I don't believe God is real. However, I figured out that it is as if God exists. I want just a yes no answer. Otherwise, I won't be able to understand the answer. It was only recently that I figured that out. I'm 35. All that time, I was just going to church for the fun of it for something to do and not understanding any of what they are saying. Their precisely focused minds and their specific ways I will probably never have because maybe I have a slightly different way of thinking and it will always be too advanced and confusing for me their specialized advanced focus on a specific thing, but the general idea of working together is what I think of as being like God. So I skimmed all the questions that appeared in the review and probably wouldn't be able to check any of them. The basic idea of working together is practically all I understand of the Church.
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1"it will always be too advanced and confusing for me" - I could say the same about quantum mechanics. There has to be a willingness to learn and dedication of time to arrive at an understanding of what God wants from/for us; kind of like quantum mechanics.– agarzaCommented Oct 22, 2022 at 1:25
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One way to answer your question is in terms of the questions that you want a study of God answers. Then we can determine whether the method arriving at the answers is what philosophy also uses. Basically, theology, being a superset of philosophy + sciences, uses much of the same method as philosophy; the superset proper being the incorporation of the findings from the study of sacred scriptures. Can you add some details on what those questions are?– GratefulDiscipleCommented Oct 22, 2022 at 17:57
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@GratefulDisciple I get it. Some people are really focusing their minds on what they call the study of God. I see how it's possible for them to do that and claim to understand it. I don't feel the need to understand it myself. It's just like I sometimes go into the sleepy state and find my own method and know that I am finding my own method when I'm in the sleepy state and don't feel the need to understand it in full when I'm not in the sleepy state. For example, if the task were to answer the question of why natural number addition is commutative, my brain would just seek the simple task– TimothyCommented Oct 22, 2022 at 21:54
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itself and then the how comes what ever way comes naturally right then. I know the golden years come eventually when you're like 80, but I enjoy the now a if they're never coming. I maybe live like month long chapters. My awareness of the next one is very nil but once it comes, then I think from scratch. I guess by the age, the brain gets a precisely focused library of files naturally that leads their destiny almost like the dream generator for generating individual dreams. I don't have that precisely focused mind now because it's not how I think now.– TimothyCommented Oct 22, 2022 at 21:59
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@Timothy Like philosophy, theology's goal is understanding. I see that it's only during your "sleepy state" you want to utilize the special mental state you are in, in order to understand God using whatever methods that you find appealing at that time. Are you then asking "to compare notes" on how Christians are studying God while they are in a similar mental state, so that once you are older that method may come naturally to you? Is this then a "sneak preview" question?– GratefulDiscipleCommented Oct 23, 2022 at 2:00
1 Answer
The simple answer that you are seeking is "No." The simple reason is that philosophy is not a living, sentient Being, to be understood as a 'Who', but is merely a 'What'.
What is philosophy? According to my Oxford Dictionary, 1976, it is the endeavour of human minds "seeking wisdom or knowledge, especially that which deals with ultimate reality, or with the most general causes and principles of things and ideas and human perception and knowledge of them, physical phenomena (natural philosophy), and ethics (moral philosophy); advanced learning in general (doctor of philosophy); philosophical system; system of principles for conduct of life."
God is not a 'What' but a 'Who'. Anyone who disbelieves in the existence of a supreme Being (God), can only have a head-trip, taking in knowledge about a subject that (to them) does not exist - they study theology without studying God. Lots of people have gained human qualifications in theology without believing in the existence of God, some of whom have gone on to preach theology in pulpits. But they have not preached God. You won't learn anything about the reality of God from them.
If, as you say, you have a "general idea of working together [which] is what I think of as being like God", you are lost before you begin. Nothing and nobody can help you understand the nature and Being of God until you get down on your knees and pray to God for help from him to learn of him. Not 'about' him - as an academic study - but to know him personally. Until you act in accordance with the possibility that a real, living, supreme Being exists, all you can hope for is cold-blooded theology. But Christians who believe in God and who seek him with all their hearts, know the love of God in Christ, without any need to study theology or philosophy.
God reveals himself to those whom he chooses to reveal himself to. Christianity is a matter of revelation from heaven, down to earth, supremely in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. If that isn't your starting point for understanding, you will understand nothing of any worth about God.
Please pardon me if this answer sounds harsh. It's just that some questions are too far from the starting-point to even begin to get an answer. The only starting-point for learning about God is to turn to him in prayer, seeking his help, and that requires a particle of belief that he exists and will hear your prayer.
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I accepted the answer because of the yes no answer you gave at the beginning, even though the rest was confusing. Also, we have free will. If we just care about working together like me, we're allowed to do that. It's about what's best for the people. If that's how they're fashioned to run their lives, I don't see the problem.– TimothyCommented Oct 22, 2022 at 15:49