When you come right down to it, the people of Earth are still polytheistic. To say they are not would mean that all the monotheistic religions out there worship the same god. It is also not beyond the stretch of imagination that any polytheistic religion that has a number 1 god is referring to one and the same. Would you not agree? Either the god(s) of every religion on Earth is the same god for each or monotheism dies right here.
I believe the worlds religions are cultural expressions of theism, ie, the origin is lost and what we see now is through the filter of thousands of years of cultural expression. for example this is an Egyptian hymn: http://books.google.com/books?id=w9...ts=LyZUMC2xJL&sig=CZa19Fg_JjzbIl_P-FPnXwITg_0 This is a hymn from the Rig Veda http://www.geocities.com/dmathew1/weeklyx0.htm The oldest known Chinese traditions support a monotheistic belief
While you're assertion that the world's religions are polytheistic may be true, the premise that you've suggested to support that conclusion isn't sound. It would be analogous to saying that people of the world are all polygamous. To say that they are not would mean that all monogamous marriages involve marriage to the same person.
Not many people believe they are married. It usually takes some ceremony, act or official document to confirm it. That's all I'm asking, confirm one god fits all or forget about monotheism. This is global, not regional.
Only the essence of the single God is universal, but it rarely works out in practice, due to different belief and worship systems. It's like water being the universal essence of the single god of beverage, but coke is different to tea to juice to coffee etc.
I don't belief theism is exclusive to monotheism so polytheist godhead figures should also be included, no?
As for a single god being the god of beverages(plural), the monotheistic god is the god of all religions. You could say that god and his essence is a total package.
There are many polytheistic religions still in practice around the world. Between that and the monotheistic, one has branched off or changed. Now is it reasonable to assume mankind was originally polyT? In the OT God destroyed every religion other than the Judeo with the flood, or whatever flood is a metaphor for. Yet polytheism still thrives meaning monoT's changed at sometime since. Why would they do this?
you could also similarly say that there are literally billions of suns that shine on the earth, since if you ask a billion people at midday where the sun is they will all answer "dierctly above my head"
That's really dumb and, needless to say, irrelevant. For some reason you need more help and guidance than anyone else so here it is. What is being said is: Either we have a polytheistic world, (people worshipping many different gods: allah, vishnu, yhwh, jesus etc), or you're all worshipping the exact same thing, (monotheism). So, the god of every religion must ultimately be the exact same entity otherwise it's polytheism all the way. Need me to draw a picture?
not necessarily since there could be communities of personalities higher up in the hierarchy for instance the "cargo cult" phenomena developed in the pacific islands amongst tribes people who, due to the sudden influx of WW2 planes, jeeps and ships, established them as worshipable entities (the islanders simply took the greatest thing of their experience to be god - which is a natural tendency - but in no way insures that one's worshipable object is actually worshipable in the absolute sense)
needless to say, your attempt to reduce the scenario to two options certainly reveals your prejudices eg - what would happen in the circumstance of a person who encountered an angel and mistook them for god Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Snakelord understands the premis of this thread, why can't you? Either the one true monotheistic god represents every god that ever was or monotheism is dead in the water. If you're trying to say the polytheists made their gods up or there was mistaken identity, well I think you know what comes next.
or alternatively the perception of a great entity was factual but establishing the worship of them as absolute is not so either we have to fanatically accept all religious accounts or fanatically deny themPlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image!?
Pretty much. Roll your eyes all you want. You're telling everyone there is one true god, the standard monotheist platform. Immediately one has to assume that any other monotheistic religion that ever was or still is in existence also shares the same god, it can't be anything different unless as you say the other religions' gods are a result of mistaken identity which you have to admit is a real stretch. You might as well tell the Muslims they've mistaken some other lesser entity as their god. But you guys haven't.....right ok. If I posed the same questions to the Muslims they could mimic yours words and then we're left with 2 gods... hardly monotheistic.