@ aiwas

but why is there a need to categorize god? i believe that god is universal- i think to label him as a christian god is to talk of god in a limited sense. even if he is a christian god, i'm sure he's not the wrathful evil god protrayed by christians who use the doctrine of hell and brimstone to convert followers. that is not the real christian god.

here's what i think. i strongly believe that all religions talk of the same god. the only reason (well, not the only reasons but they are possible reasons) why there are so many conflicts and differences in the idea of god is due to our differences in culture, differences in our ideals and perception, understanding of the divine and translation. That's why in my previous post, i said that all religions are like myths in a sense that they both tell a version or an embodiment of the truth. Think of this as an example- the idea of a dying and resurrecting god has been around way before we ever knew of christianity. There was the cult of Dionysus, and that of Osiris Dionysus, and that of bacchus just to give examples. These characters came from different nations and cultures, the surprising thing out of these stories is that although the story line is different, the main concept or element is always the same- they foretell of a dying and resurrecting god, just as many prophets in the old testament also foretold of a dying and resurrecting God. And as CS Lewis puts it, the amazing thing was that the myth came to life, just as the "word became flesh" through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.