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Author Topic:   Is Christianity Polytheistic?
Straggler
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Posts: 10333
From: London England
Joined: 09-30-2006


Message 1 of 375 (563624)
06-06-2010 6:41 AM


Is Christianity Polytheistic?
Biblical Christianity is monotheistic. Right? One single god?
I say not. For example in what sense is Satan less of a god than Apollo or Thor? In what sense is archangel Gabriel any less of a god than Mercury or Dionysius? The bible contains a whole host of angels, demons and supernatural characters that are gods in all but name and which in other mythologies would be given that title.
I know many Biblical Christians will insist that theirs is a monotheistic religion. I know they will insist that theirs is superior in some sense to those more "primitive" polytheistic religions that went before because of this. But they are just being inconsistent in their use of the term "god".
To accept Apollo as an example of a god concept in a polytheistic belief system but to deny that the concept of Satan in biblical Christianity is anything other than the same is just equivocation.
Isn't it?
Edited by Straggler, : No reason given.

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Message 2 of 375 (563630)
06-06-2010 7:14 AM


Thread Copied from Proposed New Topics Forum
Thread copied here from the Is Christianity Polytheistic? thread in the Proposed New Topics forum.

Dr Jack
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Posts: 3514
From: Immigrant in the land of Deutsch
Joined: 07-14-2003
Member Rating: 8.7


Message 3 of 375 (563634)
06-06-2010 7:28 AM
Reply to: Message 1 by Straggler
06-06-2010 6:41 AM


The Trinity defence
Christianity is quite clearly polytheistic: God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are all separate entities, with separate powers and personalities. Going "but, but, they're a trinity" doesn't cut it.

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Straggler
Member
Posts: 10333
From: London England
Joined: 09-30-2006


Message 4 of 375 (563640)
06-06-2010 8:20 AM
Reply to: Message 3 by Dr Jack
06-06-2010 7:28 AM


Re: The Trinity defence
Christianity is quite clearly polytheistic: God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are all separate entities, with separate powers and personalities. Going "but, but, they're a trinity" doesn't cut it.
OK. Throw in Lucifer/Satan, various angels, demons and even things like the Virgin Mary making the occasional appearance and I think the case for polytheism is definitely there.
Denial of this seems to me to be nothing more than equivocation and the application of the no true Scotsman fallacy.

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Taz
Member (Idle past 3291 days)
Posts: 5069
From: Zerus
Joined: 07-18-2006


Message 5 of 375 (563673)
06-06-2010 12:17 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Straggler
06-06-2010 6:41 AM


Re: Is Christianity Polytheistic?
Personally, I think that if the gods are real they would be known universally by many names. For instance, just about every culture has a deity that loved mankind so much that he sacrificed himself for the salvation of mankind. To the Greek, Prometheus gave man fire, the spark of all technology and knowledge. To the Egyptian, Osirus slayed the serpent and taught man how to farm. To the Asians, Buddha sliced off his flesh to save mankind and taught them now to achieve enlightenment. To the Narn, G'quan united his people and fought off the dark forces that were occupying their homeworld. And to the Minbari, Valen led the Minbari to victory over the Shadow forces. To the gentiles, Jesus gave them homosexuality by teaching them how to fish for men.
And then there are all these divine figureheads who kept trying force the people to believe that they were the one true god.
There are just too many coincidences to ignore. So, surely the gods must be real, and man has known them throughout the ages by many different names.
Edited by Taz, : No reason given.

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Coragyps
Member (Idle past 734 days)
Posts: 5553
From: Snyder, Texas, USA
Joined: 11-12-2002


Message 6 of 375 (563677)
06-06-2010 12:47 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Straggler
06-06-2010 6:41 AM


Re: Is Christianity Polytheistic?
Christianity is very obviously, except to many of its followers, polytheistic. Moslems even object to christianity largely because of that.
Many Christians I've argued this with say, "well, Satan ans archangels and angels ane seraphim and cherubim and demons are all created beings, so they can't be gods, so there!!" That's a pretty thin argument, it seems, and these same folks will also tell you the Son and Holy Ghost have always been around - "uncreate," as one of those Creeds says.

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slevesque
Member (Idle past 4640 days)
Posts: 1456
Joined: 05-14-2009


Message 7 of 375 (563684)
06-06-2010 1:55 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Straggler
06-06-2010 6:41 AM


Is greek mythology none-theistic ?
You take the, for example, Greek concept of what constitutes a God, and apply it to Satan in the christian worldview to declare that he should be considered a God as well.
But I could just as well apply the christian concept of what constitutes a God, and then apply it to greek mythology, and declare that (since none pass the 'test) that it is therefore a non-theistic (atheist?) belief.
I think if you think about it, you will realize that you are in fact equivocating the word 'god', and this is why your conclusion is false.
AbE To explain clearly the equivocation, you are equivocating the greek 'pagan' definition of God with the christian definition of God, in order to claim christianity should view satan is a god
Edited by slevesque, : No reason given.

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dwise1
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Posts: 5930
Joined: 05-02-2006
Member Rating: 5.8


Message 8 of 375 (563695)
06-06-2010 2:50 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Straggler
06-06-2010 6:41 AM


Re: Is Christianity Polytheistic?
Far enough back in its Judaic roots, it would be henotheistic: many gods exist, but our allegiance is to only one. I don't know whether modern Judaism or even Judaism just before the Diaspora (c. 70 CE) is/was still henotheistic, but it certain comes out in the Old Testament.
I would agree that in most theologies that host of supernatural entities would indeed be considered as gods.

