Is polytheism dead?

Hi Lecanis, A year-old discussion but something that I found interesting enough. I think people are suddenly turning monotheist with a vengeance because of the total world scenario. More and more people are fighting with each other on religion and its supremacy but at the same time, even the religions leaders are understanding that such mindless confrontation will ultimately lead to WWIII and destruction of all our children. So if there are no people, who will follow religion??? It is these leaders who are gradually moulding people into thinking that maybe your religion is the best, but other religions speak and teach the same…basically they are trying to forge a human bondage which religion takes away. Also many people are becoming more aware these days, they are themselves reading the religions books of other religions, trying to connect, trying to come out of the clutches of religious ‘scholars’, trying to understand each other better. And the more they communicate, the better they bond, they better they understand the similarities of all religions and the miniscule nature of human existence in comparison to this universe.

My beliefs sprang from a monotheistic religion which appeared to think that all other gods were false. This is the way Christianity was taught to me as a child. For a long time all religion was, to me, a set of things one believed IN, some of them rather puzzling and unbelievable. I explored other religions and mythologies and began to realise that they had some elements of truth and that the set of beliefs I had learned seemed, if anything, to be the more narrow-minded ones. Then, I can only suppose it was at a time when I was ready for it, I called out into the darkness "Is there anyone there?" (It was more complicated than that but that was the gist of it.) Not immediately but after a few minutes, I was answered and in the following month my 'belief in' became knowledge. It was, of course, a very personal experience and I have no way of proving that it was not simply a mental trick. However, for what it's worth, I can say with certainty that those who truly seek the truth (and are not merely satisfied with an image of it) will perceive it in many different ways because the human mind is not capable at the moment of understanding it completely. It is a natural tendency of the human mind to make images that represent our experience in order to communicate that experience to others. We draw pictures of houses, trees, the sun as representations; we tell stories that are parables, illustrations; we love metaphors and similes. It is also the way that we handle our experience of the communication we have with our Creator. You may have heard the story of the six blind men when they first encountered an elephant. It is worth reading if you don't know it. Take some time out to do so: http://www.jainworld.com/education/juniors/junles19.htm

If we look at many religions, it seems easy to understand that view, for example, the Muslim god has 99 facets (aka adjectives/names), the Christian god has 3 different entities, each taking care of a part of faith, so its not far fetched that over time, other religions with took their differenct aspects of the same god and turned each into a deity.

Even though I personally follow a monotheistic set of beliefs, I acknowledge that it's very possible that there are other gods out there. I'm more inclined to believe there are other gods - even the Bible says there are other gods, just not to worship them. I can't claim to know, and I don't think any human can truly claim to know, the mysteries of religion. I have a few friends who follow polytheistic paths - one's a follower of Shinto and one's Asatru. It's an interesting thing to think about, though.

Let mee answer this from an intellectual view from the Bible. Genisis 1:26 (God said "Let US make man in OUR image and after OUR likness...") The actual meaning of Us and Our would be plural in nature thus there was a conversation going on among more than just one, thus POLYTHEISM. The aspect of there being only one God is a falicy that has been taught through the generations and as such people felt fine in this belief (ignorance is bliss so why mess with a blissful state?!?). So they blindly believe what they are told (sheep mantality) since it made them happy and they did not desire to seek out the truth on their own. The true God is a multiple and thus a Godhead, the Christians believe this as the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). This in essence would be POLYTHEISM but they say that all three are ONE. If all three individual beings are truely one being them God must be suffering from schizophrenia since God was actually talking to himself. But if as I believe there are many Gods then that would be the conversation of them. Trust mee on this you do not want to delve into my beliefs so I will leave it at this. Thank you for a great discussion and have a great day!!

old topic here, but hello. I think people now seem more inclined to what I would call "soft" polytheism. the idea that deities are different faces of the same being. others are "hard" polytheists. each deity as separate and individual as each person. I would say I sort of fall between the two. I would consider it deeply disrespectful to, for example, claim that Freja is the same being as Morrigan. and I wouldn't like to be the person that claimed that if either of them found out, hehe. but I do think that they are all the forces of nature. and each of us interacts with that force differently. which results in separate and distinct beings, as avatars to that force. each real and distinct and separate. each a key to the same mystery.

I've heard that Hindus follow polytheism

There is atleast one polytheist tradition left and that is Hinduism. However it is suffering tremendous onslaught by the Abrahmanical Faiths, which by virtue of their monotheist fervor are engaged against the only surviving pagan polytheist tradition.

I am a Christian and I follow the Christian religion in the Holy Bible which I believe as the Word of God and it is the truth. In the Holy Bible, there are many gods but there is only one true God and that is the creator of heaven and earth and everything. There is only one true God but there are many religions because many people do not follow the Holy Bible. Many just pick up the teachings they want and develop or add or subtract from the Holy Bible which should not be the case. There are also many people who do not believe in the God in the Holy Bible. The Greek word for God is "theos" where the English words atheist, monotheism, polytheism, etc. come.

Wow I learned alot from this discussion! Thanks! Time to do more reading and learning before I can really reply an answer or my opinion to your question.

Nope, you're not alone. But... I don't necessarily agree that seeing them as aspects turns polytheism into monotheism. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Hinduism say essentially the same thing? And yet, it's still a polytheistic religion.

Hi. I'm not sure exactly how to respond to this, but I do believe there is a God, but each person knows their God as they perceive it though themselves. There is so many outlooks and beliefs and religions but I do think that they everyone has their own views of what God is and stands for. Hard to really pinpoint it.

The fact that I exist is the demonstration that Polytheism is still alive. I believe in Potnia, for instance, the Great Mother Nature, but the fact that everything comes from a prime cause, does not destroy the multiform reality around us. If you were right, Induism, Shintoism etc. would be all monotheistic religions, and instead it isn't true. And yet, Catholics believe in saints, Madonna, etc., don't you think it's a form of Polytheism?