Do humans look like God?

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Justin108
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Do humans look like God?

Post #1

Post by Justin108 »

dianaiad wrote:
Justin108 wrote:
Man was made in God's image. As most modern Christians interpret this, it means we have a soul.
OK. Actually, I believe that we look like Him, not the other way around, but...OK.
Do humans look like God? Wouldn't it be pointless for God to have hands, feet, teeth, etc. when he can literally do anything? Why have feet when you're everywhere at all times? Why have teeth when you never eat? Why have hands? Does God ever need to pick something up? Does God have a penis? Does he need to urinate or reproduce? Does God need a nose to smell? It seems entirely nonesensical to assume that if a god existed that he would look even remotely human.

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Re: Do humans look like God?

Post #2

Post by Elijah John »

Justin108 wrote:
dianaiad wrote:
Justin108 wrote:
Man was made in God's image. As most modern Christians interpret this, it means we have a soul.
OK. Actually, I believe that we look like Him, not the other way around, but...OK.
Do humans look like God? Wouldn't it be pointless for God to have hands, feet, teeth, etc. when he can literally do anything? Why have feet when you're everywhere at all times? Why have teeth when you never eat? Why have hands? Does God ever need to pick something up? Does God have a penis? Does he need to urinate or reproduce? Does God need a nose to smell? It seems entirely nonesensical to assume that if a god existed that he would look even remotely human.
I believe the LDS Church (and correct me if I'm wrong) considers us humans to be literal reflections of God the Father, in an almost antropromorphic kind of way.

"In His image" to most other Christians is metaphorical, we are made in His image in that we have will, intelligence, consciousness, etc. Non-physical attributes.

I wonder though, if this modern understanding is what was intended by the ancients. Maybe they DID envision God as looking like a human. Maybe at the time of the formulation of the Holy Spirit, this 3rd Person of the Trinity was "Spirit" in contrast to God the Father, who was meant to be understood as human-like in appearance.

But this is belied by Jesus stating in the Gospel of John, that "God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship Him in Spirit and truth". So then, the Father AND the Holy Spirit are "Spirit".

Perhaps John's Jesus really does advance our understanding of the Almighty.
My theological positions:

-God created us in His image, not the other way around.
-The Bible is redeemed by it's good parts.
-Pure monotheism, simple repentance.
-YHVH is LORD
-The real Jesus is not God, the real YHVH is not a monster.
-Eternal life is a gift from the Living God.
-Keep the Commandments, keep your salvation.
-I have accepted YHVH as my Heavenly Father, LORD and Savior.

I am inspired by Jesus to worship none but YHVH, and to serve only Him.

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Re: Do humans look like God?

Post #3

Post by Willum »

[Replying to post 1 by Justin108]

God could breed with Mary.
I assume at least some parts were compatible.
He obviously didn't scare her off, and we didn't hear any complaints.

Of course, what would she say?

It's god, no one's going to complain about stamina or good looks, I suppose.

So, it is safe to say, he looks human, since Mary didn't say he looked like Kang or Kodos.

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Re: Do humans look like God?

Post #4

Post by historia »

Elijah John wrote:
Justin108 wrote:
dianaiad wrote:
Justin108 wrote:
Man was made in God's image. As most modern Christians interpret this, it means we have a soul.
OK. Actually, I believe that we look like Him, not the other way around, but...OK.
Do humans look like God? Wouldn't it be pointless for God to have hands, feet, teeth, etc. when he can literally do anything? Why have feet when you're everywhere at all times? Why have teeth when you never eat? Why have hands? Does God ever need to pick something up? Does God have a penis? Does he need to urinate or reproduce? Does God need a nose to smell? It seems entirely nonesensical to assume that if a god existed that he would look even remotely human.
I believe the LDS Church (and correct me if I'm wrong) considers us humans to be literal reflections of God the Father, in an almost antropromorphic kind of way.
Or, more to the point, Mormon theology has traditionally held that God was once a man, and has a physical (resurrected) body. So dianaiad's opinion here is very much in keeping with that specific Mormon view of God. But, as Elijah John pointed out, this is not typical of Christianity as a whole.

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Post #5

Post by Inigo Montoya »

If "God" has any physical attributes at all, it must occupy space. I wonder what happens to the cosmological argument if it occupies space while existing apart from it.

Perhaps it occupies the space of another continuum and stretches across to interact with ours.

I've answered my own question I think.

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Re: Do humans look like God?

Post #6

Post by Saint_of_Me »

[Replying to post 1 by Justin108]

Of course we do not look like God. To say we do, or that He looks like us is to belittle Him. To anthropomorphize Him to an absurd degree. Just like the Hebrews did with their Yahweh God from the Torah.

I always figured that the line "We are made in God's Image" meant that we were NOT created to look like Him, but rather, we were made according to his IDEAS and wishes for us. That He created us while He was there, with us. First Man, that is. Almost as if saying we were "made in front of Him. With His image in our view, as if in a celestial Mirror. Or maybe that our true, unsullied, sinless, natural Spirit--how we were before Sin--is in accordance with His image for us to aspire to.

