Nobody has ever been able to properly explain this to me so lets give this board a go....I'll use the UK and USA as the basis for this question but you could just as easily use any other country. The difference between the UK and USA version of god is so huge that it cannot be the same thing. Our versions of god seemingly have different opinions on key matters and this has made me wonder whose version of the big man is closest to the real thing?
It is not clear what it means for something to be "the same thing" when it is as ill defined as God is. Any argument or line of thought that relies on two versions of God being different things rather than different interpretations or versions of the same thing are incomplete. Many people change opinions during a lifetime, so holding different opinions clearly doesn't make anything something else than itself. You discuss opinions on "key matters", but why are those matters more important than other matters when it comes to telling different entities apart? Where do we draw the line? It's arbitrary, because the difference isn't actually there, it's just in how we chose to phrase it.
OK - Your version doesn't seem to like black people very much and seems fine with white people shooting them - Even children. Americas god seems rather money driven compared to our version. Americas god seem to like "packing heat" and does seem to quite like war. Our version liked all of these things but that was quite a long time ago now - Do you think different versions of god learn things at different speeds?
In reality "God" is simply the man in charge of the local yokels at any particular time. The local yokels tend to adopt the beliefs of the head man (God) and do his bidding. There is no celestial deity in this solar system. Once the "Gods" in England and in Mexico decided to end slavery it ended in those countries because that was the "God's" will. Slavery continued in America because the American "God" fought a war to keep it against the English "God" and won. Slavery ended in America not because of the American "God's" will but as a consequence of the war between the North and the South over economic issues. Even today the American "God" is a prick and continually interferes with other "Gods" around the world. He takes great delight in oppressing people, which is why America has the largest number of people in prison in the world.
If there are gods...whatever those gods are is what they are. (Yeah, a version of "What IS...IS.) We do not know if this thing we humans call "the universe" is a creation or not. If it is a creation...whatever created it...is a god. The "gods" worshiped by humans over the years seem to be man-made manifestations of human concerns with the unknown.
There is no "Real Thing" which makes the question rather pointless. Every "Version" of this God thingy is different than every other and every single human who believes in it creates their own version on top of that...thus none of them could possibly be accurate unless all of them are.
You are not writing about God but secular society, and you aren't doing a very good job of that either.
I do agree with what your trying to saying here. However God is love, He is everything good and righteous. His wisdom is obviously indescribably beyond ours, for he created everything. We may not know what He looks like, but who he is could be seen in Jesus Christ.
My post is about definitions, of semantic bounds. If I point at a Granny Smith and a Golden Delicious and say "these two are apples", I would be correct. If I point at a Granny Smith and a Banana and say "these two are apples", I would be incorrect. However, If I point at a Granny Smith and a Golden Delicious and say "these two are fruits", I would be correct. If I point at a Granny Smith and a Banana and say "these two are fruits", I would still be correct. The conclusion here is that when it comes to whether or not two things are to be considered the same, the importance lies in the word, not in the actual fruits or apples. Telling me what God is isn't really relevant here, because my argument is about whether the word applies if the case was different.
I am of the belief that former Atheist and near death experiencer Mellen Benedict returned from his brush with death with some of the most accurate information about the original Intelligence that I have ever read. It is critical to recognize that the Ancient of Days the Father and the Ancient of Days the Mother are first and foremost..... Scientists..... inventors...... designers...... and got into philosophy and theology only after inventing.... others..... http://www.near-death.com/reincarnation/experiences/mellen-thomas-benedict.html#a05
If there is a God. Probably closest to the science option. An event in time and space beyond our comprehension. [video=youtube;An6eUapQmx4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An6eUapQmx4[/video]
