(July 5, 2017 at 10:34 am)Lutrinae Wrote:(July 5, 2017 at 10:32 am)Jesster Wrote: I also don't believe the bible ever claims that there are no other gods. I think it only ever says to never place any others before the Christian god.
So many mythological gods are far superior to the mythological Christian god.
In what context? Maybe as literary characters, but every god ever claimed is fictional so it's like arguing over the difference between Darth Vader and Captain Kirk.
I'd say as far as characters go, the big three monotheistic religions all have the same tribal God who loves bloodshed and blind loyalty. You can certainly find in other religions more compassionate head characters sure.
But even in polytheism surrounding and prior to those three, loyalty even in polytheism was a bigger demand because the mortality rate was far higher back then, so your survival depended on supporting your local royal rulers.
But it is a mistake to think say the Greeks or Romans were less tribal, they were just as competitive in war as monotheists. Even the religions of China under the Tarracotta(sp) warriors were expected to be blindly loyal and show no mercy in war.
Humans in all of antiquity worldwide lived under ruling classes and city states competed just as brutally against rivals as much as we think of today's conflicts.
