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Author | Topic: Is Christianity Polytheistic? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Larni Member (Idle past 163 days) Posts: 4000 From: Liverpool Joined: |
do not qualify for God because by my defintion God does not marry or procreate So Jesus was not Yahweh's son, then.
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Pauline Member (Idle past 3735 days) Posts: 283 Joined: |
No.
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Pauline Member (Idle past 3735 days) Posts: 283 Joined: |
No.
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Straggler Member Posts: 10333 From: London England Joined: |
Dr Sing writes: Whether we can apply one religion's definitions to another successfully is the question, yes? Straggler writes: Are Hindus atheists? dr Sing writes: No. So then you accept the Hindu concept of god as meeting your requirement of that which you would call god?
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Larni Member (Idle past 163 days) Posts: 4000 From: Liverpool Joined: |
Who's son was he then? I was bought up in a CoE school and I definitely remember Jesus being Yahweh's son.
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Pauline Member (Idle past 3735 days) Posts: 283 Joined: |
Dr Sing writes: Whether we can apply one religion's definitions to another successfully is the question, yes? Straggler writes: Are Hindus atheists? dr Sing writes: No. Straggler writes: So then you accept the Hindu concept of god as meeting your requirement of that which you would call god? I thought we called those atheists who do not believe in the concept of God. Hindus clearly believe in a concept of God. Therefore they are not atheists. You can hardly take this to mean that my concept of God and their is one and the same?
Larnie writes: Who's son was he then? I was bought up in a CoE school and I definitely remember Jesus being Yahweh's son. No one's biological son. Edited by Dr. Sing, : No reason given.
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Straggler Member Posts: 10333 From: London England Joined: |
Hindus clearly believe in a concept of God. Therefore they are not atheists. You can hardly take this to mean that my concept of God and their is one and the same? They don't have to be the same to both qualify as god concepts do they. Given that you accept that the Hindu god Lakshmi qualifies as meeting your requirement to be called a "god" can you tell me in what way Satan does not also qualify as a god? What are the criteria for being accepted as worthy of the term "god"?
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Meldinoor Member (Idle past 4808 days) Posts: 400 From: Colorado, USA Joined:
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It seems to me to be a simple problem of nomenclature. What is a god to a Hindu, may not be a god to a Muslim.
For example, a satanist may well consider Satan a god, as he fulfills the requirements for worship in his religion. A Christian will not consider Satan a god, because in Christianity, the definition of God precludes the existence of multiple gods, or any one other than the omnipotent and perfect YHWH. An important distinction between the Christian belief in angels and similar supernatural entities, and the Hindu gods, is that most (all probably) Christians would consider it un-Christian to worship any supernatural agent besides YHWH, while Hindus are free to worship any one of their gods. Each theistic religion makes its own distinction between gods worthy of worship, and any other supernatural entities which are not. Until their is an objective and universally accepted definition of gods, the question is moot, and it is up to each individual belief to decide what is and isn't a god. Respectfully, -Meldinoor
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Straggler Member Posts: 10333 From: London England Joined: |
If what you say is true Christians would consider Muslims, Hindus et al to be atheists. As the Christians would consider all those others as not believing in god(s).
No?
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Meldinoor Member (Idle past 4808 days) Posts: 400 From: Colorado, USA Joined:
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Since a Christian doesn't even believe the Hindu gods exist (well, I've heard some Christians claim that other faiths are inspired by demons, but that's a whole other discussion) he/she probably believes Hindus are simply worshiping a non-existent concept of their own imagination. That doesn't necessarily make a Hindu an atheist.
