Moved BACK to the top until it runs out of steam!
I was always told that Christianity was a monotheistic religion but I want to challenge that because clearly it is not. First the definitions:
- No Gods – Atheism
- One God – Monotheism
- Two or more Gods – Polytheism
First, I’m not even going through the “Holy Ghost” thing except to say that “Trinity” means 3 and 3 > 1.
Assuming that:
- God is a deity
- Jesus is a deity
- Jesus and God are individuals
Then God and Jesus are two and 2 > 1.
Therefore Christianity is polytheism.
Polytheism isn’t a matter of belief. I personally am a Realist and I don’t believe any of it. However when one objectively classifies religious beliefs based on the number of gods, I’m counting two. Some would count three, but either is greater than one.
The reference is the Bible. According to the stories Jesus and God are two individuals. God was in the Old Testament, Jesus was not. Jesus was born of a virgin, God was not. Jesus addresses God as a separate individual. They have different stories. They have different roles. That talk to each other the way separate people talk.
The bottom line is – they are both deities and they are two individuals. Therefore Christianity is a polytheistic religion.
I double-dog dare ya to go pick on muslims and see how much time they give you before they behead you for blasphemy
Stupid argument that has nothing to do with the issue.
Besides, we’re in the process of indiscriminately killing a bunch of them, as a loving, Christian, ten commandment-quoting country should do.
Who would Jesus bomb?
We have a whole holiday, St. Patrick’s Day, dedicated to the guy who came up with the shamrock analogy: i.e. the shamrock is one plant with three leaves. In Christianity they call this the Central Mystery, i.e. Jesus didn’t give a lot of detail about this so they have to try to read around the edges.
This doesn’t change the fact that you have a comic-book level of understanding of the topic yet think you have discovered a novel flaw that nobody else thought of before.
>>I have Jewish parents. But I’m not a jew.
I don’t think you can turn your back on your ethnicity, son. You can claim not to be whatever you like, but that doesn’t change the facts. If mama’s a Jew, so are you!
I could say “I am not a Hispanic”, but that wouldn’t make me a non-Hispanic (if I were Hispanic). As Popeye used to say, “I yam what I yam”. And so are you.
>>He is….yet
>>He is….yet
>>He is….yet
Mister Bobolina, Mister Bob Bobolina, I’m sure even a self-proclaimed “know-nothing” such as yourself knows that He works in mysterious ways.
I understand how this question comes up from those who don’t understand the reason that it is truly monotheistic. To the common layman, who even if he does take a close look at it, can be confused as to why it is not polytheistic.
The bottomline to why it is not polytheistic is that saying it is polytheistic means that each of the 3 deities are different in the god state. They are not. There is nothing when defining God is different about any of the 3. However, there persons, which they take on different roles.
Now Mustard, why would you purposefully confuse the choice of religion with the unchosen fact of race/ethnicity?
Maybe you define these words in your own special way too?
We know for sure that Jesus wasn’t married. He would have come home after being dead for several days and all of his shit would have been out in the front yard.
Judaism isn’t about ethnicity, it’s about belief. I have never believed in Jewish doctrine and I think it’s nonsense. I’m a Realist, not a Jew. My ethnicity is Primate. I’m a monkey.
“Noam Sane,” a contradiction in terms. And blasting 3000 people in office buildings is not stupid, right, Mr. Specious Argument himself?
“Besides, we’re in the process of indiscriminately killing a bunch of them, as a loving, Christian, ten commandment-quoting country should do.”
My guess is that your sincerest desire is to be included the first suitcase mushroom cloud that the so-called “indiscriminates” blow up on our soil. Okay fine.
God love ya anyway, you naughty boy. A lump of coal in your stocking! Just don’t burn it. CO2! ARGHHHH!
Peace Out.
What about angels, seraphim, the Virgin Mary, Saints, Satan, and the rest? All of these may be prayed to for specific favors, though Satan will likely require a lien on your soul. This makes Christianity, and especially Catholicism, as polytheistic as Greek, Roman, and Norse mythologies, as well as Hinduism.
In fact, in 1981, when the pope was shot, he believed that another minor deity, Our Lady of Fatima, guided the path of the bullet. Unfortunately, Ms. Fatima was not powerful enough to have guided the bullet either in a harmless direction or, better yet, back to the shooter.
http://tinyurl.com/2g368a
But, why pick on Christianity in particular? The first commandment from the old testament explicitly states that there are other gods and that they should not be placed before the Narcisistic king of them all, Yahweh.
http://tinyurl.com/2odegs
It is a Command Mystery. God kills puppies /drink
>>Now Mustard, why would you purposefully
>>confuse the choice of religion with the
>>unchosen fact of race/ethnicity?
Tsk, Boboli. Blame it on the Jews. THEY are the one who use the same word for believing “with perfect faith that the Creator, blessed be His Name, is the Creator and Guide of everything that has been created; He alone has made, does make, and will make all things.” AND for those pushy folks from Noo Yawk.
What mperkel said was “…but I am not a Jew”. It’s not just my “special definition” of what it means to “be a Jew” that takes issue with that claim. Even “Jews for Jesus” don’t make it.
Religious views tend to be personal so I won’t leap into the fray swinging rights and wrongs, but, yes there is a but…
#7 >> “the God of Christians, the God of Jews, and the God of Muslims is the same God.”
