Talk:Supreme Being

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Is this concept really only Masonic? I know, for example, that alcoholics anonymous has a concept of a Supreme Being. Dave 15:11, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

Alcoholics Anonymous, as well as all other 12 Step programs, believe in a "higher power," but not necessarily a Supreme Being. The 12 Step higher power can be social, political, or a variety of other things, but not necessarily divine. For example, one's social life can be their higher power. -Kingurth 00:24, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] What to do with this article - delete?

At the moment, this article is a mess. It discusses only one usage of the term Supreme Being (that of Freemasonry). As such, it is a completely unreferenced statement of an individual editors POV as to what the term means to Freemasons (which, without citations amounts to Original Research).

While we could take this article further, and discuss the usage of the term by other groups and in other situations, doing so would either make it a dictionary definition... which is discouraged under WP:NOT... or a repetition of concepts and usages that are better explained in other articles.

I find it interesting that vast majority of edits to this article amount to little more than an edit war over which article it should be redirected to. Look at the edit history (going back to 2004) and you see repeated redirects to God, to Deity, and to Great Architect of the Universe. This tells me that there is a clear consensus that this article is not wanted, but that we can not agree on where to redirect it. I would like to suggest that we cut the gordian knot and actually put it up for deletion. I will, however, wait a reasonable time for comments before doing so. Blueboar 16:06, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

OK, I note that (finally) some references have been provided. Great... however, I still find that the article says little that is not already stated in more detail in other articles. It now seems to be a repetition of what is stated in the Freemasonry article. The citations may save it from deletion, but re-open the question of where to redirect. Thoughts? Blueboar 14:44, 10 June 2007 (UTC)
I have an issue with any redirection to something which implies a singular G*d, in a masonic sense the term is not that restrictive. I've objected to that in the past and would continue to do so, taking that position effectively excludes Hindu and Buddhist brenthren.
On rereading the second paragraph needs thinking about, because it only alludes to one usage.
OTOH having reread the FM article I'd agree that it's pretty much a restatement of what's said there, so I'm reasonably ambivalent, but I think you'd struggle to find consensus to redirect to that article.
ALR 15:17, 10 June 2007 (UTC)
OK, I can understand that ... I guess that is why none of the redirects ever seem to stick. I think that this could make for a decent article if it became something more than an article that simply explains one of Freemasonry's entry requirements, and if actually talked about the concept behind the term "Supreme Being", its usages and history etc. I look at what we were able to accomplish with the Great Architect article and the Eye of Providence article once we broadened it away from talking about just Freemasonry. I will attempt to do some rewiting to pull in more general usages and meanings.

[edit] Expanding on ariticle

Ok... I have begun the process of moving this article beyond just a discussion of the requirements to join Freemasonry. A lot more needs to be done, but it is a start. Blueboar 15:35, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Islamic Reference

I would like to point out that singling Islamic scholars as apparently being the only one holding the terms "Supreme Being" and "Allah" as synonyms is incorrect, as Arabic-speaking Christians also use "Allah" to refer to god. I think it needs to be clarified that "Allah" is a generic Arabic-language term that designates any Supreme Being, be it Christian or Muslim. Judaism uses other specifically mentioned words which are transmuted into English(or any other language for that matter) as well, when refering to god from a Jewish perspective, words such as "Adonai", "JHWH", "HaShem" or "AdoShem". The conclusion would be that from a secular point of view, Allah=God=HaShem, Adonai, JHWH, HaShem. Sufitul 05:27, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

Feel free to clarify this in the article if you really think it is needed.
The point of the paragraph is not to say that Muslims are the only people to use the name "Allah" to refer to God... it is to demonstrate that some Islamic scholars have used the term "Supreme Being" (at least when writing in English). If you can word that better, please do so. Blueboar 12:25, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Definitions and imaginations

Austerlitz -- 88.75.75.71 (talk) 14:18, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] The term "being"

According to The Collins German Concise Dictionary being refers to existence as well as to that which exists. Does the term Supreme being in English refer to being with form or without?

Austerlitz -- 88.75.75.71 (talk) 14:42, 18 February 2008 (UTC)
Austerlitz -- 88.75.75.71 (talk) 16:50, 18 February 2008 (UTC)
In this case, the word 'being' is a noun... as in an entity. So "that which exists" is closer to the correct meaning. Blueboar (talk) 21:23, 18 February 2008 (UTC)