Alright, Jehovah Exists - Why Worship Him?

[Purple Knight]

Let's assume the God of the Bible exists. Taking aside that he has named himself God, why is he God?

What makes an entity God?

And if this entity exists, why worship him?

[JehovahsWitness]

The Hebrew Word "God" means "powerful one" ; if there is an omnipotent creator, He is God by defintion of his omnipotence. Its like calling a black cat a black cat ... if its black and its a cat then it become less an appellation so much as a statement of fact.

[Dimmesdale]

Let's assume the God of the Bible exists. Taking aside that he has named himself God, why is he God?

What makes an entity God?

And if this entity exists, why worship him?

In the Vedic tradition, like Vaishnavism, there are "demigods" but they are never at the level of the Supreme God - Vishnu.

So... your point remains in a sense because, well, how do we define such things....

It also matters if the God is personal or impersonal. Two totally different things.

You can say Uniqueness is a factor. The only Being who can fill the infinite shaped hole in your heart. Something like that.

Or you can, of course, go down the road of attributes, the God possess all the best attributes the greatest possible degree.

A mind can spin this many ways.

You can also say that the God commands respect. Just like you see celebrities or great personalities - you almost want to worship them. Maybe God commands such irresistable sway.

[Mithrae]

And if this entity exists, why worship him?

I assume you mean aside from being tortured if you don't? That's a pretty compelling reason to worship anything.

[JoeyKnothead]

I worship no gods who don't contact me personally, to show or explain why I should.

And I sure don't don't worship gods who demand or request I oppress, harm, or kill my fellow humans.

[Diagoras]

The Hebrew Word "God" means "powerful one" ; if there is an omnipotent creator, He is God by defintion of his omnipotence. Its like calling a black cat a black cat ... if its black and its a cat then it become less an appellation so much as a statement of fact.

Thanks for this - I agree that anything demonstrating omnipotence could sensibly be called 'God'.

According to the Wikipedia article on Christian worship, "worship is the act of attributing reverent honour and homage to God". By nature, humans are social and (by and large) conditioned to a social hierarchy where "respect your elders and betters" is the rule. The more powerful (and benevolent) the leader, the more respect he or she is likely to receive.

A god demonstrating omnipotence (or even 'power disproportionately greater than I could imagine') to me would quite likely see me attributing reverent honour to them. However, there's another way of looking at an omnipotent creator when you consider the Kardashev Scale.

From my favourite YouTube channel, the linked video explains how other, more powerful civilisations might appear to us. It does take a little while to 'set up' the hypothesis (the word 'god' doesn't appear until around the 3:15 mark) but we should consider the point being made from around 4:00 - that "to ants, we are so complex and powerful, we might as well be gods".

Our present civilisation is approximately 0.75 on the scale, and when you reach the 7.45 mark, you'll understand how "a high Type 2 civilisation might already consider humanity too primitive to even talk to". And at 8.27, the video speculates on what a 'Type Omega' civilisation might be: "the actual creators of our universe, for reasons beyond our comprehension".

There's a caveat at 10.20 which should be borne in mind.

If a Type 3+ civilisation ever deigned to communicate with humanity, our very survival might depend on attributing reverent honour to them, but it's just as likely that we'd be wiped out with hardly a passing thought - akin to you sprinting ant poison around your back yard.

[Athetotheist]

[Replying to Dimmesdale in post #3

You can also say that the God commands respect.

There's a difference between commanding respect and demanding respect. That's the problem with the command, "Thou shalt love....". Love can't be coerced out of anyone.

[nobspeople]

Let's assume the God of the Bible exists. Taking aside that he has named himself God,
1)why is he God?

2)What makes an entity God?

3)And if this entity exists, why worship him?

1) Because he said. And, if there's no one or thing else to challenge his power that fits your definition of god....
2) See #1
3) Because he said "do so or die for eternity". Or you simply want to in order to fill a need to be controlled. Not many other legitimate reasons.

[1213]

...
And if this entity exists, why worship him?

Bible tells about worshiping God:

Pure religion [religious worship] and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
James 1:27

I would do that, because I think it is good.

[Purple Knight]

The Hebrew Word "God" means "powerful one" ; if there is an omnipotent creator, He is God by definition of his omnipotence. Its like calling a black cat a black cat ... if its black and its a cat then it become less an appellation so much as a statement of fact.

So if Lucifer was omnipotent and created the universe instead, you'd worship him instead?

Because he said "do so or die for eternity".

And if this entity exists, why worship him?

I assume you mean aside from being tortured if you don't? That's a pretty compelling reason to worship anything.

That's an empty bow, not really worship. I also don't think anyone gets into Heaven if they worship for this reason. God knows you're doing it for that reason, and you know he knows it. So if that's your reason, why bother?

If a Type 3+ civilisation ever deigned to communicate with humanity, our very survival might depend on attributing reverent honour to them, but it's just as likely that we'd be wiped out with hardly a passing thought - akin to you sprinting ant poison around your back yard.

The difference is that if they were cruel, nobody would say we should, meaning were morally right to, provide that reverence to them, even if it saved our own skins, even if they created our universe (I don't think). So I'm wondering why people attribute this moral veracity to God. Some of the parts of the Bible that didn't make it into canon refer to pocket universes. Does anyone who creates a universe gain special moral privilege over that universe? Is that really it?