Questions asked with respect

Hi all,

Firstly I hope you don't cull this thread, Adam, as it is written with respect for all from each and every denomination.

I have recentlty been reading Carl Sagan's essays and this has highlighted possibilities to me that I hadn't thought of previously. All major religious faiths have more similarities than differences, and the main three I refer to are Judaism, Christianity and Islam. They may have different takes on some of their details, but they all regard 'God' as omnipotent, omniscient, creator of the universe, a deity that is responsive to prayer etc.

However, if it could be shown that there was a god who was ominipotent but not omniscient or vice-versa, would that still be 'God'?? If there was a deity who had omnipotence but didn't even know we were here, would that be 'God'?? If there was a being who could start the universe off but had no control as to its outcome, whould that be 'God'.

It must be added that a priori, all these gods are just as likely as the 'one' the main religions claim to be the case.

By that reasoning, doesn't that imply that the almighty one was 'man made' in order to fulfill a wish based on a fantasy??

On top of this, many religious apparitions are apparitions typical of the community the person is from and the major faiths practiced there. It is rare in the West to have an apparition of an elephant who is blue, but in India such devotees are commonplace. Likewise, visions of the Virgin Mary are more commonplace in Christian zones.

Doesn't this imply some other reason for the apparition that is not supernatural??

I ask all these questions with respect and I am not targetting any particular faith. I feel these are fascinating areas to discuss and am aware that there are those on this forum who are intelligent believers.

I really look forward to your comments!!

Jon