Doesn't the belief need to be based on reality in some way?

*Fenixp chuckles*

There's a local sect which believes in invisible space ships that dwell on Earth's orbit. The only thing you can really base definition of God on is context. Christians don't believe that Roman or Nordic gods are actually gods, because they sort of can't - so if you belong to a religion, your definition of God or god-like beings is going to be quite clear, to you anyway. If you're an atheist or agnostic, definition of God is going to vary by culture you're thinking/speaking of. Still, the basic definition, as with any word, varies by territory and ethnicity - in other words, "Gods are beings or entities that people believe to be gods" is about as accurate definition as you can get :-P

 

Doesn't the belief need to be based on reality in some way?

*Fenixp chuckles*

There's a local sect which believes in invisible space ships that dwell on Earth's orbit. The only thing you can really base definition of God on is context. Christians don't believe that Roman or Nordic gods are actually gods, because they sort of can't - so if you belong to a religion, your definition of God or god-like beings is going to be quite clear, to you anyway. If you're an atheist or agnostic, definition of God is going to vary by culture you're thinking/speaking of. Still, the basic definition, as with any word, varies by territory and ethnicity - in other words, "Gods are beings or entities that people believe to be gods" is about as accurate definition as you can get :-P

 

 

  Ok, but does that make that dog a god or not? It is an actual entity that, unlike a lot of entities that people consider to be gods, we could actually observe and that David Berkowitz sincerely believed was a god. That is why the definition based on what people believe seems too loose. 

 

 When I used the word 'reality,' I meant  that it would need to be believed by someone who is not clearly out of touch with reality.  Of course, to decide if a claim actually coincides with reality we would need sufficient evidence, a high bar for a religious belief.

 

 How's this? A god is a being (or non-being) believed by enough people who don't show signs of mental illness (and also perhaps some who do) to be a god. Hmm, I'm not sure where that puts your local sect and their invisible spaceships....

How's this? A god is a being (or non-being) believed by enough people who don't show signs of mental illness (and also perhaps some who do) to be a god. Hmm, I'm not sure where that puts your local sect and their invisible spaceships....

 

 

What if an alien came to Earth, did some tricks and lots of sane people believed he was a god, then he leaves and dies and people continues to believe?

 

 

 

I want the "are you retarded?" dialog for the conversation with Skaen in the end. When we ask him about all we have done against Woedica, he doesn't answer, talking about Thaos' failure. Then he says that Woedica keeps her promises, but she never promises anything, she just looks.

 

If I'm wrong my character just broke another promise to a god and lost the chance of becoming her favored, but I don't think that her looking counts as a promise. So why should I believe him?

Actually, just add "Are you retarted?" as a response to every line in every conversation. Imagine the hilarity.

Actually, just add "Are you retarted?" as a response to every line in every conversation. Imagine the hilarity.

 

Like this?

 

Iovara:

 

 

 

 

 

Magran:

 

 

 

 

 

Skaen:

 

 

 

 

 

Duc Aevar:

 

 

 

 

 

Aelys:

 

 

 

 

 

How's this? A god is a being (or non-being) believed by enough people who don't show signs of mental illness (and also perhaps some who do) to be a god. Hmm, I'm not sure where that puts your local sect and their invisible spaceships....

 

 

What if an alien came to Earth, did some tricks and lots of sane people believed he was a god, then he leaves and dies and people continues to believe?

 

 

 

 

 I agree. I was trying to tighten up the original definition but, even with the extra condition, the definition isn't good enough.

This is more difficult than I thought. I came up with this definition: a being that people believe to be powerful, affect their lives and that they pray for, love or are afraid of.

 

But then I noticed that the alien example that I gave fits here too...

 

If you consider real life, there must be thousands of gods in all different religions. And depending on who you ask, only one of them would be real (or none). So if you consider that and the fact that some religions probably started with a single person, then the definition doesn't need to include more than one believer and it's just about that, believing. They don't need to be real.

 

And if you rule out the believing part, then you could use one of the previous definitions in this thread.

This is more difficult than I thought. I came up with this definition: a being that people believe to be powerful, affect their lives and that they pray for, love or are afraid of.

 

But then I noticed that the alien example that I gave fits here too...

 

 I agree that this is difficult to pin down. You could rule out the alien example by including that the powers do not derive from technology but are inherent to the being. That way, another being couldn't just pick up a technology and become a god, though someone might believe that they are.

 

 I would also want to rule out the god constructs in PoE by saying that an actual god isn't constructed by lesser beings and so, new gods can't be invented and be actual gods even if they are objectively real and powerful.

 

 Regarding belief - how about Santa Claus? He is believed in and loved by millions and clearly has supernatural powers and delivers things to believers that other beings seem incapable of delivering. Is a Christian child who believes in Santa Claus committing blasphemy? Or, to choose an example believed by adults, there is John Frum, the figure of worship in the cargo cults who will bring prosperity to those who believe.

 

 It's the real world consequences of these things that make the questions interesting, including: 

• the inquisition depicted in PoE
• formerly (and in some places currently), death for blasphemy in the real world
• organizing a whole society around a not actually divine character due to a misunderstanding.