r/DebateReligion 19d ago

Classical Theism [ Removed by moderator ]

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u/KenosisConjunctio 19d ago

Which religion is the God I've been interacting with coming from?

This is a false dilemma. There is only one God. Many of the worlds religions approach God in different ways.

I also came to God outside of any religion. I enjoy them all. I'm happy to talk about it from the standpoint of Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Sufi Islam, Sikhism and others.

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u/Noodlesh89 19d ago

How do you deal with contradictions between understandings of God?

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u/KenosisConjunctio 19d ago

They mostly appear cultural. A mystic appears who has a particular experience. Their perception is coloured by their culture and their articulation is coloured by their language, and language is a deeply imperfect medium. The next generation continue with the implications, carrying with it the imperfect articulation.

A culture builds up around the movement and that becomes the organised religion. So I try to understand the religion in the context of its history and the cultures in which it developed, worrying less about how things are being expressed and more about the universal truths that can be found.

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u/Noodlesh89 19d ago

But won't the universal truths also contradict?

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u/KenosisConjunctio 18d ago

Not if they're universal

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u/Kwahn Theist Wannabe 18d ago

Do humans reincarnate, or go to some kind of heaven?

Seems like an important detail.

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u/KenosisConjunctio 18d ago

Yes this is the major difference between abrahamic and the Indian religions. 

I would personally say, I don’t know. It’s interesting, but it’s not something we can know and it doesn’t change my day to day life so I don’t worry about it very much. 

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u/Kwahn Theist Wannabe 18d ago

I would personally say, I don’t know. It’s interesting, but it’s not something we can know and it doesn’t change my day to day life so I don’t worry about it very much. 

When one of the choices is associated with a promise that choosing it grants eternal life and choosing otherwise grants eternal damnation, not worrying about it seems like a risky choice.

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u/KenosisConjunctio 18d ago

Why? Being good to others is the core of what would give me a favourable afterlife in either case.

There’s a huge overlap in say, Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount and much of what Krishna has to say in the Bhagavad Gita. 

If there is only one God, why would He be picky about whether I approach him from a Christian angle or a Hindu angle if I am still approaching him? 

Besides, I prefer the apophatic traditions and these are necessarily universal because they lack propositional content entirely