BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Philosophy God's body

When you think about God, what do you think about his/her body? What is the body made of?

Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. He was the body of God. Now, Christians are the body of God on the earth.

I don't think that any of the major religions attribute a body to the deity with the exception of Christianity where, as with Jesusfreak, the belief is that Christ was at the same time a man and divine. Even there however the concept of The Trinity includes both God the Father and The Holy Spirit, neither of whom are thought of as having a body. There's plenty room for discussion around this of course. For example, if you believe that Jesus ascended to heaven - ie, that Jesus' body ascended to heaven - to be one with the other two persons of the Trinity then in some sense God the Father and the Holy Spirit might be (or perhaps logically must be?) considered now to be inhabiting that body.

I'm not too well up on all the world's religions so feel free to correct me anyone, but as far as I know the God of Islam, Allah, is considered to be incorporeal (having no body) although his prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was a flesh and blood man. Unlike Christ in Christianity however, in Islam Muhammad (pbuh) is not himself considered to be divine.

What can anyone else add?

I began this post specifically because patience wrote in a post about God having multiple personality disorder. That made me think about God's body.

Thanks das. I've nosed around now and found the forum you refer to. I suppose a straight answer from me would be that I don't actually think about a God very much at all these days, having decided some time ago that there is no such thing. Consequently I don't attribute body to God at all.

Following on from Patience's post though, we can ask whether Multiple Personality Disorder actually necessitates a body. Do those multiple personalities of necessity inhabit a body, one body and only one body, and what might this tell us about Personal Identity?

Yes. To have any such disorder, one must have a body.

Okay, so if we need to have a body in order to have one - or more- personalities then it would seem that we can't say that you, your personality or whatever it is that makes you you, survives after death.

I am not sure about that. You caught me there.

Hello, as my reference to MPD (DID) has been mentioned I thought I'd pop in and add a couple of comments which might help.

First, I must confess that my reference to God being a multiple was rather 'tongue in cheek'!

Multiples of course are not 'gods' so what applies to a multiple personality, or Dissociative personality, to use the modern term, would not apply to God, if God exists.

People with DID can have up to 100 or more different 'parts' split off from the original child. Some only split once, so have only one 'alter ego' - to use another term. Each, like the Trinity, is a part of the one person, but each has a different, or special role. Again, similar to the Trinity of 'Father, Son and Holy Spirit'. The big difference would be in the fact that multiple personalities only occur where there has been great trauma. The child 'splits' off in order to cope with the trauma. They 'separate' their consciousness from what is happeneing and place the trauma into another part of their mind, which then becomes separate, and is capable of functioning as an individual. Often the child is not aware that this has happened.

When the body of a multiple dies, all the 'parts' die with it.

If God has a body, such as that of a resurrected Jesus - who is believed to be the second 'person' in the Trinity, then it becomes very like the Dissociative Identity Disorder - because there is a body.

There has to be a 'primary' or 'original' person in both cases. The big difference is in the fact that the multiple is ONE to begin with, and splits, usually before the age of 7 on the first occasion, due to severe trauma. Further 'splits' occur along the track. Once it has happened, it can easily happen again, but also as a result of further trauma, even once adulthood has been reached.

The Bible tell us that Jesus was with the Father at the beginning, as was the Holy spirit, but a body would only have been added when Jesus became human flesh.

In theory, as the personality is not a physical thing, but 'what and who we are' - it raises some interesting questions. It is also interesting in the sense that a person with DID 'creates' the other 'personalities' - so it is an act of the mind.

It is possible for these 'parts' to reunite with the original child's mind, and this is called 'integration'.

So the idea of a God with three persons in a trinity is very interesting to someone with DID!

I hope this sheds some light on it, and I will be happy to provide any further information that anone might which to know.

Patience.

Ooooh, I love this....I
Firstlym the original question to me, is classic proof that even though it is written that we are created in God's image, it is patently obvious that in order for God to exist for some, it is in fact He who has to be seen in their image... !

As for your comment on needing a body in order to exist - this touches upon the highly complex teachings in Buddhism of 'Self' and 'Not-Self', or as is often quoted, "Form is emptiness, Emptiness is Form...." This is a doozy, and it personally took me quite some time before I could wrap my head round it!
........Or maybe my Not-Head....!