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Interestingly, assuming my definition (God is a supreme being who alone subsists of himself and is infinite in all perfections, omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent) is what we are discussing, it flows from that, that there can be no limitations on God's possibilities or activities, save those which are impossible by reason of being contradictions in terms -- like a round square. Thus, he could arrange matters exactly to fit those who suppose that physics proves his non-existence; or he could be the man with a long white beard (which reminds me, must go to the barber before I get more God-like); and as for ensuring that everyone recognised him upon some second coming, well, that would surely be a piece of piss!
Ten to one my ignorant spell-check will argue about 'subsist', as it did earlier about 'volte-face'-- can't someone make a grown-up one?
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(07-03-2011, 03:40 AM)abu nuwas Wrote: which reminds me, must go to the barber before I get more God-like
LOL 
Hmmm... now that you brought it up, I think God could be two contradictory things at once (think quantum physics), assuming he did want to be recognized by as many contradicting faiths as possible. Or he could just play around with our perception and let our brains do the work (though I'm not sure but that might break the "free will" clause we have going on).
PS. If you can, try your hand at giving some of the others a bit of feedback. If you already have, thanks, can you do some more?
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(07-03-2011, 03:40 AM)abu nuwas Wrote: Interestingly, assuming my definition (God is a supreme being who alone subsists of himself and is infinite in all perfections, omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent) is what we are discussing, it flows from that, that there can be no limitations on God's possibilities or activities, save those which are impossible by reason of being contradictions in terms -- like a round square. Thus, he could arrange matters exactly to fit those who suppose that physics proves his non-existence; or he could be the man with a long white beard (which reminds me, must go to the barber before I get more God-like); and as for ensuring that everyone recognised him upon some second coming, well, that would surely be a piece of piss!
Ten to one my ignorant spell-check will argue about 'subsist', as it did earlier about 'volte-face'-- can't someone make a grown-up one?
I can't help with the spell-check conundrum... some mysteries are not meant to be solved... but a round square is only an impossibility if you adhere to the laws of our universe, and presumably God has lots of geometric anomalies in his pockets. Personally I'm happy enough to think of the big bloke upstairs as the ultimate scientist (or omniscientist), which would make us a kind of cosmic petrie dish (and thus explain many things, including Whitney Houston). It's quite a pantheistic view, but it's not illogical to think that if certain folks can only think of the universe in terms of science, then science is what the universe will give them -- just as the Norse quite liked their universe to be made up of men with large thighs and ginger beards, and the Greeks seemed to have an obsession with semi-naked deities and bestiality.
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yes, but the question is about a hypothetical Christian god, depending whether or not you really believe in him/her/it
and whether or not we/you would believe it was him should he make a 2nd appearance to the public.
what would god have to do to make you shit your pants in adoration and awe so to speak.
i think most Christians would denounce him/it/her as a fake or fraud.
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07-04-2011, 10:36 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-04-2011, 10:41 AM by Leanne.)
I believe Messrs Rice and Lloyd-Webber have already addressed this same question:
[youtube]qk2tDr407Jg[/youtube]
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yes but i was the first one to do it on this forum 
lets not forget this is the SD & D forum 
would anyone believe a miracle in this day and age.
if he sent the 4 horsemen would we know them for who they were?
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Horsemen are so three millennia ago... these days it would have to be four Porsches.
Who said I'm not being serious? :p
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(07-04-2011, 10:19 AM)billy Wrote: yes, but the question is about a hypothetical Christian god, depending whether or not you really believe in him/her/it
and whether or not we/you would believe it was him should he make a 2nd appearance to the public.
what would god have to do to make you shit your pants in adoration and awe so to speak.
i think most Christians would denounce him/it/her as a fake or fraud.
I was dealing with a Christian God -- at least, a Roman Catholic one, as presented to me as a child. I think it is manifest that an all-powerful being, knowing the minds of men, would have no trouble in doing whatever He knew would bend them to his will-- after all, advertisers manage to persuade us the Heinz is somehow better than other brands of baked bean, so if you multiply the skill they have infinitely, we should recognise alright. Consider sex: how many people are dragged around by a handful of hormones, in order to exchange a small amount of bodily fluids? How many wars have been caused for the sake of those same bodily fluids? Don't you think the Creator of that little trick could pull of a few more? How if on the Second Coming He endowed Himself with sexual attraction to the the power of n mega?
I seem to have got in a Muddle with my Capitals....
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07-05-2011, 11:19 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-05-2011, 11:20 AM by billy.)
it was posted in reply to leanne and greek dieties, norsman and scientists etc.
as for an all powerful bending us to his will, isn't that the antithesis of what his alleged aim was.
won' the free will he gave finally be his undoing when we all get told "god has returned" and we're all to busy texting one another to give a toss. i suppose he could go viral on youtube
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Many Christian religions will argue that we were never given free will at all.
Incidentally, the point about Pantheism doesn't exclude a Christian God, just that if God (or whatever you call Him/Her/Great Purple Megalith of Doom) is omnipotent it stands to reason that [insert appropriate pronoun here] would appear in whatever form the followers were ready to accept at the time. Obviously the Jews wanted an old bloke in a nightgown.
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how would a christian god appear to an atheist in order to make them believe it was the 2nd coming.
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Going on recent evidence... probably as a specky bloke in a wheelchair
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yeah hehe but no one would see him as a god. or someone to follow.
more often than not they'd poke fun at him.
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(07-05-2011, 03:25 PM)billy Wrote: how would a christian god appear to an atheist in order to make them believe it was the 2nd coming
To listen to His followers, he would be a softly-spoken, mild-mannered academic who has recentlyauthored 'The God Delusion'.
Btw, a couple of posts back, you mentioned that you had been replying to Leanne when she was all of a tizz over her Norsemen with ginger thighs and white hair engaging some bestial naked Greeks -- could I somehow have known which post you ere replying to?
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(07-05-2011, 03:26 PM)Leanne Wrote: Going on recent evidence... probably as a specky bloke in a wheelchair you mean HIM?
- the partially blind semi bald eagle
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(07-05-2011, 06:33 PM)abu nuwas Wrote: (07-05-2011, 03:25 PM)billy Wrote: how would a christian god appear to an atheist in order to make them believe it was the 2nd coming
To listen to His followers, he would be a softly-spoken, mild-mannered academic who has recentlyauthored 'The God Delusion'.
Btw, a couple of posts back, you mentioned that you had been replying to Leanne when she was all of a tizz over her Norsemen with ginger thighs and white hair engaging some bestial naked Greeks -- could I somehow have known which post you ere replying to? maybe not but it was posted after her post. i just explained so you wouldn't think the post was aimed at you.
isn't dawkins as god, a little like hitler as the virgin mary?
could god pull off such a stunt and are atheists that stupid
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