On Nov 6, 2008, at 10:48 AM, Horace Heffner wrote:
On Nov 6, 2008, at 8:11 AM, Edmund Storms wrote:
I find the logic of this discussion odd.
Perhaps because there is a lack of any logic at all.
If, as Christians, Muslims and Jews believe, there is but one God,
then they are all worshiping that one God no matter what they call
it.
The above statement is not a logical necessity. For example, each
religion might assume theirs is the one and only God while the
others are deluded, worshiping false gods, an act no different from
the worshiping of a specific rock or plant. It is only the shared
history that makes a logical necessity of the shared God being one
and the same.
Yes Horace, what you say is correct from the human point of view. But,
look at this process from God's point of view, if this is possible.
As God, I know I'm the only one. Humans call me by different names and
do different ritual, but I know all the effort is directed toward me.
So, why would I care what I'm called? All the worship would have the
same meaning to me. Why would any rational person think that a God as
old and as immense as the one being proposed would be confused by use
of different names, as you might expect a human to react? We believe
that we were made in God's image when in fact God is made in our
image. As usual, we have gotten the situation exactly backwards,
If many Gods exist, as Hindus believe then we have a problem.
My point is that this can not the case for Christians, Muslims and
Jews, who share a common history, a common Abraham, and thus a
common God.
Yes, and yours is another logical evaluation from the human view
point. History demonstrates the God is the same one.
Also, I'm always amazed that rational people believe something that
was based on knowledge that existed over 2000 years ago. We now know
that the earth is not the center of the universe and that we are
insignificant life forms in a complex and immense universe that is
surely populated by life forms that are far more advanced. Science
works hard to update its knowledge about the physical world. Religion
makes no such effort to learn more about the spiritual reality. Yet,
these two opposite approaches to knowledge exist in the same
individual without conflict. How is this possible?
Ed
Best regards,
Horace Heffner
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/
