How to think about God.

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BidenPresident

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The first distinction is between monotheism and polytheism
Whether there is one God or many.

The second distinction is between a personal God or impersonal God.
A personal God has features of human consciousness. An impersonal God is a principle or activity.

Third is God as creator or God as a being.
A creator makes the world itself. God as a being is not the cause of the universe.


For example, an atheist could deny monotheism but be a polytheist.
 
BidenPresident said:
The first distinction is between monotheism and polytheism
Whether there is one God or many.

The second distinction is between a personal God or impersonal God.
A personal God has features of human consciousness. An impersonal God is a principle or activity.

Third is God as creator or God as a being.
A creator makes the world itself. God as a being is not the cause of the universe.


For example, an atheist could deny monotheism but be a polytheist.
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Eternal separation by a Divine entity, or eternity separating each ancestor as biologically centered as timed apart evolving here now?

What do creation theology and evolution theory have in common? They never discuss the kinetic self evident view of life only existing as timed apart individually here spontaneously since conceived simultaneously mutually evolving until decomposed regardless which generation passed through the moment here reproducing the lifetimes adapting in the moment where geographically displaced...
 
BidenPresident said:
The first distinction is between monotheism and polytheism
Whether there is one God or many.

The second distinction is between a personal God or impersonal God.
A personal God has features of human consciousness. An impersonal God is a principle or activity.

Third is God as creator or God as a being.
A creator makes the world itself. God as a being is not the cause of the universe.


For example, an atheist could deny monotheism but be a polytheist.
Click to expand...

How so very presumptuous.
 
I am reminded of the Mind Molders who write headlines of the sort "Everything you need to know about XYZ".

Vox was one of the first to do this constantly.

I will decide what I need to know.
 
Discussing religion is inane, to use the Platonic design, you either believe in some form of Higher Being or you don't, and all the attempts to rationalize faith or attack faith is a waste of time
 
archives said:
Discussing religion is inane, to use the Platonic design, you either believe in some form of Higher Being or you don't, and all the attempts to rationalize faith or attack faith is a waste of time
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You should read Plato, then. Because you know nothing about him.
 
BidenPresident said:
The first distinction is between monotheism and polytheism
Whether there is one God or many.

The second distinction is between a personal God or impersonal God.
A personal God has features of human consciousness. An impersonal God is a principle or activity.

Third is God as creator or God as a being.
A creator makes the world itself. God as a being is not the cause of the universe.


For example, an atheist could deny monotheism but be a polytheist.
Click to expand...

That last is not correct. An atheist ("a" = without, "theo" = god(s)) cannot be a polytheist (believer in many gods).
 
BidenPresident said:
No. Atheism was defined by monotheists as not believing in God.
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Or in gods, plural. My husband is an atheist. He is not a polytheist. A Hindu would be an example of a polytheist; he would not be an atheist. Poly = many. Atheism is the absence of a belief in deity, period, whether one or many.
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
Or in gods, plural. My husband is an atheist. He is not a polytheist. A Hindu would be an example of a polytheist; he would not be an atheist. Poly = many. Atheism is the absence of a belief in deity, period, whether one or many.
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No. Atheism was invented by Christians to attack the beliefs of the ancient Greeks. Wrong God, wrongs Gods.
 
BidenPresident said:
No. Atheism was invented by Christians to attack the beliefs of the ancient Greeks. Wrong God, wrongs Gods.
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We need to define terms then. Are you saying that Christians invented the WORD "atheism," or that they invented the concept? Where did you get the idea that it has anything to do with Xtians other than they use the word as a hammer sometimes?
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
We need to define terms then. Are you saying that Christians invented the WORD "atheism," or that they invented the concept? Where did you get the idea that it has anything to do with Xtians other than they use the word as a hammer sometimes?
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From early Catholic theology like St Anselm, Augustine, Thomas.
They privileged believing in God as the essential feature of theology and religion.
Anyone not believing in their God was an atheist (not a term they used).
 
BidenPresident said:
From early Catholic theology like St Anselm, Augustine, Thomas.
They privileged believing in God as the essential feature of theology and religion.
Anyone not believing in their God was an atheist (not a term they used).
Click to expand...

Augustine and Thomas couldn't be further apart, as I pointed out to you before, Augustine was totally Platonic in his theology, he never tried to rationalize God or religion. On the other hand, Thomas, who was Aristotelian, thru his Scholasticism, believed you could explain God thru reason, thus we have the Prime Mover etc arguments. Thusly, Augustine could care less if you believed in God, he felt you either did or you didn't, which was why Thomas felt the need to go further
 
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