Demystifying "GOD"

Final Thoughts on What Matters Most??

?With the world in deep crisis, here are my thoughts about "GOD."

The Nature of God

Atheists argue there is no such thing as God. But their arguments are muddled because they cannot build a coherent alternative to: moral goodness, Nature, and religious beliefs that are associated with the common all-encompassing concept of "GOD." Their arguments usually vamp into hate-filled rants against religion, particularly fundamentalist Christian beliefs.

?"GOD" Has Three Levels of Meaning

1.?G.O.D. (abbreviation for Grand Original Design)?Synonyms include: Existence, reality, laws of the physical universe, time and space, organic life (biology) and the Big Bang Theory (not the TV show). Science is not in conflict with G.O.D. because it is through scientific discovery that we gain greater knowledge on how reality (G.O.D.) works.

Grand Original Design defines reality through the laws of physics and biology.?

2.?God (Abbreviation for "goodness")?Synonyms include: Transcendent love, opposition to evil, well-being and happiness, spiritual optimism for a better future, compassion, and helping others to a better life.??The location of Goodness (God) is in one's conscience. The conscience is a fluid mixture of reason, beliefs, and imagination. It forms a moral compass to guiding behavior. The Moral Compass is composed of four points: Good; Bad; Strong; Weak. We can plot our leadership style by using the Moral Compass. Everyone is biologically endowed with spiritual energy (the will to live) and that propels our behavior to survive and thrive. Our concepts of Heaven and Hell are states of mind through which we struggle daily. Our living spirit ends when we die. Heavenly peace, after we die, is the end of all awareness.

Goodness resides in your conscience.?

3.?God of the Bible:?The mythic God of the Bible is not a divine revelation of a supernatural power that fundamentalists believe. History shows us how the stories in the Bible were created by human hand over many centuries of interpretation. The best use of the Bible is to take its parables as a moral guide to better living and triumphing over evil. Thomas Hobbes' famous saying: "Life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short," summarizes well the human condition; yet the stories in the Bible teach important values that helps the reader to generate a moral compass that guides behavior toward a better life. The consequences of sin and the rewards of goodness are felt by the living and not a final judgment after death. The Bible's strength is about belief in personal goodness triumphing over personal evil. The creation myths in the Bible (e.g., The stories of Creation and the Garden of Eden, etc.) have long been dispelled by scientific discovery.??

?The God of the Bible resides in your imagination. (That is why there are so many variations and abuses of "Biblical Truth.")

?By separating the meaning of "GOD" into three distinct levels, one can gain clarity and purpose in life--even in the most trying of times!

My thinking on this subject is inspired by St. Thomas Aquinas'?Summa Theologica:?The Five Proofs of God's Existence--though he would disagree with my conclusions.