Is God great?

[marco]

WE often hear, usually after an atrocity, how great God is. People sing:


O LORD my God! When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works Thy hand hath made;
I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder,
Thy pow'r throughout the universe displayed:


Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art! How great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art! How great Thou art!


The tune is powerful but the words breathe superstition and silliness. This is an example of taking random bits and attributing their creation to some gigantic being. The invention is then adored and heartily sung about.

In what ways do we detect the greatness of God?
In what ways do we see God is NOT great?
Can we deduce anything about God being merciful, kind or loving?

[JehovahsWitness]

[Replying to post 1 by marco]

Is God great?

One can answer this question in two ways.

The Christian answer is in respect of unevidenced claims made of God. The claims made are indeed very great indeed, from making the world and the stars and the universe ...

This is entirely accurate. As the song illustrates it is not the only reason we believe God is great, but many Christians are indeed awestruck but the magnitude and beauty of the physical universe and the power, intelligence and beauty of the one that we believe created it.



[youtube][/youtube]

[ytrewq]

[Replying to post 1 by marco]

Is God great?

One can answer this question in two ways.

The Christian answer is in respect of unevidenced claims made of God. The claims made are indeed very great indeed, from making the world and the stars and the universe ...

This is entirely accurate. As the song illustrates it is not the only reason we believe God is great, but many Christians are indeed awestruck but the magnitude and beauty of the physical universe and the power, intelligence and beauty of the one that we believe created it.

I actually like that answer, though didn't look at the linked video. But what you wrote is honest, and shows a great reverence and respect and awe for the universe that I share. It gives me great pleasure to tell you that as an atheist, I am also awestruck by the magnitude and beauty of the physical universe.

[JehovahsWitness]

[Replying to post 12 by ytrewq]

Yes, and it's not just "big" things that leave us awestruck... the small, the delicate, the colourful, the lovable..

• 

Evidence: "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." Revelation 4:11

JEHOVAH'S WITNESS

[Elijah John]

Joseph's Addison's Ode says a lot about the greatness and grandeur of God:

(after Psalm 19:1-6)
The Spacious Firmament on high,
With all the blue Etherial Sky,
And spangled Heavns, a Shining Frame,
Their great Original proclaim:
Th unwearied Sun, from Day to Day,
Does his Creators Power display,
And publishes to every Land
The Work of an Almighty Hand.
Soon as the Evening Shades prevail,
The Moon takes up the Wondrous Tale,
And nightly to the listning Earth
Repeats the Story of her Birth:
Whilst all the Stars that round her burn,
And all the Planets, in their turn,
Confirm the Tidings as they rowl,
And spread the Truth from Pole to Pole.
What though, in solemn Silence, all
Move round the dark terrestrial Ball?
What tho nor real Voice nor Sound
Amid their radiant Orbs be found?
In Reasons Ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious Voice,
For ever singing, as they shine,
The Hand that made us is Divine.'

Can the "Muse" which inspires such majestic verse be any less great than the human who composed it?

The One who made the mind, who made the hand and everything connected with the composition?

[marco]

" For ever singing, as they shine,
The Hand that made us is Divine. "

Can the "Muse" which inspires such majestic verse be any less great than the human who composed it?

The One who made the mind, who made the hand and everything connected with the composition?

We are prisoners, EJ, in the dungeons of our imagination. The Moon goddess Selene had the beautiful youth Endymion wrapped in an eternal sleep so that she could visit him nightly and he would be eternally young. The bleak lunar landscape offers no poetric kisses; there are no hymns in space, only in the souls of men. Blake, whose poetry is a hymn to his God, wondered how the Tiger, burning in the night forests could have been made by the same hand that made the lamb. Do people fleeing a tsunami wonder at the greatness of its creator, or just realise that they have been terribly unlucky in their placement on a dark planet?

The contemplation of the greatness of gods has induced past people to sacrifice their sons and daughters. Aztec priests snatched the still beating hearts from sacrificial victims to appease the wrathful side of observed deities. The poet Wordsworth can see a rainbow and rejoice while mariners watch as vast waves are about to bring them closer to eternity.Those who ptaise God see only one face but of course he has two, like Janus.

Cosmic distances are indeed great and we are small. We magnify ourselves by suggesting that a great giant holds us in the palm of his hand and hears our hymns. I should prefer to be kissed by Selene.

[Elijah John]

" For ever singing, as they shine,
The Hand that made us is Divine. "

Can the "Muse" which inspires such majestic verse be any less great than the human who composed it?

The One who made the mind, who made the hand and everything connected with the composition?

We are prisoners, EJ, in the dungeons of our imagination. The Moon goddess Selene had the beautiful youth Endymion wrapped in an eternal sleep so that she could visit him nightly and he would be eternally young. The bleak lunar landscape offers no poetric kisses; there are no hymns in space, only in the souls of men. Blake, whose poetry is a hymn to his God, wondered how the Tiger, burning in the night forests could have been made by the same hand that made the lamb. Do people fleeing a tsunami wonder at the greatness of its creator, or just realise that they have been terribly unlucky in their placement on a dark planet?

The contemplation of the greatness of gods has induced past people to sacrifice their sons and daughters. Aztec priests snatched the still beating hearts from sacrificial victims to appease the wrathful side of observed deities. The poet Wordsworth can see a rainbow and rejoice while mariners watch as vast waves are about to bring them closer to eternity.Those who ptaise God see only one face but of course he has two, like Janus.

Cosmic distances are indeed great and we are small. We magnify ourselves by suggesting that a great giant holds us in the palm of his hand and hears our hymns. I should prefer to be kissed by Selene.

And Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson echoes Blake when he sings "and he who made kittens put snakes in the grass.."

Yes, such dichotomies try the faith of the faithful, no doubt .But if one focuses only on the bleak, the beauty is lost, is it not?

[marco]

Yes, and it's not just "big" things that leave us awestruck... the small, the delicate, the colourful, the lovable..

I recall the warmth I had for the wonderful figure of Santa. Imagination warms our fingers in winter. Imagination offers us a hug at funerals. I like Caravaggio's work: his Goliath terrified me as a boy. I loathe modern presentations that disguise themselves as art. And yet there are those who see beauty in ugliness just as there are those who see God in a rainbow, in a snowdrop or even in a human tear.


Part of the beauty of the meadow I see is my imagined self walking there a lifetime ago. Yeats observed:

"Nor dread nor hope attend a dying animal;
a man awaits his end dreading and hoping all."

Hope can render death beautiful and make God great. There is no harm in posting pretty pictures but they have nothing to do with God; but everything to do with some of the best thoughts in the human brain. Music and poetry have the power to make men happy; God adds a touch of sadness.

[marco]

Yes, such dichotomies try the faith of the faithful, no doubt .But if one focuses only on the bleak, the beauty is lost, is it not?

That is true but if one concentrates only on the cakes and ale then one wanders a few miles away from truth. "I do not know" might not be the words of a great hymn, but they are honest.

[1213]

...In what ways do we detect the greatness of God?

For me signs of His greatness are for example these:
- Doesnt kill atheists instantly, even if they lie and deceive people.
- Knows things well before they happen
- Has given the wisdom that can be found in the Bible.

[Tcg]

For me signs of His greatness are for example these:
- Doesnt kill atheists instantly, even if they lie and deceive people.

What about Christians?


Should God be considered great because he doesn't kill Christians instantly, even if they lie and deceive people?


Why are you highlighting atheists in this statement?


Is there some standard you are demanding from us that Christians and other groups aren't subject to?





Tcg