Why the fuck is monotheism so much more popular than polytheism?
Most polytheist religions in history faded away into insignificance. The only one still existing today is hinduism and even those who believe in it don't seem to take it really serious. Monotheistic religions on the other hand always spreaded like a virus. Christianity immediately infected the enitre Roman empire and populations beyond its borders. Islam instantly created a huge as fuck caliphate and is still spreading rapidly today.
Monotheists can't into polytheism, but polytheists can into monotheism
Its that simple desu
Leo Fisher
>Monotheistic religions on the other hand always spreaded like a virus. Christianity immediately infected the enitre Roman empire and populations beyond its borders. >implying Christians are monotheists
Blake Hughes
>The only one still existing today is hinduism And folk chinese. And Shinto. >Monotheistic religions on the other hand always spreaded like a virus. Because Christians & Muslims were vicious cunts. >is still spreading rapidly today. So is irreligiosity and atheism.
Connor Phillips
There are different varieties of Hinduism, too, and not all are polytheistic, only the ones which refer to much older traditions.
Joshua Green
>implying Christians are monotheists Wholes that are wholes combine to become a whole.
Joshua Allen
Shinto has spirits, but not every practitioner of Shinto views these as deified beings. Many are atheist.
Connor Rodriguez
But muslims (and christians of the past) were willing to die for their god. How can a meme be so strong that you sacrifice your life for it? Show me an atheist who does this for atheism.
Tyler Flores
>and christians of the past Africa would like a word with you
Blake Roberts
>implying Christians don't have a fuck huge pantheon of saints to worship and praise
Jupiter may be king of kings, but the rest get their love too.
Bentley Gutierrez
>Christianity immediately infected the enitre Roman empire and populations beyond its borders Less than 5% of the empire was Christian when Constantine declared it the state religion
Jack Butler
>Hinduism polytheistic
RRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Jack Gray
>worshiping saints Hmm, I think to this, there is "worship" which is to God, and there is "worship" which is to venerate. It's appropriate to venerate saints and the virgin Mary, you can even, in a way, "pray" to them, but if a person is actually "worshipping" saints, they have a slightly missed idea of the intent.
Nolan Baker
user, don't play protestant retardation here. A Saint doesn't get worshiped, it is respect, not worship. To worship implies that it is God.
Noah Barnes
>Implying the trinity are three separate gods instead of three aspects of the same God >Implying the "pantheon" of saints are deities instead of the venerated faithful
Ayden Long
to add, it's a commonly used term to "worship" your personal heroes or favorite artists or athletes. You're not actually praying to these people.
Or maybe you are, but you get the idea, there are different connotations.
Anthony Cooper
Constantine didn't name it the state religion. Theodosius I did.
Constantine just ended the persecutions from Galerius.
Camden Robinson
There were also willing to be assholes for their god.
Charles Evans
There is hindu militarism, buddhist militarism too, what's your point?
Jordan White
Hinduism is commonly considered a polytheistic religion, but its three principal gods of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, known collectively as the Trimurti, are actually considered to be three different aspects of the same divine force. Similarly, Christianity posits that there are in fact three gods, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, that are all different aspects of the same divine force. it's literally just an issue of semantics. Christianity is polytheistic
Noah Howard
It's by far not as widespread as monotheistic militarism. Hinduism pretty much stayed in India. Christianity on the other hand has been spread all over the world, and islam is currently conquering Europe and America.
Landon Sanders
see
Jacob Wood
>Similarly, Christianity posits that there are in fact three gods, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, that are all different aspects of the same divine force. What part of Whole that are Wholes become a Whole in which the first Wholes were already in one Whole don't you understand?
Tyler Howard
The part where that doesn't make a lick of sense.
The trinity as the christians can describe it can only be understood through faith.
Jacob Jenkins
Every part.
Nicholas Cruz
>The part where that doesn't make a lick of sense. Do you want me to keep telling you about the whole that are wholes which are not parts but they are wholes that come together to become a whole in the sense that one in three is really just one with three having the facets of the three but that doesn't make them a part mind you. Think of it like a mishmash of three whole jigsaw puzzles together into a thing that just works.
Jason Rogers
>this word soup involving wholes Formulate properly how you see the trinity.
William Peterson
Because with multiple gods your suspension of disbelief is spread too thinly?
Asher Ortiz
It's three wholes that are actually one whole. Think Voltron but get rid of the part where they need to combine.
