Everyone here knows you think about God, yet you admit you have no concept of God.
So your definition is hopelessly flawed, most notably by your own statements.
Not at all. I have no concept outside of discussions with those who propose a working definition for purposes of discussion.
Do I think about God outside of such discussion? No.
Of I want to get involved in such a discussion I seek an understanding of the concept that is being discussed.
So my definition is not flawed, and is consistent with my statements.
According to your definition of concept, their concepts would be based on whatever thoughts they have at any given moment. But here you naturally define concepts as constructs, or mental representations of experience, and those experiences aren't concepts.
I do no such thing. If you wish to conceptualise God as an experience then it is you who are doing it, not me.
The experience (e.g. Listening to your parents) may lead you to build a concept, or to accept theirs. But I do not define concepts as being representations of experience.
Try again.
Every single concept of God, be it atheistic, agnostic, or theistic, is based on attributes that make God, God. You say God IS a concept, but you cannot explain how God became a concept, therefore your assertion is either one of belief, or denial. You simply have to accept that it is more likely that knowledge of God is natural phenomenon than not, at least in private.
I don't say that God is necessarily just a concept, but that in discussion we can do no more than talk about the concept of God that we have/are using. God, if he exists, is God, but our discussion is about our concept of God, whether accurate or otherwise.
I say God is a concept because everything is a concept if we think about it. You have yet to name something that exists that is not.
Your demand for me to explain how God became a concept is irrelevant and shows you don't understand what I mean by something being a concept, although I'm not sure I can explain it any more simply.
If you picture grass in your mind, you picture your concept of grass. When we use the term grass we refer to our concept of it, whether accurately describing the reality of grass or not. What we define grass as, what we think of when we use the term, that is the concept that is grass. Only when we see the actuality are we not using a concept.
I'm specifically referring to the claim that God IS a concept, and it does follow that if this is the case, there must have been an original concept which spread throughout the world. How do you know this? Or do you simply believe, but have nothing but your whim to support it.
There must also have been someone who first came up with the notion of goblins, of elves, of the tooth fairy etc.
at least with celestial teapots we do have a reasonable idea of who originated the notion, but with things that have gone back before the time of written language, to ask (as if being unable to say proves a point) is ridiculous. It is no more than you saying "you can't prove me wrong, so I'm right".
Come on Sarkus. How hard can it be? You made the claim, you're a smart guy,and I don't think make a claim of anything without a reason.
How hard is it for you to comprehend that one does not need to say who first came up with a concept to be able to say that it is a concept.
You clearly have misunderstood what is meant by me saying that God is a concept, and if what I have already written does not explain it then I am not sure I am capable, or that you are capable of understanding. And as such I will simply have to ignore any issues you have with it.
I don't understand your question. Are you implying that everything is a concept?
I am saying that we can not talk about something, or be aware of something, that is not a concept. The concept is therefore that thing we talk about.
Yeah! That's not what a concept is.
All you have done is imagine what has been described to you. You have no concept.
Plus a circle isn't a concept, but you can create concepts using circles. Do you get it yet?
I get what a concept is. I am not sure you do. Try looking up the wiki article on it:
"Concepts as mental representations, where concepts are entities that exist in the brain"
"Concepts as abstract objects, where objects are the constituents of propositions that mediate between thought, language and referents."
The knowledge of those attributes are there already, my consideration doesn't change that. Nobody knows the origins of this knowledge/information, and it's been here a long time, and is reflected through history. The same attributes.
Those attributes of the God you believe in are already there, undoubtedly in scripture somewhere. Anything else regarding any actual existence of God is an a priori assumption, and question begging.
Everyone's concept of God is at least in relation to those attributes.
Simply untrue. You might believe that this should be the case, but it isn't. Just talk to a deist.
There can only be one cause that brings all causes into existence. One of God' attributes is that He is the original Cause.
That seems to be a prevalent attribute among concepts of God. Even deists might believe that. But not all the attributes you might believe in are believed in by every theist.
Now you don't have to accept of believe it, but it's there, and always has been (knowledge/information). So if someone believes in God, but does not accept that, then their different concept is still in relation to God. They just don't accept it. The deist may not accept God as a supernatural agent who works miracles, and communicates with people, but they believe God created the universe. So they accept one attribute and disregard another. Both attributes are of God.
No, both are attributes of the God you believe in, and you have made the a priori assumption that the God you believe in is the only one that exists.
Yours is flawed reasoning because you assume from the outset that you are right. Naturally so, given your belief. But others will disagree, do disagree.
The default position is God exists, and the world we were born in had that knowledge/information already in place. So you have to seek a way not accepting that.
The default rational position should be one of non-existence rather than existence.
If you can provide logical proof that necessitates the existence of the God you believe in, okay, but you haven't. No one has.
The celestial teapot is also springing to mind.
Merely shifting what you consider to be the default position won't wash, I'm afraid. Otherwise I'd believe in the existence of everything that also can't be proven not to exist. Do you?
Okay. We know when the Forth Bridge was built. Do we know when knowledge of God became available? I'm not saying it's not a concept, but I cannot say for sure that it is a concept. As it stands, it's not. You say it is, but are unable to give explanation as to why you know it is.
Appeal to ignorance... "We don't know therefore you can't prove me wrong!" And given your understanding of what a concept is, I'm not sure I can respond to what you say in a way that has mutual understanding to both of us.
What do you call it when somebody wholeheartedly believe in a concept they form in their mind, which doesn't actually exist, or there is no evidence to validate their beliefs?
If it doesn't exist and it can be proven not to exist: delusion.
If there is no evidence to validate the existence or non-existence, I call it a belief that I find irrational.
I said ''Is God fact or fiction? As far as I know, knowledge of God's existence is a natural phenomenon.'' Knowledge/information of God's existence exists. Do you agree?
Of course you do.
I agree that information exists that claims God to exist. Of course.
But it is not knowledge that god exists unless that information is true, and that is the question in hand, isn't it.
If you can't demonstrate the veracity of the information, it can not (or at least should not) be considered knowledge, in my view (using even the simplistic notion that knowledge is a justified TRUE belief).