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Why God most certainly does not exist

MFJAGgernaut-B

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I grew up under Baptist Christianity, and my dad (an INTJ) has been exploring ministry work for some time. However, neither of us subscribe to the "fundie" Christianity; he was more interested in actually studying the Bible, not taking what the preacher said at face value.

Through numerous Bible studies at home, I've come to understand a key secret about the Bible: to fully understand the Bible in context, you have to understand the background of the writer or the passage. Each writer lived in a different culture, and each passage ties to that culture or something written elsewhere in the Bible.

So on that note, I thought I'd contribute to the discussion by sharing the rational Christian's answer to how God's existence relates to our universe. It is a bit long, though. This was as short as I could edit it.

(Before anyone argues, I'd like to point out that the term "fundie" is often applied to irrational Christians, and I try to avoid them as much as I can.)

It says in the Book of Isaiah that prior to creating the universe, God had his own eternal realm, Heaven, populated by what we call angels. He created the angels to be a creature that would love him unconditionally and of his own will.

His Number One angel was Lucifer, regarded as the most beautiful of the angels. Lucifer tried to overthrow God out of jealousy, forcing God to banish him and the third of the angels that rebelled with him. Lucifer became known as Satan, and his angels became twisted into demons. God creates a new realm referred to in the Bible as a "lake of fire" as punishment for their crimes. However, they will not be sent to it until the end of our universe.

Instead of creating a new Heavenly creature, God created a whole new universe centered around a single planet, Earth. God went to all that trouble because he wanted to create his new creature, man, in an environment all his own. However, man still retained the same purpose as the angels, so he still had the unconditional-love capabilities and freedom of will as the angels.

When man disobeyed God, God condemned man to the lake of fire with Satan and his demons. However, Adam's sin was not out of direct hatred of God like Satan's was. His motive is never stated in the Bible, but I'm thinking it may have been so Eve wouldn't be punished alone.

Because of this, God creates two new realms: Paradise and Hell. God condemns man to share Satan's punishment, but offers man a respite.

If man continued to love him, he would placed in Paradise at the end of his life. After Christ's crucifixion, Paradise is eliminated, and this group (officially termed "believers") is relocated to Heaven. Now when a believer dies, he spends eternity with God himself.

Christ's death was meant to be God's love sacrifice to man, in essence meeting man halfway. Now, instead of having to kill lambs to prove his love, man needed only do for God what God had done for man; acknowledge Christ's sacrifice as God's display of love to man.

When a person does this, God implants a version of himself (the Holy Ghost) into the new believer, giving the believer a way of having a relationship with God before dying and joining him in Heaven.

If he rejected God, God would have no dealings with him. Upon death, these people would be placed in Hell, which will later be rolled into the lake of fire with Satan and his demons. This will happen after the universe reaches its end as described in Revelation.

Satan hates God and everything God loves, including man. Satan also knows that he is doomed to be punished. He also knows that God still has love left for unbelievers. If he's going down, he might as well give himself as much company and God as much heartache as possible in the meantime. When they die, God's not gonna do anything with 'em, so...

The result in the end will be God merging his Heaven with a newly-purified Earth, turning everything into Genesis 2.0.
 

Thalassa

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This reminds me 09/09/09 is cuming up.

999; some say it is the devils number. Or Lucifer’s number. :devil:

I however have seen enough heavy metal album covers (which as we know are the uncontroverted authority in all matters occult, esp. dark occult) to know that when you turn something upside down or inverse it, it means the opposite.

Therefore if God does exist a priori the Devil exists and if the Devils son, the Beast's, number is 666 does 999 mean the opposite and therefore a day of good luck/positive revelations?

Also some say Gods number is 333 or 3 (the holy trinity) therefore since 3 x 333 equals 999...


999 isn't the devil's number, it's the number of woman. 6 is the number of man. Yeah, hence 69.

But in New Age beliefs/Wicca/etc. 9 is the number of the witch in a non-satanic sense. Of course, some religious people believe all witchcraft is Satanic, which is why some people think 999 is a number of the devil.

Personally I don't think the devil has a number. I think it's a matter of Christianity demonizing the European Pagan religions they sought to convert members from.
 

