On Gods
Presented here are some ideas of the nature or origin of gods. These excerpts come from various sites. You can get more information by visiting those sites or others like it on the subject. I chose the various links because they provide a clear explanation. In the end, they are the understanding of the writers.
There are many ideas of god. Most are not included here. A comprehensive list is impossible.
For me, the varying views of god are enticing. I delight in the differences. Yet, at the same time, marvel at the similarities.
We are all just people. People who live on this earth. People who will never agree. The trick is, acceptance. We do not need to agree. Diversity tells me that there is no true answer. It also says, to me, that gods are for man, made of man and needed by man.
Who are we? What is our purpose? Why do bad things happen? Who is watching out for me? Who will love me no matter who I am or what I do? What happens when I die?
These questions occupy our minds. We cannot run away from them. The notion of god, works for some to fill the void, and to answer the questions. For others, not so much, and for some, like me, not at all.
Atheist / Agnostic / Science
The String Theory and the Origin of God
“If God created us, who created God? This is the question often raised by atheists. Most theists will answer this question by saying that God has no cause (discussion). Similarly, if you ask a physicist: what is the origin of the physical laws? He may answer that the physical laws have no cause.”
The origin of god ideas is lost in antique
God theories confuse people. Disengagement from teaching god theories as certainties would reduce human confusion.
Abrahamic conceptions of God
(These include Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Bahá’í Faith)
Quran tell us God has always existed and there never was a time He did not exist. As such, He is the Eternal, without beginning and without end. He is the only creator and sustainer of all that exists and nothing and no one exists alongside Him, nor does He have any partners.
God’s Origin – Who Created God?
A number of sceptics ask this question. But God by definition is the uncreated creator of the universe, so the question ‘Who created God?’ is illogical, just like ‘To whom is the bachelor married?’
When asked “Who or what created God?” we are making the assumption that God was created. If God exists outside of time and space, and if He is the Creator of time and space, He obviously was not created! God began the beginning! This is why He says, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last” (Revelation 22:13).
God is, by definition, that being from which everything else came but who Himself came from nothing else. In this regard, some have called God the causeless Cause. We say that everything must have a cause. However, if we apply this reasoning forever into the past, we must accept a logical requirement for one original cause that had no prior cause. This original cause must contain within itself the source of its own being. When we get back to this original causeless Cause, we have come to God.
Bahá’u'lláh taught that God is too great and too subtle a Being for the finite human mind ever to understand Him adequately or to construct an accurate image of Him. Although we may have different concepts of God’s nature, although we may pray to Him in different languages and call Him by different names–Allah or Yahweh, God or Brahma–nevertheless, we are speaking about the same unique Being
Dharmic Concepts of God
(These include Hinduism, Buddhism, and Shinto)
Basic of Buddhism (somewhat atheistic)
But Buddhism is not atheism just because they don’t believe in a personal God. It is more like pantheism, there is a impersonal force the void which is the ultimate.
For the most part, the Buddhist position on the God question is neither yes nor no. Although some Buddhists consider themselves to be atheists, and some (sorta kinda) conceptualize the buddhas and bodhisattvas as godlike beings, the Buddha taught that belief in God is irrelevant. Believing in God or not believing in God will not help you realize enlightenment.
Hinduism is well known for the multiplicity of the Gods. It doesn’t advocate the worship of any particular deity. In this context, the Hindu concept of God can be misinterpreted. The fact is that, all these gods and goddesses represent different aspects of the absolute supreme called Brahman.
Far Eastern
(These include Taoism, Shinto and Confucianism)
Tao (pronounced “dao”) means literally “the path” or “the way.” It is a universal principle that underlies everything from the creation of galaxies to the interaction of human beings. The workings of Tao are vast and often beyond human logic. In order to understand Tao, reasoning alone will not suffice. One must also apply intuition.
In Tao-te ching, Excerpt: Tao is the name given by Lao-tzu to the Great Pervader or theMother of all Things. Tao is the creator and sustainer of everything in the Universe. It is described as follows:
There was something undefined and complete, coming into existence before Heaven and Earth…
Ancient Concepts of God
There is only one God, Ahura Mazda, and He is the supreme creator of the world and the universe. Everything exists through Him and because of Him.
Druids (yes those people who built Stonehenge)
Since Druidry is a spiritual path – a religion to some, a way of life to others – Druids share a belief in the fundamentally spiritual nature of life. Some will favour a particular way of understanding the source of this spiritual nature, and may feel themselves to be animists, pantheists, polytheists, monotheists or duotheists. Others will avoid choosing any one conception of Deity, believing that by its very nature this is unknowable by the mind.
Many Wiccans believe in a deity that is largely unknowable — sometimes called “The All” or “The One.” However, they believe that they can comprehend the male and female aspects of the deity, whom they call the God and the Goddess. Sometimes, they commune with “The Goddess” or “The God.” Other times, they link with specific Pagan deities from the past. Instead of“the Goddess,” they might relate to Athena, Brigit, Ceridwen, Diana, Hecate, Ishtar, Isis, Venus, etc. In place of “The God” they may link to Adonis, Apollo, Dionysus, Odin, Osiris, Pan, Thor, Zeus, etc.
