Detail of a symbolic representation of"God the Father" from the fresco
King David and the 24 Elders adoring God the Father by
Johann Jakob Zeiller (1744-48).
|
| The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with Western culture and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (February 2016) |
In
monotheism and
henotheism,
God is conceived of as the
Supreme Being and principal object of
faith.
[1] The
concept of God as described by
theologians commonly includes the attributes of
omniscience (infinite knowledge),
omnipotence (unlimited power),
omnipresence (present everywhere),
omnibenevolence (perfect goodness),
divine simplicity, and eternal and necessary existence. God is also usually defined as a non-corporeal
[1] being without any human biological gender,
[2][3] but the concept of God actively (as opposed to receptively)
[4] creating the universe has caused some religions to give "Him" the metaphorical name of "Father". Because God is conceived as not being a corporeal being, God cannot
[5](some say
should not
[5]) be portrayed in a literal visual image; some religious groups use a man
[6] (sometimes old and bearded
[6]) to symbolize God because of "His deed of creating man's mind in the image of His own".
[citation needed]
In
theism, God is the
creator and
sustainer of the universe, while in
deism, God is the creator, but not the sustainer, of the universe.
Monotheism is the belief in the existence of one God or in the oneness of God. In
pantheism, God is the universe itself. In
atheism, God is not believed to exist, while God is deemed unknown or unknowable within the context of
agnosticism. God has also been conceived as being
incorporeal (immaterial), a
personal being, the source of all
moral obligation, and the "greatest conceivable existent".
[1] Many notable philosophers have developed arguments for and against the
existence of God.
[7]
There are many
names for God, and different names are attached to different cultural ideas about God's identity and attributes. In the ancient Egyptian era of
Atenism, possibly the earliest recorded monotheistic religion, this deity was called
Aten,
[8] premised on being the one "true" Supreme Being and Creator of the Universe.
[9] In the
Hebrew Bible and
Judaism, "He Who Is", "
I Am that I Am", and the
tetragrammaton YHWH are used as names of God, while
Yahweh and
Jehovah are sometimes used in Christianity as vocalizations of YHWH. In the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, God, consubstantial in three persons, is called the
Father, the
Son, and the
Holy Spirit. In Judaism, it is common to refer to God by the titular
names Elohim or
Adonai, the latter of which is believed by some scholars to descend from the Egyptian Aten.
[10][11][12][13][14] In
Islam, the name
Allah, "Al-El", or "Al-Elah" ("the God") is used, while Muslims also have a
multitude of titular names for God. In
Hinduism,
Brahman is often considered a
monistic deity.
[15] Other religions have names for God, for instance,
Baha in the
Bahá'í Faith,
[16] Waheguru in
Sikhism,
[17] and
Ahura Mazda in
Zoroastrianism.
[18]
The many different conceptions of God, and competing claims as to God's characteristics, aims, and actions, have led to the development of ideas of
omnitheism,
pandeism,
[19][20] or a
perennial philosophy, which postulates that there is one underlying theological truth, of which all religions express a partial understanding, and as to which "the devout in the various great world religions are in fact worshipping that one God, but through different, overlapping concepts or mental images of Him."
[21]
Etymology and usage
The
Mesha Stele bears the earliest known reference (840 BCE) to the Israelite God Yahweh.
The earliest written form of the Germanic word
God (always, in this usage,
capitalized[22]) comes from the 6th-century
Christian Codex Argenteus. The English word itself is derived from the
Proto-Germanic * ǥuđan. The reconstructed
Proto-Indo-European form
* ǵhu-tó-m was likely based on the root
* ǵhau(ə)-, which meant either "to call" or "to invoke".
[23] The Germanic words for
God were originally
neuter—applying to both genders—but during the process of the
Christianization of the
Germanic peoples from their indigenous
Germanic paganism, the words became a
masculine syntactic form.
[24]
In the
English language, the capitalized form of
God continues to represent a distinction between monotheistic "God" and "gods" in
polytheism.
