Quote:
Originally Posted by fatbuckRTO
You guys are talking as if Yahweh, Allah, or whatever else actually exists and defining this one god in historical context. In my mind he or they don't exist, so I define them by how their believers perceive them. Some of those believers perceive that certain events happened, other believers say different events happened. Unless there is one deity simultaneously doing certain things but not doing them, the believers are defining and worshipping different gods.
I understand that the myths differ only slightly, and that from a secular historian's point of view all these people are worshipping one character with a slightly different history and prophesized future. What I'm saying is that there are some people who believe Yahweh came to earth as a man, others who believe he has not done that but will, and others who believe something totally different. To those people who believe, as they exist today they are different gods (despite the fact that they have at times been referred to by the same names). Unless a deity actually exists, how do you define a deity except in the terms of its believers?
|
so by your logic, if 3 people look at a tree, their "perception" defines it... It's the same tree no matter what it's called.
Anyway, the Israelites had a God and they all worshiped him. Christianity is an off shoot of Judaism. Islam is the culmination of all Middle Eastern monotheistic religions including Judaism and Christianity.