God and gods

[historia]

I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.

Questions for debate: Is this quote accurate? Is the difference between the concept of God and the concept of gods simply a difference in number (one vs. many)? When atheists and skeptics combine the two into the short-hand "God(s)," are they making a category error?

[Zzyzx]

.
Moderator Intervention

Remarks in this thread are becoming a bit too personal

Let's debate the TOPIC with fewer comments directed toward other members on a personal level.

Rules
C&A Guidelines


______________

Moderator interventions do not count as a strike against any posters. They are given at the discretion of a moderator when he or she feels that some sort of intervention is required.

[dio9]

[Replying to post 22 by Tcg]

I guess I don't know exactly what you don't believe.. I don't believe there is a pantheon of gods. I only believe in the God revealed by Jesus Christ. And until proven wrong believe the God of all monotheists is the same God.

[dio9]

[Replying to post 23 by William]

Basically I'm saying there is only one omnipresent God but lots of opinions . Like the Buddha I dismiss the opinions and believe the peace human goodness wisdom and virtue he came to embody is the image of God.

[dio9]

[Replying to post 21 by dio9]

I don't think I believe in the gods you atheists don't believe in either.

I think I get the gist of what you say here. You understand non-theist ideas of GOD to be shallow and worthless misrepresentations of Theist ideas of GOD.

If that is the meaning behind your words, I get you and generally agree with your sentiment.

I've never met an idea of gods, god, God, G_d, gOD, GoD, goD, or GOD that I didn't understand. If the ideas presented by theists about their gods, god, God, G_d, gOD, GoD, goD, or GOD are shallow and worthless, it is a result of the shallow and worthless ideas of gods, god, God, G_d, gOD, GoD, goD, or GOD being presented.




Tcg

Like I said guru I don't believe in the gods you don't believe in either.

[dio9]

.

We know from Greek and Hindu mythology, for example, that the gods emerged from the created world.

What about the other two thousand or so proposed 'gods'?

Can anyone legitimately claim the following without knowledge of the competing gods?

The "gods," by contrast, do not transcend nature, but rather are thought to have emerged from it. They are conceived of as just higher or more powerful beings within the created order.

Historia you are mistaken Hindu mythology holds there is a supreme creator God .

[otseng]

You know, Tcg, every word of every post you make is saturated and just drips with utter disdain, bitterness, and hatefulness. Questioning the beliefs of others is fine, but the communication of that disdain and hate really communicates more about the speaker than anything or anyone else. Just a word of exhortation to you, man. But hey, leave the legacy you want to leave, by all means. Peace.

Moderator Warning


Please leave out the "words of exhortation".

Please review our Rules.

______________

Moderator warnings count as a strike against users. Additional violations in the future may warrant a final warning. Any challenges or replies to moderator postings should be made via Private Message to avoid derailing topics.

[Tcg]

Like I said guru I don't believe in the gods you don't believe in either.

But you do. As you stated previously:

I only believe in the God revealed by Jesus Christ.

The god you admit believing in is one of the gods. Capitalization doesn't change your god into something other than a god. Likewise, the fact that some gods are presented as the creator and some aren't doesn't change the fact that they are all gods.



Tcg

[marco]

My point, again, is that the concept of God and the concept of the gods are different and have different epistemic support. Whether either or both is true or not has no bearing on that point.

Your suggestion is interesting but not true in any obvious manner. Yahweh is as much an invention as the Greek gods. He magically manifests himself on mountains and so shares the ability the Greek gods had of coming and going on earth. Instead of being surrounded by minor deities, he has supernatural entities, angels, not of this world, for company. Angels are sent as messengers, like Hermes, to do the deity's bidding. It is odd that one would suggest there is any conceptual difference between Yahweh and the Greek divinities. It is rather artificial to suggest a capital letter makes a massive difference.

[William]

[Replying to post 33 by dio9]

Basically I'm saying there is only one omnipresent God but lots of opinions . Like the Buddha I dismiss the opinions and believe the peace human goodness wisdom and virtue he came to embody is the image of God.

And that is your particular image of a GOD.

My own isn't far removed from that, but I recognize at least one GOD evident (The Earth Herself) who represents The one omnipresent GOD (whom I refer to as The First Source) in relation to Human Beings.

My impression of Human Beings, currently, is that the majority nether recognize The First Source nor The Earth Entity and this is evident in their collective behavior. Whether they refer to themselves as theists or non-theists has no bearing on that. Their imaging of GOD misses the mark.

[dio9]

[Replying to William]

Yes my image of God is a man and a woman together, like Adam and Eve.