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Author Topic:   God's motivation
Butterflytyrant
Member (Idle past 4422 days)
Posts: 415
From: Australia
Joined: 06-28-2011


Message 1 of 6 (632516)
09-08-2011 11:32 AM


Hello EvC posters,
For this question, let us assume that the universe has been created by a supernatural being or beings. Created intentionally.
I am interested in the different ideas or theology if it is known behind the motivation for God/s to create this universe.
I have read quite a few fantasy novels where creation has been discussed.
What would Gods motivation be to create the universe?
In the Douglas Adams universe, from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, which is actually our universe, the whole thing was a vast experiment.
Raymond Feist in some fictional novels suggests that Gods were actually created by us. All of our emotional reactions distilled into a sentient presence. The power of our love and hate were strong enough to create Gods of love and hate. It is these Gods that the people of that universe recognise in the same way that we recognise our religious deities now. In that universe, they have little idea how it was all created and they are too busy fighting and adventuring to be too concerned. This is quite poetic.
In some David Eddings books, the Gods a all different. One of the human Gods is simply not interested in talking to his people. Other races and groups have their own various Gods but none of these Gods actually created the universe. In these books, the universe and all of its inhabited planets were created to fight a battle that the higher God figures cannot fight. Basically, all living entities in the universe are proxies.
There are some ideas I have read that God created the entire universe for us to experience life. Why would God/s create us just so that we could have a good time? Many of us are not having a good time and if we were not created, we would know a good time could be had so this seems a bit pointless.
This is not a why are we here question. It is a question regarding God/s motivation for the creation of the universe. I am interested in all ideas though if you have particular theological answers, please advise of your religion or denomination. If there are any readers who know of obscure religious reasons not likely to turn up here, please let me know also.
(mods - I am happy to run through as much editing as you want and would be happy to receive advice on how to make improvements to the question)
Edited by Butterflytyrant, : No reason given.

I could agree with you, but then we would both be wrong
Butterfly, AKA, mallethead - Dawn Bertot
"Superstitions and nonsense from the past should not prevent us from making progress. If we hold ourselves back, we admit that our fears are more powerful than our abilities." Hunters of Dune Herbert & Anderson

Replies to this message:
 Message 2 by AdminPD, posted 09-08-2011 1:07 PM Butterflytyrant has replied

AdminPD
Inactive Administrator


Message 2 of 6 (632546)
09-08-2011 1:07 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Butterflytyrant
09-08-2011 11:32 AM


As written, I don't see anything to debate. Sounds like you're gathering info for a report.
If you're going to make an assumption, it is wise to keep the post in line with that assumption. Unfortunately, assumptions like these tend to fall apart.
The assumption for the debate is that the universe was intentionally created by a supernatural being(s), but the possible motivations you provide come mostly from fiction.
quote:
Many of us are not having a good time and if we were not created, we would know a good time could be had so this seems a bit pointless.
That sentence doesn't make sense.
Another way to approach this would be to look at what ancient people thought the gods' motivations were. They are the source of the legends, myths, religions, etc. No assumptions needed. It doesn't matter whether you feel they are true or false.
Ask a good question, then present your position on it.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by Butterflytyrant, posted 09-08-2011 11:32 AM Butterflytyrant has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 3 by Butterflytyrant, posted 09-08-2011 1:23 PM AdminPD has replied

Butterflytyrant
Member (Idle past 4422 days)
Posts: 415
From: Australia
Joined: 06-28-2011


Message 3 of 6 (632552)
09-08-2011 1:23 PM
Reply to: Message 2 by AdminPD
09-08-2011 1:07 PM


Hello Purple Dawn,
I was hoping you would be online to mod the thread.
I will have to leave it until tomorrow to reword it.
Thats sentence you quoted indeed makes no sense. It is 3am here.
I am curious about what the different faiths say about Gods motivations.
I used the works of fictions to try to illustrate what some people have said of their particular Gods motivations. I did not want to include any of the real religions as this was the information I was actually after and there are many people here who have far greater theological knowledge than myself.
I figured that once various people had put in their opinion on Gods motivation. I am interested in a discussion rather than debate. I am not looking for a winner or loser. I am interested in the faith of others.
I am not attempting to refute any of the particular veiwpoints. That is why I gave the assumption that the universe had been created.
I will track down a real myth that discusses the motivation of god. I will try to find something obscure because I dont want to tread on anyones toes by misinterpreting their scripture.
I will put that forward as what I consider to be a good motivation when I have had some sleep.
Cheers,
BT

