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Deity question



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Aribenj




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Dec 11 2008, 9:39 pm
If non jews pray to their person (yoshke, whatever) does Hashem answer?

I'm having a hard time putting into words what I'm thinking, but I thought polytheism was forbidden? If ppl pray to the wrong thing/person/whatever, then why does Hashem grant their prayers?

How does it work?


Last edited by Aribenj on Fri, Dec 12 2008, 1:49 pm; edited 1 time in total
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nicole81




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Dec 11 2008, 9:42 pm
*deity*

I thought you were going to ask about weight watchers, goji berry, or some other health craze.

this question, however, I feel totally unqualified to answer.
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poemmom




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Dec 11 2008, 9:52 pm
I think there is a difference between actual idolatry and practices that are forbidden for Jews but not idolatrous for non jews. Personally I believe that genuine Christians are worshipping G-d and are heard by Him.
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chocolate moose




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Dec 12 2008, 12:06 pm
You mean Deity. diety is about a diet.
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Dec 12 2008, 1:12 pm
poemmom wrote:
I think there is a difference between actual idolatry and practices that are forbidden for Jews but not idolatrous for non jews.


definitely

poemmom wrote:
Personally I believe that genuine Christians are worshipping G-d and are heard by Him.


Of course they are, except when they're addressing a saint. They don't deny the existence of G-d, they just think He has extra administrative staff. and a family. christianity has its roots in Judaism, they just feel that theirs is the new, improved model. No one told them you can't improve on perfection.
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DefyGravity




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Dec 12 2008, 1:35 pm
Oh, I also thought this thread was going to be about diets. Maybe the op can edit the title so it's less confusing.
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Aribenj




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Dec 12 2008, 1:52 pm
Sorry. I know I know... I after E except after C....

Anyways, I am thinking particularly of one religion where they pray to the "Son", the "Spirit" and "the holy ghost". I mean, Yoshke is not G-d. According to them, he is the son of G-d. So the question is, when they're praying to Yoshke, they're not praying to Hashem are they? and yet, Hashem listens.

Does anyone understand my question???
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Dec 12 2008, 2:19 pm
[quote="Aribenj"]Sorry. I know I know... I after E except after C....

Anyways, I am thinking particularly of one religion where they pray to the "Son", the "Spirit" and "the holy ghost". I mean, Yoshke is not G-d. According to them, he is the son of G-d. So the question is, when they're praying to Yoshke, they're not praying to Hashem are they? and yet, Hashem listens.



It's the father, the son and the holy spirit. ghost means spirit. The father part corresponds most to our concept of Hashem. in their faith, all three entities are considered part and parcel of G-d. the son is G-d manifested in human form, so to them, he's part of G-d.

again, even though their concept of Him is incorrect, they're praying to Him. Their still His children, why wouldn't He listen? Nonjews are not even obligated to pray to hashem; all they have to do is avoid idolatry.
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avigailmiriam




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Dec 12 2008, 3:03 pm
Xtians generally don't pray to Jebus, the same way Catholics don't pray directly TO Saints. You'll here a lot of Chriztian prayers end, "In Jebus' name wee pray..."

Chriztians ask that Jebus, who is a part of G-d in their theology, intercede with The Father (the part of G-d that most closely coresponds to our conception of HaShem) on their behalf.
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ora_43




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Dec 14 2008, 4:23 pm
A few random thoughts

-How would we know if their prayers were granted or not? If they pray for something and it happened, maybe it was meant to happen anyway (which could apply to anyone).

-If Hashem answered all prayers to Him and didn't answer anything to any other deity, wouldn't it become a bit too obvious? For example if someone sick prays to Yoshke, Buddha, Allah, etc, and nothing happens, then finally prays to Hashem and is healed, and this happened every time, what would happen to free will?

Even if not all prayers to Hashem were answered, if no prayers by anyone who doesn't believe in Torah were answered it would get obvious pretty quickly.

-Nobody fully understands Hashem. None of us can come close to fully grasping who we're davening to. So it seems a full awareness isn't necessarily what's required of us.

-Almost all religions have some dimension of monotheism in them. The Muslim concept of Allah is not the same as Hashem but it's close, it's still one indivisible, all merciful God. The Xtian concept, as avigail miriam pointed out, isn't always full avoda zara, and many xtians recognize the underlying indivisible nature of God. Even religions like Hinduism that are known for having many, many deities still have an aspect of monotheism, at least from what I learned long ago of comparative religions--there's still some recognition that all the Hindu/whatever gods are just faces of one ultimate, all-powerful God.
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