IS the christian god the only one that exists? Why?

[workmx]

I assume that:
- most christians believe in a single one god (monotheism); and
- that this god is the christian god.

In that case, how do you know that the gods in other monotheistic religions do not exist?

How do you know that there are not multiple gods (polytheism)?

 

[aiki]

Why do you keep posting questions the answers to which you refuse to seriously consider? Do you think you are the first atheist to pose the sorts of questions to us that you've been posing? Not hardly! You certainly aren't the most thoughtful atheist we've encountered, either. No, you respond with prejudiced deflections, silly mischaracterizations of the responses you receive, and red herrings, which actually makes you very standard and mundane in your atheistic approach to the Christian worldview. Care to try a more distinctive approach and actually engage sincerely and thoughtfully with the answers you receive? Let's see.

I assume that:
- most christians believe in a single one god (monotheism); and
- that this god is the christian god.

In that case, how do you know that the gods in other monotheistic religions do not exist?

How do you know that there are not multiple gods (polytheism)?

Because the Bible says there is only One True God who is Jehovah.

Why do I believe the Bible has it right?

Because the Bible bears the marks of the divine upon it without its contents having the flavor of merely fanciful mythology.

In what way does the Bible bear these marks and have this flavor?

- Unity of themes despite its highly unusual construction.
- Its preservation over time.
- Its powerful influence upon human history.
- Its prophetic success.
- Its literary quality.
- Its archaeological accuracy.
- Its historical specificity and accuracy.


Selah.

 

[workmx]

Why do you keep posting questions the answers to which you refuse to seriously consider?

How do you know that I am not seriously considering them?

Disagreement is not a lack of serious consideration.

You claim a whole lot of epsitemological privieledge for yourself with no method to do so.

Do you think you are the first atheist to pose the sorts of questions to us that you've been posing? Not hardly!

Again you are claiming to know something that you do not know.

Seems like a habit.

I guess you do the same with your beleif in god, right?

You certainly aren't the most thoughtful atheist we've encountered, either.

No, you respond with prejudiced deflections, silly mischaracterizations of the responses you receive, and red herrings, which actually makes you very standard and mundane in your atheistic approach to the Christian worldview.

Sorry to disappoint.

I will try to improve.

Care to try a more distinctive approach and actually engage sincerely and thoughtfully with the answers you receive? Let's see.

Yes. here we go:

Because the Bible says there is only One True God who is Jehovah.

Isn't the one true god Ba'al? It gets lots of mentions in the bible too.

Why do I believe the Bible has it right?

Because the Bible bears the marks of the divine upon it without its contents having the flavor of merely fanciful mythology.

In what way does the Bible bear these marks and have this flavor?

- Unity of themes despite its highly unusual construction.
- Its preservation over time.
- Its powerful influence upon human history.
- Its prophetic success.
- Its literary quality.
- Its archaeological accuracy.
- Its historical specificity and accuracy.

Surely, if you are sure that god exists, it is no big deal to convince someone?

Now, since you are big on honest engagement:

How about an answer to the questions in the OP?

 

[98cwitr]

One God exists. That is all.

 

[aiki]

How do you know that I am not seriously considering them?

Disagreement is not a lack of serious consideration.

You claim a whole lot of epsitemological privieledge for yourself with no method to do so.

Your responses pretty clearly show that you don't take the responses you receive very seriously. You do disagree, which is fine, but you do so in a way that purposely misrepresents the view of the one with whom you disagree and with antagonistic declarations you never actually take pains to justify or defend. Such responses on your part make your questions seem very disingenuous.

Do you think you are the first atheist to pose the sorts of questions to us that you've been posing? Not hardly!
​

Again you are claiming to know something that you do not know.

Apparently, you don't know what a rhetorical question is. I didn't claim to know what your answer to my question above is and my question wasn't asked with the intent that you should provide an answer. This is the way rhetorical questions work. I was using my question as a rhetorical device to make a point, not about what you think, but about the commonness of the atheist questions you've been posing.

