Where did God come from?
2 Answers
A few thoughts...
Explanation:
Here's a sort of Judeo-Christian approach, with apologies for the somewhat rough explanation...
The answer is - at least partially - in his name, or one might say in The Name.
The word "God" is a Germanic word with uncertain origins, which was used in European translations of the Bible.
In the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek texts various words are used for God. One name is "Elohim", which is an impersonal term in plural form - a plural of majesty.
The other main name in the Hebrew Bible is the personal name of God that he gave to Moses (in Exodus 3), by which he was to be known from generation to generation. That name is transliterated as YHWH - known as the tetragrammaton, but usually replaced by the word "LORD" capitalised all the way through in most English translations. In Exodus 3 it is explained as being "I AM" or "I AM that I AM".
Unfortunately we lost the vowels of the tetragrammaton due to the Bible text being written in consonant-only form at some points in its history. This has had several consequences, but a reasonable guess as to the original pronunciation of YHWH is probably "Yahweh".
The fullness of the meaning of the Name is difficult to capture, but it includes the idea of self-existence - that God exists of himself. He is described as being the source of all creation, so by definition he is not a created being. He is described as being the Alpha and Omega - the beginning and the end. He himself has no beginning or end.
I am not sure that I have helped much with these slightly rambling thoughts, but I hope so.
A couple of thoughts below:
Explanation:
That is a question that has attracted many different views and perspectives over the ages from all all over the world. There is no set answer - which can be both frustrating and fascinating.
Many of the ideas that are out there live in the world of myth and religion. While I don't have a great answer from the religious perspective, there is a great youtube series that can better address the mythological perspectives. Here's a link to the introductory video (I'm a big fan of Crash Course videos):
