More "newbie" questions

[abb]

Who created god?

I am having a extremely hard time accepting the fact that God just is. I believe that God exists, but I just can’t bring myself to understand why. I’m throbbing on this point and it’s really bringing me down about everything. I’m wondering if it just comes down to the fact that you have to accept something that’s impossible to accept if it were anything else besides God (if that made any sense). I have found this quote from another thread on this forum asking the same question, and it’s really hard for me to accept this. Any suggestions on me getting over this “hump” would be much appreciative.

God has no creator. He is the creator of all things. An important idea to understand is that there is no succession of time in God. For God, everything is eternally present. There is no past and no future, just the present. Therefore, God just exists, there is no need for a creator of God.

If you want an example of what I mean, take a look at John 8 where Christ says, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” He is quoting the Father from the old testament, but what He says goes far beyond that. In this passage He uses a present verb for to be instead of using the pluperfect. What He is saying is that His present is before the past which held Abraham. God just is. He has no past, just the present.

And about Jesus being God…

If Jesus was God, why did he not just call himself, God?

I hope I don’t look that new, although it’s pretty obvious I am new to religion. Thanks for the replies, as always.

With Appreciation
Andrew

 

[AlphaOmega]

Today’s reading:
Phil 2:6-11

Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

 

[scylla]

ABB maybe a simplification of St. Thomas Aquinas’s logic could help…

Like this who created this thread…
ABB
So ABB was the primary mover who got this thread started.
Now where did ABB come from…
his mother and father.
This mother and father were part of the chain that resulted in ABB
Now where this life, this planet everything else come from.
from creation which was the result of a primary mover.
That very beginning that primary mover we call God.
He is uncreated since if He was created then that superior creation would be God, and since there is only one God that source is Him.

Makes sense…
Now if you would like more we can go on, maybe someone else can pitch in since I have to go to bed.
God Bless
Scylla

 

[abb]

scylla:

He is uncreated since if He was created then that superior creation would be God, and since there is only one God that source is Him.

Makes sense…
Now if you would like more we can go on, maybe someone else can pitch in since I have to go to bed.
God Bless
Scylla

This actually helped out a lot, it’s somewhat like infinity is in math, which relates if it has to stop somewhere, I hope I can trick my mind into thinking this.

 

[scylla]

Think of it as dominos eventually someone has to push the dominos or else it is logically impossible for them to be falling or even be there.
(no analogy is perfect but this might help in a simpler way)

Infinity is pretty much impossible to fully understand, even in a mathematical sense. As an example, if you half a number you can keep halving it into infinity, so infinity can be contained between the number 1 and 2.

So it is kinda like tricking your mind into understanding that infinite numbers can be contained between two numbers. Eventually it just is that way.

So once we have a basic starting point we can go from there,
to more indepth study of the nature of God and how He has revealed Himself to us. Keep in mind we will never fully comprehend God this side of heaven, we are just people.

This is one motivation for me to get to heaven so I can find out more.

God Bless
Scylla

 

[Dr.Colossus]

abb:

Who created god?

I am having a extremely hard time accepting the fact that God just is. I believe that God exists, but I just can’t bring myself to understand why.

The thing about religion in pretty much any form is the idea that there are some things which are mysteries. No one can full grasp exactly how God exists without being created. However, even if we can’t have complete knowledge of how something works, it doesn’t mean that it is therefore false.

It is difficult to understand how something could come into existence without a cause. People come from parents, plants come from seeds, planets come from interstellar gas, etc. But it is equally impossible to believe that there is an infinite regression of causes without a First Cause. The only logical explanation is that there must be a First Cause that was not created by anything. Our limited minds may not be able to understand how this Cause exists in the first place, but there is no logical way out of the conclusion that it must exist.

Now this in and of itself does not prove God (i.e. an omniscient, omnipotent being). But it does help us see that it is eminently reasonable to conclude that something can have the property of eternal existence.

 

[1ke]

abb,

I highly recommend the book Theology For Beginners by Frank Sheed. A careful, slow reading will answer the types of questions you are asking regarding God, the Trinity, etc.

 

[abb]

1ke:

abb,

I highly recommend the book Theology For Beginners by Frank Sheed. A careful, slow reading will answer the types of questions you are asking regarding God, the Trinity, etc.

Hey, I’ve heard great things about this book, I actually had it on my “books to get list” I’ll probably go ahead and order it tonight. As for my other question:

If Jesus was God, why did he not just call himself, God?

Can anyone help me on this one?

And if you were curious, I was thinking about getting all these books, if you have any suggestions as to what else I should get, or if these aren’t that great, please let me know so I can update my list:

getfed.com/product_detail.cfm?ID=5095
(spanish - english bible)

amazon.com/gp/product/1574551094/qid=1143938221/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-9887704-7260907?s=books&v=glance&n=283155
(Catechism of the Catholic Church)

getfed.com/product_detail.cfm?ID=5852
(Douay-Rheims Bible)

amazon.com/gp/product/0892831243/sr=8-2/qid=1144472533/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-6901875-0092600?%5Fencoding=UTF8
(theology for beginners)

The reason for myself wanting a spanish/english Bible is because of my desire to learn spanish, as well as my spanish girlfriend whom sparked my interest in the Catholic faith. If you know of any more spanish/english side by side books that are of somewhat useful, let me know as well, thanks so much.
Andrew

 

[VociMike]

abb:

Who created god?

I am having a extremely hard time accepting the fact that God just is. I believe that God exists, but I just can’t bring myself to understand why. I’m throbbing on this point and it’s really bringing me down about everything. I’m wondering if it just comes down to the fact that you have to accept something that’s impossible to accept if it were anything else besides God (if that made any sense). I have found this quote from another thread on this forum asking the same question, and it’s really hard for me to accept this. Any suggestions on me getting over this “hump” would be much appreciative.

If anyone or anything created God then God would not be God. One of His attributes is that God is the uncreated Creator. Peter Kreeft’s website has some good articles on proofs of God’s existence: Peter Kreeft

And about Jesus being God…

If Jesus was God, why did he not just call himself, God?

He did. He said “Before Abraham was, I am.” I AM is the name of God. God is the one who is, always and forever. He tells Moses His name in Exodus 3:

*13: Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”

14: God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, `I AM has sent me to you.’” *

 

[BlestOne]

abb:

If Jesus was God, why did he not just call himself, God?

Can anyone help me on this one?

Here is your answer…

AlphaOmega:

Today’s reading:
Phil 2:6-11

Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

If Christ Jesus was to come and show us all how to live, he had to take human form to be like us. Since we cannot be God, he humbled himself in this form. Besides the obvious, who would name a child the name of a God, that which the jews wouldn’t even say out loud for fear of irreverence? The term God is a title not a name. I think it is so much easier to identify the father from the son this way because, although they are one, they are also a part of the trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and each had a different role in our salvation history.