MFJAGgernaut-B

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999 isn't the devil's number, it's the number of woman. 6 is the number of man. Yeah, hence 69.

But in New Age beliefs/Wicca/etc. 9 is the number of the witch in a non-satanic sense. Of course, some religious people believe all witchcraft is Satanic, which is why some people think 999 is a number of the devil.

Personally I don't think the devil has a number. I think it's a matter of Christianity demonizing the European Pagan religions they sought to convert members from.

Actually, that number is given in the Bible, but not to the Devil.

It's attributed to a "beast" in Revelation serving under the Antichrist. In Revelation, it is said that a single government would obtain power over the entire world, with the Antichrist being the executive ruler over it. The "beast" would likely be a religious organization affiliated with this government, with the number "666" being the representatives on that organization's council. Revelation mentions a "false prophet," who will likely be this organization's supreme executive officer, who will serve adjacent to the Antichrist.

I should point out that Revelation happens to be the one book in the Bible most saturated with symbolisms and metaphorical references.
 

Thalassa

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Actually, that number is given in the Bible, but not to the Devil.

It's attributed to a "beast" in Revelation serving under the Antichrist. In Revelation, it is said that a single government would obtain power over the entire world, with the Antichrist being the executive ruler over it. The "beast" would likely be a religious organization affiliated with this government, with the number "666" being the representatives on that organization's council. Revelation mentions a "false prophet," who will likely be this organization's supreme executive officer, who will serve adjacent to the Antichrist.

I should point out that Revelation happens to be the one book in the Bible most saturated with symbolisms and metaphorical references.

Oh I see. That's why there's so many American Christians who believe that Christians can't be liberal. They fear this one world government.

Does the Bible actually SAY one world government, or is this just how certain sects, churches, and cults interpret it? Revelation is awfully symbolic.
 
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Oh I see. That's why there's so many American Christians who believe that Christians can't be liberal. They fear this one world government.

Does the Bible actually SAY one world government, or is this just how certain sects, churches, and cults interpret it? Revelation is awfully symbolic.

It doesn't literally use the term "one world government" but MFJAGgernaut-B gave a good answer of what the Bible does say.

Concerning Christianity and the concept of a "one world government" is a little more complex; but long story short yes the liberal conception of such is very much incompatible with Christian teachings. In fact Pope Benedict XVI addresses such issues in his latest book.
 

Thalassa

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It doesn't literally use the term "one world government" but MFJAGgernaut-B gave a good answer of what the Bible does say.

Concerning Christianity and the concept of a "one world government" is a little more complex; but long story short yes the liberal conception of such is very much incompatible with Christian teachings. In fact Pope Benedict XVI addresses such issues in his latest book.

To me it sounds like Illuminati conspiracy theory rather than Biblical teaching. Also, couldn't some Christians interpret the world-wide Roman Catholic church, presided by the pope, as some sort of "one world government"?
 
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Also, couldn't some Christians interpret the world-wide Roman Catholic church, presided by the pope, as some sort of "one world government"?

They could, and many have done so. Of course those who do so are guilty of creating an anarchronism - since the ultimate nature of Papal authority is spiritual not temporal. Of course the Pope is head of a state(Vatican City, and earlier the Papal territories), and that largely was done so as to ensure the independence of the church from undue influence of secular authorities - as was the case with the Eastern Churches.
 

The_Liquid_Laser

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To me it sounds like Illuminati conspiracy theory rather than Biblical teaching. Also, couldn't some Christians interpret the world-wide Roman Catholic church, presided by the pope, as some sort of "one world government"?

I believe a similar message was given from several reformers.

At this point I could only restate. If you are genuinely interested in coming to terms with the concept I attempt to present, read over my posts again and contemplate.

I believe that I present my ideas in a manner that is remarkably clear given the subject matter. With high level concepts, there must be a meeting in between.

I've read over your posts and they don't really make sense. What I get from them is too much intuition and not enough thinking. I.e. INTJ's communicate their ideas with thinking. You haven't clearly explained the steps in your reasoning process. Let me spell out some things that don't make sense.

