Is This God? | Episode 1303 | Closer To Truth
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- čas přidán 19. 05. 2020
- Who is God? Can humans probe God? Can we inquire into God’s essence and nature? Is God at all knowable? Or forever beyond human understanding? Let’s be bold in questioning God. Featuring interviews with Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Brian Leftow, John Cottingham, Paul Fiddes, and Alister McGrath.
Season 13, Episode 3 - #CloserToTruth
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Closer To Truth host Robert Lawrence Kuhn takes viewers on an intriguing global journey into cutting-edge labs, magnificent libraries, hidden gardens, and revered sanctuaries in order to discover state-of-the-art ideas and make them real and relevant.
▶Free access to Closer to Truth's library of 5,000 videos: bit.ly/376lkKN
Closer to Truth presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
#God #Theology
you gotta love that smiling nod he always does, as if to say, "interesting!, go on..."
Lawrence exhibits the most noble of human characteristic, listen to the other person, he might know something you do not.
Agree with you totally:-) MeenaC
@AN 69 - Absolutely. A nearly perfect interviewer. I believe Dr. Kuhn is bulding a magnificent source of knowledge for generations to come. Perhaps the best in UTube so fare.
Absolutely. Though in another Level, Joe Rogan has that same virtue..I admire that in people.
I really appreciate Robert's wholly honest, and challenging self reflections. What a refreshing series, I'm glad it has been made available on youtube.
I think the philosopher Alister McGrath gave Robert the clearest path to truth, one must experience God in order to know God, and thus Truth
Are you stating that the personal experience of Shiva is the same as the personal experience of Yaweh, or is one false and the other true, or both are false? With 1000's of religions and gods, I find the first of the three unlikely. The second is overconfidence in one version, and the third gets my vote.😊
I enjoyed the variety of word salads coming from the guests here. The amazing verbal gymnastics all these people could conjure up are truly outstanding.
word salads are correct... and in the final analysis say nothing
Why dont you share us a good answer without verbal gymnastics?
@@sonicrevic4928 'I don't know?'
There is no evidence theoretically or conceivably that could convince me of a god, even if it were provided by such being itself.
-- atheist materialists
The king of word salad is J. Wentzel van Huyssteen, who was a guest he had in another episode.
I believe in God because I perceive it, I feel its presence. Once I asked God to show me who He was to make me understand and it happened. My mind became one with His conciousness. God is closer than you think.
You must be really special seeing how God gave you something that the has continually denied billions upon billions of people.
then next time ask him why it is that 5.2 million children under the age of 5 die EVERY YEAR ?... would be intersted in the answer
I continue to love this show, even as I note (and am occasionally frustrated by) its limitations. Each episode begins with Kuhn’s puzzlement or discomfort over a typically weighty cosmological, philosophical or theological conundrum. He brings his qualms to a distinguished scholar on the subject, where they engage in respectful discussion framed against imposing backdrops of immense cathedrals or immaculate university offices, trying with varying degrees of success to shed some light on the matter. This is inevitably followed by a sonorous voiceover where Kuhn expresses both his appreciation for the insights offered, as well as his doubts. Wash, rinse and repeat for the next thirty minutes.
Again - mistake me not, I love this show. Like its host (who I would personally love to meet), it’s elegant, intelligent, sincere, and the civilized tone between people who have profound disagreements is a wonderful tonic for our current era of increasing polarization and craziness. But if Kuhn and the audience ever do get any “closer to truth,” it’s only by way of Zeno’s Paradox.
Makes you want to Shake Before Using... Don't it?
It makes one wonder, in 23 years since the show started, I wonder if he's any closer to truth? 😂
He never reaches any conclusions, despite consulting with some of the greatest thinkers of our day.
I surmise that he is hedging his bets in order to cast a wide audience net. In short, he can't come to any conclusions that would alienate important segments of the demographic that watch his programs.
Even simple questions are twisted into pretzels to add unnecessary complications.
Frankly, after listening to him for about two years, it was become quite clear that he has no answers and actually seeks no answers.
Just intuitively, I look to theoretical physicists, like Einstein was, for understanding the nature of God. I think God is the Totality of every thing, being, and process and these are what theoretical physicists strive to understand. I think that to believe in science and nature is to believe in God. Cosmologists and quantum physicists and mathematicians of course continually look for a unfied field equation that is perfectly symmetrical and dare I say it, divine. Geniuses in the fine arts also pursue the divine --- Bach, Michelangelo, and many ohers come to mind. This pursuit of divine perfection is endlessly exciting and fascinating. New and bold ideas in theoretical physics are quite thrilling, as time goes by.
Forgot to mention The Beatles. They produced some divine phenomena!
*God is in all of us.*
Good afternoon , Salam, Robert, I find your programs fascinating , full of enchanting queries , and quest about Truth ! I am thankful to Almighty that I came across your program and met you as amazing human being who is so passionate about finding Truth!
Robert isn't about finding the truth, but rather he is interested in redefining the truth, that is the way I see it.
@@rizwanrafeek3811
But that might well be the first step, to try to redefine things you don't see fitting rationally. Like when Abraham looked at the Sun and the Moon and thought could this be my Lord? All of that seems to be done with reasoning and pure intention to know the truth. And after that medium Abraham came to his final conclusion and conviction about God.
@@anassyria5176 Prophet Abraham already determined who God is and who God is not, whereas Robert is trying to reinvent God, I guess he has been doing this all his life and he didn't know wheel is already invented, lol.
Salam kouser i don't know if ur Iranian bcuz ppl also in Hebrew use Shalam as greeting but it doesn't matter it's always sweet to see ppl with same passion to find truth with different ethnic and nationality after all we're all the same
Truth is perception of our own reality. Everyone's truth is different.
God is the unfathomable primal reason for all things. I feel completely comfortable with this understanding.
Yes, there is an "unfathomable primal reason for all things". It's unknowable, which is intolerably for those who can't tolerate _not knowing._ Let them call it "God" if that sets their minds at rest!
@@rclrd1 you are intolerable in fact
I believe each of us are capable of becoming our own god😇
I hope to God a part of me lives forever.
