I've read a lot of fiction where (lower case g) gods derive power from the number of worshippers they have and so on, but whats going on with the biblical God?
Asking those who, unlike me, may have read the bible more recently than 35 years ago.
From what I understand, God needs nothing from us. But he makes himself "finite" in order to give us some understanding of him and gives us the chance to get closer to him through worship. At least that's the Jewish belief.
__________________ There's a man goin' 'round takin' names.
An' he decides who to free and who to blame.
Everybody won't be treated all the same.
There'll be a golden ladder reaching down.
When the man comes around.
God's love for us is not "conditional" or else he wouldn't have sent His only Son to die for us/pay for our sins.
__________________ Darwin's theory of evolution is the great white elephant of contemporary thought. It is large, completely useless, and the object of superstitious awe.-Dr. David Berlinski, Philosophy
Most people believe Evolution not because they themselves are dumb, but cause they trust the "experts" who are feeding them evolutionary fast food, and so they don't bother questioning whether or not it's true.
Gender: Male Location: Southern Oregon,
Looking at you.
What does God get out of being worshipped?
This is what I believe:
Worship is for people.
God is complete and without want or need.
God is the cup that overflows. How can you add to that?
A boner? I like to believe its erectile girth is directly proportional to the volume and intensity of worship. Weekends are basically Him using Universal Google to find porn.
Riv's post is saying our love would be the conditional love. He wasn't applying that modifier to God's love.
It definitely serves a psychological and/or emotional need for many.
Riv, not that it's the worst of sins (it's not at all, actually), but you don't always have to act like you're putting together a masters dissertation. Thankfulness is nice and all, but this is the internet. Half the time we're just sh*t-posting to kill time.
However, I do hope my God-boner hypothesis makes it into your future musings on the subject.
It's not what 'God' gets out of it; it's what people get out of it, and IMHO the intent of worship (or in general, a reverent outlook) is to remind us to think outside the ego box.
Of course, like with so much humans do, the road to hell is paved with good intention.
__________________
Shinier than a speeding bullet.
__________________ There's a man goin' 'round takin' names.
An' he decides who to free and who to blame.
Everybody won't be treated all the same.
There'll be a golden ladder reaching down.
When the man comes around.
From a panentheistic POV: as humanity, 'God' reaps the benefits noted above.
But this is probably not what you meant either. For me, the Biblical God is a metaphor serving a specific purpose, limited in what it can convey, and one can go virtually anywhere with that depiction (eg, 'God needs to be worshipped cuz he's a vengeful God').
__________________
Shinier than a speeding bullet.
God is essentially like a Kardashian. The Kardashians don't really do what they do strictly for money, but because they obviously crave and love attention.
__________________ Chicken Boo, what's the matter with you? You don't act like the other chickens do. You wear a disguise to look like human guys, but you're not a man you're a Chicken Boo.
God is the opposite of the kardashians. He doesn't need your attention.
__________________ There's a man goin' 'round takin' names.
An' he decides who to free and who to blame.
Everybody won't be treated all the same.
There'll be a golden ladder reaching down.
When the man comes around.