Talking to God would Probably Sound like a Stoner

[BenJepheneT]

We've always fantasized about asking our ultimate creator the ultimate question. "Why are we here?" "Who are you, really?" "What is the true goal to our creation?" "What's the deal with airline food?" And at the end of that, God will provide us an epiphany with such clarity that we can simply brush our fingers against a bottle of olive oil and turn it extra virgin.

To me, however, I think that He'd probably end up sounding like Scooby Doo explaining quantum mechanics to Shaggy.

I'm gonna take the classic Christian interpretation of God here. I'm not a religious guy; the most I've done is pay respects to my ancestors and maybe symbolically offer roasted pork to them before eating said pork for dinner; so I might end up belting uneducated inaccuracies here.

Let's go down at least one level. Angels; God's personal servants. By their biblically accurate accounts, they look more like LSD eyeballs with twenty pairs of wings behind a backdrop off a hippie van decal. Their catchphrase to their first dates are "be not afraid", and we're supposed to be discussing their boss here.

His teachings and values are supposedly written in the Bible, but even without considering that it's written by four different dudes (35+ if you count anonymous additions), the lessons are presented in such archaic language that you can fetch multiple interpretations for them. We've seen people do that before; scumbags who treat the good word of God as a soapbox to commit evil. There no shortage of dudes claiming Leviticus bunch-of-numbers after the court charges them for vehicular manslaughter.

This isn't a jab at religion itself (and if so, it's more on the religious people who misuse their teachings). I want to paint a picture that the creations and interpretations SURROUNDING God are so esoteric and incomprehensible in of itself that if we really were to meet the Man himself in the clouds, would we be able to understand him, even?

God can do anything, yes, but in the effort to dumb down his all-knowing intellect in a way that us plebians can comprehend, would we really understand where He's coming from?

All I'm saying is when you somehow manage to see God and ask him "Why Hitler though?" and his resounding answer, after filtering it through the human language, comes out as "Because bread is only crusty if you toast it on one side", you shouldn't be surprised.

 

[SailusGebel]

 

[Prince_Azmiran_Myrian]

So the God that understands our hearts and knows our thoughts is incapable of explaining things to us?

 

[LilRora]

I think what you're saying boils down to that we can't understand what a being supposedly much greater than us is thinking, either because we lack knowledge, intellect, or yet something else. Like children trying to understand adults, or the mechanism of a perceptual paradox.

Some stories portraying angels, eldritch beings, or gods do it well. Of course not to the extent that any attempt at understanding them ends in madness, because that is rather excessive. It's just that what seems completely illogical or nonsensical to us might be perfectly clear and reasonable to them.

Trying to make conclusions based only on our observations of them might lead to massive misinterpretations, just like it happens between humans on smaller scale.

 

[RockiesRetriever]

We've always fantasized about asking our ultimate creator the ultimate question. "Why are we here?" "Who are you, really?" "What is the true goal to our creation?" "What's the deal with airline food?" And at the end of that, God will provide us an epiphany with such clarity that we can simply brush our fingers against a bottle of olive oil and turn it extra virgin.

To me, however, I think that He'd probably end up sounding like Scooby Doo explaining quantum mechanics to Shaggy.

I'm gonna take the classic Christian interpretation of God here. I'm not a religious guy; the most I've done is pay respects to my ancestors and maybe symbolically offer roasted pork to them before eating said pork for dinner; so I might end up belting uneducated inaccuracies here.

Let's go down at least one level. Angels; God's personal servants. By their biblically accurate accounts, they look more like LSD eyeballs with twenty pairs of wings behind a backdrop off a hippie van decal. Their catchphrase to their first dates are "be not afraid", and we're supposed to be discussing their boss here.

His teachings and values are supposedly written in the Bible, but even without considering that it's written by four different dudes (35+ if you count anonymous additions), the lessons are presented in such archaic language that you can fetch multiple interpretations for them. We've seen people do that before; scumbags who treat the good word of God as a soapbox to commit evil. There no shortage of dudes claiming Leviticus bunch-of-numbers after the court charges them for vehicular manslaughter.

This isn't a jab at religion itself (and if so, it's more on the religious people who misuse their teachings). I want to paint a picture that the creations and interpretations SURROUNDING God are so esoteric and incomprehensible in of itself that if we really were to meet the Man himself in the clouds, would we be able to understand him, even?

