Conceptions

The exact nature of God and the conceptions of what he entails are well worth a short discussion. So let’s dive right in:

There are almost an infinite number of conceptions of God today and throughout history ranging from the Judeo-Christian conception (a God who listens to thoughts and answers prayers) to the Einstein conception (the natural laws and nothing more). If this is indeed the case, is it not ridiculous to claim with absolute certainty that one of these gods is the true God? (Or gods, in a polytheistic system).

Many have said throughout history that “god has many faces,” in other words, that there are many different versions of the exact same god. However, isn’t it true that all the conceptions of god are, for the most part, mutually exclusive? The conception of the afterlife in the Judeo-Christian version of God is completely incompatible with the Buddhist philosophy of rebirth. Likewise, Hades and Dante’s hell are completely different, even while appearing to be somewhat the same. Similarly, the differences can range from the Old Testament Judeo-Christian God who literally justified genocide upon infidels, and the Eastern philosophy of Jainism (a branch of Shramana of which Buddhism is something of a derivative) in which the monks literally sweep the ground where they step to avoid harming insects in their path. And we haven’t even touched upon such cults as Satanism and Wicca. Doesn’t this mutual exclusivity contradict the claim that “God has many faces?”

Going further on the subject, how can any one philosophy or religion lay claim to the idea that their conception is somehow the most valid? This deals with the root value or justification, is a person who believes that beauty is more valuable than progress any less right than someone who believes otherwise? As you delve deeper and further into ideas such as these, you see that every single conception of God has equal worth. Thus, any person who says that their God conception is the true God is always going to be wrong on any justification they may posit.