Degrees of Diety

Each individual has an idea of what God is or isn't. To the whole of humanity, God is a continuum ranging from atheist, to agnostic, from deist, to polytheist, and other interpretations. To each individual, however, God may be a fixed point, or a blurry line on that continuum. God may even be an ever moving point determined by the inconsitent attitudes one maintains in response to the rollercoaster of life.

Another angle on humanity's idea of God is that of a pyramid. The most specific definitions of God are near the top; the definitions become more ambiguous as they move from the peak to the base. Deists tend to have a very broad and indefinable definition of God, while in contrast, the Mormon church has a very specific accepted description of God's background, character, material form, relationship to us, name, family dynamics, and so on.

Yet another way of conveying how we understand and recognize God is by that of a polyhedron. God has many different names and facets; he is a savior, a friend, a spiritual parent, a protector, a guide, a creator, etc. To each individual, these facets mean different things and rank at different levels of importance. Perhaps the most universally accepted facet is that of The Creator, perhaps the least accepted facet is that of a personal parent of our spirit.

This leaves us with many questions, some of which are these: What is it that determines our notion of God? Why is it that we are each on a different point of the continuum, each at a different level of the pyramid, each focusing on different facets of the polyhedron? Why can't we all share the same, wholistic idea of what and who God is?

It is apparent that if there is a God, he does not force the accurate definition upon us, showing enormous respect for our free agency. If there is no God, it becomes apparent that there is no one single genetically programed notion of God or the lack of. Even in one family unit there may be entirely different interpretations of God.

The only reasonable solution for this dilemma is that the notion of God is dependent on one, some or all of the personal states and dimensions of our soul. The dimensions are the spiritual, emotional, intellectual, economical, and physical facets of our being. The states represent the interaction and response of these dimensions to the events and journey of our lives.

One might argue that we are genetically programmed to believe in God. And as soon as an individual is enlightened intellectually, in particular to the case of the atheists they will then renounce their beliefs. However this isn't so. Though true in many cases, this pattern is not consitently true enough to all "intellectually enlightened", and atheistically informed people to be valid. Again the only other explanation is that which was addressed earlier: that each individual's notion of God is dependent upon the condition of the states and dimensions of his or her being.