Hi
This might seem condescending and narrow-minded to people of other faiths, for which my apologies in advance...
But in my opinion polytheism failed for one very simple reason: it was man made and thus inevitably flawed. The same reason why all other religions will inevitably fail, except for Islam since it isn't man-made.

Oh and also what Aamirsaab said, omnipotence only works if it's exclusive. If two Gods are omnipotent one could limit the other, bringing a flaw in it's omnipotence.

I do respect your concern. That very issue led Apollinarious in the 4th century to suggest that Jesus wasn't ever truly human, that he only seemed to be human. Of course, the Church has always held that Apollinarious and the rest of the Docetist were in error. The Docetists for their part, argued that the idea of God taking on human flesh as an innovation of human minds.

But, according to scriptures, this is not something that humans created. This is something that God himself chose to do. It is he who took on this nature. It isn't us depicting God as human; it is God inserting himself into humanity.

Chacha, SixTen, Barney--

I appreciate the respectful way you have each asked your questions. I know that none of you agree with me, but the manner in which you have carried out this discussion is entirely agreeable. I suspect that each of my answers has probably brought more questions/comments to your mind. I welcome them, however I need to take my leave to go celebrate my birthday with my wife. I may not be able to return to it until Monday. I share that because I don't want you to think that I have just refused to answer any more quesitons. I'll check back in again later if I can and see if the discussion is still on such positive track. But, even if it has gone awry and I then elect to opt out, I want you to know I appreciated the way in which everyone has conducted themselves in this thread, and your last three questions especially. THANKS.

i appreciate your answers and patience

tbh i never really post in this section, because i find it hard talkin about comparitive religion over the net, like you dont know how your questions or words will be taken and whether the person will get offended, so

and the Prophet (saw) whenever he preached he was so gentle, like he never forced anyone, and thats why it says in surah al imraan, " its the mercy of Allah, you deal nicely/gently with them, if you were harsh or severe with them they would have not listened and turned away"

so softness is the way, but obviosly over the net, you dont know how your words are percieved and if someone is rude you gotta respond or either ignore them, anywhoo

have a nice time away graceeee when your back i got some follow up questions lol

Hey Grace.
I'm approaching
the anthropromorphic thing from the position that Man invented God. That the Dolphin's beleive their God would have flippers and a bottle nose etc.

I'll answer the original Q directly from the Quran
[Pickthal 23:91] Allah hath not chosen any son, nor is there any god along with Him; else would each god have assuredly championed that which he created, and some of them would assuredly have overcome others. Glorified be Allah above all that they allege.


Indeed.. each God should come champion what he has created and may the most powerful of them win? A ship of this magnitude can't be steered by more than one captain.. and that is really all there is to it!


cheers

Talk about anthropomorphism!!

Case closed.

???
analogies are used to make it easier for others!

cheers

Greetings,

This is a very interesting discussion, people.

In a strange way, I almost think Skye and the bit of the Qur'an she quotes have put their finger on it: if polytheism were true, then it's possible one of the gods could have become all-powerful and then monotheism would prevail.


How do believers know that this has not in fact happened?


I obviously come from the same perspective as barney, that all gods are man-made. I think one big reason that monotheism seems to be more popular than polytheism is that it's just simpler for people to understand. After all, simpler explanations are usually more immediately convincing than complex ones.

Peace

a 'simple' explanation satisfies the law of parsimony.. and is in fact the most logical one.
Atheism would be great if it offered a logical answer to everything in existence, while also preserving that same law, better known to you as 'Ockham's Razor'-- atheism like polytheism gives bog-standard philosophy without any concrete scientific support to its tenets...

When it comes down to it, I say we're all pretty evenly matched, but we go in different directions!


cheers

In the case of the captain of the ship, true enough. The important bit is your quote from the Qur'an;

Allah hath not chosen any son, nor is there any god along with Him; else would each god have assuredly championed that which he created, and some of them would assuredly have overcome others

Does that verse not say, or at least imply, that it is in the nature of gods (any more than the one being purely hypothetical, of course) to 'champion' their creations and attempt to 'overcome' others? Both of those are human concepts, and might apply to human rulers, but why a god would need or might want to do either is unclear - at least to me. Either God/gods actually have those characteristics or they are being anthropomorphically assigned to Him/them. If the scenario is an analogy (?) then what is it an analogy of?

This thread is full of analogies and big words. I fail to see what can be proven/dis proven in this way.

We will never see eye to eye on this so why waste your breath? Be happy with what you know for indeed in time you will know the truth.

'might or need to do either' meaning what? I don't understand...
Your Q is using a general principle and applying it where it doesn't fit; or supported by fact and by fact here I mean from the Quran since that is what I assume you originally used to speak of 'wanting to do either'.

Lastly I don't know of any Gods who have called dibs on anything in creation, and I don't know of a battle between the Gods save in fairy tales.

Given you are most likely to wonder why Islam is less of a fairy tale than others, and rather than draw this out, where I haven't the time to dedicate to a long drawn out theological debate, I'll sum it down to a general rule used in psychiatry ..how do you distinguish one delusion from another from truth, when it all seems subjective,it is highly contingent on content...

If someone is having an actual organic disease manifesting in the form of a headache and I have no true scientific way to measure it, I can look at concomitant symptoms, sequelae, differentials and possibilities and use best judgment.. if someone says, they are seeing purple, green dots every time they drink cake juice, while maintaining they are lucid, chances are what they are experiencing is improbable as an actual palpable organic disease while there is still a list of differentials, it is unlikely that the symptoms they are experiencing are anything but an actual erroneous psychotic belief...

that is another analogy by the way, just to break things down to a low common denominator!

cheers

Greetings,
Atheism has only one tenet.

Peace