How many Gods are there? ...

Monday, Jan 7, 2019. How many Gods are there? It is an interesting question. If you go to the temples in the centre of Tokyo, Japan, you find many people praying to the Gods which are celebrated there. If you drive through many countries in the east and the south, you find temples and places of worship. It is about God, and about those spirits and powers which can influence our life. Is it all that different in other parts of the world?

Monotheistic Belief …

The Jews believed in one God only, the creator of the heaven and the earth. The Old Testament talks about this issue a lot. It claims that there is one God only, and all other powers are created powers - they are not God! This has been continued by Christianity, of course, since Christian faith is exactly about this God, who has been with the people of Israel since Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Islam claims to know this God better - it claims that the Christian books are distorted versions of the Quran (Koran). But it also claims to believe in this one God, it just has another idea of who this God really is.

In the biblical book 1st Kings, chapter 18, we read about the conflict between different ideas about who is God, about different Gods indeed. Is there one true God, who does exist, and who is able to act? What is reality. Before we continue our discussion, look into the text, where the prophet Elijah asks the people as follows.

21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word. (1 Kings 18, 21ff)

If you continue to read, you will hear about the nearly phantastic events around Elijah, where the Jewish God showed his power and might by clear signs. Here, the bible clearly claims to know the truth about God, and to demonstrate his character and power by the events which are reported and passed down over generations.

Modern free Societies …

In modern free societies we have adapted the idea that each and every person should make his or her own choices about faith. You need to choose, God wants free people to love him and to choose him.

(Roland Potthast) ... further texts