God can do anything, yes, but in the effort to dumb down his all-knowing intellect in a way that us plebians can comprehend, would we really understand where He's coming from?

All I'm saying is when you somehow manage to see God and ask him "Why Hitler though?" and his resounding answer, after filtering it through the human language, comes out as "Because bread is only crusty if you toast it on one side", you shouldn't be surprised.

Counterpoints: The angels in the Bible are described in a variety of ways, and the oft touted "biblically accurate angel" is not explicitly stated to be literal, or whether its a vision, etc.

Something I'll also say is that broadly in the Bible, we see that God repeatedly is making efforts to come down to our level, to help us understand. Jesus perhaps, is the most prominent example in Christian theology, wherein our most important teachings were given by God's Son living as we live, talking in our language.

That however I think is where people today feel a great separation from God - whereas two thousand years ago, Jesus speaking in Aramaic was the common language of the time, we are now reading the words of the Bible after thousands of years of transcribing and translating, and thus the language can feel very archaic. There is also the point to make that the prophets and Jesus were speaking to people of their time. While their words often have broad universal application, there are a great many directions God has given that were meant only for the people of that time.

I think then, in summation, that if you talk to God now, He similarly would come down to your level, speak in a way that you would understand - and being matter-of fact, I feel that He does to me. I do not have grand visions, but rather feel impressions when I read scripture, get a strong sense of "this is what God would say to me if He was sitting next to me right now."

In the end, God's purpose is the happiness and growth of His children, and so like an earthly parent, it only makes sense to speak in terms His children would understand.

 

[Paul_Tromba]

Counterpoints: The angels in the Bible are described in a variety of ways, and the oft touted "biblically accurate angel" is not explicitly stated to be literal, or whether its a vision, etc.

Something I'll also say is that broadly in the Bible, we see that God repeatedly is making efforts to come down to our level, to help us understand. Jesus perhaps, is the most prominent example in Christian theology, wherein our most important teachings were given by God's Son living as we live, talking in our language.

That however I think is where people today feel a great separation from God - whereas two thousand years ago, Jesus speaking in Aramaic was the common language of the time, we are now reading the words of the Bible after thousands of years of transcribing and translating, and thus the language can feel very archaic. There is also the point to make that the prophets and Jesus were speaking to people of their time. While their words often have broad universal application, there are a great many directions God has given that were meant only for the people of that time.

I think then, in summation, that if you talk to God now, He similarly would come down to your level, speak in a way that you would understand - and being matter-of fact, I feel that He does to me. I do not have grand visions, but rather feel impressions when I read scripture, get a strong sense of "this is what God would say to me if He was sitting next to me right now."

In the end, God's purpose is the happiness and growth of His children, and so like an earthly parent, it only makes sense to speak in terms His children would understand.

I agree with all but the last paragraph as it delves too deep into the idea of prosperity gospel. God's purpose is his own glory according to the Bible. Stating that we will deal with many hardships and that anyone who follows him will suffer. Though we would find joy in serving him, that does not mean we will be happy all the time. It means that even through the hardships, physical and/or emotional we can find joy even in those moments. Not because we wish to be saved but because we are already saved. Thus, making the love we express for His glory a sign of our salvation and God's magnificents despite the sinful nature of humans.

Psalm 23:1-6, 1 peter 3:17, Romans 8:18, 1 Corinthians 10:31
There are more but these are just a few.

 

[RavenRunes]

'Why?'
'Because it is.'

If you want an answer to the great profound questions of our existence, such 'what is the meaning of life' then don't ask the one you think has the answers.
He ain't got time for you. You're pissing him off with your petty bs.
<----Someone else knows though. And the answer is actually pretty simple.

 

[RockiesRetriever]

I agree with all but the last paragraph as it delves too deep into the idea of prosperity gospel. God's purpose is his own glory according to the Bible. Stating that we will deal with many hardships and that anyone who follows him will suffer. Though we would find joy in serving him, that does not mean we will be happy all the time. It means that even through the hardships, physical and/or emotional we can find joy even in those moments. Not because we wish to be saved but because we are already saved. Thus, making the love we express for His glory a sign of our salvation and God's magnificents despite the sinful nature of humans.

I wasn't really intending that meaning. Saying that God loves us and desires our happiness does not mean we're going to be happy all the time. That's a fallacy. God is our Father in Heaven, and like an earthly parent, knows that we must suffer through things on this Earth to learn and grow, to find the most happiness as an individual who learned to do good.