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How do you define God?

I was recently asked this question on another forum, where Atheists and skeptics abound:
How do you define God? The intent of the person seemed to be that there is no God, chiefly because there is not an available definition.

Now, understand, the folks on that forum are mostly intent on proving that Christians believe a myth. So, I'm wondering: how do you all define God here at AAG.net?

Perhaps, more to the point, how would you answer that question, if a non-believer asked you?

How do you define God?

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Permalink Reply by dawn marie daley on October 8, 2009 at 9:32pm
God is love. the true meaning of love. not the warm fuzzy feeling but a continual burning amber.that never burns out .It abides .Not meaning to minimize, God is simple.We complicate things."let the little children com to me" The faith and trust of a child is so pure. We don't have the mind of God but we have His heart.
Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on July 17, 2010 at 3:46am
Scribe,

I jumped this page my first and second time around this discussion, so I had missed your comment above. I am no science expert, but it's an intriguing subject.

>>When we are dealing with the vastness of the universe as we have observed it, it would be impossible to think in terms of unified absolutes,

I agree that with the limited data we have and the fact that we are actually looking at past events it is impossible to think of unified absolutes, however that should not negate their reality, don't you think? It’s possible that some constants have wrong values, with errors greater than we think as well. Have you heard of the absolutes beneath the relative?

>>when we know that one of the assumed absolutes - the speed of light - has already been proven to have altered over the course of creation history (would say "over time" but that would actually be redundant).

I remember reading that in the beginning of the universe the speed of light was faster than today, but that is also theory and not a proven fact, I think, not sure. The speed of light is absolute and invariant, but of course is not constant as it moves from medium to medium. When light enters a denser medium, the speed and wavelength of the light wave decrease while the frequency stays the same. Is that what you are referring to?
Permalink Reply by ScribeD on October 7, 2009 at 8:55pm
Jacob, can you please expound? I'm not certain of your intent.

For instance, one thing that I have concluded with certainty is that there is a God. The second thing I have concluded with certainty is that I am not him.
Permalink Reply by Carla on October 7, 2009 at 7:38am
Dear Scribe,

This is very thought provoking...

I don't have an answer. But what I do know is this:

When I think of what Jesus has done for me, I weep.
When I see Him working in my life and the lives of others, I am left in Awe!
When He speaks to me, I respond with Thankfulness, and Praise... HE gives me peace.
When Trials threaten to overtake me...as they are trying in my life right now...I turn to Him, I cry out and He answers me.His Love for me is far beyond human reasoning....far beyond any understanding I could possibly try to begin to understand.
I would be lost without Him. He Loves me...His discipline proves that...He is the perfect parent. Certain trials which have come about in my life have been a blessing when I get to the end of that thing. Knowing God has humbled me...Submitting to Jesus has saved me. God is Spirit, But He has an amazing way of surrounding me with His Love. He carries me when I am too weak...and HE strengthens me. HE is my rock. One day, He will wipe every tear from my eyes...I know that is true, because even now He comforts me...How He does all this is indescribable. I have such an enormous sadness for those who don't know God, or refuse to see Him. I pray they will see Him and receive Jesus before they die. So to answer your question.. I can't define God...but I Love Him! I also can't define other relationships in my life...but I love those whom I can't define also. I know one day I will be with Him forever...I hope my job in heaven is to sit at His feet and wash them with my tears. However...there will be no more tears in heaven...due to our Awesome God.

When we take a long hard look at Christ, The Messiah..it is then that we see God.

Much Love in Christ, Carla
Permalink Reply by ScribeD on October 7, 2009 at 8:53pm
Carla, this is extremely thoughtful and poetic. I like the way that you have woven scriptural truth into personal experience. That, in my opinion, is what we are called to do as disciples.
Permalink Reply by Carla on October 9, 2009 at 7:40am
Permalink Reply by maggie hancox on October 10, 2009 at 1:56am
:) just a simple thought.... do you see the air you breath? no...yet you still act in faith that it is there and take a breath!
Do you see the place in which you step? You would have to be looking at exactly where your feet go..and look down all the time, wouldn't you...so no you look ahead, but not directly down each step..so you step in faith, believing that the ground is there...

Do you believe in love? do you love?...God IS love....Just as I have breath, just as I step out, I believe in Love and the person whom breathed that love into me.

DARE TO BELIEVE!! and you will step out into places you never dreamed possible in your life...DARE TO BELIEVE!! and you will be filled with the breath of life that so fills the heart with new life!! DARE TO BELIEVE!! and you will know love like you have never known before..

