Does XYZ Deity Cease to Exist if all of its Adherants are Dead?

[Exarch]

let's say there's a religion called "Krish-chia-nutsy" or "Jizzs-lam" "Zoo-day-jism" or somthing
and then one day all of the adherants of "Krish-chia-nutsy"/"Jizz-slam"/"Zoo-day-jism" minding their own lives tending to their flocks etc etc were all wiped out, killed off, from either a tsunami or invading army.

well, would the deities/gods of those religions still exist?

kinda like does god/a god/goddess/etc still exist if noone believe in them anymore?

[roy34543]

Have you been reading too much terry pratchett?

[Exarch]

Have you been reading too much terry pratchett?

love his books, lol, but this thought actually occurred to me in regards to say the ancient greek religions; noone seriously worships zeus or Hera anymore, marines dont pray to Ares or Mars anymore;
so would they still exist?

personally, i see it like WH:40k, the more believers there are the more powerful that deity becomes-powerful enough to manifest physical form in the real world from the waarp/influence real events

[Bovril]

Have you been reading too much terry pratchett?

Haha, that's exactly what I thought when I saw the thread title. The radio adaptation of Small Gods was brilliant if anyone cares.


The thread is predicated on an anthropomorphises veiw of god(s). Even those in the western who genuinely espouse this, such as Jungian neo-pagans, say that in some important sense the god remains, and will inevitably resurface in some other guise. I think this is a basic tenant of most polytheisms, that gods manifest and remanifest in many different ways, and one name or tradition dying out does not imply the death of the god.

[Fiyenyaa]

I imagine that an infinite being wouldn't be dependent on recognition (although their texts give the impression that they love to be worshipped).
If they aren't infinite gods, then maybe.

[Pious Agnost]

Did they exist in the first place?

[Manco]

It's my humble opinion they probably exist just as much as current religion's deities

[removeduser_487563287433]

It just continues non-existing.

[scarybandit]

This is just a variation of the 'If a tree falls in a forest and no one sees it..." problem.

[Monarchist]

God existed before He existed. I doubt we can understand or go anywhere close to understanding that, nor can we go past it. Let's leave it at that, and let the atheists make more sarcastic remarks.

[Fiyenyaa]

God existed before He existed. I doubt we can understand or go anywhere close to understanding that, nor can we go past it.

The reason we can't come close to understanding that is because it makes no logical sense. Nothing can exist before it exists.

Let's leave it at that, and let the atheists make more sarcastic remarks.

Be fair - it's very hard not to be.

[Marie Louise von Preussen]

The reason we can't come close to understanding that is because it makes no logical sense. Nothing can exist before it exists.

Be fair - it's very hard not to be.

Do you know there are a lot of apparent logical contradictions in the Universe and life?

[Monarchist]

The reason we can't come close to understanding that is because it makes no logical sense. Nothing can exist before it exists.

Be fair - it's very hard not to be.

I try very hard not to be fair sometimes. It's just to be irksome to atheists, though.

Of course it makes logical sense, my friend! God existed before He existed because God existed before we ever said "there is a God"! By using the word "existed", I was referring to the fact that we can declare God's existence all we want, but He was there before we realised it. I should have been more clear.

[Fiyenyaa]

Do you know there are a lot of apparent logical contradictions in the Universe and life?

An unknown answer to a question doesn't neccesarily signify a logical contradiciton.
I'd be happy to hear some examples of what you refer to though.

I try very hard not to be fair sometimes. It's just to be irksome to atheists, though.

Yes, I've come to realise your proclivities for picking on us poor innocent godless folk...

Of course it makes logical sense, my friend! God existed before He existed because God existed before we ever said "there is a God"! By using the word "existed", I was referring to the fact that we can declare God's existence all we want, but He was there before we realised it. I should have been more clear.

Well that makes perfect sense - it applies to everything that has existed (or was thought to exist) for longer than human knowledge regarding it has.

[Monarchist]

Yes, I've come to realise your proclivities for picking on us poor innocent godless folk...