A) Your "definition" of infinite. You've never spelled it out. You've only told me what it isn't, so I've had to keep guessing what you really mean. The closest to a clear definition of infinite you've given is "not finite" which doesn't clear anything up at all.

B) You conclude reality must be infinite? Why? One problem is I don't understand your definition of infinite, but additionally your reasoning steps look like A-> B-> C -> Z to me. Could you elaborate more? Aside: Also I'm not sure you're aware of this, but the known universe as defined by modern science is most definitely finite according to either my definition or your definition.

C) Even if you clear up problems A) and B) I don't see how your argument can be anything but a straw man. You are asserting that the common view of the Judeo-Christian God is one thing, and then your description does not fit the description of God from any monotheist that I've encountered.

If I am misinterpreting your posts it is because you are not communicating effectively. This should be apparant since other posters have been making comments similar to mine.
 

matmos

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how very ingenious, so it does.

Shhh don't tell :newwink: Also God spelled backwards is dog. Coincidence?

Lets play letterman with your name too by shifting the letters around. A Nonabsorbent Ma, A Baboons Remnant, A Nabobs Ornament, Bananas Robot Men, Manana Boobs Rent, and A Man Nbobs a Tenor…music to the ears the list goes on…

This reminds me 09/09/09 is cuming up.

999; some say it is the devils number. Or Lucifer’s number. :devil:

I however have seen enough heavy metal album covers (which as we know are the uncontroverted authority in all matters occult, esp. dark occult) to know that when you turn something upside down or inverse it, it means the opposite.

Therefore if God does exist a priori the Devil exists and if the Devils son, the Beast's, number is 666 does 999 mean the opposite and therefore a day of good luck/positive revelations?

Also some say Gods number is 333 or 3 (the holy trinity) therefore since 3 x 333 equals 999...

"A Baboons Remnant" - my favourite. Well done.

A challenge. Assign a number to each letter: a=1, b=2,c=3, etc. Create a palindromic number. What is the name?

All the best. Good luck.

:)
 

Spamtar

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The Number of the Beast?

marmalade.sunrise; said:
“999 isn't the devil's number, it's the number of woman. 6 is the number of man. Yeah, hence 69.”
Interesting take, this is new information for me. I wonder if there is any femine energy positive or otherwise which will take place on 9-9-09
marmalade.sunrise; said:
“But in New Age beliefs/Wicca/etc. 9 is the number of the witch in a non-satanic sense. Of course, some religious people believe all witchcraft is Satanic, which is why some people think 999 is a number of the devil.”
Not just religious in the normal use of the word. Satanists, at least Anton LeVey the founders of the Church of Satan believes all witchcraft is at its core Satanic and the “white witch”/”white magic” espoused by wiccans is bunk. (see “The Satanic Witch” by Anton LeVey, actually less about santanism and actually not a bad book on seduction).

MSJAgernaut noted [/QUOTE] “In Revelation, it is said that a single government would obtain power over the entire world, with the Antichrist being the executive ruler over it. The "beast" would likely be a religious organization affiliated with this government, with the number "666" being the representatives on that organization's council. Revelation mentions a "false prophet," who will likely be this organization's supreme executive officer, who will serve adjacent to the Antichrist.” [/QUOTE]
Yes I recall that from the bible before the European persecution of witches with witchtrials. This is the first time however I have heard the “religious organization” take on the book of Revelations. I always thought it would be a secular organization who would take over and outlaw religion in general and persecute those with, in particular, Christian religious beliefs.
marmalade.sunrise; “Oh I see. That's why there's so many American Christians who believe that Christians can't be liberal. They fear this one world government.”[/QUOTE said:
(endquote)

Actually of recent it has been the so-called right, the Republican neocons especially under the “leadership” of Bush Sn. And Jr with the support of the religious right who have been pushing for the “new world order”-Bush Doctrine.
“To me it sounds like Illuminati conspiracy theory rather than Biblical teaching” [/QUOTE]
Perhaps not so far from the truth? I read some conspiracy mag that the Illuminati’s Luciferians and the Satanists under the Nazis via some secret societies similar to freemasonry had a breakup with 6 as the number of Satan and 9 the number of Lucifer. If six means man and nine means woman then perhaps the six in question means the man Hitler and 9 is some unidentified female leader, perhaps what the book of Revelations called the “great prostitute”?