[25][26] The English word
God and its counterparts in other languages are normally used for any and all conceptions and, in spite of significant differences between religions, the term remains an English translation common to all. The same holds for Hebrew
El, but
in Judaism, God is also given a proper name, the
tetragrammaton YHWH, in origin possibly the name of an
Edomite or
Midianite deity,
Yahweh. In many translations of the
Bible, when the word
LORD is in all capitals, it signifies that the word represents the tetragrammaton.
[27]
Allāh (
Arabic:
الله) is the
Arabic term with no
plural used by Muslims and Arabic speaking Christians and Jews meaning "The God" (with a capital G), while "
ʾilāh" (
Arabic:
إله) is the term used for a deity or a god in general.
[28][29][30] God may also be given a proper name in monotheistic currents of Hinduism which emphasize the
personal nature of God, with early references to his name as
Krishna-
Vasudeva in
Bhagavata or later
Vishnu and
Hari.
[31]
Ahura Mazda is the name for God used in Zoroastrianism. "Mazda", or rather the Avestan stem-form
Mazdā-, nominative
Mazdå, reflects Proto-Iranian
*Mazdāh (female). It is generally taken to be the proper name of the spirit, and like its
Sanskrit cognate
medhā, means "
intelligence" or "
wisdom". Both the Avestan and Sanskrit words reflect
Proto-Indo-Iranian *mazdhā-, from
Proto-Indo-European
- mn̩sdʰeh1, literally meaning "placing (
- dʰeh1) one's mind (*mn̩-s)", hence "wise".
General conceptions
There is no clear consensus on the nature or even the
existence of God.
[33] The
Abrahamic conceptions of God include the
monotheistic definition of God in
Judaism, the
trinitarian view of
Christians, and the
Islamic concept of God. The
dharmic religions differ in their view of the divine: views of
God in Hinduism vary by region, sect, and caste, ranging from monotheistic to polytheistic to atheistic. Divinity was
recognized by the historical Buddha, particularly
Śakra and
Brahma. However, other sentient beings, including gods, can at best only play a supportive role in one's personal path to salvation. Conceptions of God in the latter developments of the
Mahayana tradition give a more prominent place to notions of the divine.
[citation needed]
Oneness
Main articles:
Monotheism and
Henotheism hold that there is only one god, and may claim that the one true god is worshiped in different religions under different names. The view that all theists actually worship the same god, whether they know it or not, is especially emphasized in
Hinduism[34] and
Sikhism.
[35] In
Christianity, the
doctrine of the Trinity describes God as one God in three persons. The Trinity comprises
God the Father,
God the Son (embodied metaphysically by
Jesus), and
God the Holy Spirit.
[36] Islam's most fundamental concept is
tawhid (meaning "oneness" or "uniqueness"). God is described in the
Quran as: "Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him."
[37][38] Muslims repudiate the Christian doctrine of the
Trinity and divinity of
Jesus, comparing it to
polytheism. In Islam, God is beyond all comprehension or equal and does not resemble any of his creations in any way. Thus,
Muslims are not
iconodules, and are not expected to visualize God.
[39]
Henotheism is the belief and worship of a single god while accepting the existence or possible existence of other
deities.
[40]
Theism, deism and pantheism
Main articles:
Theism,
Deism and
Pantheism generally holds that God exists realistically, objectively, and independently of human thought; that God created and sustains everything; that God is omnipotent and eternal; and that God is personal and interacting with the universe through, for example,
religious experience and the prayers of humans.
[41] Theism holds that God is both transcendent and immanent; thus, God is simultaneously infinite and in some way present in the affairs of the world.
[42] Not all theists subscribe to all of these propositions, but each usually subscribes to some of them (see, by way of comparison,
family resemblance).
[41] Catholic theology holds that God is
infinitely simple and is not involuntarily subject to time. Most theists hold that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and benevolent, although this belief raises questions about God's responsibility for evil and suffering in the world. Some theists ascribe to God a self-conscious or purposeful limiting of omnipotence, omniscience, or benevolence.
Open Theism, by contrast, asserts that, due to the nature of time, God's omniscience does not mean the deity can predict the future.
