I have been wondering is the christian God the one true God? I know there are at least some 4,000 or so religions practiced today, granted I imagine not all of them are theistic but just what makes the Christian God unique compared to other gods that are worshiped? Has anyone done a comparative study on this if so, I would like to read as to what your conclusions are on the matter.
Thanks
Iāve tried to become a little less dualistic in my thinking ā¦ iow - not thinking of one of these thousands of traditions as being 100% right while all the rest are 100% wrong.
I would say that the God of Abraham is the one true God. What makes our God unique is that he came in search of us, not the other way around.
Well, there canāt be more than one āone true Godā, pretty much by definition. Non-Christians think that this is an easy way out and tautological, but it makes sense if Christianity is true:
ā¦and there can be counterfeits which contain some truth. After all, that is what makes a good counterfeit.
Some of us are so bold to say that there is empirical evidence, too.
No ā¦ but everyone, including Christians, can have a lot of wrong ideas about that true God. Let me strengthen that to ā¦ everyone will inevitably have at least some wrong ideas about God.
Yep, but that does not change who God is.
Well if He isnāt, then John 17:3 is false. āThis is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.ā
If you decide that itās false, then you only have āa lot minus one religions to investigate.ā Better get to work, if you want to reach a conclusion before you die.
By the way, why Jesus of Nazareth? Because, as Acts 4 tells me: " Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, āā¦ 12. "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.ā.
When Christians are not rejoicing in who God is (which is most of us at least some of the time?), then we are indulging in wrong ideas about him, diminishing him.
Which Christian God? Whose? The God of Catholic Christians, Roman and Orthodox? Or the God of Lutherans in all theirā¦ diversity. Who seems to vary between having classes of heavenly citizen or just damning virtually everybody based on accident of birth or worse, grouping the damned outside Missouri.
There is one true God. There are many limited responses from our limited understanding of the divine, and this would apply to both theists and atheists.
The Christian faith rests on our understanding of God revealed by Jesus Christ - we can look at all of the major denominations and understand they (we) are all in agreement with this.
Welcome and great question. Iām with @Mervin_Bitikofer . I think Godās got this more than we do. I do like this comic. While it presumes the Christian God, I think that it applies to our general (as a world) understanding of God and righteousness, too.
Is THE Christian God competent?
All of those splinters (and several logs) are not a reason for any given individual not to seek him, though.
I know that there are some comparative work out there. The stuff by Jospeh Campbell is one of them. But I also hear various pros and cons of his work by others including non Christian and non religious people.
I doubt there will ever be a single all encompassing book, or even encyclopedia set that could compare even a fraction of them in depth. May be easier to break them up into common Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Mesoamerican ( Iām not sure if there is a better term Christy would possibly be the best bet on that I think, Nordic and so on. Then maybe get more detailed on the various Mesopotamian faiths individually and compare them.
When it comes to the god of the Jews, Christians and Muslims ( the abrahamic god Yahweh) the first things I consider is that Yahweh was not given that name by parents, and he probably did not give himself that name ( or even the male gender ). I think itās highly probable that Yahweh used that name because itās a name that Abraham would have known. Abrahamās family may have even possibly worshipped this god before the revelation. Yahweh seems to be a Mesopotamian mountain god that was worshipped by Canaanites, Babylonians and later on Jews.
Since Iām comfortable with the idea that Yahweh used accommodation , by that he worked within the worldview and understanding of ancient Jewish people to reveal himself to them. This being took on the name Yahweh either by choice or itās the name the Jews decided for this power.
I feel that even the Bible itself hints at this.
1 Kings 20:28
New American Standard Bible
28 Then a man of God approached and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, āThis is what the Lord says: āSince the Arameans have said, āThe Lord is a god of mountains, but He is not a god of valleys,ā therefore I will hand over to you all this great multitude, and you shall know that I am the Lord.āā
All of that Iām fairly confident of.
The next part I am a bit less confident on. That is that I think the next possible conclusion given that would be what else did Yahweh accommodate about their beliefs concerning himself. Iām not to certain that scripture can really give in-depth certainties on Yahweh. Though I do believe completely that it gives us a decent character profile. But even that if sometimes awkward. Does he know everything? Did Moses actually change his mind? Was he compromising with Abraham over Lot and so on. What seems to be clear about his character is that he is Love and that his son, Jesus Christ , reflected Yahweh his father as the perfect example that a man can accomplish.
What Iām least confident on is did this same being accommodate other nations using the names of other gods and accommodated their various beliefs systems. Did he speak through ancient Hindus as Vishnu and inspire the vedas and so on. Iām not sure.
Since Iām not sure Iām not an ā all paths lead to Godā kind of guy. Iām also not a universalist. I ultimately decided to place my faith in Yahweh and Jesus and that he did inspire the texts we read as scripture and I would never exchange the bible for the vedas or teachings of Buddha or the Quran and I would never exchange Yahweh and Jesus for Krishna, Allah ( the way Muslims god ) or Odin.
There is one God but to think that other people in other cultures and faiths have not glimpsed part of Godās truth would be silly in my eyes. I know some Christians that know less about Godās created order than atheists. I donāt think correct facts are as important to a relationship with God as we seem to make them. My beliefs about the world are so different from some Christians their faith literally makes me cringe but with countless others there is the bond of Jesus.
Our own sacred scripture says that nature revealās the handiwork of God (Romans 1).
and Psalm 19:1-3 reads, ā1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.ā
The thing that sets Christians apart is that we believe God humbled himself and appeared to us as a man in the person of Jesus Christ. He was crucified and died on a Roman cross yet still appeared to his followers afterwards. Aside from that, Christianity is just another religion. We all have our traditions, histories and myths in our sacred scriptures. Our Holy Books are filled with some of the most amazing things ever written but also warmongering, immorality, fiction etc. just like the other ones. The incarnation is the only thing setting apart Christianity. Without that reality, it is just another religion and the Bible is just another Holy Book. Christianity itself is splintered into a million mutually exclusive beliefs. People just donāt often agree on much but there are are basic core things. I donāt think other Holy Books or religions are valueless. They all speak with experiences of the Divine, itās just the other oneās lack Jesus, they lack the fullness of experiencing Godās Son. Only Jesus makes Christianity and our Sacred Scripture different from the rest.
Vinnie
May I suggest that you read my paper Alved: The Ancient Puzzle of The One And the Many on Acedemia.edu
The God I believe in is not confined to the religions or theologies of one species let only one religion or theology. The God I believe in is just not that small. Even one confined to our universe alone (i.e. understood by this handiwork and everyone in it), would still be too small for the God I believe in (even if this is the only universe). I believe in an infinite God (highest order of infinity). Anything less I would classify as an alien rather than God. This is not to say that the smaller gods of other religions like the Norse, Egyptians, Greeks, LDS or pantheists do not exist. They are just not the God I put my faith in.
And I believe the teaching that we are made in the image of God is a reference to that infinite nature of Godā¦ that our infinite potentiality is a reflection of Godās infinite actuality. Only in a relationship with an infinite being like that do I see any possibility for what I would call eternal life.
I am a god.
How would you disprove this?
What is there to disprove?
John 10:34 Jesus answered them, āIs it not written in your law, āI said, you are godsā?
Ok, you are a god. So what?
You are not God.
Which is not to say God might not use you to speak to us.
Those are two irreconcilable narratives.
Later: Oh, and, I donāt believe (in) you. As I have no rational warrant to.
āLet your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.ā -Colossians 4:6
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