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Aaron Scott

Are we justified in anthropomorphizing God?

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 6032 **9/26/16 6:47 pm**

It came to me the other day that God can differentiate between colors and the such.

And He can hear sounds.

On and on.

If we say, no, He just somehow perceives that with His mind, we are still anthropomorphizing God, giving Him a mind, etc.

So just HOW DOES God perceive something in our realm?

I'm trying to find some way of explains how He can discern colors and the things He created without some way of perceiving them

I'm not making a doctrine out of it..I simply would like to hear your thoughts in addressing the above.

Old Time Country Preacher

Acts-pert Poster Posts: 15564 **9/26/16 6:56 pm**

We are justified in as much as the Scriptures anthropomorphize God.

Under his wings

Eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous

Ears of the Lord are open to their cry

Hand of the Lord stretched out

Etc.

Resident Skeptic

Acts-dicted Posts: 8065 **9/26/16 9:05 pm**

Aaron Scott

So are we agreed that God does have real eyes?

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 6032 **9/27/16 5:59 am**

I hear a lot of talk about how God is a spirit and does not have characteristics we would consider human (physically). But again, if not then how does he know the color red from green?

Link

Acts-perienced Poster Posts: 11849 **9/27/16 6:20 am**

I had a conversation with a Calvinist once and pointed out that God said that certain sacrifices to Baal had never entered His mind. He said that was anthropomorphism. I asked if anthropomorphism was just an excuse to hold on to Calvinism and heavy determinism. Is it interpreting the scripture through the lens of Calvinism, making Calvinism more important than what the Bible says.

There is a danger that when scripture doesn't fit our world view, we find a way to argue it away, like anthropomorphism or hyperbole. Liberals like to dismiss certain moral issues in the Bible by arguing that it was for that culture.
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bonnie knox

Re: So are we agreed that God does have real eyes? (L)

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 14803 **9/27/16 7:12 am**

I'm getting an image of two worms discussing human beings. One says to the other, "So if humans don't crawl, how do they get from one place to another?"
And I don't mean that to be derisive of your question. It just struck me as funny.
Have you ever heard Louie Giglio give his talk about how small the earth is compared to the stars that were created? If you believe God created the universe, and you start trying to grasp how big that is, you get the idea, that God is more overwhelming than you can imagine.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=louie+giglio&&view=detail&mid=A8752245A50A4AE0A8EEA8752245A50A4AE0A8EE&FORM=VRDGAR

Eddie Robbins

Acts-pert Poster Posts: 16509 **9/27/16 7:38 am**

There are things we can never understand and I'm ok with that. I do like to think and discuss about them but in the end, we can't comprehend. I told the story of how my daughter moved to Germany and left her cat behind. She decided to have a friend bring her cat to Berlin. The night before her friend picked up her cat, we Facetimed and she saw her cat with me, my daughter in Berlin and me in Georgia. The next night, her cat had arrived in Berlin and we, once again, Facetimed. This time, her cat was in Berlin with her. Try explaining that to the cat. Smile

Mark Ledbetter

Hebrew Language & Anthropomorphisms

Golf Cart Mafia Associate Posts: 2109 **9/27/16 7:55 am**

The Hebrew language generally is more concrete than abstract and so it is easy to find their perspectives in anthropomorphic expressions. It is the Hebrew mind expressing in human terms what they cannot express in any other way.

To express God as established and immovable, Deuteronomy 32:4 describes God as a Rock. Is He literally a rock?

So anthropomorphic expressions are attempts to capture the abstract in concrete terms.

Metaphor and simile are similarly used.

Hebrew also utilizes word puns and idioms.

