Monotheists, how do you know there is only one god?

I don’t know there is more than one, or just one, or none at all, and I accept that there are a multitude of possibilities.

How can a God with such a cool name as Nanabozho not be the only one true God out there-? : )

The Holy Bible, which is the inspired Word of God that never has been nor ever will be changed, testifies that there is only one God. It is a well-known fact that the Bible is the oldest book in existence. Thus, if any other book is found that testifies that God is one, the Bible has preceded it in asserting this fact. The following are some quotations from the Bible concerning the fact that God is one.

From the Old Testament:

•“Know therefore this day, and consider it in your heart, that the LORD Himself is God in heaven above, and on the earth beneath: there is no other.” (Deuteronomy 4:39 NKJV)
•“I am the LORD, and there is no other, there is no God beside Me.” (Isaiah 45:5)
•“Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us?” (Malachi 2:10)
•“Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:4,5)
From the New Testament:

•“It is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” (Matthew 4:10)
•“There is one God; and there is no other but He.” (Mark 12:32)
•“You believe that there is one God; you do well.” (James 2:19)
•“Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.” (Galatians 3:20)
•“For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men.” (1 Timothy 2:5)
http://www.answering-islam.org/god/only_true_god.html

I like to think most of us worship the same Deity by different names (even though we may not realize it), so I lean more towards acceptance of other people’s God’s and beliefs.

There are several religious texts that are substantially older than any part of the bible, the earliest of which is thought to be no older than from 900 BCE.
The oldest ones are the pyramid texts of Egypt from around 2400 BCE.
Then there is the Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh from around 2100 BCE.
Or the Rigveda of Hinduism from between 1700 and 1100 BCE.

@ragingloli This is an interesting read on that issue.

If the printing defined what a book was, then the oldest book would be the Gutenberg Bible, printed about 1450. Of course, that was printed with moveable type. Chinese cultures were printing pages of book-like structures using carved wood plates and simple presses hundreds of years before Gutenberg.

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/arts/literature/oldest-book-in-the-world.htm

It is a logical deduction, stemming from the fact the existence already exist, then all the gods must be one.

I believe that the Highlander rule sums it up rather nicely.

There can be only one.

Isnt God stating something akin to “you shall not worship any other god, for I am a jealous God?”

That implies that God recognises other Gods, even though he doesnt want anyone to worship them.

@whitenoise Interesting point. I’ve never thought of that before, but it makes sense to me.

April, there are about a kabillion books older than the old testament.

@whitenoise I see what you’re saying and I’m no theologian to really argue the point, but isn’t that referring to false gods. I’m saying like the golden calf etc. And isn’t it like people can put their love and worship into anything say as modern examples, since few people go around melting earrings into idols, like the worship of money, or even something like television or the internet if you all fancy with the concept. He want’s your love and attention, and he doesn’t want you spreading it around.

I’m pretty bad at interpretations of stuff like that, I admit to being a christian and I do believe in God, but I am the first one to admit I’m a pretty lousy excuse for a christian.

Notice the little g versus the big G in what you quoted, as a point toward what I am saying, idols may be gods but only he is God…

@KNOWITALL

The Holy Bible, which is the inspired Word of God that never has been nor ever will be changed

How on earth do you know that, that the bible is the inspired word of god? I know you would like for that to be true (although most of the world and I do not think/believe that) In fact the Holy Bible, as you know it today, has been changed many times over thousands of years due to translations and interpretations. Most of the Old Testament (Moses and friends) was written in Hebrew, with some passages written in Aramaic. The New Testament was first written in Greek, then subsequently the words of both the Old and New Testaments were translated into Latin, and then into most of the other languages that practiced Christianity. Even the English versions of early bibles differ from modern English bibles.

@Kardamom And there’s the fact that the definitive list of the new testament books did not come about until the Synod of Hippo in 393 AD, wasn’t formally recognized by the Vatican until the Council of Trent in ~1550, and some catholic sects still have different canons (though the new testament is usually the same. Unless you’re Dan Brown).

I don’t think it is a matter of knowing but one of believing.

Exodus 15:11
Who among the gods is like you, LORD? Who is like you—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?

Exodus 20:23
Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.

Exodus 32:8
They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’

Exodus 34:14
Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Deuteronomy 5:7
“You shall have no other gods before me.

Deuteronomy 6:14
Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you;

2 Kings 17:35
When the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites, he commanded them: “Do not worship any other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them.

I know this is an old and tired argument but doesn’t each of these statements from the Bible indicate that there actually ARE other gods out there?

@rojo The most salient point is “When the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites”.

“Thou Shalt Not Kill” and the other 9 commandments were not applied to anyone outside Israel. The entire Torah is a plan for genocide and ingroup permission to slaughter and pillage among outgroups. It is about worldwide genocide and world domination for one tribal group. And here we have a bunch of people descended from those condemned to death by Yahweh all bowing down to worship the God of Israel. Go figure.

@bunnyslippers if every word in the bible is inspired by God do you not think that if he had meant “false” gods he would have had it written that way?

@Kardamom Generally speaking, when I post a link on the bottom of a post, I am posting from a website for informational purposes.

These are my words: “I like to think most of us worship the same Deity by different names (even though we may not realize it), so I lean more towards acceptance of other people’s God’s and beliefs.”

@Seek The link I posted to @ragingloli will explain why I say that. If you can offer other evidence, I’m happy to read it.

If the printing defined what a book was, then the oldest book would be the Gutenberg Bible, printed about 1450. Of course, that was printed with moveable type. Chinese cultures were printing pages of book-like structures using carved wood plates and simple presses hundreds of years before Gutenberg.

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/arts/literature/oldest-book-in-the-world.htm

@knowitall, that’s the equivalent of saying that the first theater occurred in the early 1900s, because that’s the first time anyone caught a play on film.

Books, or more accurately literature, was usually copied by hand. Before that, it was padded by word of mouth. That does not make it any less in existence.

Gutenberg didn’t even translate the bible himself, he used someone else’s copy. That obviously came from somewhere, no? How then could the Gutenberg bible be the world’s oldest book?

completely ignoring the library at Alexandria…

@Seek_Kolinahr Like I said, I was using the link above and the definition therein. Sorry if you don’t like my answer. I guess I should have said “Because the bible tells me so.”

At least that would be a fact.

@Seek_Kolinahr True dat. Peace.

Logic tells you

, God comprehends in Himself the whole perfection of being. If then many gods existed, they would necessarily differ from each other. Something therefore would belong to one which did not belong to another. And if this were a privation, one of them would not be absolutely perfect; but if a perfection, one of them would be without it. So it is impossible for many gods to exist. Hence also the ancient philosophers, constrained as it were by truth, when they asserted an infinite principle, asserted likewise that there was only one such principle.

AQUINAS