PS. bananatrombones thanks for taking my anagram in good humor. Thanks for the palindrome assignment. BTW I really like your hat.

PPS. Sorry somee of the quotes are not merged proper.
 
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Mycroft

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Given that God may be identified with all that exists, my point is that asking "what created God?" may be like asking "how tall is the number 4?" There is no infinite regress, because the question, when asked of God is just nonsensical. In other words, the law of causality doesn't apply, because while God may be a thing, He is not an effect, and so He does not require a cause (or a creator).

My question has been one of, if He is finite in any sense, in what does he adhere? Anything that is finite in any sense, even in senses which we never encounter in our experience of reality and could not possibly imagine, would have a "boundary", a terminus. What would lie beyond this? As non-reality, by definition cannot exist, reality at its highest level must be infinite in every respect.

Unfortunately, it's become clear that the majority of people lack the imagination to come to the terms with the notion of finiteness in senses other than those with which we are familiar (spatial, numerical, temporal, etc.) and have been responding accordingly.

But, in any case, is reality infinitely orange? Is it infinitely true and infinitely false? Is it infinitely finite? Surely you don't actually mean "in all respects," because many aspects are mutually incoherent. A universe can be no more infinite in all respects than a God.

Objects are "orange" as our finite psychological apparatus arranges the infinite as such. "Orange" could not exist sans perception. Addressing your comments above, cause and effect also do not exist independent of a psychological apparatus. There are no "causes" and "effects" existing independent of perception.
 

Mycroft

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A) Your "definition" of infinite. You've never spelled it out. You've only told me what it isn't, so I've had to keep guessing what you really mean. The closest to a clear definition of infinite you've given is "not finite" which doesn't clear anything up at all.

My definition of the infinite should be clear to anyone with adequate intelligence and imagination. When you attempt to spell things out to the letter, (a) the idea is diminished, and (b) people spend so much time on irrelevant semantic distinctions that they miss the point entirely.

In our present and previous discussions, you have consistently been guilty of (b), so knowing that you are involved in this discussion, I'm being particularly careful to avoid that eventuality.

Frankly, I'm of the mind that even if I did somehow succeed in piloting the vessel of this concept through the keyhole of your remaining rational faculties, you would reflexively, most likely unconsciously, grasp for some semantic grounds on which to dismiss the idea as it would upset your comfortable routine. The only reason I tend to address you is because there are people reading who may be rational and imaginative enough to benefit from seeing how I respond to you.

B) You conclude reality must be infinite? Why? One problem is I don't understand your definition of infinite, but additionally your reasoning steps look like A-> B-> C -> Z to me. Could you elaborate more? Aside: Also I'm not sure you're aware of this, but the known universe as defined by modern science is most definitely finite according to either my definition or your definition.

See my previous post in response to Reason.

C) Even if you clear up problems A) and B) I don't see how your argument can be anything but a straw man. You are asserting that the common view of the Judeo-Christian God is one thing, and then your description does not fit the description of God from any monotheist that I've encountered.

To repeat precisely what I said the last time you brought this up, I'm unaware of any major branch of Christianity that would accept the notion of God as an inhabitant of reality rather than its creator. Additionally, I never mentioned the Christian God at all; you brought that into the discussion. I've merely pointed out that a "God" as defined as "creator of all reality" could not exist. That the Christian God falls into this category is peripheral.

If I am misinterpreting your posts it is because you are not communicating effectively. This should be apparant since other posters have been making comments similar to mine.

If all that were required were clear communication, philosophy would not have its reputation for difficulty. I can do what I'm able to present a difficult concept, but you must be prepared to put an effort of reflection and contemplation into approaching it.

As I've mentioned, given that your motive is to dismiss rather than to comprehend, you aren't seeing to your end of the bargain.
 

Eric B

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how very ingenious, so it does.

Shhh don't tell :newwink: Also God spelled backwards is dog. Coincidence?