If I remember correctly, there are approximately 20,000 Hebrew Words, compared to 100,000 Biblical Greek words. When searching for a Greek equivalent for Hebrew, the Hebrew thought borrows from the closest Greek word, or words, to express the thought.
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bonnie knox

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 14803 **9/27/16 7:59 am**

Old Time Country Preacher

Acts-pert Poster Posts: 15564 **9/27/16 8:06 am**

Quiet Wyatt

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 12792 **9/27/16 9:38 am**

One could certainly make the argument that, since God is spirit, all bodily descriptions of Him must be figurative and not strictly literal. Then the question becomes one of degrees; how far are we willing to take the argument? And what real advantage is there in denying that, for instance, the God who is spirit has a literal mouth?

That said, I have yet to see any good reason to consider God's mind, thoughts, and intentions as being anything like an anthropomorphism. But the Calvinists are quick to characterize God purposefully changing His mind/will as recorded many times in Scripture as being absolutely impossible, and by definition an anthropomorphism. Their preconceived theology simply cannot allow for any possible change in the mind of God, no matter what God's self-revelation of His mind in Scripture may say.

Aaron Scott

Quiet Wyatt...I wonder...

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 6032 **9/27/16 3:17 pm**

I wonder if the whole "God is a SPIRIT" thing has been somewhat twisted via movies, etc.? That is, where a "spirit" is some sort of nebulous, not-quite-as-real-as-we-are being?

I have come to think that the truth is just the opposite. That is, that the spiritual realm is MORE REAL than our realm. For instance, the tabernacle was but a COPY of what was in the heavens.

IF IF IF that is the case, then, it might be, that instead of thinking that being in the IMAGE of God doesn't mean physical characteristics, but is instead that nebulous sort of stuff (free will, emotions, and so forth), it might ALSO include the physical aspects.

I actually believe that Adam's BODY was also in the image of God. No, God is NOT a man, but man is a COPY (of sorts) of God. This includes the more tangible aspects, as well as the intangible.

Possible?

Link

Acts-perienced Poster Posts: 11849 **9/27/16 6:27 pm**

Quiet Wyatt

Have you ever seen a spirit without arms and legs? How many spirits have ou seen? Does your own spirit have arms and legs? How would you know how to answer that question?

Angels are spirits. Do they have arms and legs? They probably appeared to when they appeared to people in the Bible.

It could be that physical arms and legs correspond to some kind of spiritual arms and legs. I know that sounds speculative. But saying that a spirit does not have a mouth is also rather speculative. Why speculate?

Man is created in the image of God. Could these physical attributes of ours correspond to something that God has?

Something else to ask is whether Hebrews hearing and reading the scriptures 3000 years ago would have thought this way about arms, legs, and spirits without the last 3000 years of theology and philosophy.
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Link

Acts-perienced Poster Posts: 11849 **9/27/16 6:58 pm**

When the disciples saw Jesus walking on water, they were terrified. They thought He was a spirit. There was Jesus, with a head, arms, and legs, out in the distance, and the thought he was a spirit. The disciples apparently thought spirits had or could have arms and legs, or could appear to have them.

Jesus ate food to show the disciples that He was not a spirit. But He appeared as a man.

Someone who believes God has a mouth could say spirits can have mouths because the Bible talks about God's mouths and the Bible says God is a Spirit. Where does the Bible teach that spirits can't have or do not have arms, mouths, etc?
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Mark Ledbetter

and,

Golf Cart Mafia Associate Posts: 2109 **9/27/16 7:07 pm**

Quiet Wyatt

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 12792 **9/27/16 7:08 pm**

Link

Acts-perienced Poster Posts: 11849 **9/28/16 4:04 am**

Mark Ledbetter

Question?

Golf Cart Mafia Associate Posts: 2109 **9/28/16 6:43 am**

Does the earth have a mouth?
_________________
God-Honoring
Christ-Centered
Bible-Based
Spirit-Led
(This is how I want to be)

bonnie knox

Re: Question?

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 14803 **9/28/16 7:09 am**

bonnie knox

[Insert Acts Pun Here] Posts: 14803 **9/28/16 7:12 am**

If God has a mouth, are we all inside it?
Revelation 3:15-17