The eloquent introductions never cease to amaze me.
If this man was on a journey to find "Truth", he'd be better at math.
@Stefano Portoghesi The closest we humans have ever gotten to truth is physics, we must start there. However, morality cannot really be built from physics, at least not in practice, by humans.
@Stefano Portoghesi Unlike you folk, who are only telling the truth, eh?
@Stefano Portoghesi Speculation of the wise feels nice. czcams.com/video/3IQbo-OjuZU/video.html
Sometimes being eloquent on a subject not quantifiable by man , equates to B.S.
I really love this channel and all your mini documentaries about God! May God bless you!
My boy Rob got testy on this episode. He straight up gettin sick of not knowing.
😂🤣😂
Due U Exist NOW view SEE this with EARS www.eckancar.org Click HU www.fhu.com ? request MEDITATION suggested Be Still and know www.yahwehsnewkingdom.com Ask 4 Book "FREE" www.yahweh.com ask for Newsletter sh AIR with Rob
I was a Christian for 18 years and eventually became Atheist for the last 4.5 years but I am changing my mind towards Spinoza's Concept of God. While that still would leave me without a personal God and it can be debated on whether or not we should just call it reality, nature, the cosmos or whether or not it is conscious (with the exception of islands of consciousness awaking such as you and I and other forms of life in the cosmos). It nonetheless would correctly be given the name of God as it fits the description perfectly. It would be the very essence or substance of reality itself, the cause of its own being (after all, existence itself would be a fundamental property of reality) and the creator of all things. It would of necessity hold all power that is not contradictory to its essence and hence all potentiality (omnipotence) and all available knowledge (Information) and hence would be omniscient. In my view of reality (the Cosmos) as well as Spinoza's as far as I can tell it would be eternal and infinite (this would take more explanation to examine properly). It is nature or reality. It is pure existence or the substance of infinite attributes. In creating the universe (whether consciously or not) it would only change the form of its substance and not create a new substance and hence our universe is only a mode of itself or else there would be 2 substances with the same attributes which is absurd. Hence this God would be one (as the Jewish religion teaches). However, it would not have a choice in how it created the universe as that would be determined by its very essence. It couldn't not be what it is. Or as Einstein put it "Did God have a choice in creating the universe?" Hence a will and action of the God is absurdity. For example, from the perspective of the God of classical theology Omniscience presupposes that all future happenings are already unalterably determined. If there is omniscience, omnipotence is inconceivable. Impotence to change anything in the predetermined course of events would restrict the power of any acting agent. If God knows the future as it really is (not just how it might be, or how he wants it, but how it will turn out) then God is impotent to affect any change to the future. These two attributes are directly contradictory the one to the other and the law of non-contradiction demands that two contradictory things cannot both be true in the same sense at the same time. Or put plainly, If God knows how the future will occur then he cannot change how the future will occur. However, if this God (Cosmos) was not an acting agent exacting its will then the paradox goes away, also it could create some beings with limited knowledge or limited power then they would not create the paradox and hence we as humans can act to change our future. In this sense the Modes of God could act without a contradiction occurring. Such a God could also not do miracles as they would violate his/her/it's own being in the same way (hence, no violation of the Laws of nature could occur as the God would itself be the Laws of nature). Whether it can even hear your prayers or think is highly unlikely. For example, there appears to be no medium over which thought can propagate outside of a physical mind. However, consciousness is not found in any parts of our brain or any cells. It is in the interactions of the various parts and cells. Just like learning at Uni does not occur in this or that class or by this or that teacher but rather as an interaction of all phenomenon. In the same way there may be interactions which would make the God conscious. For example, interactions of fields, or in light, or electromagnetic waves, or in gravity, or possibly in the Quantum mechanics, etc... This may provide the interactions on a large scale that might make thought possible to this God. However, thought and consciousness would still be a mode and not the essence or substance that it is. Hence thought would not be fundamental to the God. It would exist with or without it. If thought can arise then it is not within it's will (which it could not have a will) nor would it have any power over it. This is where we run into so many problems by trying to make the God think and act as you and me. To have our passions and our drives. We miss the fundamental nature of it in order to put our self in its shoes. To make God in our image, after our likeness.
In other words, I think the divine reality might infinitely exceed consciousness, will, and values, those modes which we best relate to through a mind as thinking creatures.
Hello... Interesting 😊
Not preaching. Just my thoughts. Favourite subject ! Haha
I see you were once a Christian and I'm sure you have very good reasons for now not being... Were you Reformed ? If so, I'd have fallen very out of love with such a monstrosity too 😍😂 (but equally you might have just rightfully rejected a mental construct which is simply an idol, which is not a bad thing tbh)
That the "Absolute" / God is - in essence - beyond personality and that the "mind" or conscious sense of "self" in "gods" or creatures (angels and us included) only ultimately arises via emanation or multiplication, is (as you are probably well aware) a common theme in many philisophical / metaphysical traditions and systems.
The difference with the revealed and experienced Absolute within the Biblically sourced beliefs is that the very incomprehensible, incommunicable essence of God (and in Christianity, the Triune God) is still seen as being, not less, but more personal than you or I (God, at heart, has a heart) and not merely a naked passive consciousness or potential like Nirguna Brahman. Within the bulk of Hindu or Platonically derived philosophies the worship of a deity might be handy as a tool, a focus for the ultimate goal of Self realisation, but that realisation will ultimately be that the souls oneness with the Absolute is one which goes "beyond" the elementary of the manifested secondary "personal god" - to the sophistication of the impersonal - once the entanglement of Illusion is put aside. "I am you and you are me for all there is is the one all pervading Consciousness / Self" is the inevitable verdict. There will be a "oneness of essence" and a loss of the self as that of a drop of water in the ocean. Spinoza's god of universal laws would, as you know, equate "god" with all in a similar Pantheistic way.