Lets play letterman with your name too by shifting the letters around. A Nonabsorbent Ma, A Baboons Remnant, A Nabobs Ornament, Bananas Robot Men, Manana Boobs Rent, and A Man Nbobs a Tenor…music to the ears the list goes on…

This reminds me 09/09/09 is cuming up.

999; some say it is the devils number. Or Lucifer’s number. :devil:

I however have seen enough heavy metal album covers (which as we know are the uncontroverted authority in all matters occult, esp. dark occult) to know that when you turn something upside down or inverse it, it means the opposite.

Therefore if God does exist a priori the Devil exists and if the Devils son, the Beast's, number is 666 does 999 mean the opposite and therefore a day of good luck/positive revelations?

Also some say Gods number is 333 or 3 (the holy trinity) therefore since 3 x 333 equals 999...

999 isn't the devil's number, it's the number of woman. 6 is the number of man. Yeah, hence 69.

But in New Age beliefs/Wicca/etc. 9 is the number of the witch in a non-satanic sense. Of course, some religious people believe all witchcraft is Satanic, which is why some people think 999 is a number of the devil.
The way I had seen it in my studies; 6 is the number of man; 7 is the number of Christ (completeness), 8 is the number of victory (of Christ and his Kingdom), and I think, by extension, 9 would be the number of eternity, or a new heavens.

Personally I don't think the devil has a number. I think it's a matter of Christianity demonizing the European Pagan religions they sought to convert members from.

It originally was aimed at Nero (whose name in Hebrew or Aramaic is the one that added up to 666).
 

reason

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My question has been one of, if He is finite in any sense, in what does he adhere? Anything that is finite in any sense, even in senses which we never encounter in our experience of reality and could not possibly imagine, would have a "boundary", a terminus. What would lie beyond this? As non-reality, by definition cannot exist, reality at its highest level must be infinite in every respect.
Asking "what is beyond the universe?" is just nonsensical, because the universe is equal to everything that exists while "beyond" presupposes that something else exists -- the same is true of "boundry."

A finite universe doesn't have a boundry in the same way that an ordinary object has a boundry, because there is nothing for it to be bounded in. Likewise, there is nothing for it to be unbounded in either (i.e. "infinite"). The property of "boundedness" does not sensibly adhere to "universe."

The universe doesn't have to be infinite in the sense you describe.

By trying to apply properties reserved for objects in a universe to the universe itself, you are merely defining the universe as an object in a universe, and repeating that inconsistent definition sets in motion an infinite regress.
 

Totenkindly

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Through numerous Bible studies at home, I've come to understand a key secret about the Bible: to fully understand the Bible in context, you have to understand the background of the writer or the passage. Each writer lived in a different culture, and each passage ties to that culture or something written elsewhere in the Bible.

That's a pretty key point, along with the fact that some books had multiple unspecified authors and some texts might have been written for different purposes in the time frame. The sense of uniformity of purpose within the Scripture seems to be mostly imposed, which causes issues when things that were unrelated are assumed to fit (and then are tied) together by people living far out of the cultural contexts.

His Number One angel was Lucifer, regarded as the most beautiful of the angels. Lucifer tried to overthrow God out of jealousy, forcing God to banish him and the third of the angels that rebelled with him. Lucifer became known as Satan, and his angels became twisted into demons.

All that being said, I will point out that already we are starting to impose a mythological construct over top what's actually there. This story (this part and the rest) does not exist in full form anywhere -- it's cobbled together by taking a few verses here and a few verses there and assuming that they refer to some sort of consistent supernatural Satan figure -- and the part here about "Lucifer" being cast out of happen has long been argued to simply apply to Nebuchanezzer (as one example).

You've pretty much accurately described one version of theology commonly practiced today though (although there are issues here -- for example, "Paradise" in the OT, where actually no one knew what would happen, they would just refer to death as being Sheol, "the grave," and people had faith that SOMEHOW God would bring life to the dead -- this solidified concept of a heaven as a describable place is really a construct of NT thought).

There are certain ground assumptions that go into "scholarship" that seem to be arbitrary to me to SOME degree... one being that all of these books make a coherent whole. This assumption is made without any thought because we've bundled and packaged them together for centuries as "the word of God." Thus we can build our connections between all the data, because we assume they all operate as separate chapters in a biology or history book (for example) and thus we find a way to fit all the information together in sensible fashion.

