GOD, AN ANATOMY?

 

According to 'God: An Anatomy' by Professor Francesca Stavrakopoulou -

The God of the Old Testament is a God of war (Exodus 15:3).

In the Old Testament,  God writhes in pain and cries out 'My innards! My innards' (Jeremiah 4:19).

In the Old Testament, 'God has a father called El'. 

El gives each of the Gods a nation to look after. (Deuteronomy 32).

In the Old Testament, 'God is not monogamous'.

According to The New Testament, Heaven is within you. 

'In her 2021 book, God: An Anatomy, Professor Francesca Stavrakopoulou "presents a vividly corporeal image of God: a human-shaped deity who walks and talks and weeps and laughs, who eats, sleeps, feels, and breathes, and who is undeniably male. 

"Here is a portrait–arrived at through the author’s close examination of and research into the Bible - of a god in ancient myths and rituals who was a product of a particular society, at a particular time, made in the image of the people who lived then, shaped by their own circumstances and experience of the world."[15] 

'This book has been described by John Barton as showing that the non-corporeal God of Judaism and Christianity "was not yet so in the Bible, where God appears in a much more corporeal form."[16]'

GOD

Did God create buffalo?

Is there an old man in the sky who created the universe?

Su writes in her blog about "the child in a burn ward screaming, screaming, screaming."

Su refers to Eastern religions and the value of  'Stepping out of mind.....god willing'.

Nina refers to the cruel 'plantation owners' of this world.
Nina refers to the Taoist view of things in 'a select destiny'.

Is there an old man in the sky?

The Jewish, Christian and Moslem religions think so.

The Jewish, Christian and Moslem religions have their origins in Zoroastrianism, which began in Iran, around the 6th century BC .

(Influence of Zoroastrianism on Judaism and Christianity - (CAIS)©)

In Zoroastrianism (Zoroastrianism)a:

There is a God who is the Creator and who is all good.

There is an evil force who will ultimately be destroyed.

There is a saviour who will save the world.

In Zoroastrianism we find the equivalents of baptism, communion, guardian angels, heaven, worship on Sunday, the celebration of Mithras' birthday on December 25th, celibate priests who mediate between man and God, and the Trinity.

(Influence of Zoroastrianism on Judaism and Christianity - (CAIS)©)

People in countries influenced by Buddhism, such as Thailand and Indonesia, often seem happier than most.

BUT, what if the Zoroastrians have not got it quite right?

The Buddhists believe in some kind of life after death, but they keep a noble silence on the idea of God.

The Taoists refer to some kind of divine force called the Tao, but they say that it cannot be described in words.

It is difficult to imagine an old man in the sky designing this world on his design board.

It is difficult to imagine him designing a world in which one creatures survives by eating another creature.

So, maybe there was no Bible-style creation.

Maybe things have always existed.

Maybe there is a mysterious something which nourishes us.

Maybe we reap what we sow.

Maybe what we are now is due to what we thought in the past.

Maybe what we will become is what we are thinking now.

...

We quote from: 'a select destiny' (Deep Into Artlife West - blogspot)

"Something we cannot define with science and logic is happening here, a grand design, some not-of-this-world intention we are simply not at the rightful stage of development to comprehend regardless of our effort.

"I believe this makes us a unique product of evolution to remain invincible in the face of pure unadulterated evil where vast and continuing material loss strips us to the lowest category of Earthly life and it has no influence at all, we go on in trust, always looking forward, accepting each test as triathlon athletes determined to pass and not just well, but intact, because in spite of the incessant repeats, it makes the good, the pure, the honest, the natural reverent and holy, gifts from somewhere else reminding us the world we desire really does exist and one day we are destined to reach it."



Reincarnation, the story of a scottish child, Part 2 - YouTube

Reincarnation, the story of a scottish child, Part 3 - YouTube

Reincarnation, the story of a scottish child, Part 4 - YouTube

Reincarnation, the story of a scottish child, Part 5 - YouTube



Old man in the sky?

Anonymous comments:

In both Islam and Judaism, the Creator is neither male nor female, neither begets nor is begotten.

Is not corporeal in the human sense, but rather is the all-encompassing and all-pervading sentience and ultimate creator of things. Any corporeal references are purely metaphorical.

~~

Religions that believe in God?

Anonymous comments:

There are obvious similarities with certain aspects of Buddhism and Vedantic Hinduism.

In particular, Nirvana and Samsara are analogous to Paradise and the unenlightened worlds (this world, various hells).

Also Brahman patently shares the same properties as the One Creator of Judaism, Islam and Christianity: eternal, self-sustaining, transcendent, the Ultimate Reality, the Supreme Consciousness.

Even the concept of karma has analogues in monotheism.

All good eminates from the Creator; evil is what we ourselves create and inflict upon ourselves. As you sow...

Reincarnation is also not so simple.

The scriptures of the monotheistic religions mention instances in which prophets are returned to this world subsequent to their exit from it.

The prophet Yeshua is the canonical example.

As for the pains and evil of this world, they are not inflicted for sadistic reasons but as a trial. To separate the wheat from the chaff...