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The mere fact that there are many religions can only indicate that there is no” right ” god, but only completely different ideas of people about the divine.
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In this sense, there is no hierarchy in religions, which of them is more correct or “true”, but differ only in a set of dogmas, ideas about the essence of the religious idea adhered to, as well as mythology, cults, and the presence of “holy” scriptures. A shaman who dances around a bonfire and addresses the Spirits of the Forest is exactly the same as a Christian priest who sings and waves a censer at the altar in a church.
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Initially, religions were formed within a limited society of people and it was believed that the gods of the tribe protect only its members. Therefore, there was no reason to link different gods together, and each was supported only by their own beliefs.
However, with the development and expansion of the tribes, in the process of which their unification took place, the process of mutual penetration of religious beliefs into each other began. At the same time, some positions or gods became basic, others more specialized and responsible for sometimes a very narrow range of life requirements.
The most striking example is the ancient Roman religion (before Christianity). It contained the main gods, which were later formalized with the Greek pantheon of gods. But there were also household (family) gods-lars, as well as numerous gods of everything that could happen in the world. For example, when the bride went to the groom's house, it was necessary to bring gifts to three goddesses: one goddess led the bride to the door of the groom's house, another helped her cross the threshold, and the third forced her to stay in the house. At least nineteen gods and goddesses “took part” in the birth and growth of a child up to one year old…
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Moreover, the Romans believed that if the opposing gods were brought to their side, they would ensure victory, as well as help keep the subordinates from taking revenge or rebelling. Therefore, there was a practice when, after the victory, one of the temples of the defeated was completely transferred to Rome to the last nail with the priests serving it. That is, the religious mentality of the Romans was not set up for the aggression of their own religion, but for the acceptance of other religions in their religious experience.
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By the imperial period, when the civil wars ended, this Roman mentality became the basis of the “battle of religions”that flared up from the first to the fourth centuries. When a new type of religion is already emerging: aggressive, arrogant, using the experience of agitation, deception and blackmail for the sake of…
Rather, let the Roman governor of Egypt say in about the year 130: “Here [in Alexandria] is full of all sorts of rabble. You can meet both the Greek astrologer and the Egimetean magician. The Apostles of Christ or the priests of Serapis gather together. Everyone has their own gods, but there is only one thing that unites them all – money.”
In other words, the time is coming for proselytizing religions – that is, widespread agitation and attracting new believers to their ranks. For example, the first free-type religion was Mithraism, which was brought to Rome apparently by legionaries who fought in the East.
After the destruction of the Phoenician states, first in the Middle East, and then the destruction of Carthage in North Africa, Judaism appears and gains strength. By the way, this is the first religion that planted itself with fire and sword in neighboring Idumea.
Egyptian and later Gali beliefs are widely spread.
But the” tender ” of religions is won by Greek Christianity. As you know, this religion came out of Judaism, but its main creators and propagators are people of Greek culture: people from Judea itself, followers in Syria and North Africa. Unlike Mithraism, which had a complex system of admittance and prohibition of accepting women and slaves, in Christianity, baptism was simplified as much as possible, and absolutely anyone could become a new believer: from a slave to a patrician. The hierarchy of the governing structure of the Christian bishops was practically copied from the Roman system of power and gave a stable management and development of religious ideas, through extensive both internal (among themselves) and external (with pagan beliefs)competition of ideas and cults. This flexible syncretism provided Christianity with the most acceptable forms for believers of that time, as well as in the principle and the next two millennia…
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Therefore, the question: do religions compete with each other, we can firmly answer – yes. At least, this is a fact for the last couple of millennia.
This competition is connected with two main reasons: the first is the very survival of religions; the second is the economic component of their existence. However, if a religion has a historically defined society, then it does not fall under these reasons and does not seek competition. For example: Shinto is a pure religion of the Japanese people, which is inherent only in the historical roots of the population of the Japanese islands. All attempts to introduce other faiths to Japan have either failed or have an extremely small number of believers. For example, the Orthodox church in Japan – has only about 35 thousand believers. (the total number of Christians is about two millons)
I think that religious competition will be both intensified and smoothed out from time to time.
It is pleasant to note that in the countries of the former Soviet Union, most often they are tolerant of other religions. But in the age-old conflict between Israel and Arab countries, religions play a significant role as a factor of confrontation.
Religion is not a historical issue. In fact, most monotheistic religions are considered related. Yes, Islam, Christianity and so on are also related and initially were not hostile to each other. The Crusades, contrary to popular belief, were organized for purely secular reasons, but not for religious hostility. Islamists and Christians considered each other “people of the book” and did not treat each other as pagans. At the same time, such religions always spread rapidly and aggressively displace pagan competitors with polytheism.
In the pagan world, there was no competition between religious worldviews (or rarely were) – people from one country sacrificed to the gods of other places, if they accidentally found themselves in them. This is also indicated by the Russian word “paganism”, borrowed from Slavic – ” language “means” people”, so the gods of different peoples and different localities, or rather, their concepts, did not come into conflict with each other.
