Where Was God Born?

God is infinite--he always is, was, and will be.

But if you consider God as a concept and as the creator of the universe: He was not created or "born", He has always existed (not a created being like the rest of the world) before the foundation of the world: before the concepts of light, darkness, or eternity.

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the G-man said:
Where Was God Born? :

God was born in Babylon. By that I mean that the idea of religion emerged in the thousand years between Moses and Jesus, in the ancient Near East. There was just this moment in time when societies were becoming mature enough and wealthy enough, and people were looking for more meaning. The idea of God as a universal, portable, invisible, everywhere being really entered the broadest portions of society at that time.

Babylon is a place that kind of crystallizes that moment. [Babylon, located in what is now Iraq, was the capital of the Babylonian Empire and reached its height under King Nebuchadnezzer II.] Up to the time of Babylon, there was a God who was attached to a certain place. But when the Israelites were kicked out of Jerusalem in 586 BCE and sent into exile, God became universal and portable. It's a very simple idea in our lives--when we go to church or synagogue, we pray to a universal God--that began in Babylon.

What about those fertility Goddess statues found through out Europe? And the cave paintings in southern France, aren't they like, 20,000 years old? Joseph Cambell says those all have religious meaning.

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Plain Jane said:
What about those fertility Goddess statues found through out Europe? And the cave paintings in southern France, aren't they like, 20,000 years old?

No.

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Pariah said:
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Plain Jane said:
What about those fertility Goddess statues found through out Europe? And the cave paintings in southern France, aren't they like, 20,000 years old?

No.

No what silly?

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Plain Jane said:
aren't they like, 20,000 years old?

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Pariah said:
No.

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Pariah said:
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Plain Jane said:
aren't they like, 20,000 years old?

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Pariah said:
No.

Why so mysterius? I was off by 3000 years. My anthropology text says they're 17,000. I saw the ones at Lascaux in the South of France 3 years ago. It was awsome!

I'm not mysterius!!

Mysterious however.....

I don't think they're even that old. Aside from the fact that the dating techniques of today are atrocious, no piece of civilization has been found in Eruope that was marked with a corresponding date to those wall drawings. Not even other objects supposedly in retroactive coordination with those drawings. The drawings are either not really that old or hopelessly(sp) tainted.....Or both.

Why would someone do that? Fake it I mean. It's not exactly easy to get to them and the French Republic isn't making money off them. I'm not stupid you know. You say things like "Aside from the fact that the dating techniques of today are atrocious, no piece of civilization has been found in Eruope that was marked with a corresponding date to those wall drawings. Not even other objects supposedly in retroactive coordination with those drawings." Why don't you say what you mean? "objects in retroactive coordination" ? What is that supposed to be? Why should I believe you over my anthro professor and the hot tour guide in Lascaux?

Sorry about the typo. I guess we all make mistakes.

Oh great. Another Jim Jackson.

Missy, I didn't say that they lied. I said they're wrong. Modern day anthropologists and paleontologists simply tend to put too much faith into the current dating techniques--All of which have an unacceptable fallibility rate.

And what I mean by "retroactive coordination" is that other fossils in the vicinity of the drawings, which are believed to be linked to to the drawings, do not match the age of the drawings. In fact, they're wildly off their pre-supposed date by thousands of years. In some cases, despite this set back, archeologists decided to say, "That can't be right. It must be closer to this date, which I grabbed out of a hat." Please don't tell me you see nothing wrong with that.

Also, even if I was an anthropologist, how much stock exactly would you put into my words of dissent?

But what does God need with a starship?

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Pariah said:
Oh great. Another Jim Jackson.

Missy, I didn't say that they lied. I said they're wrong. Modern day anthropologists and paleontologists simply tend to put too much faith into the current dating techniques--All of which have an unacceptable fallibility rate.

And what I mean by "retroactive coordination" is that other fossils in the vicinity of the drawings, which are believed to be linked to to the drawings, do not match the age of the drawings. In fact, they're wildly off their pre-supposed date by thousands of years. In some cases, despite this set back, archeologists decided to say, "That can't be right. It must be closer to this date, which I grabbed out of a hat." Please don't tell me you see nothing wrong with that.

Also, even if I was an anthropologist, how much stock exactly would you put into my words of dissent?

A lot more than I do in some jerk who calls me Missy! You don't even know me. Why do need to be rude? Was I rude to you? I'll bet you make your mother proud

I guess I'd probably go with the woman that has a PhD from an accredited institution. What are your qualifications? Do you have degree? In what? Are you in grad school, like me?

