One God or Many Gods??

[JohnGil]

If your open to the possibility that any god exists, you have to be open to the possibility that all gods exist. - How would you respond to this statement?

[RickD]

If your open to the possibility that any god exists, you have to be open to the possibility that all gods exist. - How would you respond to this statement?

There is only 1 God, but many gods. Howz that?

[Kurieuo]

If your open to the possibility that any god exists, you have to be open to the possibility that all gods exist. - How would you respond to this statement?

I'll present historical sources and a rich history of tradition, logic, reasoning and arguments for the God I believe in. I also have experiences which I can personally value.

So as to the possibility of "other gods" or "all gods" what sources are there for believing this? What is the credibility of these sources? What are the arguments and reasons are there for believing in other gods? How self-coherent is the case for other gods? Does it adequately answer the big questions in life? How well does such a belief weigh against other world views?

[Canuckster1127]

If I'm open to the possibility that Cleveland is located in the State of Ohio, must I be open to the possibility that Cleveland is located in all of the remaining 49 states? All possibilities are not equal in value.

[Gman]

If your open to the possibility that any god exists, you have to be open to the possibility that all gods exist. - How would you respond to this statement?

By deduction... Example, science can certainly be used to falsify religion. Consider ancient Greek and Indian religions that the heavens or the world rested upon the shoulders of atlas, or on the back of a turtle were easily falsified.

By works.. Christianity is the "only" religion in the world that states that "good works" do NOT get you saved.. The other religions do...

[Telstra Robs]

If your open to the possibility that any god exists, you have to be open to the possibility that all gods exist. - How would you respond to this statement?

I am open to the possibility that a four legged animal is a dog, but it doesn't mean that all four legged animals are dogs.

How do I know that all four legged animals aren't dogs? I don't just classify dogs as being four legged animals, but classify them through a number of different means. Dogs have a tail, so that means that all four legged animals without tails cannot be dogs. Breeds of dogs can look drastically different to each other. Any four legged animal without a tail that doesn't have breeds looking drastically different to each other cannot be a dog etc.

In the same way, it is impossible to group all religions together. Each religion has different ideas. I understand that Christianity is the only true religion because I start with what is a true religion the same way I start with what is a dog and I ask a question on what a true religion would be (e.g. does it present a theory of how the universe came to be that cannot be disproved or doers it contradict anything that has been proven, not theorised, but proven or does it contradict itself etc.) and I end up with Christianity alone. If Christianity is a true religion, that must mean that everything Christianity says is true, therefore there is only one God.

[August]

Once one gets past the objection that there are no gods, then the next step is to evaluate each of the options for internal logical consistency.

In that respect, pantheism, deism and polytheism falls down as internally logically inconsistent. While there may be some emotional reasoning, those options cannot be rationalized.

That leaves us with theism as the only logical option, and the three main options there are Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Out of those three, Islam falls down on any historical examination, while the difference between Christianity and Judaism comes down to belief in the existence of Jesus as the Messiah or not. Historical proof in terms of the integrity of the New Testament, other evaluations (such as the mental state of the authors) and independent historical verification lead us to believe that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. Add to that the weight of billions of believers who has experienced exactly what is claimed and promised in the New Testament, and that is how we arrive at Christianity as the only valid religion, and the Christian God as the only true God.

Of course there is a mountain of research and scholarly work to back this up across the various schools of apologetic thought.

[smiley]

Isn't it logically contradictory for multiple omnipotent beings to exist in one world? But yeah, I presuppose God must be omnipotent, which is not necessarily the case.