused him to externalize these gods so as to avoid the feeling ofnarcissism that would accompany self-worship.[85]
"If man insists on externalizing his true self in the form of "God," then why fear his true self, in fearing "God,"—why praise his true self in praising "God,"—why remain externalized from "God"in order to engage in ritual and religious ceremony in his name?
Man needs ritual and dogma, but no law states that anexternalized god is necessary in order to engage in ritual and ceremony performed in a god's name! Could it be that when he closes the gap between himself and his "God" he sees the demon of pride creeping forth—that very embodiment of Lucifer appearing in his midst?"
— Anton LaVey,The Satanic Bible, pp. 44–45[86]
Process theology is a school of thought influenced by the metaphysicalprocess philosophy ofAlfred North Whitehead (1861–1947), whileopen theism is a similar theological movement that began in the 1990s.
In both views, God is not omnipotent in the classical sense of a coercive being. Reality is not made up of material substances that endure through time, but serially-ordered events, which are experiential in nature. The universe is characterized by process and change carried out by the agents offree will.Self-determination characterizes everything in the universe, not just human beings. God and creatures co-create. God cannot force anything to happen, but rather only influence the exercise of this universal free will by offering possibilities. Process theology is compatible withpanentheism, the concept that God contains the universe (pantheism) but alsotranscends it. God as the ultimate logician - God may be defined as the only entity, by definition, possessing the ability to reduce an infinite number of logical equations having an infinite number of variables and an infinite number of states to minimum form instantaneously.
Aposthuman God is a hypothetical future entity descended from or created by humans, but possessing capabilities so radically exceeding those of present humans as to appear godlike. One common variation of this idea is the belief or aspiration that humans will create a God entity emerging from anartificial intelligence. Another variant is that humanity itself willevolve into aposthuman God.
The concept of a posthuman god has become common inscience fiction. Science fiction authorArthur C. Clarke said in an interview, "It may be that our role on this planet is not to worship God, but to create him." Clarke's friend and colleague, the lateIsaac Asimov, postulated in his story "The Last Question" a merger between humanity and machine intelligence that ultimately produces a deity capable of reversingentropy and subsequently initiates a new Creation trillions of years from the present era when the Universe is in the last stage ofheat death. InFrank Herbert's science-fiction seriesDune, a messianic figure is created after thousands of years of controlled breeding. TheCulture series, byIain M. Banks, represents a blend in which atranshuman society is guarded by godlike machine intelligences. A stronger example is posited in the novelSingularity Sky byCharles Stross, in which a future artificial intelligence is capable of changing events even in its own past, and takes strong measures to prevent any other entity from taking advantage of similar capabilities. Another example appears in the popular online novellaThe Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect in which an advanced artificial intelligence uses its own advanced quantum brain to resolve discrepancies in physics theories and develop a unified field theory which gives it absolute control over reality, in a take on philosophicaldigitalism.
The philosopherMichel Henry defines God from aphenomenological point of view. He says: "God is Life, he is the essence of Life, or, if we prefer, the essence of Life is God. Saying this we already know what is God the father the almighty, creator of heaven and earth, we know it not by the effect of a learning or of some knowledge, we don't know it by the thought, on the background of the truth of the world; we know it and we can know it only in and by the Life itself. We can know it only in God."[87]
This Life is not biological life defined by objective and exterior properties, nor an abstract and empty philosophical concept, but the absolutephenomenological life, a radically immanent life that possesses in it the power of showing itself in itself without distance, a life that reveals permanently itself.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) vol. II, pp. 68-71;Bull, Christian H. (2018).The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus: The Egyptian Priestly Figure as a Teacher of Hellenized Wisdom. Leiden: Brill.ISBN 978-9004370845. p. 303.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)Then in that case, a person is a killer of living beings because of a supreme being's act of creation... When one falls back on lack of cause and lack of condition as being essential, monks, there is no desire, no effort [at the thought], 'This should be done. This shouldn't be done.' When one can't pin down as a truth or reality what should & shouldn't be done, one dwells bewildered & unprotected. One cannot righteously refer to oneself as a contemplative.
