John Bishop - Alternative Concepts of God?

Is God, if there is a God, a personal, conscious, all-powerful Supreme Being? Some offer radically different concepts of 'God', exploring novel ideas of what God may be like. They challenge theism—the God of Judaism, Christianity and Islam—with radically new kinds of gods. Is this 'heresy'? Or enlarging our vision of what the Ultimate can be like?



John Bishop is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.


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.

[mickeybrumfield]

Dr. Kuhn does a good job of interviewing a wide range of people on a wide range of topics. Thank you your talents are appreciated.

[unaibqaiser]

This channel is straight up underrated

[IronDogger]

“The sake of realizing the good.” What an eloquent way to put it that makes the most logical sense. The simple answer is usually the correct one.

[leonoradompor]

I love you Closer to Truth, you will journey with me in heaven til eternity !

[bluelotus]

God is in the heart of matter as well as out of it. This is his perfect simultaneous oneness and difference. Which is inconceivable.

[bluelotus]

In order to be God, God has to be everything. The problem of evil arises when we disconnect from God and disconnect God from his property, using it as if it was our property and abusing it as if we were God.

[johnjohnson]

Well done. Well thought out. Great interview. Kudos.

[leonoradompor]

John is a biblical name, God bless you John !

[nyworker]

Many religious dramas are about doubt, losing faith, pushing God away only to re-find God and reach peace. The search for God has lead to a millennial search that has lead to the rise of science that still has not completed the journey in physics or neuroscience, Robert's two major passions. I follow his path with my own ideas. Maybe Robert needs to interview some if us?

[chayanbosu]

We do not understand God fully, never because that's why He is God. He is beyond our thought, emotion and concepts.we can not know him, we can not understand him but having said this if we connect him through Yoga we can experience Him.

[marybeth]

I agree... God is the energy mass as a whole... We exist within god... God is everywhere...🙂❤🌺🦋

[musicsubicandcebu]

Statisticians will be familiar with Normal Distribution (bell curve). Consider the Menorah, 3 standard deviations either side of a mean. The same can be seen on each side of the Dome of the Rock. The Ark of the Covenant (agreement) has the two cherubims touching their wingtips either side of the Mercy Seat, another mean. Inside we have the 2 tablets with 5 items on each, why so specific? (we see the same message in the feeding of the 5 thousand - 5 loaves and 2 fishes. These numbers describe the two equal areas either side of the mean of a bell curve (normal distribution): 50/50. Consider Atlantis' main features: three concentric circles surrounding a pillar (a mean) inscribed with 2x5 names (if my memory is correct). Both Noah's ark and Ezekiel's temple have been shown to be circular (as the normal distribution curve would be in three dimensions). Noah's ark was recently found to be circular by an English academic; so was Ezekiel's, by Sully, a late 19th century architect. Obelisks are means (so are rivers). The third horseman of Revelation carried a pair of balances. Later, in Revelation, the ark suddenly appears in 'his' temple. I could go on and on. It's fairly clear that God (after he fumbled Creation) is simply the tendency of an unbalanced system to return to rest - like a pendulum seeks rest. Simply the law of averages, the most powerful force in the universe.

[Westrwjr]

Dr. Kuhn has been the perfect foil for such an intricate and controversial series: no holds barred truth-seekers are a rarity in this realm of knowledge.

Unfortunately, while it was interesting to hear this alternative conception of “God”, I’m very unconvinced by this particular characterization that John describes as “Religious Naturalism”.

[thedrevellshow]

This “whole” is the test. Pass the test, to go onto the next test. Enjoy the playground while you can.

[chrisc]

G is an idea put forth to innovate. Neither lie or truth without conviction.

[stevemartin]

Good point ... the problem of 'god' is not a matter of supernatural entity vs natural reductionism. It is a question of semantics and literal mindedness. In the traditions as wide-spread as Spinoza and Einstein, Taosim and Buddhism, Witgenstein and Frans de Waal, Emerson and any number of artists ... 'god is a metaphor for nature in its entirety'. Once one realizes the limits of language and logic, there is no distinction atheists and true believers.

[RolandHuettmann]

Exactly, by definition, God cannot be observed or proven as the concept of God is beyond observable items. Categories are relative in nature while God must be non-relative. But this does not mean that God may not have attributes as the other face of the coin. God may be both. It does not answer the question whether God exists or not. I do not believe that mere thinking about God could ever answer the question. But there may be ways of God realization that do not require any thinking. If God is all and beyond, God is in everything, also deeply rooted in our existence. Maybe we are existing to find out, but need to jump out of the box.

[Bill..N]

I like this gentleman.. His arguments are not fully convincing, but they WERE engaging and arguably represent movement in the right direction for conventional theists..Theism must evolve to ENCOMPASS the insights of modern science as well..Ideas like those presented by the guest might help to widen an important dialog..Finally, WHY couldn't a vast intelligence (God) have emerged with the big bang? It's even more naturalistic. ISN'T the removal of God from the supernatural a good thing? It need not negate his Supreme being status, or his creative powers..It's just a change in perception..One opinion, peace..

[EdwinMcCravy]

What John is trying to do is make sense of the circular definition "God is that which is greater than everything except God". He will never succeed because he is trying to define "God" with "God". You can't define a word with the word itself. "God" is not a defined word, like "Zod".

[RedPhil]

Well obviously God requires a process with which to create a world (universe) ie. Gravity laws of physics laws of thermodynamics expansion inflation quantum physics quantum mechanics.... so only magical in the sense that an iPhone is magical to a neanderthal, no? 🤔