• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!
  • Welcome to our archives. No new posts are allowed here.

parallels of religons

Amadeus said:
I understand the differences, but I also understand the similarities.
Click to expand...

Yes, but when you understand the differences, and how fundemental they are, the similarities become trivial.

It's like saying the similarity between liberal social democracy and fascism is the use of uniforms in the military ... which is trivial when you see the differences.
 
RGacky3 said:
Yes, but when you understand the differences, and how fundemental they are, the similarities become trivial.

It's like saying the similarity between liberal social democracy and fascism is the use of uniforms in the military ... which is trivial when you see the differences.
Click to expand...

It depends on where you place the emphasis. You are saying that a parallel is minor or non-existent because one deity is all-powerful, while the other is only nearly all-powerful. I don't find this to be a compelling argument in the context of comparing religions.
 
Amadeus said:
It depends on where you place the emphasis. You are saying that a parallel is minor or non-existent because one deity is all-powerful, while the other is only nearly all-powerful. I don't find this to be a compelling argument in the context of comparing religions.
Click to expand...

That isn't the difference, in monotheism there CAN only be one God and that God is the basis for ALL reality, and the creator of ALL reality and the bassi of all power and morality.

Polytheistic Gods are not even close to that, they are very powerful, but subject to other powers, they are part of reality but not the basis of it, their relationship to morality is the same as ours, they are creators sometimes, but generally created, and they are people, who have families, fight, have physical features and so on.
 
RGacky3 said:
That isn't the difference, in monotheism there CAN only be one God and that God is the basis for ALL reality, and the creator of ALL reality and the bassi of all power and morality.

Polytheistic Gods are not even close to that, they are very powerful, but subject to other powers, they are part of reality but not the basis of it, their relationship to morality is the same as ours, they are creators sometimes, but generally created, and they are people, who have families, fight, have physical features and so on.
Click to expand...

I understand what you're saying, I just don't think it makes that much of a difference except when dealing with the creation point.
 
Harlan said:
One element common to the major world religions is the origination by a Prophet, Messiah or Buddha. They each claim to have innate knowledge usually attributed to a Revelation from God. It is also interesting that these Spiritual Lights do not belittle previous Prophets Who came before them. Their followers tend to do that over time in an attempt to show the superiority of their own faith. As a Baha'i, I accept all the Founders of the great World Religions as being genuine Divine Mouthpieces with messages that were appropriate for Their time. We see Baha'u'llah as the appearance in our time of a Divine Messenger with a Message specific for our age. He put His teachings, over 100 volumes, into writing Himself so that we would not have to depend on the memories and understandings of others. The similarities between religions makes sense if you recognize that they have a common Origin and purpose. The differences can be attributed to the varying social and culural conditions of each age. What is appropriate and necessary today may not be so 1,000 years from now. Baha'u'llah wrote that this succession of Messengers will have no end and that His Revelation will be superceded in one or more thousands of years from now. This is the first religion to my knowledge which states that it will be superceded in time. But then He also explained that all of these religions are actually just one religion with many chapters, so no religion is really superceded, but each is really a restatement of the one true religion of God, eternal in the past and eternal in the future. He centered His teachings on the reality that mankind is one and that this is the time for humanity to become united as one human family enhabiting this wonderful planet. His teachings promote this unity by promoting the selection of a world language to be taught to all the children of the world as a second language; the formation of a world federation of nations to bring about world peace and prosperity; the acceptance of science and religion as equal partners in the search for truth; the equality of women and men; the education of all children, especially the girls; the elimination of all prejudices; seeing all of the great world religions as having the same divine origin; the elimination of a clergy and the implementation of a new form of community administration which does not include partisan politics. We're all one and should not be divided up into contending parties. This is part of His teachings. There are now about 6 million Baha'is in the world from every religious background and ethnicity which shows how it is possible for such diverse people to come together in unity in a common Cause for the benefit of the human race.
Click to expand...
I accept the truths of all religions as that is part of my faith.
 
Amadeus said:
I'm not sure that is the case. Again, taking Norse mythology and Christianity, there are many parallels. There's an Adam and Eve concept (Ask and Embla). The Norse underworld? It's called Hel. There's an All-God (Odin). The major differences are largely cultural. The rest is minutiae.
Click to expand...

Actually, our concept of Norse myths are based on 14th century documents. The Norse pagans had already been conquered, and parallels between their native myths and Christianity were deliberately fostered to smooth the transition. We only have the Christianized versions of their myths. The similarities are intentional, not coincidental.

Much more compelling similarities exist between Jehovah and Zeus, though it's hardly surprising, as Christianity is largely an amalgamation of Judaism, Roman paganism, and Celtic paganism. Just like Islam takes a lot of those same Jewish roots and combines earlier Arabic myths.
 
Paschendale said:
Actually, our concept of Norse myths are based on 14th century documents. The Norse pagans had already been conquered, and parallels between their native myths and Christianity were deliberately fostered to smooth the transition. We only have the Christianized versions of their myths. The similarities are intentional, not coincidental.
Click to expand...

This is due to Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, correct? I know that the Poetic Edda preceded it, but it was difficult to understand without Snorri's interpretation.
 
Last edited:
Paschendale said:
Actually, our concept of Norse myths are based on 14th century documents. The Norse pagans had already been conquered, and parallels between their native myths and Christianity were deliberately fostered to smooth the transition.
Click to expand...

This is rather common among instances of cultural assimilation, both violent and non violent. In the Himalaya there was one religious figure who was known for "subduing demons with his thunderbolt of wisdom". Which amount to stories of him giving a bit on of the old in-out to the local deities until they learned to love him and convert to Buddhism
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom