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I feel that "God" is a literary personification of the known universe(and beyond) and it's governing laws. That "God" is a place holder used to mean "the universe". That Rabbis looking for the "name of god" back in the day were looking for an equation that represents a definition of the universe. Since, of course, a name is supposed to be a descriptive term used to refer to something.
I even feel that in the New Testament "Jesus", the son of "God" or "God" in human form, is analogous to "God" being the rules of nature, whereas "Jesus" is the rules of man, socially. Note how Jesus is represented as a role model, and often tells us how to live.

How does anyone else feel about these views? Has anyone else noticed any obvious metaphors in sacred texts? Also, why don't people seem to notice these things? I highly doubt all they're speaking in code, I do believe many people take these things literally.

heart cheese_whine

Rabbis knew the name of their god, they just weren't supposed to say it.

And people were told how to live in the OT all the time. Sometimes in great detail.

in Jewish writing the divine is not named; in scripture it appears as a diamond shape, and in text it is G_d.

because God cannot truly be named, there is too much mystery there, the created cannot objectify the creator.

We have several theories like the Big Bang theory (which is actually improperly named, there wasn't exactly a 'bang' so much as 'expansion') and others that can explain how the universe came to be. In fact, it's entirely possible the universe never had a 'beginning'.

-How life began: Abiogenesis Theory, the theory that life started out as extremely simple DNA structures that could duplicate themselves until, being imperfect constructs, made errors that caused changes in how the worked and were shaped. All cells are just replicators, it's just some chemicals and strands cause certain cells to be made that can have specific functions that work together to create a multi-cellular organism.
-How life became so diverse and created creatures as they are today: Evolution Theory through Natural Selection (and other forms of selection) that those with the best traits in the environment will more likely reproduce and soon overshadow those without all or most of those traits, eventually creating more and more specific kinds of creatures that diversity into new species as mutations occur, over long periods of time.
-As well, don't think this is just pulling stuff out of nowhere: Theories are just explanations for given facts and ideas. Religion is mostly a 'hypothesis', taking one observation and extrapolating from there that can be later tested to see if it is real or needs revising. Even then, it isn't even a proper hypothesis, since it cannot be properly falsified or proven (you can't disprove that God or Gods exists because you can always claim they are invisible or not where we think they are.) and would be regarded by the scientific community as unreliable and requires revising.

Let's get back to the topic, hm?

G_d?
No, the name of God is defined as YHVH.
Known elaborations of that name is Jehovah, .... and Jah (used by Rastafari, unless i'm mistaken).

Other elaborations of those letters may give words such as : Jew, Ivy, Wide(translation for another language), Joshua, ...... or why not the modern "why You" ....

lets pretend for a minute, "the universe was a mass of random elements buzzing around" then where did these elements come from to begin with?
and since atoms reform and form new atoms and this where everything comes from....where did that first atom come from??

Note: "Proving" God exists is really not our purpose. We are only interested in providing clear statements based on facts and logic and then allow the individual decide for themselves who they would like to believe. There have always been people who believed in the existance of God and there have always been those who have denied in His existance. We must realize there are those who will never believe no matter how much proof or evidence we produce. The reason is some people don't want to believe in a Creator or Sustainer. They would not like to consider one day they will have to answer for their actions and for their refusal to acknowledge their Benefactor to whom they owe their very existance. We come to know it is not so much a matter of us trying to convey our beliefs as it is for them to set aside preconceived perjudices against proper belief. Meaning: this is really a matter of guidance from Above. If they refuse even with evident proofs in front of them, this is not between us and them; it is between them and their Creator. Again, it is not our job to "prove" anything to anyone. We only need to present the facts in truth and allow the listener to make up their own mind.

We just begin with simple logic. When something is right in front of our eyes it is difficult to deny it, right? Asking rhetorical questions can be very helpful in presenting our case. Begin by asking the question;

"Is there evidence God exists?"

Answer:

Yes. Allah has sent down miracles, revelations and messengers to give clear proofs He exists and more important, what we should do once we come to this realization.

