Use of the word god
The word god is a term that gets used quite a bit in certain circles. Is god a word whose meaning is so poorly defined as to be practically useless, or can you use the word god with good confidence that most everyone will understand what you mean ?
use it... be understood
Side Score: 8
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use it... be misunderstood
Side Score: 6
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The word "god" does have a very wide range of meanings, but I think most of the time the context is enough to tell people which meaning you're using. If I say, "Oh my god, I'm late to work!" you'd understand I'm just using it to express emotion. If I say, "The ancient Greeks built temples to honour their gods", it's obvious that I'm talking about the Greek gods and not the god of any other religion. If I say, "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is his prophet", you know I'm referring to the Muslim monotheistic God. Side: use it... be understood
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Although God is something/someone different in many theologies the term god is fairly universal. Regardless of who you are talking to, if you reference god they will know what you mean. For the most part who you are talking about is a moot point when you use the term god because the individual receiving the message will associate the term god with whatever or whoever they believe god to be or not to be. Side: use it... be understood
according to scripture man was made in the "image" of God and if you take a look at "civilized" history mankind has appointed men "AS" God. The use of the word God in our culture has mutated. Jesus said "know ye not that ye are gods?" Somewhere along the line from Greece to Rome the term God shifted from something you can see to something that you cannot see. This imaginary invisible power has been used as a non existent tool that is so powerful that our laws and civil rights are branded into our culture according to writings believed to have given to us not by men but by the unproven unseen being that today with all of our many modes of communication has chosen "NOT" to communicated with us. Now, since we do not know his right name the title God is all we have to use and there is nothing....absolutely nothing to be misunderstood by using the term God. Side: use it... be understood
God is a strong word. You have faith in it or not. It cannot be ignored since it is used every time, everywhere in a lot of different contexts. It is not wrong to use it with ease of flow. It is wrong though to use it in a context that takes blames. A lot of faith is carried in the word. To most of them. Side: use it... be misunderstood
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Well the word has no real definition. The concept (as commonly encountered among Christians) has no real substance, but is rather a collection of odd personality traits, like the need to be worshipped, and anger or compassion, when this is or is not received, and then equally ill-defined "abilities," like that to (somehow) create matter where there was once nothing, among other things. The word isn't descriptive, it's merely a reference to a sort of emotional connection some people have with an abstract concept. So.....among those who share your beliefs, you'll probably be understood. Among those who can differentiate between fantasy and reality, or who just don't have an overriding motivation to ignore the distinction, you will be misunderstood. However, since I'm one of the latter, I would advocate for the "....misunderstood" position. Side: use it... be misunderstood
Just think of all the different versions of "god" out there. We can have a general idea of what you're saying, but we're not going to know too much. Way too easy to misunderstand something. For general purposes, you can use it. But if you want to get into any actual, sincere, deep, philosophical and/or meaningful discussion, the word is practically useless. Side: use it... be misunderstood
I don't believe in God, but I use it all the time. With my use of the word, it can make some people assume that I am a theist. But, in other cases, me simply defending a religion (when it's attacked with baseless arguments) makes people assume that I'm a theist. So if you use the word God WITHOUT trying to confuse someone, people will usually misunderstand you because they're people with an agenda. Side: use it... be misunderstood
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