1.5 Ultimate reality Flashcards
3 characteristics of God
1) Omnipotence (all powerful)
2) Omnisciences (all knowing)
3) Omnibenevolence (all loving)
2 reasons for monotheism
1) Unity. The centralised nature of monotheism creates unity among people of that religion. The common ground allows the followers to become one in that religion. “you are all one in Jesus Christ”
2) Clarity. The centralised nature of monotheism means there is often one central text to follow which makes it easy for monotheists to understand the meaning and ways of that religion.
2 reasons for polytheism
1) Monotheism doesn’t actually react unity and peace, instead conflict. When those religions interact, they all believe that their one God is the only one God and cannot see the possibility of the other religions God. This creates conflict.
2) Monotheism requires subservience and devotion to one being making them the possession of that being. Believing in polytheism gives you freedom and are not the ‘property’ of one being.
“There is only one God.” FOR
1) God is perfect and beholds the 3 perfections, including omnipotence. This means that there can only ever be one God because an omnipotent God would not be able to destroy another omnipotent God and therefore wouldn’t be able to do something, meaning they’re not omnipotent. We know God is omnipotent so there can only be one God.
2) Since we cannot logically verify whether there is one or more God’s we should go with what is better for society. Monotheism bring unity through common ground of believing in the one God and is therefore better for society
“There is only one God.” AGAINST
1) Logical positivists would say that it is meaningless statement because we cannot empirically prove if there is one God. This makes it meaningless to say there is only one God and is a topic that shouldn’t be discussed.
Obvious reply of doesn’t pass its own test
2) It doesn’t actually bring about unity. There is arguments over which one God is correct and which one God is the one God between religions (protestant vs Catholic) and means that polytheism
1) It doesn’t actually bring about unity. There is arguments over which one God is correct and which one God is the one God between religions (protestant vs Catholic) and means that polytheism