Religions are about faith and belief. A Hindu believes he's worshiping a "god" (according to the hindu definition), which makes his belief theistic whether or not its true. Similarly, an atheist lacks belief in a god, which is what makes him/her an atheist. This irregardless of the actual existence or non-existence of gods. Respectfully, -Meldinoor
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Meldinoor Member (Idle past 4808 days) Posts: 400 From: Colorado, USA Joined: |
Straggler writes: As the Christians would consider all those others as not believing in god(s) I see your point. However, having a belief doesn't necessarily mean that some other belief is necessarily invalidated. I may not believe in the Hindu gods, nor think them worthy of worship, but I know Hindus do. That's what makes them "gods" to the hindus, and makes Hindus theists. That's just my POV though. Respectfully, -Meldinoor
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subbie Member (Idle past 1254 days) Posts: 3509 Joined: |
Atheists consider no beings as being a god. Does that mean that atheists think everyone is an atheist?
The problem with this thread is that one has to take each individual religion according to its own definition of a god, even though those definitions are inconsistent between them. Otherwise absurd results obtain. Greeks were polytheistic because they believed in multiple gods as they conceived of gods. Muslims, as I understand Islam, are monotheistic as they believe in one god. Christians are different. They believe in a so-called "trinity," a sort of 3 in 1 god. This concept, of course, is nonsensical, but there can be no doubt that they believe that Yahweh ... YHWH... Houyhnhnm.... whatever, is god, Jesus is god and the holy spirit is god, they are polytheistic, whatever logical (or illogical) gymnastics they wish to engage in notwithstanding. Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions. Ideas must be distinct before reason can act upon them; and no man ever had a distinct idea of the trinity. It is the mere Abracadabra of the mountebanks calling themselves the priests of Jesus. -- Thomas Jefferson For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and non-believers. -- Barack Obama We see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat It has always struck me as odd that fundies devote so much time and effort into trying to find a naturalistic explanation for their mythical flood, while looking for magical explanations for things that actually happened. -- Dr. Adequate
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Straggler Member Posts: 10333 From: London England Joined: |
However, having a belief doesn't necessarily mean that some other belief is necessarily invalidated. I didn't say it was.
I may not believe in the Hindu gods, nor think them worthy of worship, but I know Hindus do. Of course they do. But if Hindus qualify as theists they must believe in gods. If Hindu gods qualify as gods then in what sense does satan not? Without some serious equivocation?
That's what makes them "gods" to the hindus, and makes Hindus theists. If I define pencils as being "gods" and choose to worship pencils does that make me a theist? Is a theist just someone who defiines X as god and then worships it regardless of what X is where X can be anything at all? Or does X have criteria to qualify as "god" and if so what are these criteria?
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subbie Member (Idle past 1254 days) Posts: 3509 Joined: |
If Hindu gods qualify as gods then in what sense does satan not? Without some serious equivocation? Because, according to the Christian definition, Satan is not a god. Since this thread is about Christianity as a polytheistic religion, the only relevant question is whether Satan is a god in Christianity. If you want to argue that Christianity is being internally inconsistent by saying Jesus et. al. are god(s) but Satan isn't, I'd listen to your argument. But if you are instead arguing that Satan is in fact a god under Christian doctrine, I'd need to see a pretty powerful body of evidence to support that claim, because it's inconsistent with my understanding of Christianity. Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions. Ideas must be distinct before reason can act upon them; and no man ever had a distinct idea of the trinity. It is the mere Abracadabra of the mountebanks calling themselves the priests of Jesus. -- Thomas Jefferson For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and non-believers. -- Barack Obama We see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat It has always struck me as odd that fundies devote so much time and effort into trying to find a naturalistic explanation for their mythical flood, while looking for magical explanations for things that actually happened. -- Dr. Adequate
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Straggler Member Posts: 10333 From: London England Joined: |
Atheists consider no beings as being a god. Does that mean that atheists think everyone is an atheist? No. It means atheists think people believe in lots of different gods. But what does this term "god" mean and why doesn't satan or the archangel Gabriel qualify?
The problem with this thread is that one has to take each individual religion according to its own definition of a god, even though those definitions are inconsistent between them. If I define pencils as gods and believe that pencils exist do I become a theist? What is it one has to believe in to be a theist?
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