Ironically Atheism / pure scientific materialism and Christianity, have something in common. They both think of "I" in a concrete and distinct way. Obviously the atheist sees consciousness as a byproduct of material evolution and the Christian sees consciousness giving rise to matter in the first place, but "Personhood" - that I am really distinctly created or evolved to this point as little old me, is a wonderful non illusury reality ! For me personally, I am convinced that the Triune Absolute intentionally created and loves me as an individual.
Yes we are all one humanity, and one energy, and have the same source... but we are a soul and body unity, and whatever tragedy had, and may befall us, we may also receive the revelation that this Infinite Source of Personal Love Personally enteted into the creation in full identification with us in order to relationally reconcile the greatest wonders and mysteries in this universe... Persons ! Made in the Divine Image.
Have you studied the essence energy distinction of Gregory Palamas (14th cent) Within Eastern Orthodox thought ? Really good for those of us who wrestle with the relationship of energetic Cosmos and the possible uncreated Spirit which / Who permeates all things.
✌️💚
Good job, Robert, as always. I start each day with one of your episodes. Thank you.
To me,the spookiest thing about the Universe are rules. How could vibrating particles or strings...create rules? and so many?.
Reality I take it existed long before the big bang. Where reality came from is a head scratcher.
I agree but why is it that God is still a possible solution? At this point I think we can pretty much rule him out until he/she/it decides to make themselves known.
@@blackscreennoiseforrelaxat1517 God is the EASIEST solution. But,who made God? See?
I know Kuhn is looking for validation that his life had a purpose and will carry on. Only.,it wont. His life is like the flash of colliding subatomic particles..happened,then was gone. Entropy.
One more. Does it bother you that somebody, a stranger nobody in the obits died and there is no afterlife for them? No,they meant nothing to you. You don't even care.
It's only ourselves we deem worthy.
@Pisstake Two can play that game. Where's God? Whats his or her language?..lol.
You’ve made a really valid point. It’s a bit unnerving to be honest especially when scientists like the father of modern string theory Leonard Susskind are having doubts
The physicist Leonard Susskind has recently admitted that the present inability of physics to explain the fine tuning of the universe that is essential for life appears to leave an opening for a Designer.
“I have to say that if [string theory fails], as things stand now we will be in a very awkward position. Without any explanation of nature's fine tunings we will be hard pressed to answer the ID critics. One might argue that the hope that a mathematically unique solution will emerge is as faith-based as [Intelligent Design].”
(Leonard Susskind)
George Doyle With all due respect to Mr. Susskind, whose intelligence I’m certain would far outstrip mine on his worst day, I tend to go with Douglas Adams’ Parable of the Puddle where the notion of I.D. “fine tuning” is concerned:
“This is rather as if you imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, 'This is an interesting world I find myself in - an interesting hole I find myself in - fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!' This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises in the sky and the air heats up and as, gradually, the puddle gets smaller and smaller, frantically hanging on to the notion that everything's going to be alright, because this world was meant to have him in it, was built to have him in it; so the moment he disappears catches him rather by surprise. I think this may be something we need to be on the watch out for.”
Hallelujah ! Thank you for a fascinating video on the many excellant speculations about the Blessed Supreme Being. May all beings be happy ! Amen !
If only he would look into his own heart he would find all the answers
Robert, it would be amazing if you interviewed the Pope's Astronomer Guy J. Consolmagno :) Love your channel!
God is a word for many things, too many things.
God is a word. Words are entangled with emotion....too many emotions.
Stefano Portoghesi Probably true, but not really relevant when discussing the sort of Entity Kuhn is interested in.
a friedrich I like this a great deal, and intend to quote it in the future.
That's why even non arab muslims prefer to use the name Allah. Which translates to "the only one worthy of worship".
@@7homonculus That's why even non Muslims prefer to use the name Allah. It translates better than Marvin or Harry.
"It is time now for a greater comprehension of God and an expanded understanding of God, who is the Source and Author of your life and of all life within this world and throughout the Greater Community of worlds in which you live.
This new understanding is not to correct previous understanding as much as it is to expand it, to make it more complete, to leave the door open for a greater experience of the Divine Will and Presence in your life.
In presenting a New Message from God, it is necessary then to renew this experience, to freshen it, to separate it from all the things that have been added by human institutions and human inventions, to bring it into greater focus and clarity for you.
Here it is important not to confuse God with religion, for many terrible things have been done in the name of religion and in the name of God. But God exists far beyond all of these things-far beyond human error, far beyond human imagination, far beyond human invention and far beyond human corruption.
It is necessary now for you to consider God within the larger arena of intelligent life in which you live, which includes all life within this world, but extends beyond it into the Greater Community [the universe].
To have a pure experience of the Divine Reality and the Divine Will for your life, you must gain this Greater Community understanding of God.
Otherwise, you will think of God as a projection of your own personality, as a projection of your own emotions, thoughts and feelings. You will project onto God your anger, your preferences, your judgments, whatever sense of revenge you might have, your notions of justice and punishment and so forth.
But God exists beyond all of this-the real God, the pure God that has been shining like the sun upon you. Regardless of the clouds in the sky, regardless of the pollution in the atmosphere and the turbulence on the ground, God is like the sun shining upon you.
But God is beyond the sun, beyond any definition that you can make. Beyond your histories, beyond the great teachers and the great Messengers from God, beyond the great spiritual books and testimonies, there is God the Creator and the Author of your life and existence.
What God has created in you lives within you now. It lives beyond your intellect, beyond your thoughts and understanding, beyond your concepts, beyond your ideas and beliefs in a deeper place within you-a deeper mind, a mind that in the New Message is called Knowledge. It is the mind that knows. It is the mind that waits. It is the mind that sees clearly without distortion, without fear, without preference, without confusion, without speculation-a deeper mind within you."
From the "Comprehending God" a Revelation in the Book of Revelation "The One God". All free online at newmessage(dot)org.
🤔 hmmmm. . . .
I love this channel, he asks himself the very same questions I ask. Then he goes and searches for answers.
Robert, the key to get closer to the truth and to get closer to God is to not think of God as someone outside of you or outside of creation.
In fact God is all there is. Both you and I and all of creation resides within God. Anything else is totally impossible.
