Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Nov 29, 2004 8:09:25	What Mystaran cultures can be defined as monotheistic? The only ones I could think of were Ylaruam and the Shadow Elves. Any others? (Rockhome? Glantri???)
#2 kheldren Nov 29, 2004 10:39:20	Glantri and Rockhome certainly, also Hule, the majority of the Azcan empire (I think those that follow whats-his-name only follow the one immortal), the Heldannic Knights (special case - they are not a country but control one). By saying "culture" you can open the doors a lot - technically the Meditor and Verdier elves are seperate cultures - and they are both monotheistic. Etc.
#3 Cthulhudrew Nov 29, 2004 14:54:37	What Mystaran cultures can be defined as monotheistic? The only ones I could think of were Ylaruam and the Shadow Elves. Ylaruam isn't monotheistic- not as far as the Gazetteer is concerned, anyway. The Way of the Eternal Truth (as described there) specifically makes reference to reverence of the Immortal Guardians. The whole- they worship Al-Kalim/monotheistic elements were the result of later writers misinterpreting things... which sadly, makes for a lot of confusion.
#4 zombiegleemax Nov 29, 2004 15:55:02	You could argue (pre-WotI) Glantri is with the followers of Rad. Whether that counts as a religion or not is open to some debate. R.A.
#5 spellweaver Nov 29, 2004 18:19:26	I may not be very bright, but I always thought that a monoteistic culture only recognized the existence of one god - denying all else as superstition? If that were the case, I doubt any culture in Mystara is monoteistic because while you can choose to only follow one immortal, it is pretty hard to deny the existence and powers of the other? :-) Jesper
#6 zombiegleemax Nov 30, 2004 9:40:45	I may not be very bright, but I always thought that a monoteistic culture only recognized the existence of one god - denying all else as superstition? Not necessarily. I think a religion that worships one god - although it admits the existence of others - can still be termed "monotheistic" (in fact, I'm not sure that, at some points, the Old Testament doesn't refer to such a concept of monotheism).
#7 havard Nov 30, 2004 9:54:57	Not necessarily. I think a religion that worships one god - although it admits the existence of others - can still be termed "monotheistic" (in fact, I'm not sure that, at some points, the Old Testament doesn't refer to such a concept of monotheism). The Old Testament doesnt use the term Monotheism, and the part about not worshipping other gods could be interpreted as a recognition of the existance of other gods. OTOH, judaism incorporated gods worshipped by neighbouring cultures, but these were seen as demons (Baal, Belzebub etc) and not proper gods. Still, I wouldnt be surprised if there are some religions out there that accept the existance of other gods, but still only allows worship of one. What I have IMC, is that most religions in Mystara only accept a group of immortals (ie their pantheon) as true immortals, and consider the rest demons. This would be the case of the Churches of Thyatis, Karameikos and Darokin, aswell as the Eternal Truth. Pagan type religions, such as that of the Antalians, the Eusdrians or the people of Robrenn accept the existance of other immortals as immortals and even allow paying your respect to those immortals when you are in lands believed to be under the control of these immortals. Joining a cult to a forreign immortal is not accepted however. Håvard