Sadly, most interfaith dialog simply waters down the truth and attempts to make it palatable to every person.  In the end people end up believing very little of any substance.  Biblical truth is not negotiable.  You either believe it and head towards heaven through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord or you don't.  Jesus' own words make this clear: "No person comes to the Father(God) except through me."

Interfaith dialogue is possible, provided we talk to each other, rather than at each other.

Well, Salim1 is no longer active (and according to the post number was only ever active once), these boards certainyl are; albeit some are more active than others.

I can appreciate your willingness to listen to others, but we already find ourselves at what is likely to be an insurmountable obstacle. My understanding of your religion and its mythology, is assuredly quite apart from your own. You see, I do not recognize your god; or at least not in the same way you do, and I wonder if there is any getting past even this single point.

You see, when one is a member of the Abrahamaic faiths (or of other faiths where the line between monotheism and pantheism is rather fuzzy) interfaith understanding and even reconciliation between differing theologies is conceptually plausible, because at the end of the day there is the belief that you're all worshipping the same deity, albeit in different ways.

I, on the other hand, could not be counted among that number, being a polytheist. I understand your deity as one among many, and even then don't really concern myself with him. As such, statements like "God made us all" means nothing to me. Therefore it is no basis upon which to build an interfaith dialouge, as it precludes that I recognize your deity in the manner you do, which is certainly not the case.

I am perfectly happy with the "live and let live" position, and am interested in a dialouge; just not one which is built upon the assumption that you and I are worshipping the same deity.

Jul 11, 2011 -- 11:16AM, allthegoodnamesweretaken wrote:

Gorm,

I not only see his "God made us all" statement as reflecting that we recognize his deity in the manner that he does, but a rejection of the other creation ideas that the rest of us may have. 

He may state that he is a "very open minded Christian" but that it follows such a statement shows how oxymoronic such a statement really is. 

all

Well, and I'm just guessing here, he(?) would likely be supportive of the notion that "all paths lead to (his) god", which is the extent pluralism (and open-mindedness) can exist within a monotheistic theology. From their perspective, I wouldn't go so far as to call it oxymoronic; just limited.

Jul 11, 2011 -- 11:36AM, gorm-sionnach wrote:

Jul 11, 2011 -- 11:16AM, allthegoodnamesweretaken wrote:

Gorm,

I not only see his "God made us all" statement as reflecting that we recognize his deity in the manner that he does, but a rejection of the other creation ideas that the rest of us may have. 

He may state that he is a "very open minded Christian" but that it follows such a statement shows how oxymoronic such a statement really is. 

all

Well, and I'm just guessing here, he(?) would likely be supportive of the notion that "all paths lead to (his) god", which is the extent pluralism (and open-mindedness) can exist within a monotheistic theology. From their perspective, I wouldn't go so far as to call it oxymoronic; just limited.

I'm just blunt about it.  The 'all paths lead up the same mountain' works for the big 3 (4, or 5, but whose counting?) but I've been pushing the "different paths up different mountains" lately.