Competition in the Old World (I don't know anything about the New World at all) comes with the development of late Judaism, which actively opposes itself to all the polytheistic concepts surrounding it, and this position of opposing itself to polytheism and defending its exclusivity and truth is adopted by other Abrahamic religions – Christianity and Islam. These religions offer something much more than polytheistic ones – if they simply personified various natural phenomena and took it for granted that the” golden age ” was long gone, then the Abrahamic religions offer something more – communion with the Deity (as they see it and as far as it is possible in their concept) and the return of man to a God-like state. I believe that everyone can choose for himself the concept that he most likes and shares: for example, Judaism is the religion of the only, chosen (and created by God) people who are waiting for His messenger, announcing the triumph of this religion before the eyes of every person; Christianity is the religion of God, who sacrificed Himself for people, becoming a man, and who indicated that paradise does not come sometime after death, ; Islam is a religion of absolutely one God, and it is impossible to become fully involved in it, but it is possible, by confessing this faith and observing the commandments, to receive eternal bliss after death. So what is the true God for you – the one about whom it is said “the gods of the nations are devils, but the Lord created the heavens”, or the one who came into the world so that “not one of you perished, but had eternal life”, or the one besides whom “there is no God, and Muhammad is his prophet”, you decide. This is a matter of faith, not knowledge.
The multiplicity of known gods reflects the diversity of people's empathic attitude to the world and its various manifestations. Each god is correct in his place, and there should be no competition between them – although of course mortals often involve the gods in their political games and proclaim the claim of one or another god to supremacy.
The “right” god for each situation, again, is a different god. If you are looking for the “true and existent” God (God), the one that most corresponds to the ideas of truth and existence that are inherent in you personally will be right for you.
Note that the other gods are not abolished by this act. It is not impossible for the Almighty to appear simultaneously in a vast number of persons – not only in the three persons of the Trinity (although this is the most adequate expression of the divine essence), but also in any number of meaningful pantheons. Thus, the difference between monotheism and polytheism is purely imaginary.
God is one: we just call Him by different names. He is Good and Justice; cruelty and murder for the glory of this or that name are acts of people who have perverted the word of God
New knowledge presented in the works of our modern writers of the 21st century, L. A. Seklitova and L. L. Strelnikova, speak about the infinite “ladder” of the evolution of living beings in the universe and about the finding of modern humanity as a whole at a relatively low level of development. That is, there are an infinite number of beings who are more developed, more intelligent, more spiritually rich, more skilled, more useful, etc., than man. To any such Being, when comparing it with the actual capabilities of a person, the concept of “god”can be applied. The concept of god is given for a person, in the first approximation decoding: “Infinitely marked boundaries (of existence-the influence of a living form, relative to a person). Relative to more advanced life forms, the boundaries will be defined.)”All these “gods” have their own directions in development. And the right direction of development is given to people with the concept of ” God ” – the Absolute, that is, the peak of achievement on a certain global path of development of a positively developing individual. The concept of competition is human, and even for humanity this concept is quite low. Human culture has already developed a higher type of relationship, mutual competition and cooperation for the sake of common success. Moreover, competition becomes inappropriate in relation to the”gods”. These include other relationships. For example, the entities in the Hierarchy of God are united by divine love…
There are no many gods in the world, there is only one God. There is a God who created the heavens and the earth, and all that is in heaven and on earth; there is a God who rules everything, and on Whom we are completely dependent; there is a God who gives forgiveness of sins and has prepared for all who are reconciled to Him – eternal life, and for those who remain stubborn – eternal torment. Man can receive eternal life for nothing, thanks to the sacrifice for our sins of the Only Begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ. And there is also the Holy Spirit, whom God sends to instruct, to reprove people, and to guide believers along the path of life, keeping faith with God. They are three Persons, but not three different Gods, because They are in complete unity, they have the same goals, the same concepts, there is not the slightest disagreement.
Why this particular God, the Son of God Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit? Why is this the truth? There is one story in the Bible that reveals the truth very well. This happened when people turned away from the true God and began to worship the idol of Baal. The prophet of God, Elijah, came to these people and proposed to do this: let the servants of Baal make an altar to their god, and let the prophet Elijah make a separate altar to his God, and let each one put a bullock on his altar, but let no one put fire on the altar:
This story reveals the essence of Christianity: The God who is the Father of Jesus Christ is a living God, Omnipotent, Omnipresent, a God who really helps and answers prayers. No false god or idol can give a person forgiveness and deliverance from sins, and therefore there can be no question that they will give eternal life.
