The Term Is Vague - an Astronomy Net God & Science Forum Message

God & Science Forum Message
Forums:	Atm · Astrophotography · Blackholes · Blackholes2 · CCD · Celestron · Domes · Education Eyepieces · Meade · Misc. · God and Science · SETI · Software · UFO · XEphem


Home \| Discussion Forums \| God and Science \| Post	Login

Be the first pioneers to continue the Astronomy Discussions at our new Astronomy meeting place...
The Space and Astronomy Agora

The Term Is Vague

Forum List | Follow Ups | Post Message | Back to Thread Topics | In Response To
Posted by Harvey on October 26, 2001 15:04:00 UTC

Alex,

Like most terms in philosophy, the term 'God' is vague but saying it doesn't have meaning is also false. For example, terms like 'truth', 'explanation', 'cause', 'philosophy', 'consciousness', etc, etc, all have contested meanings. Yet, try telling someone that truth doesn't have clear meaning so it therefore doesn't exist and rightaway you'll get a lot of objections.

The term 'God' has been historically used as identifying a non-material and teleological 'force' apparent in the universe. The 'force' is not a physical force (e.g., electromagneticism) but a mental or teleological force that directs the path of matter in the universe to some form of order. Most views of God have included mental awareness capabilities, however historically this is not required for a belief in the existence of God. Atheism has been closely associated with materialism, but non-materialist atheists are few in number and their beliefs can border with theist views. Clearly, though, any teleological order where the 'destiny of life' are part of one's view, then this expresses a key theist outlook.

Warm regards, Harv

Follow Ups:

So, nobody knows God? - alexander - October 26, 2001 - 16:21 UTC
- Please read again - harvey1 - October 26, 2001 - 19:04 UTC
  - So, what do people mean by God(s)? - alexander - October 27, 2001 - 16:14 UTC
    - You have to ask each person/group - harvey1 - October 27, 2001 - 21:58 UTC
      - Well, then nobody indeed knows what God is. - alexander - October 28, 2001 - 23:41 UTC
        
        Not so - harvey1 - October 29, 2001 - 04:13 UTC
        
        About "What Is?" questions - dolphin - October 29, 2001 - 05:27 UTC
        
        Alan, god is only in your imagination. - alexander - November 5, 2001 - 10:39 UTC
        
        Harvey, interpretation is human business, not nature's. - alexander - November 5, 2001 - 10:42 UTC
        
        That's my point - harvey1 - November 5, 2001 - 21:57 UTC
- You can't describe God - aximili - October 30, 2001 - 09:54 UTC
  - I can - yanniru - October 30, 2001 - 15:50 UTC

Additional Information

About Astronomy Net | Advertise on Astronomy Net | Contact & Comments | Privacy Policy

Unless otherwise specified, web site content Copyright 1994-2024 John Huggins All Rights Reserved
Forum posts are Copyright their authors as specified in the heading above the post.
"dbHTML," "AstroGuide," "ASTRONOMY.NET" & "VA.NET"
are trademarks of John Huggins