07-24-2013, 12:52 PM | #21 | |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
|
Re: What a "god"?
Quote:
__________________
"The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison |
|
07-24-2013, 01:11 PM | #22 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
|
Re: What a "god"?
And keepers of order. Keeping the powers of Chaos at bay is important in many religions. Look at the Book of Job - God justifies his role by his keeping order in the universe (where were you when I...?) and fighting against chaos monsters (Leviathan, Job 41:1-34). Other semitic gods, like Marduk, had similar duties. Ditto Indo-European deities like Odin, Zeus, Jupiter, Indra...
__________________
“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love ...” Marcus Aurelius |
07-24-2013, 01:53 PM | #23 |
Banned
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Athens, GA
|
Re: What a "god"?
If it is really an issue in your world as to which came first, the worshipers or the god, I must direct you to the philosophy of nonduality. When the player asks the question, assume a sage-like poise and answer "nopeti" - which means, roughly, "there is an error in your question such that it cannot be satisfactorily answered", much like "Do you enjoy beating your mother?" Having this as a possible answer to all yes/no questions is also immanently useful in day-to-day life.
|
07-24-2013, 04:45 PM | #24 | |
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Brooklyn, NY
|
Re: What a "god"?
Quote:
Here is the extract from that page: "Nopeti" literally means "it doesn't come up like this," that is, you think it’s a question, but actually it’s nonsense, and I can’t answer it one way or another.The question "Do you enjoy hitting your mother?", I suppose, could be "nopeti" if (1) the person has no mother, (2) the person doesn't beat her, or (3) the person has some neurological condition and can't really experience what we'd call "enjoyment".
__________________
-JC |
|
07-24-2013, 06:04 PM | #25 |
Untitled
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: between keyboard and chair
|
Re: What a "god"?
That depends on the cosmology. In Shinto (where there is possibly a god for every concept), most gods aren't judges or nobles.
__________________
Rob Kelk “Every man has a right to his own opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts.” – Bernard Baruch, Deming (New Mexico) Headlight, 6 January 1950 No longer reading these forums regularly. |
07-24-2013, 06:48 PM | #26 |
Join Date: Dec 2007
|
Re: What a "god"?
|
07-24-2013, 09:08 PM | #27 | |
Untagged
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
|
Re: What a "god"?
Quote:
__________________
Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check. |
|
07-24-2013, 09:20 PM | #28 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
|
Re: What a "god"?
Quote:
Hans PS. Yes, I know you don't think it means that; I'm suggesting the proper response to someone who uses it like that. |
|
07-24-2013, 09:23 PM | #29 | |
Join Date: Nov 2004
|
Re: What a "god"?
Quote:
Genii locorum, embodied concepts, spirits of revered ancestors, and probably a variety of other things I can't think of offhand. |
|
07-24-2013, 09:26 PM | #30 | |
Untagged
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
|
Re: What a "god"?
Quote:
I understand that such concepts are accepted in some real world religions. But I'm not dealing with that regardless of my personal beliefs about such things. I only mean to reference how it sounds in fully made up cosmologies. Even if I did believe in such things for real life, realism isn't about reality anyway. If quantum physics was not true and you tried to game a setting with it, I would just as fervently call you a nutter.
__________________
Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check. |
|
Tags |
clerics, fantasy, gods |
|
|