The word God has been distorted in the human consciousness to mean something that is beyond everything and yet the human mind has built in itself an aggrandised image of itself in the name of God. Human beings have turned God into a superhuman being in terms of knowledge and power and yet someone who acts very much with the human consciousness, feels and acts in the human way. Thus we could say that God has been turned in the human mind into a God specific to the religion which speaks about Him.
The word Divine on the other hand, implies at once something or someone (both impersonal as well as personal) that is the ultimate of all that we can conceive as well as beyond all that we can even imagine. It is a word that refers not only to a Being but also a state of consciousness that is supreme, purest, holiest of the Holy. It is everywhere and in everything and yet beyond all that we can ever conceive of. It is the purest, deepest essence of everything as well as the highest one can conceive of.
The term Divine implies a completeness that very often the word God is unable to carry due primarily to its limited usage in the English language as someone who is a Supreme Being up there who renders justice with His omnipotence, loving those who believe in Him while condemning those who do not. Hence the term is not the most prefered one.
It is somewhat like the difference between Ishwar and Divya. Ishwar is a Supreme Being whereas Divya can refer to the Supreme Being as well as to a supreme state of consciousness. Hence it is more complete.
Very simply God refers necessarily to a Being, the Supreme Being who is, unfortunately, a Being very often of our own conception. The Divine refers to both, the Supreme Being as well as the becoming, the Creator who is above and beyond as well as within the creation. He is the Source of all and hence transcends all as well as an ultimate of all that is beautiful, peaceful, true, purest knowledge and unmixed power and bliss, an ultimate in creation itself.
Affectioantely,
Alok Da
