'God Is Not One' - COEXIST - silly prattle?

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New Book: 'God Is Not One' by Stephen Prothero



Christians regard sin as the problem and see salvation as the solution.
Muslims define the problem as pride that can only be conquered by submission.
Buddhists seek to overcome suffering while Christians regard suffering as ennobling, which is why Christians aren't trying to achieve nirvana.
Buddhists, unlike Christians, aren't looking for salvation since they

And there's more.

Jews believe in one God, Buddhists believe in no God, Hindus believe in many gods.
Christ is regarded as a God among Christians, whereas for Muslims, Muhammad is very much a man who achieved perfection as a prophet, political leader, military general and family patriarch.
And when it comes to the diversity in denominations among the world's religions, Christianity is king.

Got all that?

Prothero ranks the world's religions (he limits them to eight) in terms of impact.
Yes, Christianity is still the largest, and annual sales of the New Testament in the United States alone total $500 million, but Islam is growing faster, and Prothero makes the case that Muhammad ranks higher than Christ in overall importance.

One thing is for certain: In modern times, Islam is in the news far more often. Just ask the creators of "South Park," who were recently threatened by Islamic extremists.
With all the lunacy about death threats to British novelists, Danish cartoonists and now American animators, Prothero explains why Muslims simply won't tolerate any mocking of Muhammad — especially in a visual form.
For Christians, the body of Christ as God incarnate has a long history in representational art, but in the 1,400-plus years of Islam as a religion and culture, art has been limited to calligraphy and the Arabic letters of the Koran.


http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/09/entertainment/la-et-book9-20100609

Book review: 'God Is Not One,' by Stephen Prothero Wa Post

54194898.jpg
 
Ecumenism has always been a lofty, yet completely unrealistic idea.
 
I want to read this book. Someday I'll get to it.

Hindus believe in many gods.

I heard once that Hindus actually believe that there is one God, but its manifested into its thousands of Gods. I heard those Gods are called the One God's avatars. True?
 
It's all one religion seen through different eyes and experienced through different cultures.
Very religious people always tent to forget that; it even leads to the religious person looking down on other cultures.

I've heard strict Christians say that they are hurt because they feel like being discriminated against, while I've heard them literally say that people with an animistic point of view are primitive and childish.

could be :shrug:

I believe in people
and life before death

Me too. I've been called 'a satanist' for that!:hyper: :rockon:

But only God knows...
 
Saw this book the other day. I can't wait to read it - if it's any good I'll certainly be showing it to a few friends.

I heard once that Hindus actually believe that there is one God, but its manifested into its thousands of Gods. I heard those Gods are called the One God's avatars. True?

That's my understanding of it, that it's a lot of gods working to create one. This isn't entirely unique to Hinduism, if I'm not mistaken Egyptian/Kmt religion had a similar focus, although my knowledge is pretty hazy in this area so don't take my word for it.
 
I heard once that Hindus actually believe that there is one God, but its manifested into its thousands of Gods. I heard those Gods are called the One God's avatars. True?

That depends entirely on the sect of Hinduism. Some can aptly be called polytheistic to varying degrees from a few gods to many. At least one sect fits the bill above, Advaita Vedanta, but the singular entity, Brahman, isn't strictly "a god." It's actually above the gods and is unable to be worshipped directly. The gods, in this case, are all illusory states of Brahman.

Remembering that Hinduism is ultimately the last surviving descendant of Indo-European religion, I imagine that Brahman is cognate to the Old Norse concept of Ginnungagap and the ancient Greek concept of Chaos--nothingness defined. The "creator entity/deity" is often just not that important as it is in the Abrahamic tradition.
 
Thanks for clarifying that, melon. Hinduism is, frankly, one of the religions I've barely scratched the surface of, with only occasional revisiting of the Bhagavad Gita.

The blurb posted in the OP isn't entirely accurate in other ways either, in that prohibition of depicting Mohammad didn't come into gear until fairly late in Islamic history, and there are quite a few surviving full depictions from the medieval period.
 
The blurb posted in the OP isn't entirely accurate in other ways either, in that prohibition of depicting Mohammad didn't come into gear until fairly late in Islamic history, and there are quite a few surviving full depictions from the medieval period.

Let's further complicate things by mentioning that depictions of Muhammad aren't prohibited in Shi'a Islam, predominately practised in Iran, and they're the origin of most historical illustrations of him--although, at the time Iran started illustrating him around the 14th century, they were then Sunni. Other Sunni Muslims have been historically averse to those drawings, so it might be apt to say that it's mainly an Iranian tradition.
 
