If the Christian god has no creator why does he exist, what is his purpose?

BRAVO! this is a really good philosophical question. Up there with "Why something rather then nothing?"

This is WHY I stick around the R&S section as caustic and mean as this section of Y!As can sometimes be.

Amen Brother, keep thinkin' like this...

So FIRST off.. often times when things don't make a ton of sense.. it is often because we are looking at them from the WRONG angle. Flip it around.. and things often times make more sense.

So HERE, you seem to be confused because you consider purpose and existence EXTERNAL to God. As properties that HE possesses, to a greater extent, just like we do. RIGHT?

BUT.. what IF God IS those properties, and they are him. They are not external to him, but INtegral?

For instance.. what if he IS existence, itself? All existence is a part of him. - then the question 'why does he exist' is meaningless. He IS existence.. so he exists OF HIS OWN NATURE.

What if "purpose" is not external to him.. not something that he posseses a part of. What if he IS PURPOSE.

To understand this.. we may need to take a step back and define some terms.

St. Augustine talked about this in Suma Theologica. Thomas Acquainas famously took up this idea in the 13th century and ran with it.

God is PURE actualization - he lacks any potentiality. He can't potentially BE or DO anything. He is 'esse' from which we get 'essence' - the idea of a 'nature' or what something TRULY is.

God is existence, itself. Being such - his purpose is part of his nature and tied into WHO he is.

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So you asked:

<<Why would a god exist for the sole purpose to create everything for no higher purpose? >>

His sole purpose is NOT to merely create.

However, the 'higher purpose' that he creates things out of or 'for' is:

A) Out of LOVE. He creates because it is better for that THING to exist, then to have never existed. It is a benefit to the thing.. that it come into existence. So he creates because he loves.

For instance.. he loves humanity - so he creates us, so WE can exist. The benefit is purely ours, in a sense.

The only motivation he can have is love.

B)God IS goodness itself - he isn't merely the 'greatest good' - but GOODNESS itself. So it is "good" that something exist, rather than nothing. SO he therefore creates..because that is what is GOOD. And by his nature he does what is good.

C) He creates so that things can commune with him. He doesn't need the friendship (he is 3 perfect persons in 1) but again, it is good for US to be connected to him. So he creates so that WE can be united to him. And that is his HOPE in creating.. that is why he created us with Freewill - so we can freely choose to love him.

D) He creates simply because 'nothing' is bad -- something is good.

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What's interesting is that as we contemplate what God is.. and that he is ALL existence and before he created us (the Universe or Multiverse, even) what was there? - NOTHING

So we are ultimately NOTHING -- we were nothing before we existed. Many believe if God didn't exist we'd go back to what we truly are - truly were, before we were created. -- NOTHING.

Because what made us what we were - GOD

What is keeping us as we are - GOD

What are we truly without God? - NOTHING

So it is God's will and God's power that ALL things are sustained and maintained and persist. God LITERALLY keeps us in existence, every microsecond of every day. We are LITERALLY that important to him that he sustains us all, constantly.

Some say - he keeps us in his mind and WILLs us into being every moment. It is like a Jedi concentrating, keeping an object suspended in mid-air, if he gets distracted for even a second - the object falls. - Perhaps God is a bit like that. He must constantly WILL us into being, or we'd return to nothingness.

Except that God is so immense, it probably doesn't take his concentration. - but not every analogy is perfect.

If God was not created then he has no purpose, since he was not created for a purpose. Why does he exist? The Christian answer is: No reason whatsoever.

Christians don't know, but they believe this and that about it, whatever sounds about right to them. If a God did exist, then I doubt we would be able to understand the 'why' of it, anymore than we can understand the purpose of the universe or why we exist.

Jehovah gave the earth to men and women. It is our home. Therefore, the first human couple, Adam and Eve, were not created to populate the heavens—God had already created angels to live in heaven. (Job 38:4, 7) Rather, God took the first man and settled him in a delightful paradise called the garden of Eden. (Genesis 2:15-17) Jehovah gave him and his future offspring the prospect of enjoying life without end on earth.—Read Psalm 37:29; 115:16.

Originally, only the garden of Eden was a paradise. The first human couple were to fill the earth with their offspring. In time, they were to subdue the entire globe and make it a paradise. (Genesis 1:28) The earth will never be destroyed. It will always be mankind’s home.—Read Psalm 104:5.

Unlike people, the Christian God is self-sustaining. He is purpose, love and life Himself. These traits are not simply aspects of His personality as they are for us; they are who He is, and when we reflect beauty and love we are quite literally becoming an image of God Himself.

He has a purpose which is to spread truth, love and peace. However Satan screwed the plan so God sent Jesus to save us from eternal seperation from God.

God is the only entity in existence the reason for whose existence is in Himself.

God has no reason why. He simply is - period. His purpose is whatever he determines it to be.

Thats the point that so many miss. He could be the cruelest of dictators and persecute us all our lives. Then resurrect us and do it all again, thousands of times.

But he CHOOSES to love and bless us with his blessings.

AND THATS WHY WE LOVE AND SERVE HIM.

To give life to all of us and to see if we are worthy of Heaven through His Love, Grace and Mercy