How come no religion has appeared in two separate places?

Question

Ive always thought this was a good debunking of many religions who claim to be the one true religion. If it were true then wouldnt the divine one have appeared on most continents to spread the word? Why didnt god let people outside of the middle east know that he existed back in the day? Like to know what you think, and no preaching please

Dont know what the first pesron was trying to say. But Mormonism is not a good answer, it was brought across the Atlantic by westerners. The hindu religion and the Jewish religion are not similar. And to say that god may be worshiped differently all over the world but still be the same god really negates the point of god wanting people to know him. He tells people not to worship other gods in many religions, so why would he let it happen.

Answer 1

Excellent question.

This is because religion developed to fit the social climate/course of the time. Since every society has differences, religions develop locally, and not in more than one place. They may spread, but not develop in two places - as they were made to fit a certain social niche at the time.

Answer 2

According to the Book of Mormon, there were prophets teaching the word of God in the western hemisphere since the days of the tower of Babel, until about 400 years after Christ. It also describes an account of Jesus Christ visiting these people after his resurrection. Back in those days, there wasn't much communication between the "Old World" and the "New World" because technology was not advanced; people living in Jerusalem didn't even know the Americas existed. Nowadays we can easily communicate and travel around the world, so if there is a true religion it only needs to spring up at one location before being spread throughout the world. Mormons also believe that everyone who didn't hear the gospel in this life will have a chance to hear it in the afterlife, so that way everyone will be presented the opportunity to accept the teachings of Christ.

Answer 3

The fact that no religion appeared in the exact same form in two places does not, in itself, disprove the notion of "one true God."

If one accepts the notion of God, then God is pure and unchanging through space and time. The same religion still would not appear twice (even serving the same God) because PEOPLE pervert religion. Also, different cultures may view the exact same God in drastically different ways. They will have different prophets who will write different texts. These texts, in turn, will be interpreted differently by different people and be translated and rewritten. That doesn't even include intentional distortion of God's word for selfish political agendas.

So the bottom line is, the world is a vast and f**ked up place. There is no God that people won't slander and misquote. The problem is not with God but with the way people see Him/Her.

Answer 4

I thought of this too, but decided against it for the following reasons:

1. Lets say the same God appeared to two different cultures. Surely those two cultures would have two different styles of worship. So one true religion would indeed invoke different types of worship among different people.

2. How do you know that two different cultures who worship exactly the same way do so because one is actually a colony of the other instead of completely independent nations.

3. As it turns out, Norse Mythology and Native American spirit worship are remarkably similar and even share many of the same Gods/spirits. I would be hard to convince me that Odin, Thor, Raven, and Coyote are actually one true Gods even though their worshipers separate cultures who happen to worship very similar Gods.

Answer 5

Religion is a product of the culture in which it is developed within, in fact the two things are nearly inseperable. Therefore, each unique culture throughout the world has their own unique religion to go with it. The reason that the three religons of :"the book" have so much in common is because they were all developed in the same part of the world where people had been exchanging goods and ideas for thousands of years. And for the people who think Mormons developed their form of Christianity on their own they are mistaken as Mormons living in the US are just descendants of Europeans that fled to Utah to escape persecution for their strange form of Christianity.

Answer 6

Because there is no God... faith is believing in what no normal rational person person would otherwise believe in...

Religion is our way of giving meaning to an otherwise unmeaningful life which we have no idea what the end will be.

I don't believe in a God, or gods, but I do believe that there is more to life than just this being we're in now. I also know that since we're living now, we might as well live it to the best of our ability and in the end we'll know what is in store for us. It's quite possible death is just silence and darkness and there is nothing else.

I choose to live a good, rich, soul enriching life because that's how I am. I'm not living the way I am because I want to go to Heaven. You should live a certain way because you want something at the end... you should live a certain way because you want to...

Answer 7

I would like to first tell you that I'm a Christian, but not one that has followed blindly without MANY questions similar to yours.

Here are MY thoughts as to MY beliefs -- take them or leave them. I'm not trying to convince you.

* I can't believe the infinitesimal number of chance occurances that would have to happen to create intelligent life given by science. I haven't seen that much luck in a day, much less over the course of millions of years.

* There does exist many religions. Which one is right? Christianity is the only religion that does not rely on acts to attain what is promised at the end. (All religions promise something in the end.) The only thing necessary is your BELIEF. (Of course once that is established, other things fall, necessarily, in place that should mediate your actions.)

* Once you have such a belief you have to acknowledge your complete ignorance. How can one question someone who created the world you live in, blanced nature, and provided every provision that can sustain life from a complete void in space (which somehow He created too).

But now to get to the answer to your question: "How come no relition has appeared in two seperate places." To believe in a God, ANY GOD, would necessitate believing that that God had a plan. Religion is no longer in one place. It is now world-wide. While someone with no belief in a God may assume that our technology is a product of our own ingenuity, it takes on a new meaning to those who believe that it can serve a purpose parallel to the question that you have posed. Why didn't "the divine one" appear on multiple continents? Jesus wasn't even accepted by all on the continent that He did appear on! He still isn't by the Jews (the people he showed himself to).

Not to offend, but your question doesn't debunk anything. I think, "Hmm, God didn't create us all to be wind up soldiers to do everything He wants us to do." Why? Same reason why you wouldn't want your child to be some mindless drone. You want your child to love you. In the end, you can't prove to anyone that your child does love you. You can point to physical affection and words, but their actions will tell otherwise when they're old enough to rebel. So their love comes down to a FEELING that you cannot substantiate to anyone. That is faith. That is what constitutes a relationship with God. And believe me -- you can feel it. It is not all in my mind.

But I will put to you the test I put to everyone who asks me whether God is real. Ask God if he is real, that he show you. If God IS real, wouldn't he show you? Yes, he would. Have you ever asked? Dare Him to show you. You have nothing to lose. As a matter of fact, you only have something to gain. If God isn't real and he shows you nothing (over your lifetime - remember he has your whole life) then you have proven your point. If he does show you that he is real and you can gain an eternity in Heaven you win again. Ask Him.

I hope you find an answer, whatever it is. I hope I have not preached. I sought to simply show you my thought process. As I said, it is not something I can convince anyone of by myself.

Answer 8

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added. This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, "It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you, " and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct......leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God."

Answer 9

That is a very good question. Latter-day Saints and those who believe in Mormonism believe that Jesus Christ visited The Americas shortly after His resurrection or ascension. The account may be found in the Book of Mormon.

Answer 10

But it has. Religion, in some form, is practiced in all corners of the world and fills a cultural niche.

You assume that God has but one name. Is it not possible that a deity take many forms or be called by many names?