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If There is Only One God, Then How Do We Know There is Only One God?
- Thread starter Sunstone
- Start date
By countering / challenging all notions of separation.
If God is understood as "not me" and there is me and God, then separation will be plausible.
Yet if God includes me / us, then distinction is plausible while separation among God is implausible, arguably impossible.
I'd go with similar rationale to what is stated above. If certain characteristics of what makes for deity exist among multiple beings, and they are deemed inherently separate, then multiple gods would co-exist. I find it understandable for anyone that understands own (higher) self is God, to think this must mean there are multiple gods, co-existing. Theologically, I have disagreement with this, but feel our (mutual) Creator can sort that out perhaps better than I may ever be able to.
The Uniformity of design , Harmonious and systematic functioning and sustaining of the universe (Except in those limited domains where free will has momentarily dismantled ) , , I think is a valid proof that there is a only One God running the universe.
These two beautiful verses from The Quran have excellent arguments at to why there could be only one Supreme God .
"No son did Allah beget, nor is there any god along with Him: (if there were many gods), behold, each god would have taken away what he had created, and some would have lorded it over others! Glory to Allah (He is free) from the (sort of) things they attribute to Him!" (Surah Al-Mumenoon 23/91)
"If there were in the heavens and the earth, other gods besides Allah, there would have been ruin in both! But glory to Allah the Lord of the Throne: (High is He) above what they attribute to Him! "(Surah Al-Anbiya 21/22)
These two beautiful verses from The Quran have excellent arguments at to why there could be only one Supreme God .
"No son did Allah beget, nor is there any god along with Him: (if there were many gods), behold, each god would have taken away what he had created, and some would have lorded it over others! Glory to Allah (He is free) from the (sort of) things they attribute to Him!" (Surah Al-Mumenoon 23/91)
"If there were in the heavens and the earth, other gods besides Allah, there would have been ruin in both! But glory to Allah the Lord of the Throne: (High is He) above what they attribute to Him! "(Surah Al-Anbiya 21/22)
It's a good question you ask.
For me the only Ones Who have ever conveyed to us that there is only one God are the Educators and Teachers or Prophets like Jesus, Moses, Muhammad, Baha'u'llah.
The thing is They usually appear in a country and win over a small number of followers but eventually their Cause subdues all humanity.
Without education or power or wealth and being persecuted, tortured, exiled, crucified and banished, somehow against all odds they eventually win over kings and queens.
Christ was the son of a carpenter, Moses a stammerer, Muhammad an illiterate and Baha'u'llah received no education. Yet has anyone so far ever been able to reproduce their feats?
And it is Them Who speak of there being only One God. They have a tremendous power of influence over people for thousands of years and they repeatedly point to there being only one God in their Holy Books.
metis
aged ecumenical anthropologist
There simply is not one shred of evidence that there's one deity, so if one accepts it they do so on the basis of their faith, and faith needs no evidence by definition.
Many indigenous peoples that believed in animism had a hard time accepting the Abrahamic faiths because, to so many of them, it made more sense to believe in both good and bad deities, which would explain why sometimes good things happen and why sometimes bad things happen. OTOH, if one believes in a deity that only stands for good, then why do bad things sometimes happen?
For example, at the end of WWII, a great many people questioned how could a loving God allow this slaughter of humans, and if God did allow for it, then why why did He do so if He truly is loving? A good friend of mine who was a survivor of the Holocaust, whereas only he and his sister survived out of his whole family, became an atheist over this matter.
A human committee can come up with a single set of harmonious decisions; why wouldn't a committee of gods be capable of the same thing?
I would think that working well with others would be one of the abilities that would be part of omniscience... no?
The question would be How long any such committee has lasted , How many disagree in due course and pull back later?
McBell
mantra-chanting henotheistic snake handler
It was explained to me once, and hopefully I will not botch it up to bad here, that the world is not consistent with there being only one all knowing all powerful god.
To many things do not make sense that unless there were more than one involved in the making.
Please keep in mind that this explanation was given to me about 30 years ago, so it is a bit fuzzy.
McBell
mantra-chanting henotheistic snake handler
The human committee seemed to work with the making of the Bible....
In how many versions ?
McBell
mantra-chanting henotheistic snake handler
I really wish people would stop painting with such a hugely broad brush....
McBell
mantra-chanting henotheistic snake handler
The committee would last as long as its members are capable of working together. How long is your god capable of working together?
Also, how many disagreements would happen between a group of perfect gods?
Forever.
Under one Leader ? None
If there is a Creator God, then he may easily be as many or as few as he would see fit to be, without necessarily having any consistency to it.
Including none.
We would have no way to even know.
Including none.
We would have no way to even know.
So there's no particular reason why a group of gods is unworkable?
Not under one leader - all equal, working collaboratively. Would they necessarily disagree?
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
The first question, I can't claim there's one or more than one if you're defining god as an entity. I'm an atheist. As for spirits, my explanation is below. I just call them gods for convenience to the thread.
If more than one god exist and these gods are considered creators, it makes more sense than one god. When you have a family, you can't have one just by yourself. Babies can't pop out without some sort of intercourse/creation. It's also healthy for that baby to have a family network of some type to help create a mature growth in him or her and support in his or her environment. Multiple gods (creator or not) makes sense because not everything is made from a "one party system." That sounds like communism. Instead, have a community of sorts put in towards how things are created and ran. The waters by X god. The sky by Y god. Humans by Z god. Whatever the theology may be.
Also, more than one god if seen as spirits can also help people individually. They are more personal because that said spirit connects with that person rather than one spirit trying to connect to all as if everyone is supposed to act the same because they have one spirit. Everyone is unique and different for a reason.
If we are different and separate in our person, why not the gods?
If more than one god exist and these gods are considered creators, it makes more sense than one god. When you have a family, you can't have one just by yourself. Babies can't pop out without some sort of intercourse/creation. It's also healthy for that baby to have a family network of some type to help create a mature growth in him or her and support in his or her environment. Multiple gods (creator or not) makes sense because not everything is made from a "one party system." That sounds like communism. Instead, have a community of sorts put in towards how things are created and ran. The waters by X god. The sky by Y god. Humans by Z god. Whatever the theology may be.
Also, more than one god if seen as spirits can also help people individually. They are more personal because that said spirit connects with that person rather than one spirit trying to connect to all as if everyone is supposed to act the same because they have one spirit. Everyone is unique and different for a reason.
If we are different and separate in our person, why not the gods?
McBell
mantra-chanting henotheistic snake handler
Seems to me that the Henotheistic Trinity concept reveals not only that multiple gods could exist, but that they could work together.