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From ancient Greece to modern America, from short essays to long arguments, from individual lives to history and philosophy, in words reasoned quietly or
shouted loudly,
The Atheist God Would Read (or watch or listen) . . . offers a wide range of books for rational people in an often irrational world.
New titles added weekly. Plus DVDs, MP3s and more.
Added February 2010: Fiction: an eclectic selection of
novels and short stories from an atheist perspective. Come browse.
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If there are many gods, they are only aspects of a single God. This deity may be all-powerful but it is not certain that he determines the fate of our soul.
As we saw in Section Three, religious belief started with polytheism - the
idea that there are many gods - and only moved towards monotheism
- the idea that there is only one god - about two thousand years ago.
Section Five reminded us that echoes of
polytheism remain today in Christianity, particularly Roman Catholicism
with its worship of the Virgin and the saints.
What about Hinduism, the worldwide religion that arose
in India over four thousand years ago? With a pantheon of dozens, hundreds, thousands - some say millions - of gods, Hinduism appears to be pure polytheism, yet at the core of Hindu belief is the idea that there is only one god, Brahman, a trinity composed of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer. (Some Hindu sects believe that Brahman has five personalities - Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Surya and Ganesha.)
Brahman himself is transcendent, eternal, self-existent and unknowable
(Section One.)
His component personalities share the first three qualities but are to some extent knowable - Vishnu is dark-blue and his four arms hold a lotus, mace, conch and wheel; Shiva (pictured above with his wife Parvati and child Ganesha) is often represented as meditating or dancing on the demon of ignorance.
Like Catholic and Orthodox saints, the lesser Indian gods represent specific aspects of human life. Durga, the Divine Mother, is associated with health, education and
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Chapter One: Defining God
Does God exist? Before we try to answer that question we
need to have a clear idea of who or what God is. How do we
describe God? What versions of God are on offer?
1.1: God, faith and religion
Do they need each other?
1.2: What is God?
God comes in several styles and models
1.3: Perception and reality
Is what we see what we get?
1.4: The evolving God
From prehistory to today
1.5: El, Yahweh et al
The Old Testament family of gods
1.6: Three's company
The Christian Trinity
1.7: Allah
Over to Islam
1.8: Majors and minors
Polytheism
1.9: The unknowable God
Is he there?
1.10: Your god or mine?
Made in our image
1.11: Summary
Finished this chapter? Move on to
Chapter Two
Problems with God
The real God – if such a thing exists – may be very different
from the god portrayed by Jewish, Christian or Muslim
scripture.
But whichever picture of God we look at - from the
Bible and Koran to the images presented by other
faiths and believers - we are confronted by problems.
When examined closely, God's nature is so contradictory
that it is unlikely, if not impossible, for him to exist.
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wealth; she protects humanity by destroying evil emotions such as jealousy and hatred.
Ganesha, the elephant-headed god, symbolises knowledge and thought. Kali is the devourer of time and destroyer of life. Krishna embodies joy, freedom and love. And so on.
Hinduism is the best known and most widely practised polytheistic faith, but it is not the only one. African religions which traveled with the slaves to the Caribbean and South America, partly merged with Christianity and survive in modern form as Vodou (Haiti - one god, but 21 spirits deserving of worship) and
Candomblé (Brazil - one supreme god and many lesser gods).
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women in traditional Candomblé costume
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Small communities, such as Amazon tribes that have not been absorbed into modern life maintain their religious practices, usually worshiping gods in the form of nature spirits (paganism). And some religions have been revived, such as
ancient Greek polytheism
and Ásatrú, which worships the old Norse gods.
The names are different, but can the gods in these religions - either the supreme god or his lesser manifestations - be considered identical in essence with the Jewish-Christian-Muslim version? In some ways, yes: the highest gods are like Brahman, transcendent and eternal. But there are two major differences - the roles of creator and judge.
Not every religion believes that its highest god created the universe. The universe may always have existed, or the god and the universe are one, or the whole concept of god and creation are murky and beyond human comprehension.
And unlike the J-C-M deity, not every god sits in judgement on human souls. In Hinduism the universal law, karma, is independent of Brahman and determines the fate of our souls. It is our destiny to be reborn into this world again and again, our status in each incarnation being determined by our actions in previous lives. When our lives achieve purity we will reach the ultimate destination of the Hindu soul: Nirvana, which is not eternal life with god but dissolution - the end of our existence.
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Buddhism evolved from Hinduism and shares many of its concepts. One key difference is that in Buddhism the gods do not exist or are
irrelevant; they are merely higher beings on the same path as humans, subject to the same trials and tribulations. People are responsible for their own fate and the gods are unable to or uninterested in helping them.
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Polytheism suggests that if there are many gods, they are only aspects of a single God.
This deity may be all-powerful but it is not certain that he determines the fate of our soul.
Next:
Chapter One: Section 9
The unknowable God
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If God existed, he would...
admire the beauty of a universe that he did not create
recognize that eternity is meaningless
deny both heaven and hell
disown all men and women who speak in his name
denounce the harm caused by religious "morality"
help the human race to thrive without him
If God existed, he would be an atheist.
What is the difference between science and faith?
science is certain of nothing and requires proof of everything
faith is certain of everything and requires proof of nothing
Which do you trust?
"I know there is no God"
or
"I believe there is no God"
???
Check the answer
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