A
acamon
Guest
Hiya,
I was hoping you folks might be able to help me. I was having a debate with an atheist friend and he brought up the ‘I only believe in one less god than you’ argument, i.e. that I as a Christian believe that the Hindi deities are inventions, that Muhammad’s revelation from the angel was a hallucination or fabrication, that the Norse gods were primitive representations of natural forces, etc. But that God really inspired the old & new testaments, that Jesus really did rise from the dead, etc.
I believe these things because I feel I have personal experience of God through prayer and the sacraments and I believe that Jesus rose from the dead because it is attested by the Gospel writers and the Church and so on, but I would imagine that many Hindu’s feel their prayers to Ganesh have been answered and Muslim believe that Muhammad’s encounter with Gabriel is a historical fact with at least as much evidence as Jesus’ resurrection.
I’m not looking for (nor do I believe that there would be) some kind of knockdown argument against this line of criticism. But I am interested in what Catholic theologians and writers have thought about the issue of other religions. Back when Christendom was in ascendancy and steadily replaced the pagan religions of Europe and the colonies it was easy to see other religions as primitive attempts to understand reality by people who did not have the chosen people’s advantage of direct revelation. But while I hope one day that the whole world will accept Jesus and the truth of his Church it doesn’t seem to be God’s plan for this to happen quickly.
So we have a world where some religions that people once lived and died for and took extremely seriously are long relegated to a source of myth and to feature in Marvel comics or Harryhausen movies. While others fill the spiritual lives of over half the world’s population, despite lacking any real basis in fact and involving gods that don’t exist.
So, I guess I’m looking for books, articles or answers that attempt to answer some of these questions:
How the Church, or Christians in general should view other religions?
What is it sets Christianity apart from other faiths? Is it merely that it is, in fact, true (out of all of those religions someone’s gotta get it right?) Or is there some significant difference in the style of our religious texts, the evidence for our founders, the fruits of our church, etc. that makes them foolish for sincerely believing what they do?
When members of other faiths pray do they simply imagine that their prayers are answered (wishful thinking/confirmation bias/etc)? Or does God answer their prayers (afterall he loves all of us, and doesn’t answer ours because we are ‘deserving’ but freely)?
Similarly, when non-Christians have spiritual experiences (visions, healings, or simply the feeling of a divine presence) are these imagined? From God? The work of demons?
This is quite a long post, so thanks for reading and apologies if I’m being stupid or missing something obvious. I’ve been thinking and praying about it since my debate and not really getting anywhere. So I’m hoping some of our bright fellows have thought and written on this. All the articles I’ve found on Christian v. atheist apologetics seem to focus on showing that there must be ‘a’ God (watchmaker, first cause, etc) or on debunking objections to Christianity (the bible isn’t contradictory, there is evidence for a historical Jesus, etc) so I hope you can help.
Thanks again,
A.
I was hoping you folks might be able to help me. I was having a debate with an atheist friend and he brought up the ‘I only believe in one less god than you’ argument, i.e. that I as a Christian believe that the Hindi deities are inventions, that Muhammad’s revelation from the angel was a hallucination or fabrication, that the Norse gods were primitive representations of natural forces, etc. But that God really inspired the old & new testaments, that Jesus really did rise from the dead, etc.
I believe these things because I feel I have personal experience of God through prayer and the sacraments and I believe that Jesus rose from the dead because it is attested by the Gospel writers and the Church and so on, but I would imagine that many Hindu’s feel their prayers to Ganesh have been answered and Muslim believe that Muhammad’s encounter with Gabriel is a historical fact with at least as much evidence as Jesus’ resurrection.
I’m not looking for (nor do I believe that there would be) some kind of knockdown argument against this line of criticism. But I am interested in what Catholic theologians and writers have thought about the issue of other religions. Back when Christendom was in ascendancy and steadily replaced the pagan religions of Europe and the colonies it was easy to see other religions as primitive attempts to understand reality by people who did not have the chosen people’s advantage of direct revelation. But while I hope one day that the whole world will accept Jesus and the truth of his Church it doesn’t seem to be God’s plan for this to happen quickly.
So we have a world where some religions that people once lived and died for and took extremely seriously are long relegated to a source of myth and to feature in Marvel comics or Harryhausen movies. While others fill the spiritual lives of over half the world’s population, despite lacking any real basis in fact and involving gods that don’t exist.
So, I guess I’m looking for books, articles or answers that attempt to answer some of these questions:
How the Church, or Christians in general should view other religions?
What is it sets Christianity apart from other faiths? Is it merely that it is, in fact, true (out of all of those religions someone’s gotta get it right?) Or is there some significant difference in the style of our religious texts, the evidence for our founders, the fruits of our church, etc. that makes them foolish for sincerely believing what they do?
When members of other faiths pray do they simply imagine that their prayers are answered (wishful thinking/confirmation bias/etc)? Or does God answer their prayers (afterall he loves all of us, and doesn’t answer ours because we are ‘deserving’ but freely)?
Similarly, when non-Christians have spiritual experiences (visions, healings, or simply the feeling of a divine presence) are these imagined? From God? The work of demons?
This is quite a long post, so thanks for reading and apologies if I’m being stupid or missing something obvious. I’ve been thinking and praying about it since my debate and not really getting anywhere. So I’m hoping some of our bright fellows have thought and written on this. All the articles I’ve found on Christian v. atheist apologetics seem to focus on showing that there must be ‘a’ God (watchmaker, first cause, etc) or on debunking objections to Christianity (the bible isn’t contradictory, there is evidence for a historical Jesus, etc) so I hope you can help.
Thanks again,
A.