Pariah aced high school. You're no match for him.

Yes. Unless you're a Japanese transsexual, you have no hope but to be on Pariah's bad side....

You better listen to em' missy!

Are all you guys goofy geek boys? No wonder there are no girls here.

Just cuz' a person ain't a politician or a major in poli sci, that don't mean said person isn't educated in politics. Your types who feel like critiquing the arguer rather than the argument had best learn that.

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Pariah said:
Just cuz' a person ain't a politician or a major in poli sci, that don't mean said person isn't educated in politics. Your types who feel like critiquing the arguer rather than the argument had best learn that.

coming from you that's just funny.

reading through this thread is like seeing a perfect example for why Pariah's still a virgin.

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r3x29yz4a said:
coming from you that's just funny.

Explain.

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Plain Jane said:
Are all you guys goofy geek boys?

yup

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Plain Jane said:
Are all you guys goofy geek boys? No wonder there are no girls here.

No, some of us are quite cool. Suave sofisticated types who go to all the right parties and dine in the trendiest bistros. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go play some more World of Warcraft, my druid nneds to collect herbs so he can make some potions to maintain his mana.

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Pariah said:
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r3x29yz4a said:
coming from you that's just funny.

Explain.

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Pariah said:
Just cuz' a person ain't a politician or a major in poli sci, that don't mean said person isn't educated in politics. Your types who feel like critiquing the arguer rather than the argument had best learn that.

But you said it. So it's funny.

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Pariah said:
Oh great. Another Jim Jackson.

I'll take five Jim Jackson's rather than have another Pariah storm the board...

I think both Jim and Pariah are valuable members of our RKMB community. They are like the croutons of our little DT salad.

But I don't like croutons...

"Precisely, old chum!"

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Plain Jane said:
What about those fertility Goddess statues found through out Europe?

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PrincessElisa said:
But if you consider God as a concept and as the creator of the universe: He was not created or "born", He has always existed (not a created being like the rest of the world) before the foundation of the world: before the concepts of light, darkness, or eternity.

As noted in the original article:

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the G-man said:
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Plain Jane said:
What about those fertility Goddess statues found through out Europe?

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PrincessElisa said:
But if you consider God as a concept and as the creator of the universe: He was not created or "born", He has always existed (not a created being like the rest of the world) before the foundation of the world: before the concepts of light, darkness, or eternity.

As noted in the original article:

God [originally was belived to have] lived in [the Temple of Babylon]. Priests would go in and worship to God. What happened in Babylon was that the Temple was gone, so the Israelites had to ask, if the House of God is gone, where is God living? They came to understand that God is everywhere, and you don't only have to go into the Temple to see God, you can find him everywhere. So you can't understand religion today without understanding what happened in Babylon in the 600s BCE.

What happened in Babylon is the development of the idea that individuals can have a relationship with God, wherever they are, and that God can hold those individuals [accountable] to make their own lives better and to make society better.

Ya, and winged monkeys could come flying out of my ass, too!

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the G-man said:
I think both Jim and Pariah are valuable members of our RKMB community. They are like the croutons of our little DT salad.

I'd rather be a crouton than a bacon bit or a small chive.

Or a radish. God forbid, not a radish.

*shivers*

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magicjay38 said:
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the G-man said:
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Plain Jane said:
What about those fertility Goddess statues found through out Europe?

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PrincessElisa said:
But if you consider God as a concept and as the creator of the universe: He was not created or "born", He has always existed (not a created being like the rest of the world) before the foundation of the world: before the concepts of light, darkness, or eternity.

As noted in the original article:

God [originally was belived to have] lived in [the Temple of Babylon]. Priests would go in and worship to God. What happened in Babylon was that the Temple was gone, so the Israelites had to ask, if the House of God is gone, where is God living? They came to understand that God is everywhere, and you don't only have to go into the Temple to see God, you can find him everywhere. So you can't understand religion today without understanding what happened in Babylon in the 600s BCE.

What happened in Babylon is the development of the idea that individuals can have a relationship with God, wherever they are, and that God can hold those individuals [accountable] to make their own lives better and to make society better.

Ya, and winged monkeys could come flying out of my ass, too!

Can I see?

I WAS QUOTED!!!! It's DEFINITELY an Elisa moment in the DT forum *YEAHS!* even if it was for being mocked...yeah I'm not ignored ;p

This was the momentous thread in which I scared off Plain Jane.

She's a woman, presumably.