1 hour ago, HawkII said:

I am showing by showing another passage I found after Googling

But why didn’t you Google the passage in question?

Or did you, and get no matches in the Bible? Could it be the only Google hit is this thread?

On 8/15/2025 at 2:55 AM, joigus said:

No. I'm saying there's no such evidence

That is what I am asking: what evidence would convince you?

On 8/15/2025 at 2:55 AM, joigus said:

No. I said praising God is demanded by God himself, according to the known monotheistic narratives, which makes that god very suspicious to me in the first place, suggesting it's more a projection of primitive minds, rather than the actual presence it purports to be (who would never be that petty, IMO).

What I mean by praise is earned is that God would give us reason to praise. I don’t think it is demanded. (Yes I know what the Old Testament says.) But obviously in today’s society it doesn’t seem praise is demanded. Praise is not true praise when demanded.

But I agree that if you read the Bible verses it may say something that seems or even may say “demands praise.” I would have to research. But there are many parts of the Bible that need interpretation. I don’t think a few verses will explain God.

I once opened the Bible and it said: “Ye of uncircumcised lips.” Needless to say I was confused. But it is only a piece of a larger part.

But is there anything that would make you believe? Earlier I suggested that God should change the physical and chemical properties of the world. Newton mechanics would no longer apply. Lisa in this house we believe in the laws of thermodynamics (Homer Simpson).

I agree it seems petty for someone all knowing to demand praise. I don’t think demanding praise is who God is. I respect your disbelief. Do you believe that a god couldn’t create the universe or do you not agree with the “definitions” of God?

Is this the passage in question?(Good News translation,whatever that is..)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_News_Bible

YouVersion | The Bible App | Bib...

Deuteronomy 4:19-20 Do not be tempted to worship and serv...

Do not be tempted to worship and serve what you see in the sky—the sun, the moon, and the stars. The LORD your God has given these to all other peoples for them to worship. But you are the people he r

Edited August 17Aug 17 by geordief

1 hour ago, Trurl said:

That is what I am asking: what evidence would convince you?

That’s not the subject of this thread, and delving into the topic is preaching.

34 minutes ago, geordief said:

Is this the passage in question?

The passage (since people should’t have to click on a link) being

Do not be tempted to worship and serve what you see in the sky—the sun, the moon, and the stars. The LORD your God has given these to all other peoples for them to worship. But you are the people he rescued from Egypt, that blazing furnace. He brought you out to make you his own people, as you are today.

And the NIV translation says

¹⁹ And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. ²⁰ But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%204&version=NIV

So one might wonder if that part about the moon being for others is a bit of poetic license

(Note that it’s Moses giving this information, and the passage in question says “God replied”)

1 hour ago, swansont said:

That’s not the subject of this thread, and delving into the topic is preaching.

The passage (since people should’t have to click on a link) being

Do not be tempted to worship and serve what you see in the sky—the sun, the moon, and the stars. The LORD your God has given these to all other peoples for them to worship. But you are the people he rescued from Egypt, that blazing furnace. He brought you out to make you his own people, as you are today.

And the NIV translation says

¹⁹ And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. ²⁰ But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%204&version=NIV

So one might wonder if that part about the moon being for others is a bit of poetic license

(Note that it’s Moses giving this information, and the passage in question says “God replied”)

(Sorry about the link)

It seems that the language of that passage is Hebrew.

Unless we have a pair of dueling Hebrew scholars on the site then I don't know if we can say which of those translations or renderings is the most accurate vis a vis the original text

I was wondering how the passage seemed to know what god had said.

Maybe Moses should be the patron saint of journalists. 😏

On 8/14/2025 at 10:49 AM, m_m said:

Our awareness, intelligence, memory, ability to know, to feel..We take them for granted

Speak for yourself, I don't.

On 8/14/2025 at 10:49 AM, m_m said:

“The worst moment for an atheist is when he is really thankful and has no one to thank.”

If that is going to be worst moment in life that's pretty good.

9 hours ago, Trurl said:

What I mean by praise is earned is that God would give us reason to praise. I don’t think it is demanded. (Yes I know what the Old Testament says.) But obviously in today’s society it doesn’t seem praise is demanded. Praise is not true praise when demanded.

Doesn't this imply that we're slowly but surely growing out of it? (Believe in personal gods, I mean).

3 hours ago, pinball1970 said:

Speak for yourself, I don't.

But scientists don't know what the mind and awareness are, and what they are for.

3 hours ago, pinball1970 said:

If that is going to be worst moment in life that's pretty good.

It's really sad that you write this.

23 minutes ago, m_m said:

But scientists don't know what the mind and awareness are, and what they are for.

Scientists know an awful lot about the brain and how the mind works. The fact they do not know everything does not mean you have to stick a god in there. Those gaps are getting smaller you know.

26 minutes ago, m_m said:

It's really sad that you write this.

For you maybe. Not having a god to thank for things has not entered my head for over 30 years.

Edited August 17Aug 17 by pinball1970
Auto correct

24 minutes ago, m_m said:

But scientists don't know what the mind and awareness are, and what they are for.

Of course we know what they are. How could you make this claim without knowing what they are?

What we don’t know is elements of how they work.

As for what they are for, they don’t have to be for anything. That’s not for science to say. Assigning a purpose in a religious, mystical or philosophical appendage.

24 minutes ago, m_m said:

It's really sad that you write this.

That’s not for you to say

The OP is asking what the gods would do if we rejected religion, the UK is doing just that and the gods did nothing OR they don't exist.

12 hours ago, geordief said:

Is this the passage in question?(Good News translation,whatever that is..)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_News_Bible

YouVersion | The Bible App | Bib...

