Nietzsche declared at the turn of the last century that "God is dead"
if you read on, one discovers that he was referring to the concept of the Christian God- vengeful, patriarchal, etc (very anthropomorphic).
So when Nanak declares God is one (so for him that being transcending the Mughals god, Bhagavagita, etc), is he hinting fundamentally at the same concept Nietzche felt as well- just using different semantics?
This question has intrigued me as of late- does God is One = God is dead?
(in my opinion)
There are different architectures that a wide variety of religions fall into. 1) Many indiginous groups worldwide are pantheist, believing in an ecological type MotherEarth and FatherSky. 2) Then there are other groups that are described as polytheists- such as Loki and Thor of Norse mythology, or Zeus and Hera of the Greeks, and of course the likes of Govinda, Ram and Sita of the Bhagavagita. 3) Next, there are monotheists- who worship one deity. 4) Finally, there are atheists- Buddhists historically are described as such, or maybe concepts like the StarWars Jedi force fall into this last cluster.
While theologians and scholars may recognize the unity of thought underlying the Judeo-Christian-Muslim tradition, mainstream groups within these factions are very much insulted by the notion that a Christian and a Muslim worships the same God. Rather each group rallies around its one deity. Quite bluntly, mainstream audiences of these groups envision their god as an old man with a long beard sitting in a cloud granting favors or taking them away. Now a scholarly theologian would counter with esoteric arguments of the Christian Trinity paradox, or present evidence of Islams many advances in geometry and science simply in an attempt to express their god in non image form- but this does not reflect the views of the man on the street, say in London or Cairo, respectively.
My question is what is the nature of the one we as Sikhs worship. When we are asked what is your God`s name- I have always replied he has no name. Does the average man on the street- Sikh punjabi envision Ik Onkar as an old man with a beard (monotheist)?
I have Nanak`s MoolMantar in front of me (very esoteric, enlightening). Sat Naam- should i answer to people that Truth is the name of the one we worship? Nirbhau... Akaal Moorat (timeless and without form- as a fan of theoretical physics this seems promising), etc etc...
The point being developed is would you describe these theoretical underpinnings as pushing us into the atheist cluster? Perhaps we are similar to Jews in that they reject the concept of a deity (namely the Christian God JesusChrist) but are considered "gray monotheists"(questioning, awaiting the messiah); are we strict montheists worshiping one deity like Christ or Allah, or are we closer to the atheist (buddhist-like) grouping?
But nonetheless, am curious to hear what others out there(mainstream sikhi) think and feel. Would you say that we are say like the Jews (gray area between monotheists and atheist), or are we strictly monotheists, or strictly atheists?
if you read on, one discovers that he was referring to the concept of the Christian God- vengeful, patriarchal, etc (very anthropomorphic).
So when Nanak declares God is one (so for him that being transcending the Mughals god, Bhagavagita, etc), is he hinting fundamentally at the same concept Nietzche felt as well- just using different semantics?
This question has intrigued me as of late- does God is One = God is dead?
(in my opinion)
There are different architectures that a wide variety of religions fall into. 1) Many indiginous groups worldwide are pantheist, believing in an ecological type MotherEarth and FatherSky. 2) Then there are other groups that are described as polytheists- such as Loki and Thor of Norse mythology, or Zeus and Hera of the Greeks, and of course the likes of Govinda, Ram and Sita of the Bhagavagita. 3) Next, there are monotheists- who worship one deity. 4) Finally, there are atheists- Buddhists historically are described as such, or maybe concepts like the StarWars Jedi force fall into this last cluster.
While theologians and scholars may recognize the unity of thought underlying the Judeo-Christian-Muslim tradition, mainstream groups within these factions are very much insulted by the notion that a Christian and a Muslim worships the same God. Rather each group rallies around its one deity. Quite bluntly, mainstream audiences of these groups envision their god as an old man with a long beard sitting in a cloud granting favors or taking them away. Now a scholarly theologian would counter with esoteric arguments of the Christian Trinity paradox, or present evidence of Islams many advances in geometry and science simply in an attempt to express their god in non image form- but this does not reflect the views of the man on the street, say in London or Cairo, respectively.
My question is what is the nature of the one we as Sikhs worship. When we are asked what is your God`s name- I have always replied he has no name. Does the average man on the street- Sikh punjabi envision Ik Onkar as an old man with a beard (monotheist)?
I have Nanak`s MoolMantar in front of me (very esoteric, enlightening). Sat Naam- should i answer to people that Truth is the name of the one we worship? Nirbhau... Akaal Moorat (timeless and without form- as a fan of theoretical physics this seems promising), etc etc...
The point being developed is would you describe these theoretical underpinnings as pushing us into the atheist cluster? Perhaps we are similar to Jews in that they reject the concept of a deity (namely the Christian God JesusChrist) but are considered "gray monotheists"(questioning, awaiting the messiah); are we strict montheists worshiping one deity like Christ or Allah, or are we closer to the atheist (buddhist-like) grouping?
But nonetheless, am curious to hear what others out there(mainstream sikhi) think and feel. Would you say that we are say like the Jews (gray area between monotheists and atheist), or are we strictly monotheists, or strictly atheists?