So What is God? - Mormon Matters

The view of God’s godliness ranges from God as a Bonewits Parasite to God as the ex nilho creator who controls everything down to the direction and location of sub atomic particles. Those views of omniscience and omnipotence as to God and just what that means inside and outside of time were to be Part Three.

The LDS views overcome the problems of both extremes. From the negative view of God as either a psychic or meme parasite (who would want such a god) to the problems of a God who is the source of all evil, creating billions for the sole purpose of punishing them with damnation as unworthy vessels, LDS theology posits a God who is within pre-existing rules, but powerful and knowing enough to heal and save us.

But why? But how? What does that really mean to us? Those questions are part four of my series (using the same format as the posts on affliction or The Church is a What? or The Scriptures are a What?).

I would suggest that in connection with the things I have written about before, as to God:

We should seek to know who God is, rather than as we think God to be.
That what God is, and why God is God to us, is something we learn from experiencing God and learning to be a channel for God’s love and will.
That God is to us, eventually and in a significant part, what we are to others.

Which is what is important. Doing what god wants us to do, being where God wants us to be, seeking God’s will, not seeking to impose our will on God. Which is what will bring us to know God, rather than just blinding ourselves with our own shadow in a mirror.

Which answers the real question: what do we do to be a part of what God is?

Comments 6

Jared

June 29, 2008 at 8:50 am

Stephen–I like the thought expressed in number 2–we learn about God by experiencing Him as He reveals Himself. Then we carry some part of that experience to others.

Thanks

wayfarer

June 29, 2008 at 9:08 am

Stephen I think all of the above give us a good and functional model that does away with the need to either idealise the church or individuals within the church,and also allows us to rationalise it’s history.
It may be that we get the revelation we are prepared to hear,and I so want to be able and worthy to receive more,which i think means moving the furniture around on a regular basis.I so hope that my thoughts can at some point become more like God’s thoughts so that we may settle down together a little more comfortably.Once again i am so grasteful that you would take the time to conceptualise what has only been intuited in my brain.

I am soooo not going to give you my name

June 30, 2008 at 4:18 am

“what do we do to be a part of what God is?”
It reminds me of “the prophet” by Khalil Gibran. There is a sentence that I really love and I am sorry for my poor translation. You might want to look it up since it was first written in arabic language when he was 15 (ouch) and then he translated in english when older. His translation might be more accurate than mine. Anyway the prophete tells the people of the village not to say “God is in my heart” but “I am in the heart of God”