How many gods do Christians beleive in?

[Dark Light]

Okay, if you were expecting another tired discussion on the veneration of saints, you're wrong. As I have mentioned on a couple of other threads 'god' is pretty loosely defined, and varies from religion to religion, and time period to time period, but a few things are common to the most popular gods in modern western civilization; Supernatural powers, eternal, and intervenes in human affairs for some damn reason. All of those attributes belong to the Christian God, as well as satan/the devil. Satan's power seems to be able to at least be near that of God, he has challenged him many times, he can shape-shift, live forever, had many followers in heaven, rules his own realm, and all sorts of other godly powers. He even made God feel as if he needed to prove himself multiple times. Using all the information I wouldn't consider Christianity a true monotheistic religion (they worship one god but believe in two). Of course I am not the first to think this way, it was an issue that really bothered Augustus (Octavian), he flip-flopped on the issue back and forth his whole life. Am I wrong here Christians and former Christians input are especially welcome.

[PoolBoyG]

The mainstream beliefs range from one to three gods...

One God belief. Just "God".
Two God belief. "God", and Jesus.
Three God belief. "God", Jesus, Holy Ghost.

[Dark Light]

(15-10-2012 01:22 AM)poolboyg88 Wrote:  The mainstream beliefs range from one to three gods...

One God belief. Just "God".
Two God belief. "God", and Jesus.
Three God belief. "God", Jesus, Holy Ghost.

It was always my understanding that mainstream Christians believed that God/Jesus/Holy Ghost was the same entity while those that rejected that notion only rejected the Holy Ghost, and thought of Jesus as a prophet leaving God, and possibly Satan.

[Mr Woof]

(15-10-2012 02:04 AM)Dark Light Wrote:  

(15-10-2012 01:22 AM)poolboyg88 Wrote:  The mainstream beliefs range from one to three gods...

One God belief. Just "God".
Two God belief. "God", and Jesus.
Three God belief. "God", Jesus, Holy Ghost.

It was always my understanding that mainstream Christians believed that God/Jesus/Holy Ghost was the same entity while those that rejected that notion only rejected the Holy Ghost, and thought of Jesus as a prophet leaving God, and possibly Satan.

Many atheists seem to think that the Christian god is the only one observed, trinity or no trinity. Christianity is one of the newer religions, recently usurped by Islam.

[Bucky Ball]

How many gods do Christians believe in?

The answer to that is ;
How many Christians are there ?

[earmuffs]

Too many.

[Impulse]

The gist of the OP doesn't seem to be about 3 Gods (each person in the trinity) vs. 1 God (the entire trinity as 1), but about 1 God (trinity as 1) vs. at least 2 Gods (trinity and devil). I think it's a valid question and it's answer depends on how you define "god".

If a god is supposed to be omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent, then Satan cannot be a god. For one, he is not omnibenevolent. Secondly, he is not omnipotent since "God" is apparently able to defeat him. Therefore, I would argue that there is only one god by that definition.

However, if you define a god more like the gods of Greek mythology, then Satan could be considered a god. By that definition, a god does not have to be perfect. It would just have to have supernatural abilities of some sort which Satan, as defined by Christianity, obviously does.

Since the Christian definition of "god" is really the first one though, then Christians would say they only believe in 1 god.

[Vosur]

(15-10-2012 09:29 AM)Impulse Wrote:  The gist of the OP doesn't seem to be about 3 Gods (each person in the trinity) vs. 1 God (the entire trinity as 1), but about 1 God (trinity as 1) vs. at least 2 Gods (trinity and devil). I think it's a valid question and it's answer depends on how you define "god".

If a god is supposed to be omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent, then Satan cannot be a god. For one, he is not omnibenevolent. Secondly, he is not omnipotent since "God" is apparently able to defeat him. Therefore, I would argue that there is only one god by that definition.

However, if you define a god more like the gods of Greek mythology, then Satan could be considered a god. By that definition, a god does not have to be perfect. It would just have to have supernatural abilities of some sort which Satan, as defined by Christianity, obviously does.

Since the Christian definition of "god" is really the first one though, then Christians would say they only believe in 1 god.

Satan is a fallen angel in Christianity.

[Impulse]

(15-10-2012 09:37 AM)Vosur Wrote:  

(15-10-2012 09:29 AM)Impulse Wrote:  The gist of the OP doesn't seem to be about 3 Gods (each person in the trinity) vs. 1 God (the entire trinity as 1), but about 1 God (trinity as 1) vs. at least 2 Gods (trinity and devil). I think it's a valid question and it's answer depends on how you define "god".

If a god is supposed to be omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent, then Satan cannot be a god. For one, he is not omnibenevolent. Secondly, he is not omnipotent since "God" is apparently able to defeat him. Therefore, I would argue that there is only one god by that definition.

However, if you define a god more like the gods of Greek mythology, then Satan could be considered a god. By that definition, a god does not have to be perfect. It would just have to have supernatural abilities of some sort which Satan, as defined by Christianity, obviously does.

Since the Christian definition of "god" is really the first one though, then Christians would say they only believe in 1 god.

Satan is a fallen angel in Christianity.

Yes I know. What did I say to make you think otherwise?

[Vosur]

(15-10-2012 09:45 AM)Impulse Wrote:  

(15-10-2012 09:37 AM)Vosur Wrote:  Satan is a fallen angel in Christianity.

Yes I know. What did I say to make you think otherwise?

Your speculations about Satan being a god if you define the term "god" in a certain way.