Is Christianity Polytheistic?

But I bet you can't generalize those concepts into a one-size-fits-all general definition of what a god is or what a god does that fits all gods in all religions. Some religions have beings that those religions consider gods that are functionally or descriptively quite similar to beings from other religions that are not considered gods. That doesn't make either of them disingenuous, just different. The attributes of Satan might very well be identical to attributes of a different being that another religion considers a god. So what? That just means that the religions that are different are not the same. Wow, fascinating discovery.

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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 JeffersonFor 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 ObamaWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- PhatIt 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

You seem to think that this practice is unique to Christianity. Every religion rebrands the term "god" to fit their conception of who god is. It's inherent in the practice of religion on Earth. So what? So a believer in a different religion might call Satan god. That's really quite irrelevant to what Christians think. I daresay that the adherents of each religion are allowed to define their own religion and need not conform it to anything that any other religion believes.

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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 JeffersonFor 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 ObamaWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- PhatIt 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

You're trying to disconnect a particular god, Loki, from his religion and establish that he's generally a god. You can't do that. Nothing and nobody is generally a god. You cannot describe anything as god without putting it in the context of a particular religion.Muslims believe that Christ was an actual person, but deny that he was a god. Thus, it's impossible to give a yes or no answer to the question, "Was Christ god?" You have to add, "in X religion."As someone here has said, Christians will accept Satan as a god concept, given that there are religions that regard him as such. Recognizing that concept is not at all the same as believing Satan is a god in Christianity, any more than a Muslim recognizing that Christ is a god in Christianity is the same as believing that Christ is a god in Islam.

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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 JeffersonFor 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 ObamaWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- PhatIt 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

Continuing your equivocation, I see.You're trying to make "god concept" the same as "god." They are different terms. I recognize that there are hundreds of different god concepts. That doesn't make me polytheistic, because I don't believe that any of them are actually gods. I could be persuaded to believe in the physical existence of both Christ and Muhammad, but that belief in their existence isn't nearly the same as believing they are gods.If all you mean to say is that Christianity recognizes the existence of multiple beings that one or more religions consider to be god, I doubt that anyone here would disagree with you. But then, that isn't what anyone else in the world considers to be polytheism, so it doesn't really help your position much.

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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 JeffersonFor 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 ObamaWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- PhatIt 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

No, because those forms of theism and god concepts exist only as generalizations from those individuals religions. {AbE}Yes, because it worships the father, son and holy spirit. But not because of Satan, because it doesn't consider Satan a god.{end edit} I've already agreed with this, but explained why it doesn't help your position. Christianity doesn't consider Satan to be a god, but other religions do. You are therefore insisting that Christianity must be polytheistic because it recognizes the existence of a being that other religions call a god. What do I have wrong?Edited by subbie, : As noted.

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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 JeffersonFor 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 ObamaWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- PhatIt 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

I already have.I'm only going to go through this once more, so please read carefully.Religions don't define their gods by crafting a general definition then look for beings that meet it. They define their gods by listing them. That's why Satan isn't a god in Christianity any more than Christ is a god in Islam.

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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 JeffersonFor 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 ObamaWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- PhatIt 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

No idea, I'm not an anthropologist. But I can tell you this: if someone in that new culture told me, "We worship Jerry Lewis as god, but Dean Martin isn't god," my first conclusion wouldn't be that Dean Martin is one of their gods.Edited by subbie, : Clarity

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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 JeffersonFor 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 ObamaWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- PhatIt 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

Well, as I said, I'm no anthropologist, but if you read carefully, you might notice where I said that the people of the culture told you Dean Martin isn't god. Now, a really clever person might pick up on that subtle point and be able to suss out the fact that they don't think that Dean Martin is god. Coming from a person who is unable to read the sentence "Dean Martin is not a god." and conclude from it that Dean Martin is not a god, I'm strangely comforted by the fact that you call my position bollocks.I've come to the conclusion that there's something in you that prevents your brain from actually working when it comes to this topic. I suggest you seek professional help. Since I am not a professional in this field, I don't think there's anything more that I can do for you.

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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 JeffersonFor 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 ObamaWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- PhatIt 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

His criterion seems clear to me. It's the same one I articulated back in Message 124 of this joke of a thread. Here it comes,..... ready?A being is a god if a religion calls that being a god.I'm hard pressed to see how this could be any simpler.

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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 JeffersonFor 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 ObamaWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- PhatIt 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

Insufficient information to answer the question. That's not a criteria question, that's a counting question. They can call anything they like a god, but they redefine three to equal one.

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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 JeffersonFor 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 ObamaWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- PhatIt 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

Does Bob understand that the word "atheist" means not believing in any gods? If yes, then I take him at his word that he does not believe in any gods.

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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 JeffersonFor 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 ObamaWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- PhatIt 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

Tell me, did you read what you quoted?The additional information I needed was whether Bob understood what "atheist" means.Seriously, if you can't understand that, you're even thicker than I thought you were.

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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 JeffersonFor 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 ObamaWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- PhatIt 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