Allah has sent prophets and messengers with many proofs throughout the ages for people to be able to clearly see with their own eyes and to be able to use their own senses the miracles and proofs pointing to the fact, Allah does in fact, exist.

Miracles of prophets and messengers of Allah have come to people through the ages. Moses, peace be upon him, showed many miracles to pharoah and to the children of Israel. Plagues, locusts, water turning to blood, his stick becoming a snake, the voice in the burning bush and the parting of the Red Sea were are clear miracles for the people of Moses time.

Again, Allah sent Jesus, the son of Mary, peace be upon him, with clear miracles for the people of his time. Speaking from the cradle while still a new born infant, creating birds from clay, curing the sick, giving sight to the blind and even bringing a dead man back to life, were all clear signs to the people to know Jesus, peace be upon him, was a messenger of Allah as was Moses before him.

Muhammad, peace be upon him, was the last and final messenger of Allah, and he was sent to all of mankind. Allah sent him with a number of miracles, not the least of which was the Quran. The predictions and propheies of Muhammad, peace be upon him, have come true even in this century and the Quran has been used to convince even scientists of the existence of Allah.
[Please visit "Science Proves Allah": Watch video of famous scientists admit Quran is from Allah and even accept Islam]

The Quran is the best of proofs for the existence of Allah and today over one and half billion people memorize and rectie from the exact text, in the exact same language it was revealed in; Arabic. More than 10 million Muslims have completely memorized the entire Quran from cover to cover, and can recite it from memory without looking at it.

No one sees or hears Allah, not even the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. Nor are we able to use our senses to make some kind of contact with Him. However, we are encouraged in Islam to use our senses and our common sense to recognize all of this universe could not possibly come into existence on its own. Something had to design it all and then put it into motion. This is beyond our ability to do, yet it is something we can understand.

We know from the teachings of Muhammad, peace be upon him, the proofs for the existence of God (Allah) are most obvious to us in our everyday surroundings. Anyone with understanding would quickly acknowledge His existence provided they are not so stubborn as to ignore the obvious evidencers in front right in front of us.

We don't have to see an artist to recognize a painting, correct? So, if we see paintings without seeing artists painting them, in the same way, we can believe Allah created everything without having to see Him (or touch, or hear, etc.).

"What is the origin of God - Where did God come from?"

Answer:

Both the Bible and the Quran tell us God has always existed and there never was a time He did not exit. As such, He is the Eternal, without beginning and without end. He is the only creator and sustainer of all that exists and nothing and no one exists alongside Him, nor does He have any partners. He tells us, He is not created, nor is He like His creation in anyway. He calls Himself by a number of names and three of them are:

A) The First - (Al-Awal)
B) The Last - (Al Akhir)
C) The Eternal and the One who is sought after by His creation, while He has no need from them at all. (As-Samad)
D) He is not a man and He has no progeny or offspring.
E) He is not what He creates nor is He compared to it.
He always has existed and He never was created, as He is not like His creation, nor similar to it, in any way.

The prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, explained the devil would come to a person and ask them questions about creation; "Who created this or that?" to which the reply would be; "Allah" until he would ask; "Who created Allah?" At this stage the prophet advised us to drop this train of thought. Obviously, God - the real God, must be eternal and not have to be created.

The Quran tells us:

Allah! La ilaha illa Huwa (There is no god to worship except Him), the Ever Living, the Sustaniner and Protector of all that exists. He doesn't get tired and He doesn't sleep. Everything in the universe belongs to Him. Who then, could intercede between Him and his creatures without His Permission? He Knows everything about them and they have no knowledge except as He wills. His kursi (stool or chair) extends over the entire universe and He never grows weary of guarding and preserving it. He is Most Hight, the Most Great.
[This Verse 2:255 is called Ayat-ul-Kursi.] Surah Baqarah 2:255
This verse truly presents the comprehensive represenation of God in a way without trying to define Him by comparing Him to His creation, but rather as being the Absolute in all of His Attributes and Characteristics.

meet u there....i tried visiting your thread "where did it all come from" and i got this message: Error
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