Both formerly and now, monks, I declare only stress and the cessation of distress.
Both formerly & now, it is only distress that I describe, and the cessation of distress.
In Buddhist literature, the belief in a creator god (issara-nimmana-vada) is frequently mentioned and rejected, along with other causes wrongly adduced to explain the origin of the world; as, for instance, world-soul, time, nature, etc. God-belief, however, is placed in the same category as those morally destructive wrong views which deny the kammic results of action, assume a fortuitous origin of man and nature, or teach absolute determinism. These views are said to be altogether pernicious, having definite bad results due to their effect on ethical conduct.
Conjecture about [the origin, etc., of] the world is an unconjecturable that is not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about it.
It's just as if a man were wounded with an arrow thickly smeared with poison. His friends & companions, kinsmen & relatives would provide him with a surgeon, and the man would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the man who wounded me was a noble warrior, a priest, a merchant, or a worker.' He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know the given name & clan name of the man who wounded me... until I know whether he was tall, medium, or short... The man would die and those things would still remain unknown to him. In the same way, if anyone were to say, 'I won't live the holy life under the Blessed One as long as he does not declare to me that 'The cosmos is eternal,'... or that 'After death a Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist,' the man would die and those things would still remain undeclared by the Tathagata.
So to these young Christians I can say, "Believe in Christ if you wish, but remember, Jesus never claimed divinity either." Yes, believe in a unitary God, too, if you wish, but cease your imploring, pleading for personal dispensations, health, wealth, relief from suffering. Study the Eightfold Path. Seek the insights and enlightenment that come through meditative learnings. And find out how to achieve for yourself what prayer and solicitation of forces beyond you are unable to accomplish.
Although belief in God does not exclude a favorable rebirth, it is a variety of eternalism, a false affirmation of permanence rooted in the craving for existence, and as such an obstacle to final deliverance.
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)It would be a mistake, however, to conclude that the Buddha disparaged a reverential and devotional attitude of mind when it is the natural outflow of a true understanding and a deep admiration of what is great and noble.
The suttas describe thirty-one distinct "planes" or "realms" of existence into which beings can be reborn during this long wandering through samsara. These range from the extraordinarily dark, grim, and painful hell realms all the way up to the most sublime, refined, and exquisitely blissful heaven realms. Existence in every realm is impermanent; in Buddhist cosmology, there is no eternal heaven or hell. Beings are born into a particular realm according to both their past kamma and their kamma at the moment of death. When the kammic force that propelled them to that realm is finally exhausted, they pass away, taking rebirth once again elsewhere according to their kamma. And so the wearisome cycle continues.
Many people worship Maha Brahma as the supreme and eternal creator God, but for the Buddha, he is merely a powerful deity still caught within the cycle of repeated existence. In point of fact, "Maha Brahma" is a role or office filled by different individuals at different periods.", "His proof included the fact that "many thousands of deities have gone for refuge for life to the recluse Gotama" (MN 95.9). Devas, like humans, develop faith in the Buddha by practicing his teachings.", "A second deva concerned with liberation spoke a verse which is partly praise of the Buddha and partly a request for teaching. Using various similes from the animal world, this god showed his admiration and reverence for the Exalted One.", "A discourse called Sakka's Questions (DN 21) took place after he had been a serious disciple of the Buddha for some time. The sutta records a long audience he had with the Blessed One which culminated in his attainment of stream-entry. Their conversation is an excellent example of the Buddha as "teacher of devas," and shows all beings how to work for Nibbana.
When this was said, the Great Brahma said to the monk, 'I, monk, am Brahma, the Great Brahma, the Conqueror, the Unconquered, the All-Seeing, All-Powerful, the Sovereign Lord, the Maker, Creator, Chief, Appointer and Ruler, Father of All That Have Been and Shall Be... That is why I did not say in their presence that I, too, don't know where the four great elements... cease without remainder. So you have acted wrongly, acted incorrectly, in bypassing the Blessed One in search of an answer to this question elsewhere. Go right back to the Blessed One and, on arrival, ask him this question. However he answers it, you should take it to heart.
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