It'll take some more work, but I think a common definition of "God" that
can hit the definitions of practically all major religions and older
mythologies is:
1) A being with greater power than humans.
2) A being with non-trivial influence over nature.
3) A being that influences human activity through his/her actions.
4) A being who has either personally, or through his or her lineage,
created the universe or imposed order upon it.
Some religions and formulations of God will value some of these elements
more than others, but I think I've managed to hit the major points.
-------------------------------------------------
Interesting.
Please be more precise in criteria 1) , do you mean:
A being with greater power than...
...the average human.
...any existing human.
...any thing concievable as "human" past, present or future.
...the sum of all human power and understanding.
...the sum of all human power and understanding and
anything and everything that might arise from it in
the future.
...the sum of everything all humans will ever imagine.
...anything and everything else.
How does one define God as seperate from "the Universe", which I believe
meets all the critera (regardless of the details of 1) ). I think
you must
be implying that this entity has intentionallity or will (hence you
refer
to it as a "being")
You might also want to think about what you mean when you use the
words "power" and "influence", since all 4 criteria seem to have
this aspect in common.
Reed
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Reed Konsler konsler@ascat.harvard.edu
---------------------------------------------------------------------