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Author Topic:   Origins of the Judeo-Christian god and religion
Dierotao
Junior Member (Idle past 6094 days)
Posts: 22
Joined: 04-03-2006


Message 4 of 282 (308311)
05-01-2006 7:27 PM


This is a good question. I looked around the web a little and tossed the idea around my mind a bit. And the first thing I thought of is: what is a "god"?
If a god can simply be any spiritual being, then any monotheistic religion would become polytheistic. Unless there happens to be a monotheistic religion which acknowledges one god, but not angels, demons or anything else of a purely spiritual nature. Christians believe in angels and demons and their abilities to alter the physical universe, should they then be considered polythiests? If those Christians see people worshiping carved wooden idols, and they say those idols represent a demonic spirit, or they say those idols represent a "god", is there really any difference? What then is the actual difference between polythiesm and monothiesm? What is a "god"?
Is it that monotheists believe there is one supreme, eternal god who created all else, whether spiritual or physical in nature? But if a polythiest believes that there is one "father/mother" god of all other gods (such as early Greek cosmological arguments concluded), would they be monotheists or polythiests?
Is it that monotheists believe the one supreme, eternal god has absolute control over all he created, whether spiritual of physical in nature? So if those Greek philosophers concluded the one father/mother god of all other gods wes necessarily powerful enough to control all he created, whether spiritual or physical in nature (could this first god create something, or somethings, more powerful than his ability to control?).
I realize the topic is "Origins of the Judea-Christian god and religion". So I hope I'm not taking this in a broader direction than you had intended. But as with any debate, terms must be defined and agreed upon sufficiently prior to proceeding with the actual debate.
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Note: I realized that the first quote in the opening post defines "polytheism" apparently as the belief of multiple gods, as well as the worship of multiple gods. While this "henotheism" refers to the belief in multiple gods, though only the worship of one god. By dictionary.com's definition, "polytheism" is "The worship of or belief in more than one god"; while "henotheism is "Belief in one god without denying the existence of others". The line between them seems rather blurry by such definitions. My understanding of polytheism is that it never necessitates that one worship more than one god, but merely that one believe in the existence of more than one god. I fear this authors redefining such terms may lead to a great deal of needless debate, when in the end those debaters may disagree on nothing but the terms they use.
The reason I focus upon this so much, is that many "scholars" seem to wish to show this path of polytheism to monotheism as a form of intellectual evolution. However, if the jew 4,000 years ago says a idol represents a god, but the christian today says an idol represents a spirit, does this really show any "evolution" of religious beliefs?
This message has been edited by Dierotao, 05-01-2006 10:42 PM

  
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