How many gods are there?

I can understand what a basketball team and a musician want to achieve by believing they are the best they can be in either of their fields, but what is a religious person's goal of achievement?

And are you sure it's not more appropriate to compare that goal with, say, the fans of the basketball team rather than the goal of the team itself?

 

I want to see Juppiter in the Final Four ...

Anyway, I believe in many gods, but they are ultimately mortal. They die when the universe dies. The universe itself is a sprirt, and it is the "spirit stuff" of the universe that all souls are made of. Some are more powerful than others, but all are the same stuff. And just because we are of the same stuff does not mean that we are the same. I am not a god, I am not a rock, I am a human. Most of the elements of the human body are the same as elements in rocks. Your bones are mostly calcium carbonate, the same stuff in both chalk and limestone. but a bone is not chalk nor is it limestone. A bone is a bone. Even in your own body all your cells are part of the one body, yet have different structures and functions -- livers doing one thing, hearts something else, luings -- you get the idea. You are one body with a lot of parts, and that's how I see the universe. all various parts of a whole.

 

Religious people's goals are righteousness, and a relationship with the lord. I'm sure to an atheist these things are dumb, and not worth one's time. I also know people who feel the same for music or sports. However, I know no one who feels that way about sports or music who would spend every waking moment convincing others to feel the same. All the theists who start threads about atheists are the same as the atheists who start threads about theists. Doubt lingers in their own belief system, whether they choose to acknowledge that fact, or not.

 

It's not "dumb" at all, but there are people who do not share the same belief and therefore have no reason to waste their time indulging in this worship.

 

really ? What an insight ? Does that require a degree to figure out ?

 

I said "if you believe he is the creator of all"
By definition "all" means all.

If you believe in multiple gods, then they are the only ones.

If you believe in infinite gods, then you really don't believe in anything at all.

 

I wasn't proposing an argument but a question. I agree, the Christian God created the heavens and the earth, and that is the God that I choose to worship.(or even it chose me at first)

It should be said on a side note that a commandment is to not have any gods "before me," so in the event that there is a mars God or a God of any other of the planets,which is completely silly to me personally because I don't view God like some do, I would still choose to follow that commandment.

 

I still don't get what a person gets out of becoming the most righteous. What is the ultimate goal of being the most righteous?

I mean for a basketball team or a musician, it's for achieving something. What does the religious person achieve?

 

Then why were you having so much trouble with the concept of people following the religion of their culture.

 

Are you asking why one would want to be as righteous as they can be ?

Or are you looking at it like a contest ? "The Most Righteous"

 

it's not universal.

 

Original word for heaven ~ymX

Word Origin
~ymX from an unused root meaning to be lofty


God called "the firmament" heaven

firmament (of vault of heaven supporting waters above)
considered by Hebrews as solid and supporting 'waters' above

Lofty .. and supporting waters above .. sounds like the sky is what is being described to me.

Another question I have is if the lad taking notes even knew what the "universe" as we conceptualize it was.. and would he have a word for what was described to him would the universe be shown to him.

In any case .. based on the Bible .. what God did or did not create in relation to the entire universe .. is up for debate.

 

define universal .. in the sense that kids tend to follow the culture of their parents .. it is definately universal.

 

Are you actually trying to imply that God created the earth and the sky and all the stars,moon,sun,etc... but the planets were another God's creation ???

Are you actually going there with this ?

 

nice, people universally "tend" to do something.

 

Oh yes... this is another lame "I'm going to dodge my burdens by belittling my opponent" ploy.

Faith? Indeed it is.

 

How would we know?

 

Here, let me spoon feed you.

the premise is "if you believe in a creator"

Why would one believe in a creator and not think that creator could create other planets ? That would be a pretty useless creator to believe in.

 

Why would you believe that there is only one god which can create things?

 

With what, one-liners?

How so? What suggests to you that only one creator exists? Why couldn't godhood be liked to specific heavenly bodies and not others?

 

Because Christians believe "their" god is the only god and "their" religion is the only religion. All others are fake in their eyes.

 

We are assuming Biblical text,That "God created all things." - hence monotheism

 

uh, ....yeah,.... kind of a logical basis for believing in a creator.

 

why would you believe there were six, or 15, or 37 ?

 

well, if you'd care to believe in a creator that is capable of only creating some things, but not all things, have at it. It is your prerogative.