Theism is sometimes used to refer in general to any belief in a god or gods, i.e., monotheism or
polytheism.
[43][44]
Deism holds that God is wholly
transcendent: God exists, but does not intervene in the world beyond what was necessary to create it.
[42] In this view, God is not
anthropomorphic, and neither answers prayers nor produces miracles. Common in Deism is a belief that God has no interest in humanity and may not even be aware of humanity.
Pandeism and
Panendeism, respectively, combine Deism with the Pantheistic or Panentheistic beliefs.
[20][45][46] Pandeism is proposed to explain as to Deism why God would create a universe and then abandon it,
[47] and as to Pantheism, the origin and purpose of the universe.
[47][48]
Pantheism holds that God is the universe and the universe is God, whereas
Panentheism holds that God contains, but is not identical to, the Universe.
[49] It is also the view of the
Liberal Catholic Church;
Theosophy; some views of Hinduism except
Vaishnavism, which believes in panentheism; Sikhism; some divisions of
Neopaganism and
Taoism, along with many varying denominations and individuals within denominations.
Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, paints a pantheistic/panentheistic view of God—which has wide acceptance in
Hasidic Judaism, particularly from their founder
The Baal Shem Tov—but only as an addition to the Jewish view of a personal god, not in the original pantheistic sense that denies or limits persona to God.
[citation needed]
Other concepts
Dystheism, which is related to
theodicy, is a form of theism which holds that God is either not wholly good or is fully malevolent as a consequence of the
problem of evil. One such example comes from
Dostoevsky's
The Brothers Karamazov, in which Ivan Karamazov rejects God on the grounds that he allows children to suffer.
[50]
In modern times, some more abstract concepts have been developed, such as
process theology and
open theism. The contemporaneous French philosopher
Michel Henry has however proposed a
phenomenological approach and definition of God as
phenomenological essence of
Life.
[51]
God has also been conceived as being
incorporeal (immaterial), a
personal being, the source of all
moral obligation, and the "greatest conceivable existent".
[1] These attributes were all supported to varying degrees by the early
Jewish,
Christian and
Muslim theologian philosophers, including
Maimonides,
[52] Augustine of Hippo,
[52] and
Al-Ghazali,
[7] respectively.
Non-theistic views of God
Non-theist views about God vary. Some non-theists avoid the concept of God, whilst accepting that it is significant to many; other non-theists understand God as a symbol of human values and aspirations. The nineteenth-century English
atheist Charles Bradlaugh declared that he refused to say "There is no God", because "the word 'God' is to me a sound conveying no clear or distinct affirmation";
[53] he said more specifically that he disbelieved in the Christian god.
Stephen Jay Gould proposed an approach dividing the world of philosophy into what he called "
non-overlapping magisteria" (NOMA). In this view, questions of the
supernatural, such as those relating to the
existence and
nature of God, are
non-
empirical and are the proper domain of
theology. The methods of science should then be used to answer any empirical question about the natural world, and theology should be used to answer questions about ultimate meaning and moral value. In this view, the perceived lack of any empirical footprint from the magisterium of the supernatural onto natural events makes science the sole player in the natural world.
[54]
Another view, advanced by
Richard Dawkins, is that the existence of God is an empirical question, on the grounds that "a universe with a god would be a completely different kind of universe from one without, and it would be a scientific difference."
[55] Carl Sagan argued that the doctrine of a Creator of the Universe was difficult to prove or disprove and that the only conceivable scientific discovery that could disprove the existence of a Creator would be the discovery that the universe is infinitely old.
[56]
Stephen Hawking and co-author
Leonard Mlodinow state in their book,
The Grand Design, that it is reasonable to ask who or what created the universe, but if the answer is God, then the question has merely been deflected to that of who created God. Both authors claim however, that it is possible to answer these questions purely within the realm of science, and without invoking any divine beings.
[57] Neuroscientist Michael Nikoletseas has proposed that questions of the existence of God are no different from questions of natural sciences. Following a biological comparative approach, he concludes that it is highly probable that God exists, and, although not visible, it is possible that we know some of his attributes.
