If there is a God, is He a person?

[flobadob]

I f God did exist, do you think he would be a person, or would he just be a mind?

[jomifl]

Neither

[woofgang]

so people have to have human shaped bodies?

[askyourgran]

'So God created man in His own image.' I always think of God as a power, or a natural force rather than a bearded man on a cloud.

[seadogg]

What if God is a slug? Gardeners will be in trouble when they go.

[dr b]

What if God was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4CRkpBGQzU

[Kiki-frog]

If there's a God, then s/he is just that - God, and therefore too vast for us mere humans to comprehend. There's a lot of truth in the saying that Man created God in his own image.

Although if God is a slug, then Mr Frog and I are well and truly buggered!

[Kiki-frog]

That sounds like a good plot for a sci fi story, Katie. A bit Philip Pullman meets Star Trek. Get to work on it, girl - I'll be your agent.
;-)

[Old_Geezer]

I'm unsure what is meant by the original question. By definition a person is a human being is it not ? Which also by definiton is a physical creature. But a diety, as commonly thought of today, is not a physical entity (even if they could become one if desired) but basically a spiritual entity.

As for being a mind, is mind not a part of brain activity and thus rooted in the physical also ? Surely a diety is something beyond either option, as given.

[seadogg]

We only think of a deity as a"person" because that's about all we can conceive I guess. The Norse, Greek and Roman Gods all had a human appearance for this reason, though Sophocles' reference to "the all seeing kindly ones" seems to suggest something more abstract. After all, religions had to sell themselves to the mass of ordinary people who tended to think in concrete terms.

[flip_flop]

Simple really - there isn't a god. There is not one iota of proof. Nothing. Nada.

The very concept of there being a god is as absurd in the belief of leprachauns. Actually, its probably more absurd than believing in leprachauns as the belief in leprachauns has never, to my knowledge, resulted in wars, torture and murder that the belief in god has, and still does to this day.

I really struggle to understand how seemingly intelligent people can believe in something as absurd as a god when, surely, it is patently obvious to anybody with even a moderate grip on reality that the very premise is mind bogglingly stupid.

[Snafu03]

flip flop, that wasnt really the question though was it?

[flip_flop]

Snafu - Are you sure?

I've answered that there isn't a god. Surely it is implicit in my answer that he can't be a person or a mind, because there is no such thing as god.

[vetuste_ennemi]

Sea Dog, your reference to Sophocles' "all-seeing kindly ones" is more apt than you possibly realise. Do you know which specific deities he is talking about?

[Clanad]

Comes down to the definition and understanding of the Trinity displayed through out the Old and New Covenants. Admittedly a difficult concept and the subject of discussion and argument for eons. Once understood in light of Judaeo/Christian interpretation it does answer a lot of questions.
As far as the Christian God's existence; one needs, as a beginning point, a definition of proof[i... but this leads to a never-ending flood (no pun intended) of logomachy by ]faux[] cognoscente replete with hand waving casuistry that descends rapidly into abstruse malediction, quickly ending any meaningful dialogue
... in my opinion...

[chakka35]

flip-flop is right. Why are we engaging in meaningless questions about a supernatural creature for whose existence there is not a jot of evidence?
To flip-flop's leprechauns I'd add unicorns, tooth fairies and a hundred other childish superstitions. What a waste of brains that could be applied to exciting real things....

[Clanad]

...As I said, "quickly ending any meaningful dialogue"...

[mibn2cweus]

'God' is a manifestation of ones refusal to differentiate between what one knows and what one chooses to believe. 'God' is the extollation of ignorance over knowledge in an attempt to circumvent, if only in ones own mind, a reality one would rather not acknowledge in exchange for a preferred delusion. 'God' is offered up as an excuse to depart from the path of reason to fulfil ones irrational desire for achieving a happiness apart from ones own responsibility for and effort towards realising it.

'God' is the imaginary friend of those who see themselves as their own worst enemy . . . and you know what? Their right!

[jomifl]

Not always Clanad, sometimes the believers try to argue rationally.