Dear me... if I had a pastoral staff, some robes, a miter, and a theocracy...

Well that makes perfect sense - it applies to everything that has existed (or was thought to exist) for longer than human knowledge regarding it has.

Exactly; we will never, ever know the truth. I feel God's eternal presence, and you feel the eternal presence of rocks. Does it really matter as long as we stick to what we believe in, honestly question ourselves, and act nicely toward others? If we do those three things, Heaven is guaranteed and I don't care what any angry person thinks. God is so much more tolerant than the atheists give Him credit for, and certainly more than most religious people give Him credit for...

[Pious Agnost]

Of course it makes logical sense, my friend! God existed before He existed because God existed before we ever said "there is a God"! By using the word "existed", I was referring to the fact that we can declare God's existence all we want, but He was there before we realised it. I should have been more clear.

I think you'd do well to adopt my friends theory.

Time is observedly physical, and God exists outside of it.

Much more simple, no?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I have no opinion on the matter

[MaximiIian]

kinda like does god/a god/goddess/etc still exist if noone believe in them anymore?

I don't think so. Otherwise, polytheistic revivalists wouldn't be communicating with deities that ceased to be worshipped a thousand and a half years ago. If we take their experiences as valid and real (as I do), then obviously those same gods continued to exist.

[Manco]

I don't think so. Otherwise, polytheistic revivalists wouldn't be communicating with deities that ceased to be worshipped a thousand and a half years ago. If we take their experiences as valid and real (as I do), then obviously those same gods continued to exist.

Do you really believe people who claim to have contacted gods? I mean, I've never seen someone who claimed to be in contact with gods that wasn't an extremely dubious figure in some way. One would wonder why gods don't choose respectable, down to earth people as their spokesmen. They are far more likely to be taken seriously.

[kesa82]

Do you really believe people who claim to have contacted gods? I mean, I've never seen someone who claimed to be in contact with gods that wasn't an extremely dubious figure in some way. One would wonder why gods don't choose respectable, down to earth people as their spokesmen. They are far more likely to be taken seriously.

I know this has already been hashed over, but I can't resist it.
In 40 years......honestly? ..........to my knowledge I've never met a respectable, down-to-earth, non-dubious person.
Like in a court, when the prosecutor catches a witness in a lie, " You Lied once ! So it is fair to doubt the rest of what you say ! "
I never know whether to laugh hysterically, or scowl and weep in despair.
Yes Mr. Prosecutor , and you lied to your wife when she asked you if you thought her new dress was pretty , and you lied when you pretended it was moral to send that dumb teenager to jail for 17 years , when your real concern wasn't public safety, but paying your mortgage and cable bill, and keeping up appearances.

If God must wait for a half-way decent spokesman, then surely the Atheists are correct on that point ; God never spoke at all.

Ah ! This brings up another point relating to the OP.
In " The Age of Reason " Thomas Paine points out that Astronomy probably pre-dates agriculture. ( without knowledge of when spring begins, when autumn begins, agriculture is basically useless. This may seem a small matter, but you have never lived without a clock. Throw away all clocks and calendars and you would soon find it becomes near impossible to judge with even gross approximation when you should plant crops. ) agriculture makes towns possible, makes higher social organization possible, makes systematic scientific study possible.
So it is probubly safe to say that Astronomy is the father of almost all the sciences, almost all the innovations, existant today.
Paine proceeds to spell out the possible implications of this ;
Every comfort we enjoy, almost all our knowledge, springs from a blue print written in the sky.
i.e. God does, God has, "spoken" to everybody.
It's a giant bill board !


" would a God cease to exist......"
Well, yes, if the sky disappears.

[Poach]

If said being were to physically exist, then yes the being would continue to exist with or without the devotion of a bunch of small-minded mortals.

If (as my opinion lies) said being exists only in the minds of the somewhat delusional, then the being will ofcourse cease to exist the moment the last true believer ceases to be able to think, and will be reduced to a mere word in history textbooks.