The following are "given" not as proof, but as the knowns my mind connected in the instant it produced this "what if?'.
Given 1: Either something, at some point, came from nothing or something has always existed. I encountered this idea in Sophie's World, and as unlikely as both options seem, one does have to be true.
Given 2: There are religious stories in which deities, creation, and humanity come about because of the divine attempting to know itself.
Given 3: Norse mythology includes stories about things that are yet to happen, like the end of the world.
So, what if...
...We (and by "we" I don't just mean humanity, I mean all of it, all life, all "creation") are God waking up right now? What if all of this is divine consciousness just becoming aware of itself?
Creation stories sort of deal with my Given 1. Either they describe early gods somehow coming out of the nothing, or a god already exists who creates everything else. Either way, the gods usually come before creation. My "what if" simply turns it around, so that the physical world was here first, and God is emerging from it. Or, God has always been a part of the physical world but is only recently self aware.
This ties in to the Given 2, awareness as the link between God and the physical world. The physical world, life, consciousness, instead of being side effects of God trying to know himself are the things that allow him to know himself.
And Given 3 addresses the fact that all our religious stories say God has been awake and doing things for a while now. Well, our religious stories say a lot of things, some of which are projections of the future. So, I'm flexible on the timeline.
I know that to many religions this idea is blasphemous. I know that as a pantheist it is easy for me to think things like this.
But because I can think it, I do. I ponder it. I wonder what it would mean. I don't know. I'm not putting it forth as a fact. Just a thing I think about.
We humans like to imagine ourselves as the end. God made us as something special amongst the rest of creation. We are the culmination of evolution. Maybe though, we (humans along with the rest) are only the beginning.
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Hmm... What your refer to as Given 1 (though I would argue that there are other possibilities), appears to be a mash-up of the cosmological and ontological arguments for the existence of a god or gods. Neither hold up well to rigorous questioning, although both have their ardent adherents.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I would ask your definition of god since your description seems to contradict the version (omni-this, omni-that, etc) most ascribed to in the Western world. If s/he is just "now" waking up, would we then be nothing more than gossamer dreams in danger of fading away when s/he gets up to turn on the cosmic coffee?
Please take no offense - I certainly mean none. But I do have questions.
I think Given 1 works without a god. Even the physical world either came from nothing or is made up of matter that has always existed. Although if you get into questions of time, I'm sure the "always" gets a little fuzzy.
DeleteI don't actually think it is a good defense for god. Because a lot of people don't want to talk about where god came from. It's nice to think you know where everything else came from, but neglecting to explain god seems like a huge oversight to me.
My definition of god is not most people's definition. You got me there. ;) I believe god is everything. Everything is god. I can conceive of god in an almost atheistic way, like god is just my name for the universe and everything in it. But I'm also okay with a sort of presence that permeates and connects everything. Trying to act as if this is interchangeable with other definitions of god was probably a mistake on my part because they are very different.
I'm not worried about disappearing when god wakes up. The rocks of the universe didn't disappear when life first gained sentience. But if we are a dream, let's make it a nice one and enjoy it while it lasts.
I don't mind discussing. Mostly just thinking out loud. So questions are good, right? Might help me figure out what I'm trying to say more clearly.
In high school I used to get in these big religious debates, but somewhere along the way I lost my spunk. It was easy to avoid conflict and say nothing. The thing is, if you never put yourself out there to be challenged, you don't grow. So I'm trying again. I'm sharing, and accepting debate, and hoping it will lead to more questions.
Well, that's certainly an interesting and imaginative interpretation of a god - Every bit as good as any others I have encountered. As you point out, it isn't what most westerners would acknowledge as their personal god, but so what?! With thousands of variations on the theme within Christianity alone there's always room for one or two more.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think that questions are important. I am always interested in what people believe and why they believe it. I don't think that most people spend sufficient time questioning their personal beliefs. Beliefs, after all, are vitally important since we live our lives based on what we believe rather than what we know. Beliefs lead to actions, which in turn lead to results and consequences.
As an atheist humanist with existential leanings my beliefs tend to chaff against those of most of the rest of society. But they are mine and I have arrived at them through a process of reason, revision, and constant questioning. Presented with sufficient evidence I am always prepared to adjust my beliefs so that they remain reasoned and consistent with reality as I perceive it. Unfortunately many refuse or are unable to uncouple themselves from their beliefs and remain unconvinced of any possibility that they may be wrong or misguided. This is a problem only when it leads to psychoses or when they seek to forcefully inflict their beliefs on others. So by all means question away and please continue to encourage others to do the same!