Today, we don't need God to give us His answer through fire; He gives it in many ways. I was once a prisoner of various sinful addictions: I smoked, drank, cursed (sometimes my speech was almost full of swear words); I was angry, irritable, short-tempered, disobedient to my parents, led a dissolute life, and also did a lot of other sinful things. But suddenly Christ came into my life, the Very Son of God, through Whom only one can receive forgiveness of sins and deliverance from them. He has given me the enlightenment of a darkened mind, He has changed my life, He has set me on the path to eternal life, and He is helping me walk the path of life away from sin. No other god can do this, because God Himself puts it this way: “I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me” (Isaiah 45:5). At least how many people will cry out to the dead gods, as the people did under Elijah the prophet, shouting” Baal ” from morning to night, so that he will answer them and help them; the dead gods will not help. But the living Lord is strong and willing to help anyone who is mired in sin.
Therefore, if someone wants to be freed from sins, but sees no way out, then know that there is a God Who is alive and can help you; do not seek help from “Baal”, or from any other gods who will not respond to you with real help. Turn to God, the Father of Jesus Christ, in a simple prayer, tell Him everything about your sins and all your problems, ask for forgiveness and help, and He will come to you and change your life completely. Accept the gift from the Lord, Who also wants to free you from all your sins.
The right god is still a dollar. I think you know the competition. But I don't know – is bitcoin a new phenomenon of Satan or the Second Coming of Christ ? Oh, I'm afraid …
Man needs a God, a King, or a Hero. Well, you can't do without it. Someone needs to be worshipped. The tsar was overthrown and nothing happened, there are plenty of heroes, but they do not affect our lives. There remains a God or Gods , but they do not affect the course of events. We must believe in reason , and faith in God will pass by itself.
Remember the joke about blind people describing an elephant? It's the same with religions. I have studied many creeds, etc. Everyone has something in common. Since then, the approach to them is purely technical. Yes, there are gods. Yes, there is a Creator God of the entire universe. All religions are true. No, there are no contradictions. The Creator created the universe (and by the way, it is only a part of Existence) with many aspects, energies, and phenomena. The gods are the Creator-appointed guardians of every aspect of the world. They have their own system and hierarchy, but they are united all over the world. Each of the gods has its own “area of responsibility” and they do not interfere with each other in any way. People of different nations gave them names, invented different religions, but the essence is the same. Anubis, Morana, Hell – it's still one being-the god of death. Isis, Lelya, Aphrodite – all this is the same goddess of love. Allegedly, the enmity between the gods is “human, too human…” All religious wars are just fights between priests/priests for the flock that provides them with money and power.
Everything is normal there. They live and laugh.
Meet kakto on the cloud two. One says: I'm Zeus! “So what if you're Zeus? And I am Hercules! “Wow, talking porridge!
Replace “gods” with “loaves” or “houses” or “people” and you will be surprised at how absurd the question becomes.
First, we are not looking at gods, but only speculative models of these gods —different kinds of creeds about gods. Several creeds may correspond to one deity, but attribute different qualities to him. Similarly, in the same creed, the qualities of different gods may be attributed to the same deity. Several different gods can pass off as one, and one can pass off as several.
Second, the idea of the “rightness of the gods”stems from marketing programs that are part of various faiths, mostly monotheistic. Each religion seeks to expand its sphere of influence and acts in such a way that people in search of the divine are guided by the model of this particular religion. Therefore, everything here is very subjective and relative.
I speak as a Christian who, for personal reasons, adheres to the biblical model of one God. On the subject of” other gods ” from the biblical point of view, I have an article called “Perverted Monotheism”:
https://zen.yandex.ru/media/id/5decf4f486c4a900b03d35a0/izvrascennyi-monoteizm-5ded0e1a1a8608050f2a7365
I will be glad to hear your feedback.
There is only one God! And the rest don't exist at all! Or is the question specifically about pagan culture? Or am I writing in the wrong place? So, will you write to me again in your answers that I don't know anything? Or not? (you – in the sense of people who are against Orthodoxy, or me, and not all of you in general)
In fact, everything is simple, if you think about it and consider religions. Almost all pagan relics, except 4 (Shintoism, the religion of Ancient Greece, the Religion of Ancient Rome, the German-Scandinavian religion) have a description of the Demiurge – the creator god who creates the universe, other gods, and sometimes people (Atum in Ancient Egypt, Rod the Almighty among the Slavs, Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrianism, Vishvakarman in Hinduism, Antsva among the Abkhazians and Abazins, Tha among the Adygs, Armenian Aramazd, Viracocha of the Incas, Inmar of the Udmurts, Kairakan of the Altaians, Olodumare of the Yoruba people, the Great Spirit of the North American Indians, Bayame of Australia, Taishan Lao Jun of Taoism). Obviously, this is the same God, the Creator, just different peoples gave him different names.
WHO is the true God? Today, this most important issue is facing all of humanity. People worship many gods, but only One can give life and offer a happy future. Only one thing can be said: “By Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).And only one God is truly worthy of worship. This corresponds to the words of the heavenly choir in Revelation 4: 11
“You, Jehovah our God, are worthy to receive glory,honor, and power, because you created all things, and everything exists and was created according to your will.”