Caleb Long
Christianity is monotheistic. Sitting there with a mantra repeating otherwise doesn't make it so.
Luis Garcia
>whole that are wholes which are not parts but they are wholes You don't get to just say shit that contradicts itself and claim that it doesn't.
Thomas Gomez
>three wholes are one whole The three wholes are then parts of the one whole.
Ayden Jones
That's wrong, the three wholes are not parts, because that's heresy, the three wholes are actually one whole.
Christian Sullivan
What you're talking about does not make sense.
What do you mean when you say "three wholes"?
Hunter Martinez
>What do you mean when you say "three wholes"? Father, Son, Holy Spirit are the three wholes. Three whole things that are actually just one whole.
Leo Adams
Polytheism = making comic book superheroes out of trees n shit
Monotheism = of some philosophical substance. This is why people discuss whether or not God exists but not whether or no Zeus is chucking lightning at us.
Grayson Taylor
I think he's fucking with us
Ayden Foster
I'll repeat the question. What do you mean when you say "three wholes"?
Because what you're talking about so far makes no sense, mathematically or logically.
Henry Foster
Pagan religions don't promote evangelicalism aka spreading your religion
Evan Butler
>I'll repeat the question. What do you mean when you say "three wholes"? When you have God, the Father, he is one of the three wholes, but also inbuded in him is Christ the son and the Holy spirit, like wise Christ the son has God the Father in him and the Holy spirit and the Holy Spirit has God the Father and Christ the Son.
Logan Diaz
>Monotheism = of some philosophical substance. >HURRR UR BURNING NOW COZ YOUR GRANDMA ATE AN APPLE DURRR
Anyway, the success comes mostly from monotheism's eschatology, which ruthlessly simplified the world into a good-evil dichotomy that every hillbilly can understand, but more importantly, monotheism (mainly Christianity and Islam, that's why they're the two most dominant ones) had a very aggressive marketing campaign. It took the form of 'buy this or I'll murder you', which tends to be very convincing
Connor Anderson
>three aspects of the same God
That's wrong.
>Hinduism is commonly considered a polytheistic religion
That doesn't mean it is one.
>Similarly, Christianity posits that there are in fact three gods, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
No, Christianity says that there is one God who is three consubstantial persons of the same divine essence and will. There are not three aspects, forms, parts, modes, etc. of one God
Joshua Gray
>le epik caricature
James Lee
No he's actually explaining the trinity. It's just a logical impossibility. The "lesser wholes", within the context of the "greater whole", are parts. But that's Partialism which is a hersey so the parts also have to be god in and of themselves. This is where the contradiction lies, as the identity of what "god" is seems to be in 3 places at once.
Joseph Phillips
bro you're saying that A = D B = D C = D while at the same time claiming A =/= B =/= C
this makes no logical sense the central tenet of Christianity, perhaps the only thing that is common to all of its various branches, makes no logical sense
Charles Stewart
>he doesn't understand the gods as platonic forms
Ryan Peterson
So basically the three parts are identical?
Blake Ramirez
There were Hindu temples from Azerbaijan to Sulawesi. Hinduism dominated all over Indonesia before Islam took hold. It most definitely did not stay contained in India, that's just where it only survives in large numbers to today.
Xavier Bennett
wait, so you're saying that God = A + B + C (which seems pretty polytheistic in nature) while simulataneously positing that A = D, B = D, and C = D but A =/= B =/= C ???
Carson Richardson
>platonic forms >having any relevance to existence Quit drinking the kool-aid, it doesn't make you look "kool".
Robert Collins
>making comic book superheroes out of trees n shit >not a caricature
Good one Christcuck. Now go back to your dissertation on how 1 is really 3
Brandon Carter
Just pointing out that "polytheism has no philosophical substance" is a stupid notion. Seeing as how the foundation of western philosophy was built with its influence.
Owen King
Nigga it's God, shit doesn't need logic to explain it. It just works. >parts It's a whole.
Gabriel Perez
That much we can agree on. Christcucks are mad delusional about being superior to polytheists.
Jace Wright
>It just works. It doesn't work with any measure of human reasoning. It's a square circle or a married bachelor, a contradiction.
This is why every mainstream church claims that it can only be understood through faith and is impossible to understand through reason.
Kevin Price
You need to redefine what the word "part" means, and what the word "whole" means to make this nonsense work.
So, go to where you belong.
