Different in degree or kind; language (Introduction)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Monday, December 22, 2014, 17:53 (3411 days ago) @ dhw

TONY: Well, at least from a biblical perspective, language is part of how we were designed. Apparently "let us make them in our image" included the ability to communicate and speak in a common language with our designer, because, as the story goes, humans communicated with him directly via spoken word in the beginning.Dhw: I'm not quite sure what “in the beginning” implies. According to Genesis there was only one human language to begin with, but now there are estimated to be well over 6000 in use. So either God understands people's prayers in 6000-plus different languages, or we can no longer communicate with him directly. You seem to be implying the latter, which would make a mockery of most church services, let alone those individuals who believe they have direct access. Or have I misunderstood?
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> TONY: Yes, you misunderstood. There was only one human language initially. God directly 'dabbled' to confuse the languages (i.e. that implies that he created the initial other root languages as well). Your statement that we can not communicate directly to him is illogical. There are translators that can speak a dozen languages. Does that mean that if you speak one of the languages that they know, that you can not communicate with them, or does it instead mean that they know more languages than you?
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> I was not making a statement but was puzzled by your syntax. You wrote, in relation to there being a common language, that humans communicated with God “directly via spoken word in the beginning”, which suggests they no longer communicate with him directly. Judging by your response, however, may I assume that God now communicates with people in 6000-plus languages?-2,883, at last count, actually, which is the number of languages that the bible has been translated in whole or in part to. People communicate to him, these days, directly through prayer. He needs no interpreter to understand them. In ancient times it is claimed that the communication was much more direct, as in the cases of Adam, Cain, Abram, Noah, and others. As for his communication back to us, to my knowledge there has been no witnessed spoken communication directly from God since Christ was baptized. Though that, and several other divine incidences had dozens to upwards of hundreds of witnesses.-“God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son” (Heb. 1:1).-God does not speak directly to people any more. He speaks through his word the bible, and through the witness of his son. Probably not what you want to hear, but that is what the Bible says about it.

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What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.