@nickster
It is arguably not feasible to present a detailed description of God’s true nature in simplistic terms. What is involved is no less than a theory of everything. If we desire to comprehend the mystery of God, the revealed word (scripture) and the facts of science must be considered in context with the surrounding words and circumstances involved. In other words, if ambiguity and vagueness are to be avoided it is essential to be clear and precise. As such, to even begin to understand the true nature of God, it is unequivocally necessary to break up the whole into its respective parts so as to examine in detail how the respective parts function and how they are interrelated. In this way, an assessment can be made and a judgment drawn as to whether our assumptions are in fact as assumed. Accordingly, this requires the necessary and pertinent language inherent in the various fields of inquiry.
“Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultimate purpose of science. This discipline overlaps with metaphysics, ontology, and epistemology, for example, when it explores the relationship between science and truth.” Philosophy of science - Wikipedia
The uniformity of nature demonstrates how the world functions. Consecutively, by understanding how the world functions, knowledge is attained as to what the facts are. This relationship between science and truth is the principle behind the philosophy of science. The ultimate purpose of science must therefore be the procurement of truth.
“Philosophy has two important aims. First, it tries to give a person a unified view of the universe in which he lives. Second, it seeks to make a person a more critical thinker by sharpening his ability to think clearly and precisely.” (Philosophy - World Book Encyclopedia)
How does philosophy try to give a person a unified view of the universe in which he lives? And how does it seek to make a person a more critical thinker? Through the observation and experimentation of nature of course, whereby philosophers incorporate the discoveries of science into the curriculum of the scholastic education system. The continual effort to be clear and precise in language usage is fundamental to critical thinking. Accuracy becomes an important goal whereby the student learns the importance of the clarity and precision of thought, free from errors, mistakes, or distortion.
“Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that seeks to understand reality, beyond what we know from our sense perceptions.” (Philosophy [Philosophical Terms] - World Book Encyclopedia) Metaphysics is the name given to research about the eternal universal nature of things. (Metaphysics - World Book Encyclopedia) Metaphysics includes epistemology (the theory of knowledge), ontology (the study of the nature of reality), and cosmology (the theory of the origin of the universe and its laws). (Metaphysics - World Book Encyclopedia Dictionary)
How does metaphysics seek to understand reality beyond what we know from our sense perceptions? How can we know anything apart from our sense perceptions? Our sense perceptions are precisely that—the organs through which the nervous system gathers information from the world. However, the question remains; how does metaphysics propose to understand reality beyond what we know from the very sense perceptions we require to gather information from the world in the first place?
“Deduction is a method of reasoning from general statements to particular conclusions. Induction is a method of arriving at conclusions by examining particular facts. Induction depends on observation and experimentation.” (Philosophy [Philosophical Terms] - World Book Encyclopedia)
Through observation and experimentation (induction) we establish the concrete facts about the world. Similarly, by reasoning from general statements to particular conclusions (deduction) we form hypotheses leading to further observation, experimentation, and verification. Hence, beyond the physics lie the metaphysics requiring more of the same critical thinking that scientists are already accustomed to—drawing conclusions or inferences from observations, facts, or hypotheses, and making these inferences explicit, along with the assumptions or premises upon which those inferences are based.
Furthermore, bringing these deliberations together with the biblical narrative and taking into consideration the history of mankind, the outline of God’s plan as presented in scripture becomes explicitly understood. Our assumptions should be based on these facts and assessed from this perspective.
"assumption: A statement accepted or supposed as true without proof or demonstration; an unstated premise or belief. All human thought and experience is based on assumptions. Our thought must begin with something we take to be true in a particular context. We are typically unaware of what we assume and therefore rarely question our assumptions. Much of what is wrong with human thought can be found in the uncritical or unexamined assumptions that underlie it. For example, we often experience the world in such a way as to assume that we are observing things just as they are, as though we were seeing the world without the filter of a point of view. People we disagree with, of course, we recognize as having a point of view. One of the key dispositions of critical thinking is the on-going sense that as humans we always think within a perspective, that we virtually never experience things totally and absolutistically. There is a connection, therefore, between thinking so as to be aware of our assumptions and being intellectually humble. (A Glossary of Critical Thinking Terms and Concepts — Glossary of Critical Thinking Terms)
Glossary of Critical Thinking Terms
Our assumptions about spiritual matters have been influenced by the men who took over the early church after the apostles. The upper echelon of today’s governing bodies of clergy amongst the different denominations are not exempt. Here is an example of how the wrong assumptions can create distortion in our critical thinking;
"What is Real? We often use the expression “Seeing is believing” without thinking much about it. But sometimes we find that the expression is not quite true. You may be sure you see a puddle of water in the road, but when you come closer, the puddle may not be there at all. Or you may see a bent stick in a glass of water, but find that the stick is straight when you take it out. You then begin to wonder, “Was there a puddle of water in the road?” "Is the stick bent or straight? These problems concern the question of deciding whether what we perceive, or sense, is real, and which of two perceptions is the true one. See PERCEPTION.
As you look at a stick, you might say, “I see a stick.” But what you actually see is an image formed in your eye. If you compare the stick you now see with one you might have seen in a dream, you might find little difference. But you know that the one in the dream was a mental thing. This raises the question of the nature of what you perceive. Is the stick a real thing independent of your knowledge of it. Or is the stick simply what you know of it, or a purely mental thing? The philosophic theory called realism insists that objects exist independently of our knowledge of them. Idealism argues that they exist only in the mind. See IDEALISM; REALISM.
Another aspect of the problem of what is real is the philosophic discussion of universals and particulars. When you look at a set of book, you recognize that they are all books. All books are alike as books. This means that each book is an example of a “Book” in a general sense. Philosophers call this general “Book” a universal, and the individual books particulars. They ask, “Is the particular book or the universal “Book” the real one?” Some philosophers say that only the universal is real. The particular book seems to change, but the universal remains unchanged." (Philosophy [What is Real?] - World Book Encyclopedia)
The hopes and dreams of the prophets of Ancient Israel and the main message of Christianity was and still is the Kingdom of God. The book of Daniel of the Hebrew scriptures informs us of the prophet Daniel’s interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream concerning the world empires that were to rule the world until God’s Kingdom would take over the reins of power.
“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” (Daniel 2:44)
I would like to emphasis [break in pieces] and [consume all these kingdoms] as part of this policy, and conclude with a quote that magnifies and clarifies this perspective;
“What is at stake is more than one small country—it is a big idea. A new world order where diverse nations are drawn together in common cause to achieve the universal aspirations of mankind. With few exceptions the world now stands as one. The world can therefore seize this opportunity to fulfill the long held promise of a new world order. We can find meaning and reward by serving some higher purpose than ourselves. A shining purpose, the illumination of a thousand points of light. And that’s why I wanted to speak to you today about the new world taking shape around us. About the prospects for a new world order now within our reach. It refers to new ways of working with other nations to deter aggression and to achieve stability. As old threats recede, new threats emerge. The quest for the new world order is in part a challenge to keep the dangers of disorder at bay.”
(New World Order Speech - George H. W. Bush)