Where is God according to Christianity?
Upvote:0
In the Bible, God the Father is commonly seen in visions as seated on a throne in heaven. This is not necessarily contradictory to the idea that God is omnipresent, since He can be omnipresent and also still take on a form.
Daniel 7 9-14 (KJV)
I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened... I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom... (Daniel 7 9-14 KJV)
Revelation 3:21
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.**
Revelation 4:2 - 5:6
And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald... and I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
Isaiah 6:1-3
In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Obviously, these visions do not depict a God that is of fairy tale quality just because His sits on a throne. They depict a God of unimaginable surpassing glory that even angels shield their faces with their wings.
Upvote:1
A number of positions may exist within Christianity, but are they not regarded as contradictory. Most Christians today generally believe that God is omnipresent, throughout the entire universe and beyond.
Daniel 2:28 reflects an earlier belief, telling us specifically that God is in heaven:
Daniel 2:28: But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
Somewhat like Daniel, Acts of the Apostles tells us that God is up in heaven above, seated next to Jesus; a view that has never entirely gone away and is sometimes mentioned to this day:
Acts 7:55: But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
We then go to the Church Fathers such as Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. John M. Perry says in Exploring the Evolving View of God, page 167, that Augustine taught that God is present in all creatures yet transcends them, but Aquinas said that God is not, and can not be, intimately related to the world.
Upvote:9
While this isn't true for all branches of Christianity, the vast majority of Christianity believes God to be Omnipresent - that is, everywhere at once.
From http://www.parentcompany.com/awareness_of_god/aog11.htm
God is Omnipresent
The attribute of God by which He fills the universe in all its parts and is present everywhere at once. Not a part, but the whole of God is present in every place. This is true of all three members of the Trinity. They are so closely related that where one is the others can be said to be, also.
That page lists several verses from Scripture that support this attribute of God.
See also
- http://www.theopedia.com/Omnipresence_of_God
- http://www.unionchurch.com/archive/050700.html
- http://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=2690
- http://www.enjoyinggodministries.com/article/the-omnipresence-of-god/
This generally goes along with the idea that God is Spirit (John 4:24), and not a physical being of flesh and bone. Although some denominations, like the LDS, teach that God is a being of flesh and bone, and that omnipresence has a slightly different meaning.
For many Christians, God is also not limited to our universe. As the self-existing Creator of the universe, He us greater than it, and not limited to the universe.
More post
- 📝 If one abandons his faith in Catholicism and becomes an Atheist, could he still go to heaven?
- 📝 What are the differences between the different millenialisms?
- 📝 How do "once saved, always saved" advocates explain the Parable about wise virgins?
- 📝 Besides Paul, have there been any other Christians who had both a scholarly background and overtly supernatural experiences?
- 📝 What does the Bible say about people who see dead people?
- 📝 According to Catholic doctrine, what effect does the Last Judgment have on those who are already in heaven?
- 📝 Is calling the church the "body of Christ" merely a metaphor or is there a deeper significance?
- 📝 According to the Bible, do animals have souls?
- 📝 What is the Eastern Orthodox view of tradition and its authority?
- 📝 Were humans created before the animals? (Catholic perspective)
- 📝 What is the Holy See and when is it appropriate to use this term?
- 📝 Why can't the laity preach a homily, and can a lay person ever preach?
- 📝 Reasons many Christians not reading the Bible both OT and NT?
- 📝 Did any in the Early Church require a kosher diet?
- 📝 What is the official Roman Catholic opinion on Swedenborg?
- 📝 Verse on evangelizing those in the Church first?
- 📝 Are sermons from The Second Book of Homilies still read in Anglican Churches?
- 📝 In John 1:45–51, did Jesus prophesy that Nathanael was one of the 144,000 Jews in Revelation 7 and 14?
- 📝 Catholic remembrance services for a death elsewhere?
- 📝 What information do we have on the real vision of Pope Leo XIII?
- 📝 Why question Paul's apostleship now
- 📝 Do exorcisms need to be performed in a particular language?
- 📝 Why do Covenant theologians use the word "dispensation," and what do they mean by it?
- 📝 Are Catholics not supposed to pray the St. Michael Prayer?
- 📝 Why cannot I believe in other religions as a Christian?
- 📝 7 mentions of night in Gospel of John
- 📝 How is the doctrine of the Trinity substantiated?
- 📝 What's the source of the "new world religion" memorandum signed in Strasbourg?
- 📝 Were the medieval popes examined on a toilet-lid-like chair to establish their masculinity?
- 📝 Does Christianity or the Bible forbid polygamy and widow remarriage?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Where is God according to Christianity?
- 📝 According to the Bible where exactly did God create Adam?
- 📝 According to Roman Catholic doctrine, why does Mary refer to God as her Savior if she was born without sin?
- 📝 Where did Noah find polar bears and penguins in Palestine, according to those who accept a global flood?
- 📝 According to believers in the inexorable damnation of the unreached, how is God not unfair for letting someone be born in unreachable conditions?
- 📝 According to LDS (Mormon) teaching, who was the first God who began the eternal progression?
- 📝 According to Calvinism, why does God give mercy to some and not to others?
- 📝 According to Protestant trinitarians, what is the significance of the father-son relationship between God and Christ?
- 📝 Did God kill the first borns in Exodus, according to Jehovah's Witnesses?
- 📝 According to the Catholic Church, why is God called “Father” (and not, say, “Mother”)?
- 📝 Where is the verse about people sinning because they know God will forgive them?
- 📝 According to Orthodox Christianity, did God die on the cross at Calvary?
- 📝 According to Reformed theology, why does God tell people to repent if they don't have the choice to do so, as in Exodus 10:3?
- 📝 Where does God draw the line when it comes to Sin?
- 📝 According to reformed theology: Is loving God a choice? If not, do the elect differ from robots?
- 📝 What is the basis for the Swedenborgian view that the most common concept of God in Christianity (the Trinity) is a belief in three gods?
- 📝 According to Catholicism, does saying "God loves everyone equally" mean that God *likes* everyone equally?
- 📝 If Jesus is not God according to Jehovah’s Witnesses, why was He accused of blasphemy?
- 📝 Where did viruses come from, according to Young Earth Creationists?
- 📝 Which God do Muslims pray to according to Catholic, Orthodox and main-stream Protestant tradition?
- 📝 According to Wesleyan-Arminianism, does God fail?
- 📝 According to LDS, if the Fall was a positive thing why would God condemn sin in the flesh?
- 📝 Is the concept of God in Christianity (the Trinity) three Gods or One?
- 📝 According to Catholic theology, why does God have an only Son?
- 📝 According to Catholicism, does God create new angels?
- 📝 According to Reformed theology, where is the Scriptural evidence for h*m*ousion?
- 📝 According to Calvinists, does God command the non-elect to do what is for them impossible?
- 📝 On what basis was Jesus’ death sufficient for redemption according Non-Trinitarians who maintain that Jesus was not eternal God as God the Father is?
- 📝 According to non-Trinitarians, why did God allow trinitarianism to become the mainstream understanding of His nature?
- 📝 According to Calvinism, is God always loving?