In Part1 of this article, I argued that God in a monotheistic religion is a
fundamentally different type of being than the gods of a polytheistic religion.
This means that Christians who are talking to polytheists can use more or less
the usual arguments for the existence of God to show that a being with the characteristics
monotheists ascribe to God exists. It’s possible that this in itself might be
enough to convert someone to monotheism. But if the polytheist says, “OK, your
God exists, but so do mine,” I don’t think we need to convince them that their
gods don’t exist. We just need to show why they should worship only the
monotheistic God.
So why
should everyone worship the monotheistic God instead of polytheistic gods?
Simply put: He deserves it. If there is a supreme being, perfectly wise,
powerful and good, who created everything, this being is supremely worthy of
our devotion and worship. Moreover all monotheistic faiths insist that this
supreme being has spoken and has forbidden worship of any other being. If God
is perfectly good and all-knowing, He must have a good reason for giving this
command. Even if we don’t understand His reasons, it seems reasonable to trust
and obey Him.
It’s
also pragmatically wise to worship the most powerful being out there. Many of
the polytheists I’ve met are afraid that the gods will punish them if they
refuse to perform the appropriate rituals. But isn’t an all-powerful being
capable of protecting you from these lesser forces?
Moreover,
Christians believe that our highest good is found in being in right
relationship with God. This is the source of all true peace and joy and of
energy to love others. If the polytheistic gods are good, wouldn’t they want
their followers to receive these blessings, even if that meant giving up their
chance to be worshipped? If the gods insist on their own worship at their
followers’ expense, they are selfish and thus don’t deserve to be honored.
Some
people object that the God of monotheism is selfish for not letting us worship
anyone else. But this objection fails to hold up. We’re talking about a
supremely wise, good and powerful being who created all things and offers his
worshippers true happiness. This being deserves complete devotion from
everything He created. There’s nothing wrong with insisting on what rightfully
belongs to you, and in this case, worshiping the true God also brings created
beings the best life possible.
In
fact, given that our best life is found in following the true God, if God loves
us He must want us to worship only Him. Worshipping anything other than God is
inherently destructive. We were created to worship God, and when we put
anything else ahead of him, we end up making poor decisions that hurt us and
other people. For God to allow us to worship other gods would be like a human
father allowing his child to drink bleach.
Ultimately,
the supreme proof that God deserves our love is found in Jesus, and especially
in the crucifixion. This is not a needy God who demands our service. This is a
God who is willing to serve us, even if it costs Him His life. Coming face to
face with love like this should inspire us to love Him back.
In the
end, conversion is not a matter of intellectual arguments, though the arguments
are useful and important. Conversion is a matter of meeting the good, wise,
powerful, eternal God of love and choosing to follow Him.
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