Because the Bible says there is only One True God who is Jehovah.
​

Isn't the one true god Ba'al? It gets lots of mentions in the bible too.

Why should the fact that Baal gets mentioned in the Bible a number of times mean he is the One True God?

Why do I believe the Bible has it right?

Because the Bible bears the marks of the divine upon it without its contents having the flavor of merely fanciful mythology.

In what way does the Bible bear these marks and have this flavor?

- Unity of themes despite its highly unusual construction.
- Its preservation over time.
- Its powerful influence upon human history.
- Its prophetic success.
- Its literary quality.
- Its archaeological accuracy.
- Its historical specificity and accuracy.
​

Surely, if you are sure that god exists, it is no big deal to convince someone?

Now, since you are big on honest engagement:

How about an answer to the questions in the OP?

Perhaps you have a comprehension problem, but my remarks about why I believe the revelation of the Bible is true does answer your question. Let me repeat myself: I believe there is only One True God because that is what the Bible teaches. And I believe the Bible to be correct because of the reasons I listed (and some others that I didn't). This isn't rocket science...

Selah.

 

[workmx]

Aiki.

Comprehension problems, hmmm?

The question was not prove the god of the beible exists.

The questions were:

How do you know that the gods in other monotheistic religions do not exist?

How do you know that there are not multiple gods (polytheism)?

Have at it!

 

[workmx]

One God exists. That is all.

Once again, you seem to be hearing what you want to hear.

Not what was asked, which is:

How do you know that the gods in other monotheistic religions do not exist?

How do you know that there are not multiple gods (polytheism)?

 

[aiki]

Aiki.

Comprehension problems, hmmm?

The question was not prove the god of the beible exists.

The questions were:

How do you know that the gods in other monotheistic religions do not exist?

How do you know that there are not multiple gods (polytheism)?
​

Have at it!

I did not offer evidence merely that the God revealed in the Bible exists but that, if the Bible is correct, He is the One and Only True God, which is what the Bible clearly declares. As I pointed out to you in another thread, if Jehovah-God is the One, True God, there are necessarily no other true (or real) gods in any other polytheistic or monotheistic religion. This is a plainly obvious fact I'm explaining to you here.

Selah.

 

[aiki]

Oh, and you didn't answer my question about Baal.

 

[workmx]

Why should the fact that Baal gets mentioned in the Bible a number of times mean he is the One True God?

It is possible. Yahweh is only mentioned too.

 

[workmx]

Aiki.

I did not offer evidence merely that the God revealed in the Bible exists but that, if the Bible is correct, He is the One and Only True God, which is what the Bible clearly declares. As I pointed out to you in another thread, if Jehovah-God is the One, True God, there are necessarily no other true (or real) gods in any other polytheistic or monotheistic religion. This is a plainly obvious fact I'm explaining to you here.

That still does not address the question:

I am asking: why you reject some gods but not others?

 

[ViaCrucis]

I assume that:
- most christians believe in a single one god (monotheism); and
- that this god is the christian god.

In that case, how do you know that the gods in other monotheistic religions do not exist?

How do you know that there are not multiple gods (polytheism)?

What do you mean by "other monotheistic religions", you mean Judaism and Islam, the Abrahamic religions?

It's the same God. The Jewish God and the Christian God are the same God, the Muslim God is also the same.

We are all talking about the God who created all things, the one and only, who made Himself known to Abraham and who spoke through the Prophets.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam do not worship three different gods, but refer to the same God, with different ideas about Him and what He has done.

In Christianity this God is Holy Trinity, and has made Himself known to us in and through the Person of Jesus, who is both the Incarnate Logos/Son, second Person of the Trinity, and the Christ, the Son of David.

But it's the same God Jews worship (incompletely because they deny He is Trinity and that Jesus is the Incarnate Son and the Christ) and the same God Muslims worship (incompletely, because they deny this God is Trinity and that Jesus is the Incarnate Son).

What Christianity confesses isn't a new and separate God from the God worshiped in ancient Israel and by the Jews, but rather the fullness of this God's revelation in the Person of Jesus.