Deuteronomy 4:19-20 Do not be tempted to worship and serv...

Do not be tempted to worship and serve what you see in the sky—the sun, the moon, and the stars. The LORD your God has given these to all other peoples for them to worship. But you are the people he r

7 minutes ago, HawkII said:

Well done! That is indeed very close to your claim, at least in your translation. So you weren't making it up. I apologise.

My Jerusalem bible has something a bit different: "Yahweh your God has allotted these to all the other peoples under heaven".

Neither of these asserts that God made the heavenly bodies for that purpose though, i.e. for these other people to worship.

12 minutes ago, exchemist said:

Well done! That is indeed very close to your claim, at least in your translation. So you weren't making it up. I apologise.

My Jerusalem bible has something a bit different: "Yahweh your God has allotted these to all the other peoples under heaven".

Neither of these asserts that God made the heavenly bodies for that purpose though, i.e. for these other people to worship.

The Christian god I was once taught ** made everything , was everywhere and knew everything.If it made the moon and some people worshipped it then that could have been interpreted as its purpose .

(Migo = moon in ,garbage out )

**it had a panoply of religious minions such as saints and angels to intercede and carry out its wishes,what the prods(and the muslims?) call(ed) idol worship I think.

Edited August 17Aug 17 by geordief

1 minute ago, geordief said:

The Christian god I was once taught ** made everything , was everywhere and knew everything.If it made the moon and some people worshipped it then that could have been interpreted as its purpose .

(Migo = moon in ,garbage out )

**it had a panoply of religious minions such as saints and angels to intercede and carry out its wishes,what the prods(and the muslims?) call(ed) idol worship I think.

Well not really, any more than if you use an iron for making toast.😁

1 minute ago, exchemist said:

Well not really, any more than if you use an iron for making toast.😁

We used to have a bacon flattener

It was a wheel shaped piece of oven grade glass with a handle in the middle that kept the bacon in full contact with the base of the frying pan and the fat rather than curling up in the heat.

Sadly lost (broken) and never replaced. (only missing it again yesterday some 15 years on)

2 hours ago, pinball1970 said:

For you maybe. Not having a god to thank for things has not entered my head for over 30 years.

And "thank god for that" do I hear you say? ;-)

Edited August 17Aug 17 by geordief

34 minutes ago, geordief said:

We used to have a bacon flattener

It was a wheel shaped piece of oven grade glass with a handle in the middle that kept the bacon in full contact with the base of the frying pan and the fat rather than curling up in the heat.

Sadly lost (broken) and never replaced. (only missing it again yesterday some 15 years on)

And "thank god for that" do I hear you say? ;-)

A bacon flattener. Now that's a really good idea. I'm actually amazed my mother never had one. She was into 1970s kitchen gizmos in a big way. I had to dump a lot of rusting or broken relics of some of them when I cleared the family house. I once had to the replace our fish slice, when we had a nanny for my son so my wife could get back to work, and said nanny bent it by flattening bacon with it too vigorously. Not much point now: it's only me in the house and I only make a bacon butty once in a blue moon.

54 minutes ago, exchemist said:

Not much point now: it's only me in the house and I only make a bacon butty once in a blue moon.

The breakfast of kings or shall I say of the gods? Not Yhwh or Jesus of course, they are strictly Kosher.

8 minutes ago, pinball1970 said:

The breakfast of kings or shall I say of the gods? Not Yhwh or Jesus of course, they are strictly Kosher.

You seem to be on the same wavelength as Al Murray who once adduced the existence of bacon as evidence for the existence of God.

https://youtu.be/lBGmwx6Lz88?si=mcK6FtjCL4iVNze6 **

"A shared aroma is a shared belief" anon

**a video of Al Murray once touted as Britain's favourite bar tender.(possibly by himself)

Edited August 17Aug 17 by geordief

Regarding the OP:

... Nothing. A truly omniscient God would possess the knowledge of all possible universes, including ones he did not create and ones he has no power over.

Regardless of how many universes he converts to his faith, there is always going to be infinite number of universes populated by entities that don't worship him.

Just found this thread. Quite the meander! Indeed, I feel like I've stumbled upon an encampment of Meanderthal man. About bacon: I stopped believing in it as my personal path to salivation.

1 hour ago, TheVat said:

Just found this thread. Quite the meander! Indeed, I feel like I've stumbled upon an encampment of Meanderthal man. About bacon: I stopped believing in it as my personal path to salivation.

Salve,homo viaticus!

37 minutes ago, geordief said:

Salve,homo viaticus!

Salve, homo jocabundus! Nolite te bastardes carborundum.

17 hours ago, joigus said:

Doesn't this imply that we're slowly but surely growing out of it? (Believe in personal gods, I mean).

No, I am saying that God deserves praise. If he demanded it we would have any choice. How would it be praise if we had no other choice?

If you believe or disbelieve or God exists or doesn’t exist you can see why a personal God is needed. Wouldn’t we be doomed without a personal God?

The original question was how the gods remind the people they exist. But this occurs all the time in each generation. People choose to believe or not.

21 minutes ago, Trurl said:

How would it be praise if we had no other choice?

Because praise is a concept that exists whether it’s voluntary or involuntary, authentic or insincere. It’s still praise when offered regardless of how or why.

23 minutes ago, Trurl said:

Wouldn’t we be doomed without a personal God?

No

23 minutes ago, Trurl said:

People choose to believe or not.

Tell me, did you “choose” to stop believing in Santa Claus, or did it just sort of happen naturally when you became wise enough to see it for the nonsensical ruse it is?