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Christian and Jewish God are the same where Ali the Muslim god is different. We know this because God claims Christ is His Son and Christ claims God as His Father.
It is stated in the Koran that Ali is the one and only and has no son. Therefore the God of Christians and Jews can’t be the same as the god of the Muslims.
“Judaism isn’t about ethnicity, it’s about belief.”
Several million secular Jews beg to differ.
The ethnic/religious duality of Jewishness is a pointless debate designed to confuse the issue.
IMO, why pray to Jesus if he’s only the son of God. No one prayed to Hercules, but everyone prayed to Zeus.
mperkel, you say you are an atheistic offspring of monkeys and pigs?
Jews and Christians can buy their lives by paying the tax. Atheists can only buy their lives by converting to Islam. (Or by killing off all the Moslems in the area. How much ammo do you have?)
#8 – Angel,
Deuteronomy 4:24 is the passage to which you refer. It is part of the old testament, so it fits either Judaism or Christianity, with the exception of those capable of believing that Jesus nullified the old testament despite his statement to the contrary.
For the LORD thy God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.
(from http://tinyurl.com/2j34xh)
For those who do believe that Jesus nullified the O.T, please explain Matthew 5:17.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
http://tinyurl.com/y4nmzg
Of course, all of it is crap anyway since there is not a shred of evidence to give the god hypothesis even reason for doubt. The tooth fairy has as much evidence about him/her as god does.
>>My ethnicity is Primate. I’m a monkey.
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
#45 whats the difference does someone pray to God, Jesus, Allah, Buddha or whatever?
Every religion is based on the BELIEVING in something/someone that can be proved to exist only if you believe in it 🙂
This whole discussion is so pointless
#14 – MM,
Why does your diagram so resemble a chastity belt?
Seriously though, God impregnated Mary’s mother (the immaculate conception) and Mary (the incarnation of Christ). And, God is Jesus. And, Jesus is God. Therefore, Jesus is not only the ultimate mother-fucker (literally), but the ultimate grandmother-fucker as well!! Jesus Fucking Christ!!!
#40
I suppose that angels and saints could be interpreted as “deities”, although Christianity is pretty clear that they are not “gods” to be worshipped. Is Pakistan not a dictatorship because Musharraf has subordinates?
“Our Lady of Fatima” was a supposed appearance of Mary in the Portuguese town of Fatima. There is no ‘Ms. Fatima’.
Please keep on making up stuff to support your views, like a creationist.
#50 nah, youre just an idiot
#42 – Mr. Mouseturd,
Have you never heard of a word having two meanings? Take the word theory. On one hand, it can mean a potential explanation for an every day event that may or may not be true, as in, I have a theory about why Phred chose not to go to college. On the other hand, it can mean a scientific theory with tremendous amounts of data backing it up, thus making it as near fact as anything we rely on in our day to day lives, like quantum mechanics and relativity.
So too can Jewish mean one who believes in the Jewish religion or one whose parents are Jewish and therefore ends up on the wrong side of a concentration camp fence, regardless of any religious beliefs.
#52 – PoliticallyVeryCorrect,
What an excellent argument you’ve made, and so succinctly too!!
Simplest explanation of the Trinity: It is like water, same substance three states. H2O can be liquid, solid, and gas all at once. The deity is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost all at once.
it is an age old problem that theologians and philosophers of all stripes have wrestled with.
Misanthropic Scott, there is a difference between “polytheism” and the belief that there are other supernatural beings. Judaism and Christianity have always believed that there were/are other supernatural beings BUT there is only one God(head).
Arguing over how many Imaginary friends there are ? Sounds like some one has some serious issues….
>>Why does your diagram so resemble a
>>chastity belt?
Ah, Scottie. I was just about to congratulate you on your “Open relationship” article from the Onion; then you have to go with a “below-the-belt” comment like that!
>>Seriously though, God impregnated Mary’s
>>mother (the immaculate conception)
Scottie, I think we’ve been through this Immaculate Conception thing before, and I thought you understood it. The Immaculate Conception has nothing to do with fucking; it is the doctrine that Mary, mother of God, was born without the stain of original sin. As much as you’d like to inject some kind of sex-perv meaning, there isn’t one. Mary’s father was not God; he was St. Joachim. Husband of St. Anne.
http://tinyurl.com/3y2zab
And Anne got pregnant the same way any woman would, by making the Beast With Two Backs.
I suggest you refer to Wiki-whatever (if not the Bible) to brush up on the Immaculate Conception and Virgin Birth.
#54 i just get straight to the point, just so you could understand what i said, but if it is still too complicated should i type it slower for you next time?
#55 – Targuman,
Interesting point. Doesn’t that mean that there were many monotheistic religions prior to Zoroastrianism? Odin, Zeus, and others have been proposed as the lead god before. Hmm… I think that if I cared, I’d have to think about this more.
>>Have you never heard of a word having
>>two meanings?
Sure Scottie. I’ve even heard of words with three (or even more!) meanings.
However, it takes a very “special definition” to exclude all the meanings except the one you’re interested in.
mperkel said “I am not a Jew”. No matter what he says, he’d end up on the wrong side of the concentration camp fence. And where I come from (and where my dictionaries come from), that makes him a Jew.