[58]
Agnosticism
Main article:
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that, the
truth values of certain claims – especially
metaphysical and religious claims such as
whether God, the
divine or the
supernatural exist – are unknown and perhaps unknowable.
[59][60][61]
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of
belief in the existence of
deities.
[62][63] In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.
[64] Rationales include arguments that there is a lack of
empirical evidence;
[65][66] the
problem of evil; the
argument from inconsistent revelations; the rejection of concepts that cannot
be falsified; and the
argument from nonbelief.
[65][67] Russell's teapot is an
analogy first coined by the philosopher
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) to argue his claim that the
philosophic burden of proof lies upon a person making scientifically
unfalsifiable claims rather than shifting the burden of proof to others, specifically in the case of religion.
[68]
Anthropomorphism
Depiction of God in a Catholic church in Latin America.
Pascal Boyer argues that while there is a wide array of supernatural concepts found around the world, in general, supernatural beings tend to behave much like people. The construction of gods and spirits like persons is one of the best known traits of religion. He cites examples from
Greek mythology, which is, in his opinion, more like a modern
soap opera than other religious systems.
[69] Bertrand du Castel and Timothy Jurgensen demonstrate through formalization that Boyer's explanatory model matches physics'
epistemology in positing not directly observable entities as intermediaries.
[70] Anthropologist Stewart Guthrie contends that people project human features onto non-human aspects of the world because it makes those aspects more familiar.
Sigmund Freud also suggested that god concepts are projections of one's father.
[71]
Likewise,
Émile Durkheim was one of the earliest to suggest that gods represent an extension of human social life to include supernatural beings. In line with this reasoning, psychologist Matt Rossano contends that when humans began living in larger groups, they may have created gods as a means of enforcing morality. In small groups, morality can be enforced by social forces such as gossip or reputation. However, it is much harder to enforce morality using social forces in much larger groups. Rossano indicates that by including ever-watchful gods and spirits, humans discovered an effective strategy for restraining selfishness and building more cooperative groups.
[72]
Existence of God
Arguments about the existence of God typically include empirical, deductive, and inductive types. Conclusions reached include views that: "God does not exist" (
strong atheism); "God almost certainly does not exist" (
de facto atheism); "no one knows whether God exists" (
agnosticism[73]);"God exists, but this cannot be proven or disproven" (theoretical
theism); and that "God exists and this can be proven" (strong
theism). There are numerous variations on these positions.
[citation needed]
Richard Dawkins, an atheist who argues against the existence of a divine Creator.
Countless arguments have been proposed in attempt to prove the existence of God.
[74] Some of the most notable arguments are the
Five Ways of Aquinas, the
Argument from Desire proposed by
C.S. Lewis, and the
Ontological Argument formulated both by
St. Anselm and
René Descartes.
[75] Even among
theists, these proofs are debated, and some, such as the Ontological Argument, are highly controversial.
Aquinas spends a section of his treatise on God refuting St. Anselm's proof.
[76][not in citation given]
St. Anselm's approach was to define God as, "that than which nothing greater can be conceived". Famed pantheist philosopher
Baruch Spinoza would later carry this idea to its extreme: "By God I understand a being absolutely infinite, i.e., a substance consisting of infinite attributes, of which each one expresses an eternal and infinite essence." For Spinoza, the whole of the natural universe is made of one substance, God, or its equivalent, Nature.
[77] His proof for the existence of God was a variation of the Ontological argument.
[78]
St. Thomas believed that the
existence of God is self-evident in itself, but not to us. "Therefore I say that this proposition, "God exists", of itself is self-evident, for the predicate is the same as the subject.... Now because we do not know the essence of God, the proposition is not self-evident to us; but needs to be demonstrated by things that are more known to us, though less known in their nature—namely, by effects."
[79]
St. Thomas believed that the existence of God can be demonstrated. Briefly in the
Summa theologiae and more extensively in the
Summa contra Gentiles, he considered in great detail five arguments for the existence of God, widely known as the
quinque viae (Five Ways).