DARE TO BELIEVE!! and you will truely live, more then breath, more then where you go, what you do..but truely live.
Permalink Reply by ScribeD on October 11, 2009 at 2:31pm
Maggie, this is a good challenge! Have you ever had an atheist take the dare?

Can you elaborate on how you demonstrate this? Can you explain how God has answered your dare?

~ Scribe
Permalink Reply by maggie hancox on January 28, 2010 at 1:13pm
Oh I didnt see you had replied to this lol.

In so far s demonstrating this, living the Christian life is demonstration.
If you live a Christian life, there will be challenges you face, and there certainly have been and to this day are for me.
Unmovable mountains, moved by the hand of God.
Quotations of the bear and the lion as of David.

Your two questions "Can you elaborate on how you demonstrate this? Can you explain how God has answered your dare?"
Can be answerded by the same answer.

I live my life 'as I am' when I am struggling, I do not hide it from my Christian freinds and I certainly don't hide it from my non-christian freinds.

Why?

Because it is my life lived out, and Christ through me.
If they see the burdens I carry and the struggles I have, and then see I know my Father has the power to move that mountain, and then see that mountain moved by God!..
What better testimony and expression that I dared to believe my Father would come through, and he did!

Even in times of weakness in faith, I share with all saved and un-saved, and you find that if they person who is not saved, hears this, in their effort to console you, even they acknowledge that Father will come through.
It is truely an amazing thing to experience, hearing from the mouth of the unsaved that your God wont let you down.

Then to come back to them and reveal to them that they where right! Your God DIDNT let you down :)
After many trials, does this not lead the unsaved to wonder about this God we serve?

I have many bears and lions I can quote as examples to daring to step out and believe God, I will share my most recent one with you.

I have always been amazed in healing, the blind seeing, the deaf hearing.
Amazed at the parting of the sea, and the stick that turned into a snake etc..
But nothing compares to the changing of the stubborn mans mind!

I have been unwillingly embroiled in a custody battle for five years, my ex-husband is contesting my having custody of the children.
Two days before Christmas I had another court hearing.
It was truely brutal!
I couldn't beleive the manipulations and lies, the vengance and plain nasty tactics being played, I was alone with only my lawyer for support, and was totally torn appart by the fact that it seemed more reasonable to believe the fanciful lies then the truth, because I was not fighting back in kind and speaking ill of my ex-husband.

The finishing words of the Judge directed at my ex-husband were that he would take the children off me this very day, if he could, but didn't yet have enough evidence or time to get it today.
He set about to create another urgent court date..he was angry and determined those kids were not going to stay in my care.

I have had this judge many times, he strikes as a man of his word, determined and unchangable, I was devistated.

I now was left with a choice, to allow time to continue and the next court date to approach, with clear assurance that the judge was goal orrientated towards taking my children off me, or be pro-active and give my children volentarily to him.

My reasoning was, that if I lost my children through court, I would only have supervised access, which is a few hours a week during the week days.

If I gave my children volentarily I could have the opportunity to set access and still be able to have them weekends unsupervised so they could go to church and still learn about my Father.
(ex-husband, not a christian)
You can see the most tempting choice in this matter where all hope seems lost is to relinquish the children.

I am the type of person who likes to control the variables and there was only a certain ammount of time to make my decision before the decision would be taken from my hands.
It was truely heart breaking.

In the end I took a giant leap of faith, believing that my Father speaks things not as though they were, and that he is infinately able to do more then I ever hoped dared or dreamed.
That it is he who softens and hardens the hearts of man at his will.
And I went against my logical judgement and have stepped back waiting for God to answer my prayer.

I have recieved the judges decission, polar opposite to that experienced in the court room, my ex-husband application has been denied and all that has been written in the report are possitive re-enforcements of my parenting.

parting the sea ...awesome
making the blind see...spectacular
changing a stubborn mans mind..truely outstanding!!
Permalink Reply by Theresa on January 28, 2010 at 1:29pm
Maggie:) You are such a blessing from the Lord.....Your words and your testimony here are straight from the mouth and heart of God our Father. You are blessed! I love you.
Theresa,
Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on January 31, 2010 at 9:23am
Thank you for sharing maggie.
Permalink Reply by ScribeD on October 17, 2009 at 12:02am
My answer to the Atheists was essentially this: God is self defining. He alone can define himself - no human has that capacity. That definition is 807,361 words long, contained in 1,189 chapters through 66 books that make up one singular definition of God: the Holy Bible.

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