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September 19, 2018What do we mean by God?
New atheist do not believe in a God that is some reality in this world, a supreme being, if you will. Catholics don't believe in that God either. St. Thomas Aquinas says that God is not even a type of being. He is not a thing, nor an individual. God is the act of being in and of itself? God is not a Yeti or a Bigfoot. God is ipsum esse subsistens, the pure act of existing.
The Yeti theory of God
Atheists and agnostics drop the question of God's existence just as it gets interesting. Why is there anything at all? Science answers 'how' questions, not 'why' questions. Here are some possible ways of looking at the question of God:
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Pantheism: Pantheists believe that God and creation are the same thing. God is a fancy way about talking about nature.
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Deism: God is a supreme being and he built the world, wound it up and let it go. Like an absent father, he doesn't pay any attention to what happens after the moment of creation.
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Biblical view: God made the world. God operates in the world, but is not something in the world.
Bishop Barron considers the question, what are the most common views of God?
Pantheism and Deism -
