GOD

This article addresses the following questions Who is God? Who are we? Who are we to know? Who are we to know who God is? While, this writing rejects conjecture about God, it elevates our understanding. Your comments are welcome.

In February 332 BC, Alexander the Great visited the oasis Siwah in the Libyan Desert, where he prayed at the oracle of Ammon. With 35,000 highly trained soldiers, he was about to launch an attack on the Persian Empire, the superpower of the ancient world. He needed all the help he could get from his deity.
Not only did Alexander decimate the 100,000 "immortal" soldiers of his competition, but that idol-worshiping conqueror put an end to an empire. Persians believed in Ahura Mazda, the Creator of the Universe. Was this the will of God, the almighty? Or was Ammon an idol god, more powerful than that of the God of Persians? This article will examine our faith in God.
Alexander's successful conquest of the ancient world started with a prayer. But praying to a deity, an idol or the creator is nothing new. Even prehistoric people over 20,000 years ago believed in gods and a creator of all things. They too asked the higher powers to protect them and answer their prayers.
Sometimes, praying has not been enough. Before the civilized people voiced their outrage, to get the higher powers (gods) attention, the believers sacrificed animals and even human beings which included female virgins. Any temple anywhere in the world could give a testimony to this fact. For example, in South America, people from Inca, Aztec, and Maya cultures would take a virgin to the top of a pyramid, slice her still-beating heart out of her chest. --all in the name of pleading with their deity...
According to their beliefs, the sacrifice of the virgin was to improve crop yield or rainfall, and also it was to "appease" the gods.... The idea of sacrifice plays a role in religion. For example, to prove his faith in Him, in the Old Testament and the Koran (Holy book of Moslems), we find that the Biblical Abraham almost sacrificed his very own son to show his trust in God.
So as we see, people seek a higher power to protect them, to empower them, to help them overcome an enemy or an obstacle; to help them live in prosperity; among others. In many religions, the Higher Power is also a redeemer and dispenser of justice in life after their death.
In addition to the above explanation, one question that may arise is this: Why both the prehistoric people and modern man have sought a higher power and life after death? The answer is to have a unique vantage point over the world they live in. When you and I go to a mountain, we can see things very differently. Depending on whether you and I are standing at the shore, soaring above in a plane, or swimming beneath the waves, the ocean can look very different to us. Going to a higher power, allows you to see the world from a powerful perspective. From that vantage point you see all sorts of unseen treasures.
Sometimes, an experience in life, like the sudden death of an innocent child, from our vantage point may seem confusing, meaningless and cruel. Or other times, we may be exposed to events that look unfair and not just right... But once you try to take your point of view to a Higher Power (God), you may see the same situation differently. Your vantage point changes as if you are taking a ride in a big aircraft and experience the world from a bird's eye view. When you kneel down in front of a god, you allow yourself to see a powerful picture that can help you find peace, tranquility and calmness...
Most people in the world today believe that "those who seek God find Him." God is found everywhere, and He is the source of hope, love and comfort. He is the One who can bring them everything. That kind of thinking naturally gives birth to religions. Along that line, here are a few statistics on religion:
o 84% of the people1 in the world believe in God.
o Of 2 that, almost 2 billion or 33.03% are Christians (#1 religion).
o 1.3 billion or 20.12% Moslems (#2 religion.)
o almost 15 million or 00.23% are Jews.
o the rest of them 46.62% or 2.8 billion people worship God through a dozen other religions.
o Those who believe in a Divine Being in the United States are 270 million or 90% of the 300 million people.3
o Of that 221 million or 82% practice Christianity4.
o Judaism makes up almost 6 million or 2.3%,
o and Islam about 3 million or 1.2% of the US population.
While the degrees of intensity of their faith in God fluctuate in any person at different times, generally when an individual thinks of God, they see HOPE. That individual feels empowered to overcome any obstacle. Furthermore, believing in a Higher Power helps the person not to feel lonely, unappreciated or feel unimportant.
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Now, you may ask: Who is this God who provides everything? --The God that brings hope, love, and comfort to the believer? The Creator who is fair and just even in life after death?
If you asked an Egyptian 4,000 years ago, she/he would say: "God is either Re, Amun, Ptah, Khnum or Aten," If you asked a Roman 2,000 years ago, she/he would say: Zeus, but they also added Juno and Minerva, as the triad of deities. The answer by the faithful of the first preferred religion in the world is intriguing. In most branches of Christianity, trinitarianism prevails. Therefore, if you ask a modern Christian, she/he would say: the Holy Trinity. And a Moslem, the follower of the second preferred religion in the world, would say: God: The one and only singular Supreme Being.
Now, the question that begs an answer is this: Who are we? Who are we to know? Who are we to know who God is? To answer that question, please ponder the following:
According to some NASA experts , there are 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, ten sextillion stars in the universe. This is based on the estimates that there are anywhere from 100 billion to 1 trillion stars in our Milky Way galaxy alone. When you multiply the low number by 100 billion galaxies present in the universe you get ten sextillion: 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars. Therefore, our Earth looks like a tiny pebble in the vast universe of planets and stars.
The above is one set of facts, now consider the following:
Looking at the above picture, consider yourself a cell. How in the world, can this cell know about other cells in your body? And the function of eyes, hands, legs? Besides this body where the cell lives, there are other cells in people's bodies all over town, in the country, or on the planet Earth. How, in the world that cell can know everything about the universe? And for that matter about God?
Isn't it true that the only thing anyone can say is the following?
"There is a harmonious knowledge about what we do not know about universe or God."
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The world is full of examples of what we know and what we do not know. What you will read below is yet another testimony to that fact:
Imagine you are the head of twelve million (12,000,000) person-empire. For centuries your religion has showed you prophecy: God will soon appear to you by coming from the ocean. The time is right: From a distance you see God in his shining and glorious armor. You lead your entourage and walk toward him. You are within a few feet from God.
It is a joyous moment for you and your royal court. You see God accompanied by eighty four soldiers in shining cavalry uniforms. You get close to him, trust in him, embrace him and proclaim him as the God of your nation. From that moment on you do exactly as he directs you to do. You trust in God. You and your empire are in his hands.
What you just read was the real story of the Inca's Emperor, Atahualpa and Spanish Explorer Francis Pissarro in 1528. That event marked the beginning of the Spanish domination in South America.