There are non-Abrahamic monotheistic positions; certain Hindu interpretations of Brahman are more-or-less monotheistic; the Christian view would be either A) they've regarded a false non-god to be God or B) they have rightly recognized that there is only one God, but the knowledge of the one God is faulty, incomplete, and Christianity offers the full picture which cannot be known apart from the Gospel.

In the Acts, St. Paul uses the altar dedicated to the "unknown god" as a way of reaching out to the Greek pagans, whose philosophical traditions at times did regard there to to be a true, one God, but such a God was unknowable and distant--Paul explains that the true God is not distant and unknown, but has been known--He's the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who has made Himself known in and through Jesus. Paul even quotes some of the Greek poets, saying, "In Him we move, breathe, and have our being" and "we are His offspring" and "He is not very far from each of us" all these poets are referring not to Israel's YHVH but yet Paul directs these poetical and philosophical sentiments back to YHVH, to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the One who is known in and by Jesus the Christ, the Logos of God, in whom we can know God for God meets us in Jesus and in the Church He founded.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[aiki]

I did not offer evidence merely that the God revealed in the Bible exists but that, if the Bible is correct, He is the One and Only True God, which is what the Bible clearly declares. As I pointed out to you in another thread, if Jehovah-God is the One, True God, there are necessarily no other true (or real) gods in any other polytheistic or monotheistic religion. This is a plainly obvious fact I'm explaining to you here.
That still does not address the question:

I am asking: why you reject some gods but not others?

Oookay...Well, I can't really be any clearer. To repeat myself: I reject all other gods but Jehovah-God because I believe the record of the Bible which says that there are no other gods but Jehovah. And I believe the Bible to be trustworthy in what it says for the reasons I have outlined in earlier posts. Capisce?

Why should the fact that Baal gets mentioned in the Bible a number of times mean he is the One True God?
​

It is possible. Yahweh is only mentioned too.

LOL! You're either profoundly ignorant of the content of the Bible or being willfully obtuse. Jehovah is not merely "mentioned" in the Bible, He is the centerpiece of it!

Selah.

 

[Joshua260]

I am asking: why you reject some gods but not others?

I remember you posing this question as a rebuke against Pascal's wager in one of your other threads. I explained there that Pascal had ruled out other faiths as being unreasonable in his Pensees and suggested that if you wanted to explore your rebuke further, to post it as a separate OP, so I'm pleased to see you do so.

I would agree with what aiki said...because the Bible says as much...that there is only one true god. There's quite a few versus that say this...here is one:

"For there is one God..." 1 Timothy 2:5 (KJV)

Now I understand, as a former non-believer, that doesn't say much to non-believers. Why should one take the Bible as reliable?

And I believe aiki went on to answer that in the rest of his post #2.

I would only go beyond what aiki has already said by reminding you that the bible is not just one single book, but a library of books written over a long span of time by many different authors and the continuity between these many different books and authors is truly remarkable! Also, the life of Jesus related in the NT fulfills the messianic prophecies of the OT extremely well! Then, there is also the evidence that surrounds the resurrection of Jesus, which led credibility to the claims of Jesus, that he was in fact God, and he viewed the OT scriptures as reliable.

So why do I reject other gods? Because the bible says that the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the one and only true god. So, your next step would be to start investigating some of these reasons we listed concerning why we believe the bible is reliable.

 

[orangeness365]

according to the Bible there is only one God.

1 Corinthians 8:4-6English Standard Version (ESV)

4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

 

[workmx]

What do you mean by "other monotheistic religions", you mean Judaism and Islam, the Abrahamic religions?

It's the same God. The Jewish God and the Christian God are the same God, the Muslim God is also the same.

We are all talking about the God who created all things, the one and only, who made Himself known to Abraham and who spoke through the Prophets.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam do not worship three different gods, but refer to the same God, with different ideas about Him and what He has done.

In Christianity this God is Holy Trinity, and has made Himself known to us in and through the Person of Jesus, who is both the Incarnate Logos/Son, second Person of the Trinity, and the Christ, the Son of David.

