'God'/'Jesus' - Invisible/Imaginary Friends For Adults

[I AM ALL I AM]

Imaginary friend

Imaginary friends and imaginary companions are a psychological and social phenomenon where a friendship or other interpersonal relationship takes place in the imagination rather than external physical reality. Imaginary friends are fictional characters created for improvisational role-playing. They often have elaborate personalities and behaviors. They may seem real to their creators, though they are ultimately unreal, as shown by studies.

Imaginary friends are made often in childhood, sometimes in adolescence, and rarely in adulthood. They often function as tutelaries when played with by a child. They reveal, according to several theories of psychology, a child's anxieties, fears, goals and perceptions of the world through that child's conversations. They are, according to some children, physically indistinguishable from real people, while others say they see their imaginary friends only in their heads. There's even a third category of imaginary friend recognition: when the child doesn't see the imaginary friend at all, but can only feel his/her presence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imaginary_friend

G'day.

1. Are 'God' and 'Jesus' invisible/imaginary friends ? Please present your reasoning with your answer.

2. What difference is there between children with imaginary friends and adults that believe in 'God'/'Jesus' ? Please present your reasoning with your answer.

3. Should those that have invisible/imaginary friends be stopped from being in charge of countries and making decisions for the nation, including international relationships ? Please present your reasoning with your answer.

4. "Some child development professionals still believe that the presence of imaginary friends past early childhood signals a serious psychiatric disorder." Does a belief in invisible/imaginary friends as an adult show "a serious psychiatric disorder" ? Please present your reasoning with your answer.

5. Are those that do not have invisible/imaginary friends the ones with "a serious psychiatric disorder" ? Please present your reasoning with your answer.

[Filthy Tugboat]

If God has a plan (if he is omniscient the act of creation enacts a full plan that would be known from beginning to end and if God is capable of doing anything and everything, then any plan from creation would be complete and need no more altering to be enacted) why would he need to put any more effort into that plan. From creation that plan would be set in stone, why has he chosen a plan that requires his effort to produce his ideal conclusion? Why is his ideal conclusion not a part of the original plan?

I don't mind telling you I'm out of my depth on this paradox... I'd rather admit it than demonstrate it.

Fair enough, it's not necessarily a paradox but I just don't understand the conclusion based on all of the premises. Some people disagree with the premises and some disagree with the conclusion. So it does not apply to all God concepts.

So spirit is a metaphor and not an actual thing? That makes a lot more sense. Is God's spirit a metaphor too? What does it mean to read the Bible with God's spirit? If the Bible is God's word, is it not perfectly written? Would the conclusions reached by anyone and everyone that ever read it not be the intended conclusions of the author, assuming his omniscience and omnipotence? Could someone interpret "God's Word" wrong? How? If it's God's word you'd think he would have made it fool proof and unambiguous.

I have a thought about this that will relate at least the way I think about spirit. I believe that spirit is real (but please don't ask me to define the word real) but real in the same sense as you and I are real.

When you use a pen and write on a piece of paper the only part that is observed is the ball point that rolls on the 2 dimensional surface and leaves a mark. The rest of the pen exists in a 3 dimensional world. If I was from the 2 dimensional world of paper I might not be able to see or touch the rest of the pen but its real.

What is a spirit then... If it is a real thing, and it is our "character" and "personality" then without it do we have no "character" or "personality" or is it like a copy of it? When we die does the spirit die? Can the spirit exist separate to the body? If it can, does it still follow the laws of the universe, like gravity for instance and does it have the ability to pass through matter? Some people often describes spirits and souls as things that can walk on the ground but yet they can also walk through walls? If they can walk on the ground then they clearly are not able to pass through solid objects and they also abide by the laws of gravity.

The rest of your questions expose a further paradox. He gave His word to everyone but made it so no one could understand it without His Spirit. Why? I'm not entirely sure.

But if I had to guess, I don't think people would become mathematicians if every truth was laid out for all to see. But we can have a relationship with God and discover things with His understanding.

So you think the bible is intentionally written to have diverse systems of belief stemming from it? There is still one "correct interpretation" that can only be achieved with the help of God. And since there are many different views not everyone and perhaps only a very small percentage of people have the help of God? Why though? Why would God do that?

[TheJackelantern]

Now let's zoom to adulthood. Why would people who have real friends and the capability to have real relationships with real people continue to have imaginary friends such as Jesus, Krishna, Ramtha, God, etc.? Because of socialization. They live in a subculture in which the imaginary friends are reinforced. They are rewarded for continuing to believe in them.

Brainwashing, control, fear of death, and coping with having lost a real person.. Call it psychological as much as it is with a child with no friends.

[thatHIPyoungster]

Jesus definitely existed, so I don't see how he could be viewed as imaginary...

