Jobar

One of the things I like about Hinduism is the concept of lila- 'divine play'. Unlike the J/C God, Brahma in many of his aspects is quite playful; in fact, the entire universe is sometimes called a dance, a game of creation-and-destruction, life-and-death, being-and-nothingness. This playful aspect is utterly lacking from all Abrahamic religions, and IMO the lack of it is one of the roots of the coldness and cruelty of very many of them. When you play, it's never because of need; the very best play (and the best dancing) is free, unstructured, unpredictable, wild. The Dionysian and orgiastic types are almost absent from J/C/M worship; look how many fundamentalist sects condemn dancing in the strongest terms.

This is, IMO, the type of praise Yahweh/Jehovah/Allah needs the worst, and almost never gets.

BioBeing

What about the angels and the cherubs and the other assorted fora He has up there? What do they do all day if not worship Him? If he doesn't have enough praise, couldn't he just make a few more of them, intead of trying to get us poor humans to follow his convoluted manual?

Magus55

Who ever said He needed worship? God is 100% self sufficient and needs absolutely nothing. Worship is actually more for us. If we focus on God, it keeps us from getting into trouble and straying away from Him. Yes He does want our worship and love, but He doesn't need it.

Jobar

Magus, any 'want' indicates a lack. In one sense the words are synonymous, in fact. Why does God, in His infinite power, want any least thing from us??

Ad Astra

God pretty much seems to imply that.
Then why is it he has a shit-fit when people don't worship him?
Perhaps you have some statistics that prove Atheists get into more trouble (regarding the law or otherwise) than Christians? Oh, uh, excuse me, TRUE Christians.

Again, as others have pointed out, God wanting sometime implies that he lacks something.

EGGO

On a further note, there already been studies comparing the two...err...groups. It shows that generally....we're all the same when it comes to decision making and whatnot.

Cross Examiner

All,

The OP question is: Does God lack for praise? It is not: does God exist? or does the Bible accurately reveal God? or Is the Bible the Word of God? In fact, a few notions are assumed by the OP which form the premises for this quick free-flow argument to answer the original question: Does God lack for praise? And if so, what are the ramifications? Fortunately, we won't need to address the ramifications of a needy God.

1. "God" is the living deity as described in the Bible.
At iidb.org, "God" is default for YHWH, unless otherwise specified. The OP actually specified the "J/C God". Christians universally know God, and Jesus Christ as God, through the Bible.
2. God exists.
How can God not exist and still "lack for praise?" If he does not exist then the OP is incoherent. We will assume the OP is coherent in order to answer the question.
3. The Bible lists the characteristics of God and is the primary source of our understanding of God.
The OP invokes the Bible by ascribing God omnipotence, omniscience, "omnisufficience", etc. and in need of praise, qualities found originally in, or derived from, the Bible and could not be ascribed to Him otherwise.

God lacks nothing. Man lacks God. If man freely praises God, man will not lack God. If man does not lack God, man will grow spiritually. God wants man to grow spiritually because man was designed as a spiritual animal, and his existence is optimized when his spiritual nature, as opposed to his base animal nature, grows. God wants man's existence to be optimized so man may be complete since God altruistically loves man and wants him to function as originally intended. If God wants man to be complete and functional because God is deficient in some way then God is not love. The Bible says God is love. Altruistic love desires the best for the object (man in this case) and for no other reason. Therefore, God does not need praise from man; man needs to praise God.

Anyway, I've already spent too many words in this thread attempting to communicate/demonstrate the same, simple thing. Magus55 speaks concisely, rightly:

So, God wants man to attain to the fullness of the original design, for the benefit of man, solely, apart form any insufficiency in God. The OP also asked: “just what reason might He have for creating a temporal universe?” If the Godhead, in perfect union, experiences eternal, unfettered love and glory unto Himself, what better act than to create like-minded beings (remember how God made man in his image?) that may also experience the same? Love creates. The expression of love is creation. Lastly the OP posits: “If God has wants or desires or lacks, then he is not omnisufficient (to coin a term)- and thus could not be omnipotent.” To which I ask, if one can, must one? A little cryptic but I think you’ll crack it.

Regards,
BGiC

EGGO

So what from what I'm understanding is that, putting it bluntly, we need Him more than he needs us.

But what if you're an individual like me, whose life is in great balance in happiness, physical health, mental health, without ever praying to Him?

From the sound of it, He is as if to be the soft pillow one can fall on for comfort and reassurance. (Of course you'll feel uplifted from Him, he said you were garbage to begin with)

Which is what I find it all to be. If a person has gone through a terrible time, then by giving themself to God, they feel comforted, mostly because with no one to turn to, they see a perfect being as their best friend the best thing in the world (might as well go with it) and afterlife.

But what about us who doesn't need that reassurance, that comfort. I never used drugs, drank, or anything else that you would consider sinful other than disbelieving in God.

For myself (specifically), I can close the case saying I never needed Him, and I doubt I will, because from what I see it's all more of a psychological comforter more than anything else.

Of course, this is all just about me responding to "You need God more than he needs you." But I think other responses would be better.

Deke

Billy Graham Fan and Magus55,

You’ve well and faithfully described the feelings a human parent has for its child. Could the modern notion of God be the mythological ideal parent? BgiC aptly points out that a parent doesn’t need their child’s praise, but it sure feels good.

We arrive at adulthood, but the desire to praise a parent is still within us. It’s no wonder human adults developed the idea that there’s something infinitely great – worthy of praise from adults as well as children.

MHO,

Deke

luvluv

The short answer to this question is that God DOESN'T need our praise.

God WANTS us to praise Him because He loves us and praising Him is good for US.

What characteristic of God is supposedly violated by Him actively desiring what is best for us?