- Motion: Some things undoubtedly move, though cannot cause their own motion. Since there can be no infinite chain of causes of motion, there must be a First Mover not moved by anything else, and this is what everyone understands by God.
- Causation: As in the case of motion, nothing can cause itself, and an infinite chain of causation is impossible, so there must be a First Cause, called God.
- Existence of necessary and the unnecessary: Our experience includes things certainly existing but apparently unnecessary. Not everything can be unnecessary, for then once there was nothing and there would still be nothing. Therefore, we are compelled to suppose something that exists necessarily, having this necessity only from itself; in fact itself the cause for other things to exist.
- Gradation: If we can notice a gradation in things in the sense that some things are more hot, good, etc., there must be a superlative that is the truest and noblest thing, and so most fully existing. This then, we call God (Note: Thomas does not ascribe actual qualities to God Himself).
- Ordered tendencies of nature: A direction of actions to an end is noticed in all bodies following natural laws. Anything without awareness tends to a goal under the guidance of one who is aware. This we call God (Note that even when we guide objects, in Thomas's view, the source of all our knowledge comes from God as well).[80]
Some theologians, such as the scientist and theologian
A.E. McGrath, argue that the existence of God is not a question that can be answered using the
scientific method.
[81][82] Agnostic Stephen Jay Gould argues that science and religion are not in conflict and do not
overlap.
[83]
Some findings in the fields of
cosmology,
evolutionary biology and
neuroscience are interpreted by some atheists (including
Lawrence M. Krauss and
Sam Harris) as evidence that God is an imaginary entity only, with no basis in reality.
[84][85][86] A single, omniscient God who is imagined to have created the universe and is particularly attentive to the lives of humans has been imagined, embellished and promulgated in a trans-generational manner.
[87] Richard Dawkins interprets various findings not only as a lack of evidence for the material existence of such a God, but as extensive evidence to the contrary.
[88]
Neuroscientist Michael Nikoletseas has proposed that questions of the existence of God are no different from questions of natural sciences. Following a biological comparative approach, he concludes that it is highly probable that God exists, and, although not visible, it is possible that we know some of his attributes.
[58]
Specific attributes
Different religious traditions assign differing (though often similar) attributes and characteristics to God, including expansive powers and abilities, psychological characteristics, gender characteristics, and preferred nomenclature. The assignment of these attributes often differs according to the
conceptions of God in the culture from which they arise. For example,
attributes of God in Christianity, attributes of
God in Islam, and
the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy in Judaism share certain similarities arising from their common roots.
Names
Main article:
Names of God
The word
God is "one of the most complex and difficult in the English language." In the
Judeo-Christian tradition, "the Bible has been the principal source of the conceptions of God". That the Bible "includes many different images, concepts, and ways of thinking about" God has resulted in perpetual "disagreements about how God is to be conceived and understood".
[89]
Throughout the Hebrew and Christian Bibles there are many names for God. One of them is Elohim. Another one is
El Shaddai, meaning "God Almighty".
[90] A third notable name is
El Elyon, which means "The Most High God".
[91]
God is described and referred in the
Quran and
hadith by certain names or attributes, the most common being
Al-Rahman, meaning "Most Compassionate" and
Al-Rahim, meaning "Most Merciful" (See
Names of God in Islam).
[92]
Vaishnavism, a tradition in Hinduism, has
list of titles and names of Krishna.
Gender
Main article:
Gender of God
The gender of God may be viewed as either a literal or an
allegorical aspect of a
deity who, in classical western philosophy, transcends bodily form.
[93][94] Polytheistic religions commonly attribute to each of
the gods a gender, allowing each to interact with any of the others, and perhaps with humans, sexually. In most
monotheistic religions, God has no counterpart with which to relate sexually. Thus, in classical western philosophy the
gender of this one-and-only deity is most likely to be an
analogical statement of how humans and God address, and relate to, each other. Namely, God is seen as begetter of the world and revelation which corresponds to the active (as opposed to the receptive) role in sexual intercourse.