[thatHIPyoungster]

Jesus definitely existed, so I don't see how he could be viewed as imaginary...

[Goat]

Jesus definitely existed, so I don't see how he could be viewed as imaginary...

Really?? Can you show any physical proof of this? Can you show writings either about him or by him that were written within 10 years of his life? How do you know that Jesus wasn't made up by Paul?

[Crazee]

Jesus definitely existed, so I don't see how he could be viewed as imaginary...

Really?? Can you show any physical proof of this? Can you show writings either about him or by him that were written within 10 years of his life? How do you know that Jesus wasn't made up by Paul?

There are quite a few gospels of Jesus, only four included in the bible, but numerous ones that are either undiscovered or out of the public eye. Based on this, it seems likely that there was a person named Jesus that did exist at some point, and was trying to teach people better ways to live their lives. But as to the specifics... we can't know for sure.

[Goat]

Jesus definitely existed, so I don't see how he could be viewed as imaginary...

Really?? Can you show any physical proof of this? Can you show writings either about him or by him that were written within 10 years of his life? How do you know that Jesus wasn't made up by Paul?

There are quite a few gospels of Jesus, only four included in the bible, but numerous ones that are either undiscovered or out of the public eye. Based on this, it seems likely that there was a person named Jesus that did exist at some point, and was trying to teach people better ways to live their lives. But as to the specifics... we can't know for sure.

Gospels 'of Jesus"?? you mean 'about Jesus'.. that were written decades after the alleged events.. that relate many bizarre . unbelievable and contradictory stories.
Oh, there were many dozens of people named Jesus in Jerusalem at that time. The high priest around that time was named Jesus too! There were dozens of street preachers too..

Sure, there MIGHT have been.. and one (or more) might have been the template for the biblical Jesus. It is feasible.

But the question is 'how close are the stories about Jesus to this person'./.. and 'how far must the stories deviate from the reality to make the biblical Jesus purely myth?'

[Crazee]

Jesus definitely existed, so I don't see how he could be viewed as imaginary...

Really?? Can you show any physical proof of this? Can you show writings either about him or by him that were written within 10 years of his life? How do you know that Jesus wasn't made up by Paul?

There are quite a few gospels of Jesus, only four included in the bible, but numerous ones that are either undiscovered or out of the public eye. Based on this, it seems likely that there was a person named Jesus that did exist at some point, and was trying to teach people better ways to live their lives. But as to the specifics... we can't know for sure.

Gospels 'of Jesus"?? you mean 'about Jesus'.. that were written decades after the alleged events.. that relate many bizarre . unbelievable and contradictory stories.
Oh, there were many dozens of people named Jesus in Jerusalem at that time. The high priest around that time was named Jesus too! There were dozens of street preachers too..

Sure, there MIGHT have been.. and one (or more) might have been the template for the biblical Jesus. It is feasible.

But the question is 'how close are the stories about Jesus to this person'./.. and 'how far must the stories deviate from the reality to make the biblical Jesus purely myth?'

That will be subjective to each individual. I can't say where anyone should draw the line between something that has strayed far enough from the original life of Jesus to consider him a myth.

[Filthy Tugboat]

Jesus definitely existed, so I don't see how he could be viewed as imaginary...

Really?? Can you show any physical proof of this? Can you show writings either about him or by him that were written within 10 years of his life? How do you know that Jesus wasn't made up by Paul?

There are quite a few gospels of Jesus, only four included in the bible, but numerous ones that are either undiscovered or out of the public eye. Based on this, it seems likely that there was a person named Jesus that did exist at some point, and was trying to teach people better ways to live their lives. But as to the specifics... we can't know for sure.

Gospels 'of Jesus"?? you mean 'about Jesus'.. that were written decades after the alleged events.. that relate many bizarre . unbelievable and contradictory stories.
Oh, there were many dozens of people named Jesus in Jerusalem at that time. The high priest around that time was named Jesus too! There were dozens of street preachers too..

Sure, there MIGHT have been.. and one (or more) might have been the template for the biblical Jesus. It is feasible.

But the question is 'how close are the stories about Jesus to this person'./.. and 'how far must the stories deviate from the reality to make the biblical Jesus purely myth?'

That will be subjective to each individual. I can't say where anyone should draw the line between something that has strayed far enough from the original life of Jesus to consider him a myth.

The whole, "raised from the dead" thing might be enough for a lot of people. When people tell me that magic is real and that some people (nobody I could ever meet) can do magic, I generally don't believe them.

[Moses Yoder]

Since you can't prove that the people around you, and yourself, exist I suggest that we start assuming they are all imaginary. After all, there is only one difference between Jesus and my friend Bill. I "think" I can see my friend Bill, and I can't see my friend Jesus. That is the only difference between the 2.