As you can guess, though, whether or not you can skip inconsistencies and weave a narrative out of all the pieces has no bearing on whether the narrative itself is descriptive of reality. It's like finding a box in which someone has (unbeknownst to you) has dumped parts of ten puzzles together, building the "best fit" composite picture out of them (and throwing out pieces that don't fit into that picture) because they have to fit somehow -- they were all in the box! -- then saying that the picture is accurate just because it's the "best fit." The initial flaw comes in that maybe all those pieces weren't coherently interlocked to begin with and were separate puzzles.

Anyway, enough of addressing that here, back to main thread stuff...

living Laser said:
You conclude reality must be infinite? Why? One problem is I don't understand your definition of infinite, but additionally your reasoning steps look like A-> B-> C -> Z to me. Could you elaborate more? Aside: Also I'm not sure you're aware of this, but the known universe as defined by modern science is most definitely finite according to either my definition or your definition.

The "universe" as an entity might have had a beginning (in that sense, it's finite)... but then what of the frame it rests within? Our minds cannot comprehend infinity, but they are also drawn to the concept because if something we imagine is "finite" (i.e., has boundaries), then we automatically think "But what lies beyond those boundaries?") How can something be suspended in nothingness? This could just be a flaw in our human minds.

Who/What created the frame that the finite universe rests within? And if creator god exists within that frame, then he is not all-encompassing, is he? But if he is outside of it, then he "is" the frame per se and we still have no idea of how to define this being.

(I've been skimming back, and this seems to be where Mycroft went -- if God is sitting in a room on a chair he created, then who created the room?)
 

Spamtar

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Often these God proving/disproving act is debate is done with linear thinking (with both sides of the debate guilty thereof). If there is a successful debate (with great minds) it must also be done with nonlinear thinking.
The limitation of the frame of the debate of where God lives being in reality seems a bit over-restrictive unless God is some old man with a white beard like Santa Claus sitting in a room.
For those who have experimented with a large dose of LSD or salvia divinorum or perhaps those heavily skilled transcendental meditation will likely readily appreciate how much more vast nonreality and timelessness is compared to reality.
Personally I find both atheism and theism both religious beliefs which both require faith.
Even if God does show up to the debate in poison, how will we know he is not carrying a fake ID.
 

Polaris

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Are you sure that you understand what infinity means? There seems to be an impression here that the infinite goes beyond reality, that it exists as a thing which we can never wrap our heads around, even though it's in our heads that the concept emerged and still exists.

When you think of infinity, you think only of a property of language. Language, the precondition to awareness and our means of internalizing subject-object relations, has boundless potential. By this I mean that language is by its very nature open-ended. You can always potentially count to a higher number; always potentially add another word to a lexicon; always potentially dissect a line into finer segments. Language allows no final barriers, for every barrier at once begs the question: "And then what?" (Somewhere along the line, most people answer, "There's a blackness I'll call nothingness," and leave it at that.) And you can always answer that question; and that you can always answer it, at least in potential, is built into the nature itself of reality.

If you seek God, therefore, you would do well to stay in this world. The infinite doesn't exist out there as some sort of mysterious container that we can never understand. Infinity and awareness are one, and awareness and infinity are you.

This brings me to the question of God. Since God or any other symbolic construct arises from the linguistic faculty and is not that faculty itself, it follows that "God" lacks a privileged existence. "God" falls from our tongues as just another word, like "apple" or "Bob." He is bounded within infinite potential (the only kind of infinity), but is not himself infinite in any special sense. Without any choice in the matter, and with or without God, man already spends every moment in touch with the infinite; only until death stills his tongue does that connection break. And perhaps the ancients understood this on some level, for the world began with the Word.
 

Prototype

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Why?
The way I had seen it in my studies; 6 is the number of man; 7 is the number of Christ (completeness), 8 is the number of victory (of Christ and his Kingdom), and I think, by extension, 9 would be the number of eternity, or a new heavens...

What-about-3's?
 
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