[4]
Biblical sources usually refer to God using male words, except
Genesis 1:26-27,
[95][96] Psalm 123:2-3, and
Luke 15:8-10 (female);
Hosea 11:3-4,
Deuteronomy 32:18,
Isaiah 66:13,
Isaiah 49:15,
Isaiah 42:14,
Psalm 131:2 (a mother);
Deuteronomy 32:11-12 (a mother eagle); and
Matthew 23:37 and
Luke 13:34 (a mother hen).
Relationship with creation
Prayer plays a significant role among many believers. Muslims believe that the
purpose of existence is to
worship God.
[97][98] He is viewed as a personal God and there are no intermediaries, such as
clergy, to contact God. Prayer often also includes
supplication and
asking forgiveness. God is often believed to be forgiving. For example, a
hadith states God would replace a sinless people with one who sinned but still asked repentance.
[99] Christian theologian
Alister McGrath writes that there are good reasons to suggest that a "personal god" is integral to the Christian outlook, but that one has to understand it is an analogy. "To say that God is like a person is to affirm the divine ability and willingness to relate to others. This does not imply that God is human, or located at a specific point in the universe."
[100]
Adherents of different religions generally disagree as to how to best
worship God and what is
God's plan for mankind, if there is one. There are different approaches to reconciling the contradictory claims of monotheistic religions. One view is taken by exclusivists, who believe they are the
chosen people or have exclusive access to
absolute truth, generally through
revelation or encounter with the Divine, which adherents of other religions do not. Another view is
religious pluralism. A pluralist typically believes that his religion is the right one, but does not deny the partial truth of other religions. An example of a pluralist view in Christianity is
supersessionism, i.e., the belief that one's religion is the fulfillment of previous religions. A third approach is
relativistic inclusivism, where everybody is seen as equally right; an example being
universalism: the doctrine that
salvation is eventually available for everyone. A fourth approach is
syncretism, mixing different elements from different religions. An example of syncretism is the
New Age movement.
Theological approaches
Theologians and philosophers have attributed to God such characteristics as
omniscience,
omnipotence,
omnipresence, perfect
goodness, divine
simplicity, and
eternal and
necessary existence. God has been described as
incorporeal, a personal being, the source of all
moral obligation, and the greatest conceivable being existent.
[1] These attributes were all claimed to varying degrees by the early
Jewish,
Christian and
Muslim scholars, including
Maimonides,
[52] St Augustine,
[52] and
Al-Ghazali.
[101]
Many
philosophers developed arguments for the existence of God,
[7] while attempting to comprehend the precise implications of God's attributes. Reconciling some of those attributes generated important philosophical problems and debates. For example, God's omniscience may seem to imply that God knows how free agents will choose to act. If God does know this, their ostensible
free will might be illusory, or foreknowledge does not imply predestination, and if God does not know it, God may not be omniscient.
[102]
However, if by its essential nature, free will is not predetermined, then the effect of its will can never be perfectly predicted by anyone, regardless of intelligence and knowledge. Although knowledge of the options presented to that will, combined with perfectly infinite intelligence, could be said to provide God with omniscience if omniscience is defined as knowledge or understanding of all that is.
The last centuries of philosophy have seen vigorous questions regarding the
arguments for God's existence raised by such philosophers as
Immanuel Kant,
David Hume and
Antony Flew, although Kant held that the
argument from morality was valid. The
theist response has been either to contend, as does
Alvin Plantinga, that faith is "
properly basic", or to take, as does
Richard Swinburne, the
evidentialist position.
[103] Some
theists agree that only some of the arguments for God's existence are compelling, but argue that
faith is not a product of
reason, but requires risk. There would be no risk, they say, if the arguments for God's existence were as solid as the laws of logic, a position summed up by
Pascal as "the heart has reasons of which reason does not know."
[104] A recent theory using concepts from physics and neurophysiology proposes that God can be conceptualized within the theory of
integrative level.
[105]
Many religious believers allow for the existence of other, less powerful
spiritual beings such as
angels,
saints,
jinn,
demons, and
devas
