In Reply to: Pantheism, Hinduism, and dogmatism posted by Alan on January 02, 2004 at 06:51:13:
alan, as you must realize, your choice of definitions for pantheism is way down the list, and not the commonly understood meaning in philosophical terms, which has to do w/ identifying nature, the universe itself, w/ god..."pan",all ; "theos" god. perhaps the word you were looking for was polytheism?
as far as dogmatic goes, there are of course accepted definitions of this term that do not require the unproven element you raise. but even w/ your definition, simply citing your religious or secular (?) source doesn't prove anything. i strongly doubt that it is even possible for the limited reasoning of any of us is capable of proving anything about the almighty in the limited space of a discussion board. many christian theologians admit the most important issues about the almighty are not strictly provable w/ logical debate anyway. isn't it more honest to confess w/ paul we see thru a glass darkly? wouldn't it be more sensible to offer those things you value and hold dear in the spirit of a gift, something that has affected you deeply and might be a blessing to others as well? your personal testimony is a powerful word, and one that i cannot easily discount, even when your statements come across so , well, as you say, arrogantly. heck, i'm a bible believing christian and it annoys me, bro! this ain't persecution.. just an opinion of a fellow traveller struggling down the same path, and continually confronted w/ the huge gulf between my own reactions in life, and the way jesus seemed to handle things.