God is consciously active in people and things
My first class as a freshman in college was a philosophy course. On my first day of classes a student asked the professor why the universe could not have been created by a force or being that possessed the power to create but was itself mortal and had created the universe as this self governing engine and then died off. It blew me away because I had never considered such a proposition or ever heard anyone else voice it. It begs the question, do we have to define God as all knowing, all powerful and infinite?
There are several interesting answers to those questions. The first is that the Universe (with a capital "U" of course) is EVERYTHING that exists, INCLUDING the black VOID/ VACUUM of INFINITE space, which CANNOT be "created" and just ALWAYS IS. Therefore, for God to have "created EVERYTHING (aka "the Universe") God would have had to PRECEDE EVERYTHING in existence, thereby implying ETERNITY for God. IF God BECAME existent BEFORE creating EVERYTHING, it means God had to be "produced" from some previously existent substance, thereby implying God did NOT create EVERYTHING. Though originating Self and HAVING at least a priori CAUSE of existing does NOT preclude Divinity, the VERY concept of "Godness", or better "Deity/Divinity" is that of IMMORTALITY/DEATHLESSNESS. Thus, while "God" might well "become into being" "God" would NOT then subsequently "pass or fade away". Therefore in answer to the last question, "God" would NOT have to be infinite, omnipotent, or omniscient to be "God", BUT "God" WOULD HAVE to be IMMORTAL/ETERNAL. In fact, "God" MIGHT very well be the "self-governing machine/engine of the Cosmos". The apostle Paul himself stated in one of his New Testament epistles (I forget which) that "indeed there are MANY gods". This got me thinking in terms of practical cosmic structure similar to that student's proposed question, what if the various, UNunited nebulae are CONSCIOUS power entities (in which we live and move and have our being as the apostle says, AND as the Gnostic Christians believed) that could be considered "gods"; each one a deity of the worlds within itself? IF the nebulae are tenuously connected some way into a "cosmos" or accumulation of astral matter, might that totality constitute the "Supreme Deity" with the nebulae being the LESSER ones?? To me those are moot questions because there is so much obvious DISorder bordering on CHAOS in THIS nebula we live in that I can't see it as being a "Divine Mind" of supreme intelligence.
@@richarddemuth7077 "IF God BECAME existent" ----
Per classical theology, the term "God" refers to existence in and of itself ---ipsum esse subsistens --- and not "a thing which exists". It is incoherent to posit existence to "not be". Existence in and of itself is the singularly self-evident axiom prerequisite for all else.
I enjoy "Closer to Truth" episodes because the intricate word games played by intelligent and articulate people are entertaining. But these word games are obviously incapable of satisfying Robert's obsessive "need to believe". What he _really_ needs is to step back and ask himself "what exactly _is_ this "need" that's driving me on this wild goose chase? Is it, perhaps, _deluding_ me?"
Eric Lord I keep saying the same thing. It’s not that you have a hunger to find out, but where does that hunger come from in the first place.
I think that Robert(like myself) is just a bit obsessed with finding the truth in all things. For us, it means traveling down many rabbit holes and forming opinions about all of our experiences. For me, the truth is very important but the joy is in learning.
Eric Lord There is an episode of CtT where a very charming lady Rector in the Church of England confronts Kuhn with more or less the same question.
Needs dmt or a nice mushroom experince
@@dennistucker1153 yes, his obsession is obvious, but to paraphrase a line from a movie, I don’t think he could handle the truth, because a) it conflicts with his conscious and subconscious beliefs, and b) he’d be at a loss what to do with the rest of his life. I think for him it’s mostly the search.
Personally, I think that at last, in my old age, I’ve figured out the broad brushstrokes, not the fine details, but if I told it to him, he’d reject it outright, because it doesn’t fit his preconceptions.
His preconception is a deity he calls God, but that preconception conflicts with his training in neuroscience, so presumably he wants to somehow reconcile them. I think that’s hopeless, but anyway it gives him something to occupy his time. There are worse ways to occupy time.
i love the look on roberts face as the first guy he interviewed was over. , just walk away slowly saying ok ok !! lol
Thoroughly enjoy this channel. Bravo 👏
10:30 Wow! That is some rare philosophical bravery.
I beleive everything there is, is God.
Anything is god if you redefine it
@@dans3158 I think that is a known limit. I think God would be limitless.
Robert J Kukla Jr It would have to be. But if we’re part of it, why give it a name that implies that we’re not it.. Point is, it has a different meaning in every mind, so it ends up not having meaning if you know what I’m saying. So whatever it is, (existence) should be discussed without the usage of the word, by using words that have mutual meaning. If existence (god) is conscious, then I think consciousness should be the main discussion
Dan S what if the dichotomy of everything was pure? If in order to have something visible and known, it needs an opposite, we are God opposite, yet the same. A coin if you will. We can drop the god I think but not the premise. A perfect entity using an imperfect expression to experience its opposite.
Robert J Kukla Jr Yes I think we should drop the god as a human species and only give it a name (perhaps god) when everyone agrees on the premise. That might take a few centuries. There are many people who believe the same thing I do and call it god, but I can’t myself because I find it silly.. Probably because of all the theist talk about god. I like to call it existence.. And existence would be limitless consciousness by default. And consciousness is what people are calling god. Sure there are people who have the right idea of god, but most people don’t
Robert, love your channel. Very Fascinating.
GOD is LOVE , LOVE is GOD, its all about LOVE.
Carl Jung said that God is an archetype. You can eat mushrooms and meet archetypes. But it takes a lot of work to integrate experiences after meeting with the gods.
@Deepstateagenda21lgbtqsatanicilluminatipopelover. In my experience, it feels like a meeting with extraterrestrial beings. As if they were energy fields with changing shapes. Beyond time and space. Very far from the human world.
I'm with Jung. The external god is a fallacy. We are the centre of our our individual realities. We are all co-creators of our collective consciousness.
@@BratusMaximus . Jung said that the ego is identical with the individual consciousness, there is the shadow, as well as the collective unconscious and the archetypes. The archetypes are what humans have always called gods. For example in the north there is Odin, Loki, Thor, Freya and so on.
