Spirituality
13 Mar 21
15 Mar 21
@sonship said1) I don't know. Maybe some of the other, highly intelligent, species have the capacity to imagine this.
@BigDoggProblem
"God" is what a human imagines they would be, if their powers had no limits.
Is there any other living thing on earth that has this problem?
How is it that human beings happen to develop this particular malady?
2) We evolved a brain that is capable of that sort of imagination.
16 Mar 21
@sonship saidForgive me for answering a question with a question.
@BigDoggProblem
We evolved a brain that is capable of that sort of imagination.
Does this ability to imagine assist in the survival of the species of mankind ?
Are you familiar with the theory of evolution?
16 Mar 21
@sonship saidI agree.
@BigDoggProblem
Man creates idols.
I just believe there is one more idol than you do.
16 Mar 21
@sonship saidSpeculating about our origin and about our destiny, and packaging a set of answers and rules stemming from that - i.e. religions - is pretty ubiquitous down through history and across geographies and cultures. As a species, we have the cognitive capacity to do it. Therefore we do it.
This [phenomenon, reaction, or tendency] always comes along as a byproduct with higher cognitive abilities and capacity for abstraction?
The ubiquity of these metaphysical pursuits tells us more, I think, about human nature and the human condition than it does about what people believe about creation and a creator.
16 Mar 21
@sonship saidYes.
@BigDoggProblem
I agree.
I just believe there is one more idol than you do.
Do you believe in some sense man is the highest known form of life?
16 Mar 21
@philokalia saidEven Tolkein grasped this idea of humans as stewards.
While the Bible says that God created man in His Own Image, it is not something that links man to omnipotence. It is an observation about man alone being possessors of reason, and for a great capacity for goodness that puts him in a sort of position of stewardship over the earth.
(The role of steward over the earth has become even more apparent in the 21st centur ...[text shortened]... So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
[/quote]
Isaiah 55:8,9
16 Mar 21
@sonship saidAnd even when he has no literal idols to worship as gods... He will worship money and matter.
@BigDoggProblem
Man creates idols.
Man is programmed to worship something, as he must focus on something.
16 Mar 21
@philokalia saidSo you think suggesting that "focus" is a synonym for "worship" helps a discussion like this?
And even when he has no literal idols to worship as gods... He will worship money and matter.
Man is programmed to worship something, as he must focus on something.
16 Mar 21
@fmf saidSure, why not?
So you think suggesting that "focus" is a synonym for "worship" helps a discussion like this?
16 Mar 21
@philokalia saidDo you also like to dilute the word "religion" - by things like using it to talk about football fans' passionate devotion to a particular team - when people are actually trying to discuss religions like Hinduism and Christianity and other forms of organized belief in a superhuman creator and controlling power?
Sure, why not?
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16 Mar 21
@BigDoggProblem
Me:
Do you believe in some sense man is the highest known form of life?
You:
Yes.
Well, I believe in one more higher life then you do.