But it's the same God Jews worship (incompletely because they deny He is Trinity and that Jesus is the Incarnate Son and the Christ) and the same God Muslims worship (incompletely, because they deny this God is Trinity and that Jesus is the Incarnate Son).

What Christianity confesses isn't a new and separate God from the God worshiped in ancient Israel and by the Jews, but rather the fullness of this God's revelation in the Person of Jesus.

There are non-Abrahamic monotheistic positions; certain Hindu interpretations of Brahman are more-or-less monotheistic; the Christian view would be either A) they've regarded a false non-god to be God or B) they have rightly recognized that there is only one God, but the knowledge of the one God is faulty, incomplete, and Christianity offers the full picture which cannot be known apart from the Gospel.

In the Acts, St. Paul uses the altar dedicated to the "unknown god" as a way of reaching out to the Greek pagans, whose philosophical traditions at times did regard there to to be a true, one God, but such a God was unknowable and distant--Paul explains that the true God is not distant and unknown, but has been known--He's the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who has made Himself known in and through Jesus. Paul even quotes some of the Greek poets, saying, "In Him we move, breathe, and have our being" and "we are His offspring" and "He is not very far from each of us" all these poets are referring not to Israel's YHVH but yet Paul directs these poetical and philosophical sentiments back to YHVH, to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the One who is known in and by Jesus the Christ, the Logos of God, in whom we can know God for God meets us in Jesus and in the Church He founded.

What about the Bahá'í?

What about Atenism?

What about the Sikhs?

What about the Zoroastrians?

What about Shintoism (where are all goddesses/gods, inc. yahweh and jesus, are a sub-set of the goddess Amaterasu)?

What about polytheistic gods?

The question is: what rational basis do you have to reject other gods?

 

[workmx]

Oookay...Well, I can't really be any clearer. To repeat myself: I reject all other gods but Jehovah-God because I believe the record of the Bible which says that there are no other gods but Jehovah. And I believe the Bible to be trustworthy in what it says for the reasons I have outlined in earlier posts. Capisce?

Got it. Thanks.

Why do you reject all other holy books?

LOL! You're either profoundly ignorant of the content of the Bible or being willfully obtuse. Jehovah is not merely "mentioned" in the Bible, He is the centerpiece of it!

I agree that you think that is true.

How do you think that a person without belief in gods may view the bible?

Or even a person with belief in different gods may view it?

Note: Aiki, my freind - I have an almost inexhaustable list of questions for you and others, so don't run out of energy too early.

 

[workmx]

according to the Bible there is only one God.

1 Corinthians 8:4-6English Standard Version (ESV)

4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

Thanks O365. There are other holy books that say the same thing too.

 

[aiki]

Why do you reject all other holy books?

Because when compared to the Bible, they just don't measure up. The Bible is a very singular text. Why?

1. Its incredible unity.
2. Its amazing track record of fulfilled prophecy.
3. Its archaeological/historical accuracy.
4. Its philosophical/moral/spiritual profundity.
5. Its impact upon human history.
6. Its power to change lives.

And so on.

I agree that you think that is true.

It is also what the Bible says.

How do you think that a person without belief in gods may view the bible?

More or less as you do.

Note: Aiki, my freind - I have an almost inexhaustable list of questions for you and others, so don't run out of energy too early.

It is not my energy that you are at risk of exhausting, but my interest. If you are here to sincerely understand the Christian worldview, if you really want to know what followers of Christ think, then I am glad to discuss such things with you. However, your tone in most of your posts is antagonistic rather than inquiring and, to be frank, often distinctly disingenuous. I have neither the time, nor the desire to debate my faith with someone who is determined to see it as foolishness no matter the reason and evidence I give to support my faith.

Selah.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

I assume that:
- most christians believe in a single one god (monotheism); and
- that this god is the christian god.

In that case, how do you know that the gods in other monotheistic religions do not exist?

How do you know that there are not multiple gods (polytheism)?

Workmx,

Good questions? I don't 'know' whether or not other gods exist, especially since there is no test that could absolutely confirm divine existence and/or identity.