Ask yourself 'who is observing all of this?'
I am. Aren't you?
"this"
Ask yourself.
Your self.
Self?
who says we are finite ?
Great Documentary! 🌟
Dr. Kuhn's patience with some of his befuddled guests is amazing!
I noticed that too. I give him a lot of credit on that. I wish I knew all that he does.
Everyone’s entitled to their opinion but I thought they demonstrated great clarity and humility.
Ah yes the CZcamsr calling respected academics “befuddled”.
Maybe it’s because he is wise enough to respect and to properly consider what their point of view.
Only when the lamp of search, of earnest striving, of longing desire, of passionate devotion, of fervid love, of rapture, and ecstasy, is kindled within the seeker’s heart, and the breeze of His loving-kindness is wafted upon his soul, will the darkness of error be dispelled, the mists of doubts and misgivings be dissipated, and the lights of knowledge and certitude envelop his being.
Baha’u’llah
My humble opinion is there is a higher intelligence responsible for us being here but not an omnipotent and benevolent God.
I wish this were a longer conversation.
♾
Everything we know about god, we taught each other from stories we learned, from each other.
And do you see where God is in that?
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand knowledge.
@@No-oneInParticular i suppose
Iam a hands on person must touch it to believe it hope Iam wrong I guess that is where belief comes in just love people and the earth🌏
Too bad that Alan watts passed away....an Robert & Alan conversation would e great.. 🌞
Really enlightening
I can’t believe the special stories that’ve been made up about our relationship to the universe at large because they seem to be…too simple, too connected, too local, too provincial. The “earth,” He came to “the earth”, one of the aspects God came to “the earth!” mind you, and look at what’s out there…? how can we…? it isn’t in proportion…Richard Feynman
When I read the first few words I automatically know who you were quoting. That man was A great mind that didn’t go to waist.
@@blackscreennoiseforrelaxat1517 that's not how you spell "waist"
"I go to Oxford, England." Such an interesting life.
GOD IS EXIST yes it is NATURE. NATURE IS ENERGY AND ENERGY CAN CREATE ITS SELF, change form and can not be destroyed, peoples they forget about NATURE, AND ENERGY, ENERGY, AND NATURE COULD CREATE A PLANET you know? There is no HUMAN BEING religion god..
I'm afraid that, inspite of his testimony to the contrary, he is too comfortable to move closer to truth.
We are all god within and part of him inside ourself.
Hello Mr.Robert , please have an interview with Swami Sarvapriyananda of Vedanta society of New York...
I was reading about the block determinate Universe and how physicists argue against it. For one thing,there is no such thing as the past. It does not exist at all,anywhere. No time machine can take you where there is nothing to go to.
So,when we die..its black and as if we never had existed at all. Lousy end. But simple.
At least we have life to see as a precious opportunity. Instead of waiting & hoping for the afterlife. I find knowing we will simply no longer exist to b motivating.
It could be deeply healing to let go of everything at the end. What a beautiful dream.
@@sunshinelillie6938 I had the most real dream of my life about dying at 52 back in the 90's when I was in my 30's. The suffocating in the hospital bed,struggling for every breath,the pain,the agony, and then a ringing in my ears at highest decibels as the pain increased...until things went away and black took over.
Well,I'm 62 now and still alive.
“So when we die its black and as if we had never existed at all, Lousy end But simple.”
Thanks for sharing, that really cheered us all up during this pandemic lol!!. Nevertheless, if there’s no time how can there be an “end” and then “black” as such. This is based on human experience and perceptions that are limited to five main sense organs and the assumption that time is linear. You could just as easily argue that it’s possible there could be endless light and endless life. Einstein suggested that time and death could be an illusion. After a close friend suddenly died he stated....
“That means nothing. People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion. - Albert Einstein. There is also evidence for this in quantum mechanics and string theory. At the fundamental level there are actually particles that are “real” and yet they are invisible, unmeasurable, bi locational, timeless and they can influence each other over great distances. Fascinating subject! No offence intended. All the best to you and your family and keep safe during this Corona virus crisis.
George Doyle well put
This took us much further from truth. At least we can see what truth isn't.
In the practical world the God of the bible is INCOMPATIBLE!
We face god everyday, the problem is not what they teach as. In this life and the next one stay in the light.
Love and Justice. Where is God in that? The vast majority of humanity has had horrible existences. Short, brutal existences. And it is still going on today. I see no Love or Justice in the lives of humans. If God exists he is not All Good or All Loving.
Hey Francis... I think I understand your feeling. I struggle with the same questions. However we need to remember that Jesus the Christ had a brutal death. I'm trying to see the correlation between his death and the brutality of man.
@Time to Reason I understand your frustration. I struggle to understand too. But I don't look at "Jesus Cult.' I try to just look at Jesus' life and stories, which emphasize love. John in Florida
On an emotional level I agree with you. But on a logical level I think there could be reasons for why this is all necessary. But it certainly seems like way more suffering exists than can be justified.
Bro be true to yourself then you will see the believers perspective
@@johnbrzykcy3076 the name Jesus in Hebrew means TO save and to rescue. Love is through compassion to save, to rescue. In Jesus's name. Churches and ministries don't teach this. They teach to idolise the Jesus like a famous footballer or celebrity, or even idolise letters of the alphabet spelling J E S U S. Idolatry through the mind.
he seemed to be facinated by Seyyed Hossein Nasr, which i found to be the best to explain the Reality of God (Allah)
Agreed
This has not gotten me any closer to an answer, however I would love to hear an hour of Robert and Stephen Fry conversation. Okay, perhaps 2 hours.
Fine channel! Love it!
Brother, you already know the historical Jesus. Know the personal Jesus.
Amen way to think for yourself.
10:38 "I have staked my life on it" - the true reason theologians and famous apologists still believe in God
God brings more questions than answers.
God is the universe itself, it's everything!
When you are aware of yourself, you are aware of 'me'.
This is God.
God is Me.
lol no don't get bamboozled with that idea lol
Tat Tvam Asi
Precisely.
