If there is only one God then why are there thousands of different religions?

Question

For you believers, what makes you an atheist against all other religions?

Answer 1

My God has got a bigger dick than your god.

Answer 2

It is always funny to see how a newer religion such as Christianity wants to claim other (much older) religions are counterfeit. I have wondered about the concept of a God or Gods plural a lot. I do think there is a source or form of energy in the universe that is a paradox (not me). Maybe even an authority over the actions of the universe, but why just one? Considering all the suffering in the world, if there is only one god, then i would imagine it to be a failure. If the world was my creation i wouldn't blame my creation for being the way i created it. I would blame myself. I have the power, the plan and know all right? I believe in a universe with chaotic order or ordered chaos. God is symbolism, but i won't discredit the concept. I do have a part of me that believe in Henotheism (All cultures Gods are manufestions of one Supreme Power) But, it would probably be a Pantheist type God.

Answer 3

IMHO the various religions arose because the various cultures around the world needed to find a way to identify with the Higher Power. The various views are the result of cultural/social/environmental differences, but they are all aspects of the same Higher Power. Different facets of the same diamond.

In Egypt, Ammut (the devourer) is represented as having components of three of the most feared animals by the Egyptians.

In Scandinavia, the End Times come in the form of an Endless Winter.

In Native American mythology, there isn no reference to animals like Kangaroo or Platypus, but they play a large role in Aboriginal mythology.

However, there are similar themes that run through most religions - polytheistic religions will generally have gods of War, Death, Birth, Agriculture, Weather, Love. Most religions will also have stories about Creation, The End Of The World, and the Afterlife.

Answer 4

You may be surprised to learn that most all religions believe in the One true GOD, but over the thousands of years people have misunderstood what the context was or how to interpret meanings and so that is how different religions were born. Christianity, Muslin, Judaism, even native indian cultures all believe in one GOD. Miss interpretations give us this puzzling idea though.

Answer 5

FREE WILL AND MISINFORMATIONS CAUSED IT.
When men were just a handful in numbers and there was only one elder whom they listened to, then there was only one God to believe. When they grew in numbers and they started living on their own way from their previous families, they aslo started to experience different ways of surviving the element in their respective environment. Some have parents who are so closed to his children who knew about their God saw to it that what they have learned is to be handed down from generation to generations.
Some families may have been to another place where survival against all the elements of nature and the beast roaming around is more important than giving time in learning about their God. Their children then were most likely just been informed but not as complete as the other family, may have drawn up their own beliefs and practices. Their different experiences and encounters with nature have made them developed their own myths and form of beliefs.
One common thing you will find however, though there are groups of people who believe in many Gods, they always agree that there has to be the greatest one among them. That therefore makes it in total concept.... there is only one GOD but there are many other gods.

Answer 6

I think it is apropos if I use a simple analogy to elucidate why there can be many different religions while there is one God. If a father tells two of his sons to clean up the house, one son might construe that to mean that first he must vacuum the floors, then dust the furniture, and finally scrub the bathroom. The other son might take things in the opposite order, by first scrubbing the bathroom, then dusting the furniture, and then finally vacuuming the carpet. On top of that the latter son might add extra chores to complete the task of cleaning up the house. Does the fact those two sons, who have the same father, but interpreted that father’s commands differently, indicate that they didn’t have a common father, or that a command was coming from two separate fathers? Of course not.

Different people interpret things in different ways. You will, for example, have varying explanations to this question alone. Does that mean that your question is not valid, or that you asked 20 different questions? No. The variety in religions attests to the imaginative spirit of mankind, it does not disprove the existence of one God that is common to us all.

Answer 7

Spookshow Baby,
You just gave one reason; a lack of understanding. People don't understand the True God.

"For you believers, what makes you an atheist against all other religions?"
I guess that is supposed to be a tricky way of asking," Why do you not believe other religions too?"
Because God sets Himself in place. There are no other Gods according to Him. And I believe Him, rather than everyone else.

Answer 8

There are many religions because some people would rather make up their own religion than have to sacrifice anything for an already established one.

I am against all other religions because they are not True. They have elements of truth in them, but they don't hold the Fullness of Truth.

Answer 9

I believe that the Bible is the Word of God.
Isaiah 45: I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is not God.

Isaiah 43:10 Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me

Isaiah 44:6 This is what the LORD says... "I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God."

Jeremiah 10:6 No one is like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is mighty in power.

Answer 10

Like anything else in life, saying yes to one thing means saying no to others.

It's what makes the most sense to me. It answers the deeper issues of life for me. It is a framework for living and being.

I think there are thousands of different religions because the desire to be worshiped is stronger than the desire to worship. There are many religions that require very little of believers and allow them to worship themselves - or to do what they want and attribute it to their god because they don't want to take responsibility for themselves.

Answer 11

Because everybody of each religion believes in a different type of God or multiple Gods. I don't understand why either but it is just how the world is I guess.