Belief
Various debates and posts(where I realised my comments were getting a tad too long) have prompted me to write a post on the topic of God and faith. Plus I've been nagged enough about updating my blog ; ).
We humans are second-handers by nature. Even an unflagging confidence or belief in yourself stems from encouragement, appreciation or atleast acknowlegdement from others. Hence the need to look to someone else when challenged by the unknown. This deep-seated and primal fear of the unexplored lead to the earliest tryst with with faith and God. What couldn't be explained was attributed to God.
This phenomenon has several names and explanations. Some call it God, some destiny, some call it an unknown primeval force, some nothing. For aeons God was a self-explanatory word and it is only in the recent centuries that people have been questioning this blind faith in God and have been trying to experiment with and analyse faith in God in order to understand it.
This faith exists, probably because it is unburdening and liberating. It's this belief that there is a saviour out there, an entity to transfer our worries and responsibilities to. Whether he exists or not is immaterial.
Consider a placebo. It is a harmless pill that in actuality does nothing. Except that it does mitigate the patient's anxiety about his health. Although the placebo has no effect whatsoever on the patient, he believes it does and that is the cure. The principle of God works in the same way( It is just an analogy and is not intended to hurt anyone's sentiments). He can be whatever you want Him to be. Maybe it's the extra-edge kick you got during some paper and you don't know where it sprouted from. Maybe it's your aunt's miraculous recovery from a terminal disease. It could be anything. Or nothing.
We humans are second-handers by nature. Even an unflagging confidence or belief in yourself stems from encouragement, appreciation or atleast acknowlegdement from others. Hence the need to look to someone else when challenged by the unknown. This deep-seated and primal fear of the unexplored lead to the earliest tryst with with faith and God. What couldn't be explained was attributed to God.
This phenomenon has several names and explanations. Some call it God, some destiny, some call it an unknown primeval force, some nothing. For aeons God was a self-explanatory word and it is only in the recent centuries that people have been questioning this blind faith in God and have been trying to experiment with and analyse faith in God in order to understand it.
This faith exists, probably because it is unburdening and liberating. It's this belief that there is a saviour out there, an entity to transfer our worries and responsibilities to. Whether he exists or not is immaterial.
Consider a placebo. It is a harmless pill that in actuality does nothing. Except that it does mitigate the patient's anxiety about his health. Although the placebo has no effect whatsoever on the patient, he believes it does and that is the cure. The principle of God works in the same way( It is just an analogy and is not intended to hurt anyone's sentiments). He can be whatever you want Him to be. Maybe it's the extra-edge kick you got during some paper and you don't know where it sprouted from. Maybe it's your aunt's miraculous recovery from a terminal disease. It could be anything. Or nothing.
posted by FateGlimpse | 11:15 PM
7 Comments:
nice post, i say.
my views on the subject are quite similar, as would be of any rational theist. for a more humourous "god" post read abhishek nagraj's blog.
Very well written post...interesting way of describing God.
Its true that many people do look to God as nothing more than an emotional/spiritual cruth to get them though and give them some kind of extraterristrial hope.
Heres something to think about. Over the centuries man has tried to find out who God is, what are His attributes and what is His character like.
But is it possible for a mortal man with a finite mind to comprehend the infinite?
Is it possible for man who marvels in his grasp over modern science and technology to even begin to fathom the Creator who created the entire universe with nothing more than a word from His mouth?
I it possible for a man whose days on earth are limited to understand what it means for God to have existed before time began?
I dont think it is. Even tryin to grasp the concept of the infinite and all powerful is a task that no mortal mind can undertake. And added to this is the fact that man has barely even begun to understand the mysteries of this universe. Our total knowledge as a human race does not add up to more than a fraction of the total available knowledge out there.
How then can we ever know God? Simple answer...we cant!
Not unless God decides to reveal Himself to us...
God reveals himself to us through the beauty of creation...through the complexity of the human body..through the fine balance in nature that sustains itself seemingly automatically.
"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" Psalm 8:3-4
"I am the Lord, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself," Isaiah 44:24.
Even then through this we can only understand that He does exist but it takes a VERY long time to fully know God intimately...
Infact the Bible says it takes an eternity to begin to comprehend God!
I firmly believe that God is a living being and more than just a placebo. He is alive and always will be.
TC
Im very sorry for writing such a long comment but I couldnt stop once I got started :)
thank u, interesting comment. basically i think it's futile to speculate over God's existence. because we really don't know what or who He is. either he's alive for u or he's not. ur own faith is a very personal thing. what u believe is upto u and u alone. u may believe because ur scared, u may because u need someone to look upto, whatever. I don't know y we try to justify our beliefs.
A nice analysis of the concept of god.
@Royston : Talking about god in grandiose terms doesn't mean he exists. I will never understand your POV man. When I look at nature, I don't see it as 'his beautiful creation'. You are deeply indoctrined. I need solid proof of gods existence before I believe in him. Don't tell me that my mind can't comprehend the proof.
@fateglimpse:
Its not the fear of the unknown that leads me to belive in a god.
Ps 111:10 (NEB) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
To fear Him you have to know who He is and why He should be feared.
Though i totally agree with you...it is futile to argue over God's existence :)
@Kunal: In creation, im not talking about walking through sweet smelling meadows and feeling all mushy.
Im referring to the perfect balance of nature that man alone disrupts and the miracle of life occuring on earth. Check your evolution facts....the probability of life evolving on earth is extremely small . Evolutionists apparently believe in a miracle but wont acknowledge the miracle worker.
As for solid proofs...Job also asked for proofs from God. The reply he got from God is worth reading....Job Chapter 38. Please read it.
hey all...have just put up the last post on my blog...please check it out...will miss being here...will keep visiting all the blogs though :-)
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