What Defines a God?

[L33tsauce_Marty]

See I can't pinpoint what exactly what any religion such as Christianity would define a god. I remember a teacher talking about if god could make a rock so big that he couldn't move it, would that make him powerless? Is it the unstoppable force or the immovable object? Or what defines a god?

 

[Abedeus]

An omnipotent being synced out of time and space. Knows the future, past, everything that is currenty going on.

That's a start.


Also - the paradox you mentioned can be overcome (and usually is) by a simple fact - omnipotent means you can break the laws of physics. If a rock is too heavy to lift, then ignore the weight. If a burrito is too hot to eat, ignore the temperature.

 

[Inverse Skies]

God is usually defined as the creator of all, the being with the ability to influence every aspect of life as well as being all-powerful and benevolent.

 

[Audemas]

What you are asking here is something that philosophers have been debating for years now. Don't think you will get an answer here on The Escapist.
Here is the definition of God: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/god
http://www.bible.ca/trinity/trinity-definition-god.htm This website may be used to answer any other questions you might have. I tried to explain this topic for my Philosophy class and the paper turned out to be over 12 pages. I used this site to explain how do you define God.

 

[Corpse XxX]

A god is a weapon of mass seduction.. A made up figure trying to unite people against a common "enemy" to serve the leaders of the cult best, often financially..

 

[Pandalisk]

a man in the clouds capable of doing anything he wanted if he wished and is the source of all happiness ect ect ect ..

i surpose it would be a being of un-imaginable power, im sure everyone on the forum could give a different difination each. there's no ONE definition

A god cannot be defined since gods have the annoyance of not showing themselves we rely on imagination, you cannot difine god with this in mind since he/she/it will have followers who view him differently

you can define a man as a god by what he does, Men/women who do such deeds they are in the history books for life, while yes they are mortal they are immortal, god like in the fact that their legend will live on through time, who are worshipped or at least repected because of their acheivements till this day, They are gods, people like Alexander the great, julius caesar, Da vinci, ect ect

 

[Incredible Bullshitting Man]

The said paradox can also be resolved with the notion that an omnipotent being doesn´t have to work within the frame of logic. It can create an object too heavy to lift and it can still lift it.

 

[L33tsauce_Marty]

What you are asking here is something that philosophers have been debating for years now. Don't think you will get an answer here on The Escapist.
Here is the definition of God: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/god
http://www.bible.ca/trinity/trinity-definition-god.htm This website may be used to answer any other questions you might have. I tried to explain this topic for my Philosophy class and the paper turned out to be over 12 pages. I used this site to explain how do you define God.

That doesn't mean we can't chat about it.

 

[Frybird]

See I can't pinpoint what exactly what any religion such as Christianity would define a god. I remember a teacher talking about if god could make a rock so big that he couldn't move it, would that make him powerless? Is it the unstoppable force or the immovable object? Or what defines a god?

Well, technically, a God couldn't make a rock so big he couldn't move it, since the powers of one omnipotent god are supposed to be endless. So he can create a rock that would span an infinity of universes, and still would be always at least as strong as the rock.
And since a God is believed to have created the universe, i guess that would make him a force...

 

[Pandalisk]

So i surpose Worship defines a god, a god can have flaws everyone knows from the bible that the gods had many flaws, hell the norse people knew there gods were dicks by the stories written about them (note im not saying their gods were real)

worship would bring anyone to a god-like status, if i could get my two dogs and my cat to bow and do my bidding on command and they build a statue of me with there crappy paws then i surpose i would be a god

 

[KeithA45]

See I can't pinpoint what exactly what any religion such as Christianity would define a god. I remember a teacher talking about if god could make a rock so big that he couldn't move it, would that make him powerless? Is it the unstoppable force or the immovable object? Or what defines a god?

God
  noun, verb, interjection
?noun
1. the one Supreme Being, the creator and ruler of the universe.
2. the Supreme Being considered with reference to a particular attribute: the God of Islam.
3. (lowercase) one of several deities, esp. a male deity, presiding over some portion of worldly affairs.
4. (often lowercase) a supreme being according to some particular conception: the god of mercy.
5. Christian Science. the Supreme Being, understood as Life, Truth, Love, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Principle.
6. (lowercase) an image of a deity; an idol.
7. (lowercase) any deified person or object.

-> http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/god <-

But more seriously, you can get any definition from anywhere and it'll conflict with another definition somewhere. No one can really lay down a good definition because everyone interprets "God" differently.

And if you move away from the Christian "God" into just "a god", then there are so many different types from different beliefs that all you can really pin-point down is "A higher, greater being than humans".

You're asking a question MUCH bigger than you, and I applaud that but I'm not sure you're going to walk away with a clear and definitive answer

 

[Audemas]

What you are asking here is something that philosophers have been debating for years now. Don't think you will get an answer here on The Escapist.
Here is the definition of God: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/god
http://www.bible.ca/trinity/trinity-definition-god.htm This website may be used to answer any other questions you might have. I tried to explain this topic for my Philosophy class and the paper turned out to be over 12 pages. I used this site to explain how do you define God.

That doesn't mean we can't chat about it.

I don't recall saying you couldn't. But if you really want to know then take up a philosophy course or get a book on it.

 

[Caliostro]

Kinda like asking what defines a zombie, a vampire or a dragon... Sci-fi does.

 

[Maze1125]

Just a point.
The word 'God' and 'god' have different meanings.
Capitalized it means the Judaeo-Christian god. Uncapitalized it means any god.
Hence, saying 'a God' is a completely meaningless phrase, as if you're talking about the Judaeo-Christian god, there can't be more than one of them, and if you're talking about gods in general it shouldn't be capitalized.

 

[Valiance]

Just a point.
The word 'God' and 'god' have different meanings.
Capitalized it means the Judaeo-Christian god. Uncapitalized it means any god.
Hence, saying 'a God' is a completely meaningless phrase, as if you're talking about the Judaeo-Christian god, there can't be more than one of them, and if you're talking about gods in general it shouldn't be capitalized.

Glad someone pointed this out before I got here.

I would also like to say that gods do not need to be omniscient or perfect (see the Norse gods and Greek gods), but most of them have their own little role in the family.

 

[iseko]

Google descartes. He has 2 proofs that god exist. They are both wrong but he does give a definition on god in one of them.

 

[SquirrelPants]

Everyone is talking about omnipotent gods and whatnot...I don't have time to read most of the thread, but at the beginning, yeah.
In response to that: Remember the Greek gods? I'd explain more, but I've gotta go.

 

[fix-the-spade]

The ability to be used as an explanation for everything without ever being proven to exist.