But no, any psychical comparison to us and God the Creator is fruitless. Inaccurate. Worthless. And is not fair to God Himself. It is like trying to say a raindrop is in the Image of the Power and Fury of a Thunderstorm. That is, the raindrop--like us--is only a small part, a small result of, that Storm. Of Nature.

God Bless.

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Post #7

Post by Zzyzx »

.
Willum wrote:
God could breed with Mary.
I assume at least some parts were compatible.
He obviously didn't scare her off, and we didn't hear any complaints.

Of course, what would she say?

It's god, no one's going to complain about stamina or good looks, I suppose.

So, it is safe to say, he looks human, since Mary didn't say he looked like Kang or Kodos.
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Re: Do humans look like God?

Post #8

Post by FreeBird »

[Replying to post 6 by Saint_of_Me]

Saint, I agree with you.
It is even possible that God created dinosaurs from his image.
This is not to say that god looks like a dinosaur, but to say that the creature was created from what God saw what the dinosaur would look like, from his imagination. This is not to say that God is a man in the clouds with an eccentric imagination to ponder as we do.

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dianaiad
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Re: Do humans look like God?

Post #9

Post by dianaiad »

Elijah John wrote:
Justin108 wrote:
dianaiad wrote:
Justin108 wrote:
Man was made in God's image. As most modern Christians interpret this, it means we have a soul.
OK. Actually, I believe that we look like Him, not the other way around, but...OK.
Do humans look like God? Wouldn't it be pointless for God to have hands, feet, teeth, etc. when he can literally do anything? Why have feet when you're everywhere at all times? Why have teeth when you never eat? Why have hands? Does God ever need to pick something up? Does God have a penis? Does he need to urinate or reproduce? Does God need a nose to smell? It seems entirely nonesensical to assume that if a god existed that he would look even remotely human.
I believe the LDS Church (and correct me if I'm wrong) considers us humans to be literal reflections of God the Father, in an almost antropromorphic kind of way.
Well, if you want to look at it from a humanocentric viewpoint, sure. However, there is a difference, a sort of 'click' of reference shifting, between 'God looks like us' and 'we look like God.' It's a matter of Who one puts as the original, and who the copies, I suppose.

Elijah John wrote:"In His image" to most other Christians is metaphorical, we are made in His image in that we have will, intelligence, consciousness, etc. Non-physical attributes.
Which, quite frankly, is something I've never been able to wrap my mind around. God is supposed to be supremely intelligent, able to do anything He wants to do, is aware of all things He wishes to be aware of; if we are copies of THAT, we are certainly poor copies. As well, 'image' has a fairly literal meaning, in that 'image' is something one can, generally, SEE. We figure that the only possible way we could be in His image is physically.

True, we also believe that we can, eventually, grow those other attributes, being His kids and all, but right this minute? Not so much, no.
Elijah John wrote:I wonder though, if this modern understanding is what was intended by the ancients. Maybe they DID envision God as looking like a human. Maybe at the time of the formulation of the Holy Spirit, this 3rd Person of the Trinity was "Spirit" in contrast to God the Father, who was meant to be understood as human-like in appearance.
That is our understanding of it, yes.
Elijah John wrote:But this is belied by Jesus stating in the Gospel of John, that "God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship Him in Spirit and truth". So then, the Father AND the Holy Spirit are "Spirit".
And so are we, then, in exactly the same measure, if we must worship Him 'in spirit and truth."
Elijah John wrote:Perhaps John's Jesus really does advance our understanding of the Almighty.
Oh, I agree with that. However, it helps if He keeps talking to us, I suppose. ;)

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dianaiad
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Re: Do humans look like God?

Post #10

Post by dianaiad »

Saint_of_Me wrote: [Replying to post 1 by Justin108]

Of course we do not look like God. To say we do, or that He looks like us is to belittle Him. To anthropomorphize Him to an absurd degree. Just like the Hebrews did with their Yahweh God from the Torah.
Why would that belittle Him? Do you have so poor a view of humans, that deity would absolutely not choose to make us look (even a little) like Him?
Elijah John wrote:I always figured that the line "We are made in God's Image" meant that we were NOT created to look like Him, but rather, we were made according to his IDEAS and wishes for us. That He created us while He was there, with us. First Man, that is. Almost as if saying we were "made in front of Him. With His image in our view, as if in a celestial Mirror. Or maybe that our true, unsullied, sinless, natural Spirit--how we were before Sin--is in accordance with His image for us to aspire to.

But no, any psychical comparison to us and God the Creator is fruitless. Inaccurate. Worthless. And is not fair to God Himself. It is like trying to say a raindrop is in the Image of the Power and Fury of a Thunderstorm. That is, the raindrop--like us--is only a small part, a small result of, that Storm. Of Nature.

God Bless.
Well, isn't the raindrop indeed in the image of a thunderstorm? It is, after all, water, formed from the storm.

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