Quote:
|
Originally Posted by filtherton
So just to be clear, this has nothing to do with how all denominations are pretty much the same?
|
It does, in fact. We like to pretend that "it's the literal body and blood of christ" vs. "it's the figurative body and blood of christ" is a huge gaping crevasse, but it really isn't. Very few people actually believe that it's the literal body and blood of christ, even though that's their denomination's official stance on the issue. The only real key difference is the faith to works ratio for salvation. Some say it's just faith, some say it's faith and works. Even in that, though, the "strictly faith" types, like the LCMS, still do preach works whether they want to admit it or not.
So yes, even though they'd like to think differently, most Christianity is the same. Judaism? You'll have to ask Levite. Islam? It's the word of Allah that it's a sin for there to be denominations. Yes, there's Shiite and Sunni, but the difference of opinion is simply over the teaching lineage from Muhammad. So really, Islam is pretty much just one big party too.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by filtherton
We all know what it means according to the dictionary. What the selective quotation of holy books won't necessarily tell you is what that power means in the context of how it is used. You don't necessarily get enough information.
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Revelation 19:6
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
|
All power isn't vague at all. It's all power.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by filtherton
Epicurus defines malevolence as having power to prevent evil and doing not doing so. Even if this definition of malevolence wasn't ridiculously broad and simplistic, it's still a problematic statement in that it presumes an understanding of the relationship a completely hypothetical being has (god) with a completely subjective idea (evil; subjective as far as we experience it).
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Dictionary
Malevolent: having, showing, or arising from intense often vicious ill will, spite, or hatred.
|
That sounds about right. Those who have the power to stop evil but who do not stop evil clearly are either apathetic or spiteful.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by filtherton
Even then, it isn't necessarily as interesting as a critique of theism as it is as an appeal for a logically consistent definition of god. It presumes that god is defined in a certain way, and then seeks to show that this definition is inconsistent. The thing of it is that it is completely irrelevant when brought up in the context of deities who aren't defined in precisely the same way.
|
But, as I demonstrated above, a vast majority of religious people believe their deity to be omnipotent. There's no inconsistency there.