How many gods are there?

I read an interesting take on this. To sum it up quickly there is only one God however he portrays himself differently to different cultures. There are many similarities to all the religions and what they see as God. The franciscans are of the belief that instead of all the religions focusing on our differences we should focus on and realize the similarities in them. God projects himself in a way that would be accepting to all the different cultures. However what screws everything up is when extremest take the religion too far and think their way is the only way.

IDK about this but it is a very interesting theory.

 

belief does not require anything. Your requirements are of no consequence to the believer.

perhaps you require proof personally, but proof is not a prerequisite for belief.

 

the OP presupposes belief, hence the word "theists" at the start of the sentence. Once belief is present, the rest of the question is nonsense.

no

not to the individual believer, no.

doesn't matter.

For belief to occur, the answer would be yes.

 

If people actually thought in the way required to make you right, no one would ever ever change his mind.

 

why, beliefs can't change ?

I did not say that one could not stop believing.
I only said that while they do, other gods are not a possibility.

 

Here again... Belief is not so rigid.

 

I think I answered right before you posted this.

 

because mine is the only GOD that can reasonably exist.

 

As I said earlier in the thread, the other poster 'Gifedone' was being specific to the Biblical text.I was answering to him accordingly.

 

Why is it nonsense? Because you are simply refusing to answer it?

Is this the internet equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears and shouting "LA LA LA LA LA LA LA"?

Fair enough. I can present the information, but I can't make you care.

 

I have explained.
If one believes in an all powerful creator (theist), they can't believe in others. That would nullify their belief in the first one. You cannot believe and disbelieve at the same time.

I don't know, perhaps you should try listening to the argument and stop trying to create my argument for me.

 

Maybe you could change your tone and be less condescending and abrasive.

 

as stated before, if you believe in a set of gods, then those would be the only ones.

 

Nope... Big mistake in logic right there.

Your belief have no meaning on what exist or not. You have to have an inflated ego to think that you have the power, through belief, to decide what exist or not. In my example even if both people only believe in their one god, both god do exist and both people fight at the command of their god the other race which they both call godless.

If there was a third race, a true godless one, watching both of those race fighting, they would find it quite funny when they asked for explanation. For them both of those god wouldn't exist, but their reflection on the subject wouldn't have any impact on either of those gods.

 

I don't disagree with this. Belief in one or more gods inevitably implies denial of all other gods.

It's still an interesting question how many gods there are, though, and especially, if people are aware of their sentiments for believing in one instead of the other.

 

Do you know what polytheism is?

The question being posed is how can you believe one god story over another when both have equal amounts of evidence (none) supporting them? How do you decide which one is your special religion?

You have dodged and squirmed long enough. I don't care what you deem to be off topic or a stupid question. You won't give a straight answer to these questions because you don't have any and for no other reason.

 

There are many gods, note the little g.

But there is only ONE true living God, note the capital G.

 

Faith which is belief in that which is not seen, or proven.

Next question?

 

Yes, but something has obviously lead you to the belief that the God of the Judeo-Christian Bible is the "only ONE true living God". Are you aware of what that something is?

 

exactly. I would not have thought that this was difficult for so many, but I guess it was.

yes there are many choices and many reasons, but to question why belief in a specific god or gods implies denial of all others, is baffling.
Once faith enters the equation, the answer is quite obvious.

Of course I understand that intent of the OP was to question individual's beliefs, and the poster was not genuinely interested in the answering of his own question. This backdoor technique is not new.

 

True.

This is where you lost me. Using a capital G for the biblical god doesn't really change anything, except to give it a pseudonym.

 

how many GODS are there? As many as we can dream up!

 

Actually, it is belief without evidence.

What reason do you have to believe in one god over another when you have no evidence that there is any god anywhere?

 

Well, that is not quite a true statement.

All religions, in a general scientific sense (and that includes atheism) have the same amount of proof for them.

When a miracle happens - that because of the God revealed through Jesus did it? Or Ram? Or it is just a radom event that will some day be totally understandable and explainable?

Well, those are all hypothesis that have no actual scientific validity for an event that may, or may not, indicate that there is something behind that miraculous event.

In our ever increasingly connected world, filled with religions, it is tolerance that is the way forward - not rejection of all other ideas.

It damages neither my faith nor my relationship with God that someone seeing a miracle in India will attribute it to Ram rather than Jesus, or Mohammed rather than Yahweh.

In fact, when the faith is genuine and the respect is mutual, you will find people who will openly share their faith with each other, and push the other to see the same thing from a different point of view. That is a good thing.

That happens within the diverse communities of religion (Catholics and Protestants do not view the same things all the same way) and it happens between religions which will very often approach the same problem from a different angle by simply emphasizing different aspects of the larger whole with greater effect.

For example, you could easily hear a Christian talking about the need to subordinate our desires to God's Will (in fact you do), or the need for tithing - and yet these are parts of the five pillars of Islam.

You can hear a Muslim talking about the need to suffer to right great wrongs or endure hardships to better empathize with people and learn the wisdom of God, and that can just as easily a Buhhist call to worship.

This is not, and never really is a question of evidence, it is a question of respecting other people enough to take the time to listen to them, and to learn from them .... and to grow as human beings.

That is what the world's religions are all about.

 

Except for the fact that atheism is not a religion. It does not require proof, only parsimony. No religion can say the same. Welcome to the argument from inconsistent revelations, one of the staple arguments for atheism that theists have yet to provide a good answer for.

I can't answer that because there is no evidence that a miracle has ever happened.

So the only options are tolerate or reject?

I'm glad you feel that way.

K.

Never, huh? So none of these religions have ever punished unbelief with death?

That is what modern world religions that have abandoned their violent past and been tamed by secularism are all about.