Samuel White
>Why the fuck is monotheism so much more popular than polytheism? Simplicity. Let me give you a few examples:
1. Cosmogony, in which the universe has one origin, principle, beginning, make any and all other gods secondary by definition. Though (Neo-)Platonism, with forms and emanations are somewhat compelling in explaining further divine beings as a byproduct of the One's overabundance of power (read the Enneads for more).
2. Memorizing the names, in which you have an easier time memorizing "God" and few short prayers containing such name, as it's the only name you absolutely need to know in order to pray, rather than, say:
The indigitamenta were huge lists of lesser deities with minor, but specific functions. Why bother looking for Terminus's titles to address him, when you can get rid of the bureaucracy, and just ask "God" to protect your borders?
3. Theomachies. In polytheisms, gods fight one another. Whose side are you even supposed to take? And how can there ever be peace on earth when even in heaven there is murder? One God gets rid of that.
Joshua Kelly
>Nigga it's God, shit doesn't need logic to explain it. It just works.
Blake Gomez
>It doesn't work with any measure of human reasoning. Because we're humans, so we can't understand what it means. Shit man I gave you the facts and now you're chimping out over the fact that you can't understand it. >You need to redefine what the word "part" means, and what the word "whole" means to make this nonsense work. How about no.
Aaron Perez
You can claim that it's true all you want, just don't claim that it's understandable.
Jackson Robinson
>How about no. Off you go, retardo. And ask god to make a rock he can't lift while you're at it, if you think he doesn't have to obey logic.
Julian Perez
>You can claim that it's true all you want, just don't claim that it's understandable. But it is understandable, because I understand it.
Colton Reed
>Because we're humans, so we can't understand what it means
Zachary Torres
Hmm, polytheists in most cultures generally appealed to one patron god or goddess and respected others within the pantheon. You didn't usually see a "Priest of Ra, Set and Anubis", or a city state with "multiple ba'al, or a big temple to "Zeus, Aphrodite and Hermes". It was one at a time, while being aware of the rest and the position and function of each.
That might be the biggest misunderstanding on polytheistic beliefs. No, I'm not one, I just stayed at a Holiday Inn last night.
Carter Bailey
>Why the fuck is monotheism so much more popular than polytheism?
It's simple. They had control over the better, more expansionist civilizations on the planet. This came down to these monotheist religions seeing themselves as a force for universal proselytization before they became a force for civic order and justice, which led them to form political alliances with conquering tribes of Franks, Scandinavians, Slavs, Berbers, Arabs, and Turks.
Polytheist faiths were almost always just civic order philosophies by comparison, usually limited to an enlightened class or ethnicity.
Jaxon Ward
I understand to the best of my abilities, sorry for clarifying.
Jack Ramirez
Why does your friend have a quail egg on her head?
Dominic King
When you described your 'understanding' though it was a logical contradiction. If it doesn't obey the laws of logic how well can it actually be understood? How much 'understanding' do you have of a square circle? It seems to me, you have understanding of a contradiction up to the point that you realize it's a contradiction, and that it doesn't make any sense.
If you're saying you understand through faith, just admit that right off the bat instead of butchering logic with statements like "wholes that are wholes and not parts but make up a whole but are wholes themselves". If you were to set this up within symbolic logic, which this user did for you, it becomes apparent that this is, to put it generously, beyond human understanding.
Landon Green
>It seems to me, you have understanding of a contradiction up to the point that you realize it's a contradiction, and that it doesn't make any sense. What doesn't make sense, the fact that I defend the contradiction or the fact that the contradiction is still there? > If you're saying you understand through faith, just admit that right off the bat instead of butchering logic with statements like "wholes that are wholes and not parts but make up a whole but are wholes themselves" No, you want me to explain it I'll explain it, it should be led that it can be understood by faith but if you want the actual answer I'll give it to you.
With the contradiction still there the statement doesn't make any sense logically. I would say you can't really understand a contradiction since it doesn't adhere to any rules of logic. If I gave you a math problem where 1 + 1 = 1 you would probably say "I don't get it", or something similar, you CAN'T get it.
What understanding through faith means can be defined by the church, but you certainly can't understand it any other way.
Gabriel Ramirez
>or a big temple to "Zeus, Aphrodite and Hermes" The Capitoline Triad are Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, or in the earlier version Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus.
Their temple (singular) was on Capitoline Hill.
People need to stop getting their history of theology from Dungeons & Dragons role-playing books.