@@Coyote9771 Don't laugh. You are God.
The 99 names or attributes of Allah are some of the infinite attributes¹ of Allah with which he interacts/deals with us humans on our level of existence. He/it is absolutely transcendental².
1) And if whatever trees upon the earth were pens and the sea [was ink], replenished thereafter by seven [more] seas, the words of Allah would not be exhausted. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise quran 31:27
2) There is nothing like unto Him quran 42:11
God is good
Good one
Whatever “it” is... almost certainly, no.
Ignorance fo what, exactly, your favorite make believe figure?
Dave N the irony
@@JAYDUBYAH29 ignorant kid
@Time to Reason well looks like you are a sham
@Time to Reason creatures like you are the biggest scam and fraud planet earth has ever come across and need to be dealt with accordingly
"Does God exist? The first words spoken in the video. God how I hate that question.
Because I've heard that question asked a thousand times, and as far as I'm concerned that's 999 times too many.
@@TheWorldTeacher
Well, I won't answer a question that I _can't_ answer. But if _you_ want to answer it go ahead. I can tell you that for me it's probably the most infuriatingly frustrating question that anyone can ask only because it's probably the most important question that anyone can ask.
Do fairies and elves exist?
@@mrloop1530 In the real world? I don't know. I've seen a strange looking creature or two in my day though.
it is question of the same order as "Is it faster to New York or by train?". A tale told by idiots, full of fury, signifying nothing.
Most explanations of the individuals you interviewed for the existence of God sounded contradictory to the simple logic of main.
Rupert Sheldrake would be probably the best person to interview on this topic.
GREAT synthesis of positions at the end. This means: Watch all the way to the end. Philosophical vs. Personal God. God mad man vs. Man made God.
Per classical theology, the term "God" refers to existence in and of itself -- ipsum esse subsistens -- and not "a thing which exists". It is incoherent to posit existence to "not be". Existence in and of itself is the singularly self-evident axiom prerequisite for all else. Man does not "make" existence.
“To speak of “God” properly, then…is to speak of the one infinite source of all that is ...God so understood is not something posed over against the universe, in addition to it, nor is he the universe itself. He is not a “being” ...he is not one more object in the inventory of things that are, or any sort of discrete object at all. Rather, all things that exist receive their being continuously from him, who is the infinite wellspring of all that is ...In one sense he is “beyond being,” if by “being” one means the totality of discrete, finite things. In another sense he is “being itself,” in that he is the inexhaustible source of all reality, the absolute upon which the contingent is always utterly dependent, the unity and simplicity that underlies and sustains the diversity of finite and composite things. ...All the great theistic traditions agree that God, understood in this proper sense, is essentially beyond finite comprehension; hence, much of the language used of him is negative in form and has been reached only by a logical process of abstraction from those qualities of finite reality that make it insufficient to account for its own existence. All agree as well, however, that he can genuinely be known: that is, reasoned toward, intimately encountered, directly experienced with a fullness surpassing mere conceptual comprehension.”
Source: Hart, David Bentley (2013). The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss. _Yale University Press._ p. 41-42
Oh, we can use modern physics to attempt to describe some of His attributes, but those attempts are just that...attempts. This guy uses annoying platitudes and facile arguments where even the greatest thinkers and minds used million-word thesis' and only scratch the surface.
Why use the term "he"?
@@freethot333 Because it's the default pronoun throughout history, and because fuck off.
@@ozzymandius666 I didn't mean "you specifically" Michael.. :/
“Supposing there was no intelligence behind the universe, no creative mind. In that case, nobody designed my brain for the purpose of thinking. It is merely that when the atoms inside my skull happen, for physical or chemical reasons, to arrange themselves in a certain way, this gives me, as a by-product, the sensation I call thought. But, if so, how can I trust my own thinking to be true? It’s like upsetting a milk jug and hoping that the way it splashes itself will give you a map of London. But if I can’t trust my own thinking, of course I can’t trust the arguments leading to Atheism, and therefore have no reason to be an Atheist, or anything else. Unless I believe in God, I cannot believe in thought: so I can never use thought to disbelieve in God” - C.S. Lewis.
Be glad you're *not* sure. Most people either way seem to be acting on Darwinian game theory where authority beats truth and authority is about forcing decisions on oneself and others. It's not about truth at that point, it's about social posturing.
Mr. Kuhn, you need to meditate,
when you will free from world you will get God. And God belongs to everybody......
Robert, God said to Moses ; I Am ,WHO I AM, so God is everything!
To understand God, then God has to be the top most priority of your routine life. Doctrine of science or a math equation shall remain unable to address God
I was raised with the God and Jesus business, and it took me thirty five years before I finally got out of it. When you are out on the other side, it is just mind-boggling strange to watch an otherwise intelligent human being asking questions about this childish subject of an imaginary friend born from Bronze Age mythology. The reason it took me so long to get it out of my head, is that is was the only thing I was taught. My parents didn't encourage me to come to them with my worries. This imaginary friend was installed for that.
My mystical experience (1971) was triggered by contemplating the implications of the place of the human mind in the universe assuming naturalism is correct. It meant that human subjective experience is completely defined by the structure of the human brain and the brain's causal relation to what is being experienced. Our subjective experience is itself a part of nature, and can in principle be understood in detail by science. It meant that our concepts and values are in us, not in the world or in God's mind. Our concepts and values are not given to us by external reality. They are subject to our own control. I experienced this insight as an intense vision that changed my life forever. Living the rest of my life in accordance with this vision is all that matters to me now. There is an objective universe that is fully independent of any mind, human or Divine, and is the ground of all being. It is up to us how we experience that universe, through our creation of our own concepts and values. We have breathtaking discretion over what we choose. Each set of choices becomes its own subjective reality once chosen. But we can always choose again, and thereby enter another subjective reality.
How can man quantify God,God is everything ,everywhere .Man doesn't know everything?
25,000 children die every day through god’s diseases.
Evidence.
How could a perfect being permit the barbarity that we inflict on the world?