I bought the book and will let everyone know how it is in the Reading is Sexy thread once I am done with it.
 
this may not belong here

unless you believe God has his reasons for why things happen

You seem to have missed the best part of that story:

“I can’t believe Jesus was struck,” said his brother, who noted the giant Hustler Hollywood sign for the adult store across the street was untouched. “It’s the last thing I expected to happen.”
 
Maybe Jesus was just 'illuminating' himself like Klan members do with the cross :shrug:
 
New Book: 'God Is Not One' by Stephen Prothero

I would agree with this premise.

But, as a believer, I'd further suggest that really, we're all just guessing anyway and as a result, I don't think there's any reason why we can't coexist. Believing that I've got the right idea about something doesn't mean I can't get along with and respect those who hold a different view.

This idea that if I believe I'm right about something I'm somehow automatically offending or disrespecting everyone who sees things differently is just silly.
 
I would agree with this premise.

But, as a believer, I'd further suggest that really, we're all just guessing anyway and as a result, I don't think there's any reason why we can't coexist. Believing that I've got the right idea about something doesn't mean I can't get along with and respect those who hold a different view.

This idea that if I believe I'm right about something I'm somehow automatically offending or disrespecting everyone who sees things differently is just silly.

Do you mean that we can coexist because since we are just guessing that each perspective has the same truth value? or just that we should treat others with different opinions with respect?
 
Do you mean that we can coexist because since we are just guessing that each perspective has the same truth value? or just that we should treat others with different opinions with respect?

For me, it's the latter. The question is whether we can agree to disagree but still protect each other's dignity.
 
"From so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."

This is the most elegant explanation.
 
Do you mean that we can coexist because since we are just guessing that each perspective has the same truth value? or just that we should treat others with different opinions with respect?

What I mean is that I what I believe to be true and how that Truth is in reality are probably quite far apart. That's the biggness of God. I believe, for example that God is Love, but I doubt if I'm even close to comprehending exactly what that means and how it manifests itself in Reality. In light of that, it's a little absurd for me to find myself unable to coexist with others who have a different conception of God (or none at all) when all I can bring to the table is what I can see through the glass darkly.

However, that does NOT mean that I'm unable to believe that those who say, for example that God is the Universe, or that God is Nothing, or God is Unknowable, are mistaken and that my conception of God, as muddled as it may be, is closer to Reality.

Coexisting means that you think I'm wrong, but you don't need to kill me over it (or any other way deny our common humanity).
 
New Book: 'God Is Not One' by Stephen Prothero



Christians regard sin as the problem and see salvation as the solution.
Muslims define the problem as pride that can only be conquered by submission.
Buddhists seek to overcome suffering while Christians regard suffering as ennobling, which is why Christians aren't trying to achieve nirvana.
Buddhists, unlike Christians, aren't looking for salvation since they

And there's more.

Jews believe in one God, Buddhists believe in no God, Hindus believe in many gods.
Christ is regarded as a God among Christians, whereas for Muslims, Muhammad is very much a man who achieved perfection as a prophet, political leader, military general and family patriarch.
And when it comes to the diversity in denominations among the world's religions, Christianity is king.

Got all that?

Prothero ranks the world's religions (he limits them to eight) in terms of impact.
Yes, Christianity is still the largest, and annual sales of the New Testament in the United States alone total $500 million, but Islam is growing faster, and Prothero makes the case that Muhammad ranks higher than Christ in overall importance.

One thing is for certain: In modern times, Islam is in the news far more often. Just ask the creators of "South Park," who were recently threatened by Islamic extremists.
With all the lunacy about death threats to British novelists, Danish cartoonists and now American animators, Prothero explains why Muslims simply won't tolerate any mocking of Muhammad — especially in a visual form.
For Christians, the body of Christ as God incarnate has a long history in representational art, but in the 1,400-plus years of Islam as a religion and culture, art has been limited to calligraphy and the Arabic letters of the Koran.


Book review: 'God Is Not One' by Stephen Prothero - Los Angeles Times

Book review: 'God Is Not One,' by Stephen Prothero Wa Post

54194898.jpg

I'll have to read the book first...but, how can " Prothero makes the case that Muhammed ranks higher than Christ in overall importance." ?????????

If I was a betting man (and I am) I would pick Jesus over Muhammed (I thought it was Mohammed) in every possible way...in fact I find it hard to believe that most thinking people, if given the choice, wouldn't pick Jesus. If you want to take it down to the simplest childlike level Jesus was a much nicer guy!!!
 
I'll have to read the book first...but, how can " Prothero makes the case that Muhammed ranks higher than Christ in overall importance." ?????????

Good question, I did the "check inside the book" on Amazon.com and found it to say "Copyright 2010 by Stephen Prothero."

2010 Anno Domini[/b] that is.
 
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