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Pauline
Member (Idle past 3735 days)
Posts: 283
Joined: 07-07-2008


Message 9 of 375 (563702)
06-06-2010 3:13 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by Straggler
06-06-2010 6:41 AM


Re: Is Christianity Polytheistic?
Straggler writes:
Biblical Christianity is monotheistic. Right? One single god?
I say not. For example in what sense is Satan less of a god than Apollo or Thor? In what sense is archangel Gabriel any less of a god than Mercury or Dionysius? The bible contains a whole host of angels, demons and supernatural characters that are gods in all but name and which in other mythologies would be given that title.
The argument is flawed because you're applying one religion's standard of God to another religion's. Let me illustrate. I, as a Christian, could argue that the majority of greek deities do not qualify for God because by my defintion God does not marry or procreate...I could go on. Someone who believes in the 12 Olympian Gods would write my argument off because he disagrees with me on the definition of God.
The bible contains a whole host of angels, demons and supernatural characters that are gods in all but name and which in other mythologies would be given that title.
Greek style gods, maybe. But that hardly is an argument for their deity as the Bible defines deity.
To accept Apollo as an example of a god concept in a polytheistic belief system but to deny that the concept of Satan in biblical Christianity is anything other than the same is just equivocation.
Isn't it?
Christianity does not define God with the same qualifiers as other religions do. The qualifier that is my case in point is, Holy. Holy meaning, of a single, unreproducible, unique essence. God is one category whose entirety is occupied by YHWH alone. Does God create superhuman beings like satan? Sure. Do they qualify for God? No. There lacks the perfection that we expect of God as the Bible defines Him, in satan or Michael or Gabriel or Paul or Barnabas or anyone.

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Straggler
Member
Posts: 10333
From: London England
Joined: 09-30-2006


Message 10 of 375 (563715)
06-06-2010 3:51 PM
Reply to: Message 9 by Pauline
06-06-2010 3:13 PM


Re: Is Christianity Polytheistic?
The argument is flawed because you're applying one religion's standard of God to another religion's.
Christianity does not define God with the same qualifiers as other religions do.
So actually there was no religion or even concept of god until Chrsitianity? Humanity was devoid of theism of any sort until Chrsitianity emerged?
According to you religion, god and theism didn't even exist until Christianity emerged. Is that your position?

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Taz
Member (Idle past 3291 days)
Posts: 5069
From: Zerus
Joined: 07-18-2006


Message 11 of 375 (563717)
06-06-2010 3:55 PM
Reply to: Message 9 by Pauline
06-06-2010 3:13 PM


Re: Is Christianity Polytheistic?
Dr.Sing writes:
I, as a Christian, could argue that the majority of greek deities do not qualify for God because by my defintion God does not marry or procreate...
So, the christian god is impotent?

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Straggler
Member
Posts: 10333
From: London England
Joined: 09-30-2006


Message 12 of 375 (563718)
06-06-2010 3:58 PM
Reply to: Message 7 by slevesque
06-06-2010 1:55 PM


Re: Is greek mythology none-theistic ?
But I could just as well apply the christian concept of what constitutes a God, and then apply it to greek mythology, and declare that (since none pass the 'test) that it is therefore a non-theistic (atheist?) belief.
This means that there were no gods, religions or forms of theism (poly or otherwise) prior to Christianity doesn't it?
Is that really what you mean?
I think if you think about it, you will realize that you are in fact equivocating the word 'god', and this is why your conclusion is false.
If you think about it you will realise that you are committing the no true Scotsman fallacy. No?
AbE To explain clearly the equivocation, you are equivocating the greek 'pagan' definition of God with the christian definition of God, in order to claim christianity should view satan is a god
So what is this definition of god that I should be using and how does it do anything but limit theism in it's entirety to Judeo-Christian concepts of god.
Thus meaning theism of any sort didn't exist until Chrsitianity and terms like polytheism to be utterly meaningless by very definition.

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Larni
Member (Idle past 163 days)
Posts: 4000
From: Liverpool
Joined: 09-16-2005


Message 13 of 375 (563719)
06-06-2010 4:02 PM
Reply to: Message 9 by Pauline
06-06-2010 3:13 PM


Who has the biggest god?
What you seem to be saying is that Yahweh is a 'bigger' god than Apollo and this means that 'smaller' gods are not actually god.
I can't see how you can claim that Apollo is not a god because he is not as 'big' as Yahweh.

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Pauline
Member (Idle past 3735 days)
Posts: 283
Joined: 07-07-2008


Message 14 of 375 (563721)
06-06-2010 4:03 PM
Reply to: Message 10 by Straggler
06-06-2010 3:51 PM


Re: Is Christianity Polytheistic?
No. Which definition of God came first or which is more intrinsically superior is not the question. Whether we can apply one religion's definitions to another successfully is the question, yes?
And Larni....
What you seem to be saying is that Yahweh is a 'bigger' god than Apollo and this means that 'smaller' gods are not actually god.
I can't see how you can claim that Apollo is not a god because he is not as 'big' as Yahweh.
You can't see because I never claimed anything about big or small Gods. What I was trying to put across was, in Christianity, the totality of everything perfect is termed as God and the commonly held belief is that only one Being is written about who claims to have all said perfect qualities. God is not an adjective with degrees of comparison, good-better-best, powerful-more powerful-most powerful etc, in Christianity that is. What we think incomporable to anything known or unknown, that we call God....not just about any supernatural creature
Edited by Dr. Sing, : No reason given.
Edited by Dr. Sing, : No reason given.

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Straggler
Member
Posts: 10333
From: London England
Joined: 09-30-2006


Message 15 of 375 (563723)
06-06-2010 4:10 PM
Reply to: Message 14 by Pauline
06-06-2010 4:03 PM


Re: Is Christianity Polytheistic?
Are Hindus atheists?

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