The answer to that is Mankind's free will, as well as our stage of evolution, knowledge, and wisdom. If you want more look up "The Problem with Evil" and the answers philosophers and theologians have provided.
Little kids getting shot & rape everyday God let’s it happen but yeah I hope he keeps blessing you
Energy of Love is dependant on free will. If u give up your free will, u r incapable of having potential to being in energy of Love
@@RickMacDonald19 Free will is an illusion. Even if it was real, it would then conflict with a God who has foreknowledge.
@@lifeisabadjoke5750 I've heard this "free will" argument in rape and child molestation. What I don't get is, what about the Free will of the victim? I imagine it's their will NOT to be raped or molested. No one ever explains that.
God is Neither. God is not a mystery nor made up. God is within each person, you either Switch God on or Switch God off.
My thoughts wander up, into the skies,... in hopes to see You, I close my eyes.
Your Word fresh upon my heart, this world I'm not afraid to depart.
Timeless and hushed, only Your light I see,... for now I feel is as close as I'll be.
But I'll come back, in hopes to find,... no longer to this world confined.
Would help to search specific aspects and attributes of God that are on a more human level.
Incredible that those guys are actually paid for their senseless blabla.
Time to Reason
“Any cult of Jesus does not come cheap”
A bit of a sweeping statement there!!. It speaks volumes regarding your intolerance and ignorance that the Humanist society (A society of atheists) actually donates thousands every year to CAFOD a Christian Catholic charity lol. . When asked about contemporary examples of religion making a positive contribution the eminent atheist philosopher Noam Chomsky stated..
“The Catholic Bishops Conference in the United States comes out with statements that are so progressive that the press won't report them. The Pope's new year messages are often not reported because they would be considered so far 'to the left' (whatever that means in the US spectrum)."
It speaks volumes that a prominent atheist lauded the sacrificial work of the murdered Archbishop Oscar Romero and the social critique of liberationist theology. It is clearly the cult of militant atheism we need to worry about.
No offence intended. All the best to you.
It always blew my mind how much money pastors make.
Would have been great if you went beyond the Abrahamic conceptions of God. In Vedantic (Hindu) schools of though God in all his/her majesty is actually knowable by direct experience, would have been cool to examine this view of God.
Love created good (god) and god (good) creates joy, beauty and harmony (heaven). Absence of good (god) does the exact opposite. Ignorance (greed) creates misery, ugliness and conflict (hell).
I’m not a religious person but it’s hard to imagine looking at life and how complex it is accidentally coming to form from an explosion where everything was literally obliterated if you believe the Big Bang.
Same ❤️
While I really enjoy this series it is more than a little uncomfortable watching obviously highly educated people twist themselves into pretzels to justify belief systems that are solely the result of their birth circumstances. A posh accent and a wall covered in degrees from institutions of higher learning mean nothing here.
Thank you. That's exactly what I was thinking.
Nicely articulated.
A posh accent!!😊
I love hearing from these types of experts etc..however, I'd also love with these types of discussions hearing regular people tell stories about their NDE's. Many of them to me, are the best type of evidence out there. Would just add all sides of the discussion.
NDE experienced people are crooks. That is why they are not part of the discussion.
@@mikem5044 yea ok Mike.
Thanks for your almighty input.
@@sheenaalexis8710 Why would you assume NDEs are anything but the malfunctions of a dying mind?
@@majmage I think that's a very convenient way to explain them away, but I do not agree. If you don't believe it then good for you! Am I not allowed To?
@@sheenaalexis8710 Well my goal is truth. Why are you so eager to believe an idea that isn't supported by evidence? (If an idea isn't proven by evidence, it isn't known true. It's unknown. We shouldn't believe we know unknown things.)
To admit we don't know doesn't somehow cheapen reality. Reality is _full_ of wondrous, unknown things.
The professor from Oxford is very Good
The idea of God seems to be a social tool that helps to normalize the concepts, values , and beliefs of the members of a society, so that everyone's minds are in sync. The idea provides a canonical reference mind that everyone tries to align themselves with. I have no desire to keep my mind in sync with the rest of society. But society does everything it can think of to apply psychological pressure on me to do so. I am told that these are not just society's norms -- they are God's norms. They are not arbitrary, but are woven into the very foundation of what is real --in God.
Straight away, the first guest fails at the first hurdle; he tries to explain the real question (complexity), with something even more complex (god).
Science has done a pretty good job of explaining complexity. Asserting a grander, more complex, unexplained, unexplainable, anthropomorphic superman, adds nothing to the debate!
Information is primary. It is very simple to know that God EXISTS. The Bible tells us. The heavens proclaim the glory of God. In other words the universe has a Creator i. e. A CAUSAL AGENT. Everything that EXISTs contains information. The Bible, which stated thousands of years before SCIENCE, that the universe had a beginning, also is 100% accurate about the sequence of events in creation. DNA is very complex coded information. Information ONLY COMES FROM INTELLIGENT MIND. THERE IS NO OTHER SOURCE. THEREFORE THE CREATOR HAS INFINITE INFORMATION AS HE (AS THE BIBLE STATES) IS OUTSIDE OF ENERGY, MATTER, SPACE AND TIME AND HAS TO BE ETERNAL. The Bible stated very clearly that everything that is detectable is made from that which is undetectable. SCIENCE has confirmed this fact. SCIENTISTS call it NOTHING. The scientific method comes from the Bible. ' put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is good'. Bible Prophecies prove that the Bible is the word of God which spoke everything into EXISTENCE and knows the END FROM THE BEGINNING. ONLY A PERSONABLE GOD CAN KNOW THAT. GOD SHOWS HIMSELF TO US IN JESUS CONFIRMING THAT WE ARE MADE IN HIS IMAGE AS STATED IN THE BIBLE. THE OLD TESTAMENT FORETELLS OF HIS BIRTH, DEATH AND RESURRECTION and the New Testament fulfilled those PROPHECIES. JESUS is alive still as He was seen by over 500 people after He was crucified just as PROPHECISED. The people who saw Him died for Him doing what He asked them to do. Spread the gospel (good news) that He is God and He is gone to make a place for us who believe in His resurrection and ten commandments. Now what more proof do you want. God bless you and enlighten you. MARANATHA.
