Polythesitic Religions

[jacquie4000]

If this tread needs moved any Mod feel free to do so but I could not find a Sub-forum
for Polytheistic Religions.

I am confussed while I had the belief the a Polythesitic Religions were Religions that had the belief in more then one God or Deities, some of what I am reading seems
to conflict with that idea can someone explain it to me a little more.

For instance this is what I found on one site:
Poly-theism: Belief in many Gods and Goddesses: Romans, Greeks, Hinduism, various Neopagan religions... however, most of them do not have actually many gods, but only one, the absolute, Brahman in Hinduism for example, and all the others gods are just attributes of God manifested by the sun, moon, a mountain, even animals like the elephant or monkey or cow or eagle or buffalo ... this is called Heno-theism
http://www.biblia.com/theology/religions.htm

So which is it or is it two different Religions. And do most like Hinduism have one absolute and the rest are just attributes?

 

[FerventGodSeeker]

I think that Hinudism is somehwat of an exception, as you said (although not being one, I can't say for certain), but there are definitely individuals and religions that actually believe in more than one deity. As the definition you cited said, Greek and Roman mythology are two such examples. Some modern pagan movements appear to have a pantheon of sorts as well, although I'm sure an actual pagan/polytheist could answer this question better than me.

 

[jacquie4000]

But even in Pagan Religions such as Wicca it can be monotheistic, duotheistic, polytheistic or atheistic.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_intr.htm

So what are the true polytheistic Religions?

 

[Gentoo]

But even in Pagan Religions such as Wicca it can be monotheistic, duotheistic, polytheistic or atheistic.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_intr.htm

So what are the true polytheistic Religions?

In terms of the pagan, it's based on the individual.

 

[Mike182]

But even in Pagan Religions such as Wicca it can be monotheistic, duotheistic, polytheistic or atheistic.

it can even be two or more of these at the same time
http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_intr.htm

So what are the true polytheistic Religions?

those that the individual practitioner define as being polytheistic.

 

[EtuMalku]

Abrahamic religions believe in One God and no other. Polytheistic religions may have One 'Creator' but there are many other Gods / Deities. No one deity is any more important than the other.

With the advent of Zoroastrian dualism, there was created the concept of duality, maening right/left man/woman good/evil . . . . as you can see this has led to many problems in the world, notice that man is good, woman evil and so forth. Dualism is the corruption of Man's true Polytheistic belief system and the downfall of religion . . . at least that is how I see it.

 

[Zephyr]

Well, many Asatruar such as myself are hard polytheists. I don't believe my gods are all just aspects of one god or just archetypes or anything of the sort. I can't speak for all of Asatru, but quite a good chunk of us are like this.

 

[McBell]

I have argued for years now that Trinitarian Christians are Henotheists and not Monotheists

 

[Pariah]

Hinduism cannot be placed within the confines of one definition.
Many different variations of belief reside in Hinduism, but the majority would find themselves under many headings - polytheistic and henotheistic.

Brahman, in Hinduism represents the Ultimate Reality. It is a radical shift in the reality of the world that occurs with Enlightenment. Brahman is impersonal - it is a force, similar to gravity and what not. Hindus do not worship Brahman, with the exception of new movements such as the Brahmo creed. Brahman is a force, from which all other Gods come forth. The Gods are distinct, yet created from the same material.

Humans remain unique and yet remain as a construction of atoms.

 

[Littledragon]

Sumerian Recon is also hard polytheism. Each god is a complete separate entity, with their own personality and mannerisms.

Sweet water and light laughter
Littledragon

 

[BFD_Zayl]

im a hard polytheist, just read my signature

 

[MaddLlama]

Hmm....I just saw this and I wanted to make a comment, even though jacquie isn't here right now...

The belief that "all gods are one god" like in Hinduism or certain type of neo-paganism is neither polytheism, nor "heno-theism". It's called monism.