Actually, if you read what i wrote in context of the tangent, you will see that my logic is not flawed.
I said if you are going to believe SIMPLY TO BE ON THE SAFE SIDE...
In the spirit of recent adoption of a few seconds of clarity and humility I will do so in return. You might have a point but will state it again and let you decide. How can I actually believe in a God that claims there are no other God's and others as well. If I believe in others there is logical way to retain belief in the one that claims to be exclusive. If I believe in all then the exclusive one is no longer exclusive and is therefore not that God any longer. Another example would be that a certain God claimed that he was 100% made of stone and that there are no other God that is made of anything but 100% stone. If I believe in a God made of wood how is it logically possible to also believe in one that says that any God must be made of 100% stone. It logically is impossible for two contradictory claims to absolute truth to both be correct. It foolows that it is logically impossible therefore to believe in both claims as they are specifically stated.
Really?
Please be so kind as to present the verse(s) that state you are not allowed to believe any other god exists.
Hells bells, your ten commandments even disagree with you:
Thou shalt have no other gods BEFORE ME.
Ok let's take a closer look at this verse. The English words "before me" are translated from the original Hebrew word:
paniym
It Means:
f) as adv of loc/temp
1) before and behind, toward, in front of, forward, formerly, from beforetime, before
g) with prep
1) in front of, before, to the front of, in the presence of, in the face of, at the face or front of, from the presence of, from before, from before the face of
As can be seen the Hebrew is a lot more comprehensive in it's restrictions than the English. It basically means do not have another any other God where he should be. His role can be occupied by no other.
Also the English word God is from the Hebrew:
'elohiym
It means:
1) (plural)
a) rulers, judges
b) divine ones
c) angels
d) gods
2) (plural intensive - singular meaning)
a) god, goddess
b) godlike one
c) works or special possessions of God
d) the (true) God
e) God
Also very comprehensive. So This verse actual says do not put a ruler, authority, God, Godlike being, Godlike attributes, his servants, angles (Basically anything) in any role he is to occupy alone. However non believers are never satasfied with anything so let me add on to this:
- "Yahweh, He is God; there is no other besides Him." Deuteronomy 4:35
- "See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me" Deuteronomy 32:39
- "Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me." Isaiah 43:10
- "Surely, God is with you, and there is none else, No other God." Isaiah 45:14
- "I am Yahweh, and there is none else." Isaiah 45:18
That is five you can dismiss and here is a link to an additional 39 you can ignore.
Passages that say there is only one God
Yet the only thing you have to go on as to which one (if any) is true is nothing more than what you want to believe...
What a bunch of garbage. I do not mind debates with Agnostics or atheists but would prefer changing ones. I would actually prefer several other kinds or God's or religions. I wish salvation were universal as in some religions. I chose the Biblical God because there is far and away more evidence for him and the Bible than any other by light years. There are many things in the Bible that I accept but like Jefferson would cut out if they would actually go away when I did it. If your statement had any merit instead of a simple punt then we would all believe in Santa Clause and and a religion where each of us was God. In fact Mormons do believe in a form of that. Why would anyone make up the concept of Hell and say they deserved to go there and emberassing explain in details the most horrible actions they commited if they were inventing a story up as wish fulllfilmet. Peter allowed it to be written that he denied Christ three times. Paul said of sinners he was chief. The Bible bears every single thing looked for experts in evidence, witness testimony, and historical documents that indicate reliability.
Then you are not looking at Pascals Wager for what it really is, a safety net.
Yes I am and that is why I reject it as stated. A safety net does not make logically impossible and contradictory claims, possible to all be believed and at the same time and still retain the details in the claims. It is like a round square, or an honest politician. Logical impossabilities.
please be so kind as to explain how someone cannot believe that all the proposed gods exist.
Wait a minute let me restate something. It is impossible to believe in all of them and what they claim to reveal about themselves. I guess it might be possible to believe in them and consider them all liers. Yet belief in a lying God would not meet the intent of Pascal's wager. There is no known potential gain in believing in a liar.
People believe in contradicting things all the time.
Take the Trinity for example.
It is impossible to believe two contradictory claims as they are can even possibly be true. It is however possible to say you do. Actualluy believing in something is far more meningful than simply claiming to. For example is it possible for you to actually believe that 2 + 2 =4 and at the same time actually believe 2 + 2 = excomunication + pizza x 3 unicycles. By the way the Trinity is not contradictory it is just dang hard to explain. There is no contradiction of three persons who comprise one being. There are coutless examples of three individuals comprising a single whole. I did not say hoever that I believe it is true. I do not know and what more I do not think it matters. I need to do the same thing to be saved regardless.