This message is a reply to:
 Message 2 by AdminPD, posted 09-08-2011 1:07 PM AdminPD has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 4 by AdminPD, posted 09-09-2011 6:17 AM Butterflytyrant has replied

AdminPD
Inactive Administrator


Message 4 of 6 (632637)
09-09-2011 6:17 AM
Reply to: Message 3 by Butterflytyrant
09-08-2011 1:23 PM


quote:
I am curious about what the different faiths say about Gods motivations.
Then just go with that. No need for an assumption.
I look forward to seeing what myth you come up with.
AdminPD

This message is a reply to:
 Message 3 by Butterflytyrant, posted 09-08-2011 1:23 PM Butterflytyrant has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 5 by Butterflytyrant, posted 09-10-2011 8:24 AM AdminPD has not replied

Butterflytyrant
Member (Idle past 4422 days)
Posts: 415
From: Australia
Joined: 06-28-2011


Message 5 of 6 (632794)
09-10-2011 8:24 AM
Reply to: Message 4 by AdminPD
09-09-2011 6:17 AM


God's motivation
Hello EvC posters,
I am curious about what the different faiths say about God's motivation to create the universe and humanity.
Why would he/she/they do it?
To get the ball rolling I found one creation myth that should appeal to the scientists among us.
Disclaimer : There are a number of different variations of the myth. This version uses the most common factors of the dozen or so differnet ones I read. Also, on the tiny chance that one of the readers is actually a follower of this particular faith, I apologise in advance if I have made any big errors.
The Mande people of Southern Mali in Africa believe this was all a failed experiment.
The Mande Creation Myth
The creator god Mangala was actually attempting to create a specific type of seed (balaza seed). He failed in the first attempt. Then he made some different seeds, a pair that would become the universe. Then, continuing to experiment, he made many more seeds that became the elements, the four directions and finally the first people. All of this experimenting was occuring in an egg floating in the universe.
One of the humans, Pemba, broke out of the egg. A torn peice of that humans placenta became the Earth. The Earth, created from his placenta was barren so he tried to resturn to the egg. Unfortunatey, the egg had become the sun so he could not go back in. Instead, he stole more seeds from Mangala (the creator god) and planted them on Earth. These seeds were impure because they were stolen and everything that grew from them turned red.
Another human, Faro, was sacrificed to atone for Pembas sins and to purify the Earth. He was cut into 60 pieces and spread accross the Earth. Mangala chose to resurrect Faro and gave him an ark. Mangala also gave him 4 more men and 4 more women. These people were the original ancestors of mankind. The ark also contained all of the plants and animals. Then there was a great flood that washed away all of Pembas imputies. Only Faro, and the people on the ark remained to populate the Earth.
So, the universe was created by accident. God was actually trying to do something else (like the discovery of viagra. It was invented as an angina drug, during testing another use was discovered).
The Earth was also created by accident. A pesky, impatient human created it.
It seems that people were created to fix everything that the escapee messed up.
Sources :
Mand creation myth - Wikipedia
http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/18039750
KeeperofStories: Mand Creation Myth
http://dickinsg.intrasun.tcnj.edu/...html#The%20Mande%20Myth
The subject I am interested in discussing is the motivations of God to create the universe and humanity.
If you have scripture to go on, that is great. If there is no scriptural backup but your faith has some ideas, just as good. If you know the moivation put forward in any other faiths, I would be interested to know also.
This is more of a discussion rather than a debate.
Cheers,
Butterflytyrant

I could agree with you, but then we would both be wrong
Butterfly, AKA, mallethead - Dawn Bertot
"Superstitions and nonsense from the past should not prevent us from making progress. If we hold ourselves back, we admit that our fears are more powerful than our abilities." Hunters of Dune Herbert & Anderson

This message is a reply to:
 Message 4 by AdminPD, posted 09-09-2011 6:17 AM AdminPD has not replied

AdminPD
Inactive Administrator


Message 6 of 6 (632800)
09-10-2011 8:49 AM


Topic Moved to Comparitive Religions
Thread copied to the God's motivation thread in the Comparative Religions forum.
This copy of the thread has been closed.

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