Tyler Moore
>What understanding through faith means can be defined by the church, but you certainly can't understand it any other way. And Church states what I literally just said.
Aaron Hall
It's because
1. Monotheistic religions tend to be far more "active" in their beliefs and in their roles as social institutions, which is obviously a very attractive trait for those in power seeking to spread their influence/control, and
2. Monotheism is a much more accessible and easier to grasp notion of religion than most polytheism is. If you were trying to convert someone and they asked you what your faith says about the creation of the world, they'd probably be far more likely to believe you if you said "there was one god who made everything" than if you said "well there was a god, who then gave birth to a son, and then he ate his son, but his son broke his own arm off and used that to make a sister.." etc. etc.
Aiden Reed
Fair enough then, the actual answer doesn't make sense.
Joshua Edwards
Not him, but i don't think they're talking about numbers here.
I.E
Han Solo = Harrison Ford Indiana Jones = Harrison ford John Book = Harrison Ford
Han solo =/= Indiana Jones =/= John Book
Joseph Lopez
It doesn't make sense from a numbers standpoint, look at
Brody Ortiz
>Han Solo = Harrison Ford You know this isn't actually true, right?
Jason Morgan
>Han Solo isn't played by Harrison Ford
Jace Jenkins
That's modalism, a heresy.
Face it, Christian trinitarianism is a weird one. The whole point of it is that it's not supposed to make sense, but the idea is is that God is above even human conceptions of *being.*
Please don't call Christfags polytheists. If their theology says it's monotheistic, then it's monotheistic. Honestly, why bother taking issue with a logical contradiction in the description of God when you don't even believe in God in the first place?
Ethan Cooper
Do you recognize a difference between the words "played by" and "is"?
Asher Walker
>The whole point of it is that it's not supposed to make sense, but the idea is is that God is above even human conceptions of *being.* Bingo.
Carter Carter
>Thinks the exception to the rule is grounds for gotcha >Thinks Romans did anything but fuck up everyone else's good ideas.
Actually, I think the Roman empire was a little like World of Warcraft, without the pokemon and pandas, but it did have the Arenas, Farmville and Garrisons.
Actually, I'm kidding. It was more like Monopoly.
Carter Gonzalez
That's Modalism though, implying that the father, son, and holy spirit are just suits that god wears.
Christopher Cruz
They aren't though. Don't think of it as numbers or people.
Logan Roberts
>face it
I'm not defending anything, i'm not a christian. Just shed a different perspective on it.
Jeremiah Brooks
Sorry, I meant to add "anons" after that. I wasn't talking to you specifically, more just the other guys in this thread who are trying to apply logic to a subject that explicitly rejects logical categorization.
Jack James
You can't really think of it as anything senpai, it doesn't make sense. That's the whole point.
Christian Reyes
>it doesn't make sense. It make sense in a sense if you explain it and never dwell on it.
Anthony Fisher
You mean accept it without thinking about it, i.e. faith.
tip tip i don't give a shit
Landon Rogers
>tip tip i don't give a shit You should, being an atheist is bad.
Luke Rodriguez
Patriarchy
Hunter Walker
It would make no sense for an atheist to sacrifice themselves for atheism, an atheist believes that they cease to exist after death. Why would they rob themselves of the opportunity to continue experiencing and enjoying things just so they could feel self-righteous for a few moments? It'd be the ultimate cuck move desu.
The only reason I can think of that an atheist might sacrifice himself for atheism is if he really cares about the well-being of future generations and thinks he can help ensure it by making sure they know the truth and do not have their actions restricted by arbitrary religious rules.
Benjamin Sanders
>It just works.
Michael Parker
>Todd Howard >not King Crimson Come on.
Christian Cruz
Name one relevant non-Abrahamic monotheistic religion
Dylan Garcia
Zoroastrianism.
James Mitchell
Because monotheism, by nature, is universal. If there is one and only one God, then said God must be the supernatural ruler and creator of everything. Thus, said form of worship is accessible to just about anyone, because the monotheists will likely have a view that everyone should acknowledge this deity.
Polytheists, on the other hand ,while not necessarily being so, often have a "these are the gods of people X, and those are the gods of people Y" and thus rise and fall with ethnic groups, and can't easily survive if something destroys the ethnic base of worship.
Cameron Johnson
Heavily influenced by Judaism
William Evans
More like the other way around, since Zoroastrianism has been around for several centuries longer than Judaism has