"God rested": Another Idea

Nick the Pilot

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Hi everybody!

Leo has a thread in the Christian Section about why God neeeded to rest on Day 7 of Genesis.

link --> http://www.comparative-religion.com/forum/awake-7340.html

I thought I would give another interpretation of what happened. I do not think "God" rested. If there is a "God", I do not think "He" would rest, nor would "He" need to rest. No, I see another version, where we rest, not "God".

There is a theory that Genesis refers to the appearence of our universe, which is only one universe in a cycle of universes. According to this theory, Genesis only tells part of the story, only the part of the story that pertains to the beginning of this universe. The theory continues that there is a rest period for everyone (not for "God") between universes. I believe the original story (that Genesis refers to) tells about this rest period, and somehow that got turned around in the story, to where "God" rested instead of us.

In the theory, a universe's rest period is of the same length of time as the active part of our universe. So, if Genesis were written according to this idea, we would have a story of seven days of Creation, followed by seven days of rest. Think about it; if this idea had been followed by the writers of Genesis, we would have seven day work-weeks, followed by weekends that are seven days long!
 
Hi everybody!

Leo has a thread in the Christian Section about why God neeeded to rest on Day 7 of Genesis.

link --> awake! - Interfaith forums

I thought I would give another interpretation of what happened. I do not think "God" rested. If there is a "God", I do not think "He" would rest, nor would "He" need to rest. No, I see another version, where we rest, not "God".

There is a theory that Genesis refers to the appearence of our universe, which is only one universe in a cycle of universes. According to this theory, Genesis only tells part of the story, only the part of the story that pertains to the beginning of this universe. The theory continues that there is a rest period for everyone (not for "God") between universes. I believe the original story (that Genesis refers to) tells about this rest period, and somehow that got turned around in the story, to where "God" rested instead of us.

In the theory, a universe's rest period is of the same length of time as the active part of our universe. So, if Genesis were written according to this idea, we would have a story of seven days of Creation, followed by seven days of rest. Think about it; if this idea had been followed by the writers of Genesis, we would have seven day work-weeks, followed by weekends that are seven days long!

So Nick let me see if I understand you correctly.
First you say if there is a god.
Secondly there a more then one universe
So God created our universe they say in six days (I say for six days) anyway after the sixth day God rested (the seventh day).
But tell me if I got this right or not? After the sixth day God created a second universe (on day 7) while we rest,and then another universe etc,etc,etc. Is this about right??

Darren
 
Darren,

I am sorry if I have been confusing. Let me explain. A universe lasts for seven 'days.' This is followed by a rest period of seven 'days.' Then, the next universe appears, in a seemingly unbroken chain of sequential universes.

This explains the symbology of Mary and Jesus. Jesus symbolizes this universe. There have been other sons -- other universes -- and other universes will appear after this one ends.

According to my belief system, the original story of Genesis was mistakenly rewritten to say there was six days followed by one day of rest. Again, according to my belief system, the original story of Genesis was seven days, followed by seven days of rest. If they had got it right, we would work for seven days, and then have a seven day weekend every week!
 
Darren,

I am sorry if I have been confusing. Let me explain. A universe lasts for seven 'days.' This is followed by a rest period of seven 'days.' Then, the next universe appears, in a seemingly unbroken chain of sequential universes.

This explains the symbology of Mary and Jesus. Jesus symbolizes this universe. There have been other sons -- other universes -- and other universes will appear after this one ends.

According to my belief system, the original story of Genesis was mistakenly rewritten to say there was six days followed by one day of rest. Again, according to my belief system, the original story of Genesis was seven days, followed by seven days of rest. If they had got it right, we would work for seven days, and then have a seven day weekend every week!

Man, Nick I can not even go there.

Your're way over the top for me.
I am just starting to understand my own beliefs. don't even know if I believe them yet. but I am beginning to understand.

Darren
 
If discussing from a Christian viewpoint — one should consider Jesus' own words: ""The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27).

This would suggest the day of 'rest' is for man, not for God, as indeed Nick points out, God has no need of 'rest'.

Thomas
 
Darren,

The Bible says God rested on the seventh day. However, as you and I have discussed, such rest does not seem to have been necessary. (We can only imagine that God does not get 'tired.') This appears to be another example of how Genesis was intentionally and mistakenly changed from the original story.

Do you have any other parts of the Bible that do not make sense to you?
 
doesn't anyone think that all this pain and suffering that the sons of man are experiencing is part of the creation process? i mean, why is it that when something bad happens to us, that experience makes us better individuals? better in the sense that we are more grateful or more considerate towards each other. now i'm not speaking for everyone, of course, but it does make me wonder why all this misery? there has to be a reason. there has to be a reason for all this evil. my personal opinion entails that the only way we'll love each other is for something really bad to happen in the world and only then we'll learn or be changed for the better.

now i know that nick doesn't believe in God, but something or someone is causing all of this to exist. this something, to me, i know doesn't need to rest, but i believe that eventually this something is going to get really tired of all of us being destructive towards each other or the earth. something has to give. this is mainly my reasons for believing in God. because God to me represents hope and justice for those that never had a chance to be happy. whatever IT is, is still working to give those that aren't happy now, a chance to live right. whatever IT is, isn't resting right now. too much pain and sorrow. mark my words, there will be a climax to all of this. maybe not today. maybe not tomorrow. but you can bet your ass our children will experience this. just my thoughts.
 
Pain is the catalyst for human growth and understanding. God knew that. That's why he created evil to balance the good and make us appreciate the good. Create the good even. Can there really be good without evil, I mean absolute good without evil as a reference point? I think not. Evil is, literally, a necessary evil.
 
immortalitylost,

There is an entirely different way of looking at it. I am not a Christian, but I will couch my words in Christian terminology, so it will be easier for you to understand.

"God" did not create evil. "God" isolated us from "Him" so that we could learn lessons that could only be learned by us perceiving ourselves as separate individuals. The establishing of this sense of separation is perceived as evil by some people, but it is not.

Our job in life is to make progress along the path to enlightenment and Nirvana. Of course there are people who intentionally go in the opposite direction of this progress, and try to build up their own egos and financial empires at the expense of others. This is the true (and only) definition of evil.

A great deal of what people call evil is merely innocence and ignorance. A child who plays with matches and burns down his/her family's house is not evil, he/she is merely ignorant within his/her innocence. Each human "was created" in such a state. This was not original sin, but the normal ignorance and innocence that each person must deal with, on their path to enlightenment and Nirvana. Such a state is a good state, not a bad state. There is no such thing as divinely created evil, according to my belief system.
 
I think you have me all wrong in terms of the Christian thing. I do not believe in many of the religious aspects of Christianity. I do believe in Jesus, so I guess that makes me Christian, but I digress...

I merely meant to say that what we perceive as evil, may not be bad from the perspective of God. In my beliefs, God created everything in the universe, and that includes evil, and since I believe that he is all powerful, all knowing, and able to be present everywhere at once, I also believe that if he creates something a certain way, it is exactly as he wants it. So what's evil for us, he may not see on the same terms.

I agree that we are here to learn lessons, to grow. I believe that to learn and grow in all things is the reason for life here. So evil is but one of the many lessons in life. Evil is not evil in my belief, just one more thing to learn from. I do not believe in original sin, as mainstream Christians do. But that has to do with the nature of free will, and God, and most of it I've already explained, so I'll let it rest at that.

Thanks for the response!
 
but it does make me wonder why all this misery? there has to be a reason. there has to be a reason for all this evil. my personal opinion entails that the only way we'll love each other is for something really bad to happen in the world and only then we'll learn or be changed for the better.

Why does there have to be a reason lol... Why does there have to be a secret meaning? A veil? Mystery? We want the truth! :eek: Perhaps... We can't handle the truth. ;)

Perhaps having the minds we do, we like to reason, we like to comfort ourselves... Just like all the ghost bs..... It is our minds wishing... There is something after this life. Trying to stabilise us... gods, after lives, ghosts, having to be a reason... lol Manifestations of the mind to try and stop you having to face fact. Like the mind of a maniac killa ;) The human mind will attempt to lift the burdens you personally just cannot handle.

We are nothing special... We shall be the sixth extinction... And the reason? s*** happens. When we go... Nothing will miss us. All our "technology breakthroughs" our medical "miracles" Our greatest structures.... Our history... Our cultures.... Our tracks... Will all in harmony with us... Turn to dust and leave no trace that we ever were here. Imagine that lol.... All this "amazing" and "superior" crap we awesome beings have done... All that means so much to us, and is deep within our values... All of it... For nothing... Time is a far more powerful force than us... And it shall consume us, and consume all our accomplishments, struggles and mistakes....Sh*t.... Lets hope there is a reason eh? lol. There has to be.... Right. I can understand people thinking this... Don't get me wrong.



something or someone is causing all of this to exist. this something, to me, i know doesn't need to rest, but i believe that eventually this something is going to get really tired of all of us being destructive towards each other or the earth. something has to give.

this is mainly my reasons for believing in God. because God to me represents hope and justice for those that never had a chance to be happy. whatever IT is, is still working to give those that aren't happy now, a chance to live right. whatever IT is, isn't resting right now. too much pain and sorrow. mark my words, there will be a climax to all of this. maybe not today. maybe not tomorrow. but you can bet your ass our children will experience this. just my thoughts.

I agree something did cause us to exist.... But, there goes that human ego's again lol.... It's going to be so upset at what -we've- done... We, we, we, we... I think it couldn't care less what happens to us, and it probally forgot about that little orb Earth a long ass time ago..... It has gone on to other things..... The universe... It's a big place.... You think we've exclusive rights to creation? lol.... Something sits there watching us and giving a crap about what we do? EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEGO.

Put yourself in the position of this force that created us.... Sitting there for however long... Just... Watching this planet.... Watching an ego soaked destructive force known as man... As it crushes everything under it's heel.... Just... Sitting there... Year after year, after decade after decade, after century, after century, yad di dah dah...... Just watching this self destructive cancer....... As a force of creation... What would you be "getting" from that? To me it feels like... You spend years using all your creative power and skill to create... Urm.... A large wooden sculpture....... Years.... Making this 50ft sculpture.... And then instead of stepping back and admiring this amazing thing... This awesome creation.... You crouch down with a like 800,000,000 times magnifier lol or something and focus on these tiny insignificant mites.....

I reckon... This force of creation has no consciousness.... It just creates.... That is all it does..

Bless your easing mind :)
 
Where in the Genesis account does it say that God was exhausted, tired, spent, worn out, etc? He chose to rest--to repose, to pause, to become still and quiet. There is no need to go into extreme and convoluted tales in order to rationalize this "rest" according to the preconception that "rest" REQUIRES exhaustion. You know what, when I build something, I will "rest" after doing so, too--circumstances permitting, EVEN WHEN I AM NOT TIRED. I could be taking the time to appreciate what I built in and of itself, for example.
 
Dogbrain,

According to my belief system, it is not "God" but the universe which rests seven "nights" after seven "days" of activity. Which means, it is we who rest seven eons of rest (between universes) after seven eons of activity (the life span of one universe).
 
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