@@gerardmoloney9979
Bullshit!
@@_a.z is that the extent of your intelligence. Bullshit? I hope you didn't over exert yourself. Take a little nap and try and recover. Then hopefully you might wake-up. God bless and enlighten you before it's too late.
@@gerardmoloney9979
You have no explanation whatsoever!
Intelligence appeared late in the universe by a process of evolution which itself does not require intelligence to work!
a. y what evidence do you have to say intelligence evolved
It's good for an episode, but you should interview people with near death experiences. They have direct experiences and they can be more deep, objective and philosophical than these religious guys.
Yeah i agree...
Confusion confounded. Only playing with words
Faith is a footpath to the certitude of mystical experience of the Absolute.
"Who is God? Can humans probe God? Can we inquire into God’s essence and nature? Is God at all knowable? Or forever beyond human understanding?"
Seriously Closer to Delusion!
@Time to Reason who the hell needs you here?
@Time to Reason Nut!
You don’t look for god in science and brain power, you look for god in the soul.
Signs of Him can be found in science, its just not the "Him" that the peddlers of religion want to sell you.
Yet, it is science that is breaking down the foundations of religious beliefs. Not the other way around.
@@thomasridley8675 Not true. Science only breaks down lies. All political ideologues lie.
@@ozzymandius666
But we are not talking about political ideals.
But yes, science breaks down lies we have held dear for too long.
Science can't define anything that wasn't there in the first place. Where religion defines things that were never there in the first place.
@@thomasridley8675 "Jesus died for our sins" is outside of the scope of science, as is much of morality. If you say "No he didn't", you are as far outside of science as those who say "yes he did."
Think 'logical' on the nature that surrounds you and by observing the functioning of your body, the chemistry that governs it and think 'equilibrium', the principles and laws that govern the universe, and you will find God.
Our human ego helps us to survive the time allotted to us, on earth, because we are actors and stakeholders in the existence of a conscious part of life in the universe, for a 'time x', before passing hand to 'younger'.
To me, the fundamental issue with the concept of God is that whatever we imagine of God e.g. His traits, stories, actions, all of it can be broken down into simple fractions which are easily imaginable in Humans.
If God is Omnibenevolent, then if you take out the infinity of it, you get a Good Human.
If there is a complex story of God e.g. in myths or scriptures, all of those can be divided into simpler stories.
If God is Judging someone, we find that we can also judge someone.
God just fundamentally seems like a Super Human who has the infinite number of traits as opposed to a finite human and thus isn't subject to logic at all.
The theologians, the ones I have heard of, really oscillate between the immanent and transcendent nature of God whenever they see fit but since we can't even grasp the transcendent nature of God, by definition, we believe in a Superhuman whose traits and stories can be fragmented into simpler parts. Is that God? No. Is that the one we are capable of grasping? Yes. Is a graspable God, God? Wouldn't that beat the definition?
"easily imaginable" ----
Per classical theology, the term "God" refers to existence in and of itself -- ipsum esse subsistens -- and not "a thing which exists". It is incoherent to posit existence to "not be". Existence in and of itself is the singularly self-evident axiom prerequisite for all else.
"coming to a viewpoint which seems to make sense of things"... Gottit! :) There is no "god". Enjoy Life everybody! :)
But the Bible says he does /s
If this is your personal preference, then enjoy it. Trust me, it is far from being "obvious". At least two out of every three Americans disagree with you.
"God" is just a reflection of someone's inner desires and a desperate hope when life becomes unbearable.
As a atheist I'm tougher than most.
@@nathanforrest3483 I've heard this point of view that belief in G-d is like crutches for a weak person. Personally I reject generalizations of this kind. In the past people chose being burnt alive for what they believed in. But "a complement in exchange for the complement": In my eyes an atheist is a person, who it too weak in order to accept the idea that there might be something incomparably more significant than him.
@@davidrosenberg1644 I wasn't saying that they are weak. I'm saying that humans are desperate and fearful. I'm a atheist because I see no good reasons to believe in "god". Not because I cannot conceive of anything more significant. Its actually the fact that I CAN imagine a wholly good and loving god but then reality contradicts that God.
In Christian theism
God is the ground of which all things contingent rest upon. But what evidence is there that he is all good, all knowing and omniscient?
Do we have any reason to believe in a paradise ? Why would a god allow any doubt in our hearts for his existence?
This is why I am a atheist. Too many questions go unanswered. Everything is based on faith. I didn't ask for this life or to be a sinner but it was all forced on me. Its all a vicious circle of faith, and fear to try to explain our deepest mysteries. And our mortality energizes our belief in God or Gods.
Such a strange title: “Is This God?”
Why assert the existence of a god? Why assert the existence of anything that you have no evidence for?
God is not the universe. We have a word for the universe. God is not love. We have a word for love. God is not consciousness. We have a word for consciousness.
God is just one of thousands of gods from mythology.
You realize we have no evidence for anything except our own awareness?
@Time to Reason Hi there... you state that "we are deemed to go to eternal hell to get roasted on the wishes of the Jesus." I don't think Jesus wishes anyone to go to hell. His death on the cross was for love of creation, not to be a "cult master." Why do you call him a "cult master?"
@ Time to Reason
Yes I could, not just one but two of them. You want to be saved, just get a ticket with the cult asap, and those who don't, you know the consequence/s. He promised to return in one life time, I am still waiting... It is COVID-19 time on this creation here, millions of prayers of his own membership gone unanswered...
Hey mrloop... You say "God is just one of thousands of gods..." But I don't know of any god except Jesus the Christ who died as a curse on a cross because He loves his creation. Why do you say "God is not love?" Words can mean many, many things depending on the language and the culture. The Greek language has different words for the concept of love. John in Florida
Matthew 5:14- you are the light, John 8:12 I am the light of the world , light is life ....
We can talk about what we think God is but, only those who experience God personally can really believe in him. Most only believe in anything they experience no matter what is is.