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You are perfectly welcome to if you wish.Gerani1248 said:this is a debate rite? eek, i wont get into it.
IceFire said:Oh sorry admit was a bad word to use there, maybe imply would be a better word? I am very aware that many people don't recognize the christian god as the only god.
The commandment is in two verses in Exodus 20:3 and 20:23 and, of course in Deuteronomy 5:7 and conveys that God would not share a space with other Gods. So they, the others, must have existed if God said so. Right?
Runt said:That, or the verses convey that God doesn't want anyone imagining that there are other Gods... perhaps he means that there shall be no space in humanity's heart/mind for other (imaginary) Gods. I mean, if I had kids, I wouldn't want them thinking they owed their loyalty to a bunch of imaginary parents that they made up in their heads!
That is, of course, assuming the Christian God exists, or actually ever said anything in the Bible. My opinion is that, no, he doesn't and didn't... but there ARE other ways of looking at those verses regardless.
http://www.audiowebman.org/bbc/books/bd/part3/chapter0201.htm
We are told that the ancestors of Abraham, who dwelt in old time beyond the Euphrates, served other gods (Josh. 24:2). In Egypt the Hebrews came into close touch with an ancient and elaborated religious cult, with its temples, and sacred scribes, and magicians and sorcerers (Gen. 41:8; Exod. 7:11), and upon the exodus of the chosen people from that land of bondage Jehovah executed judgments against all the gods of Egypt (Exod. 12:12; Num. 33:4). During their journeys and in the land of Canaan Israel chose new gods (Judg. 5:8; Dent. 32:17), and ran away after the gods of the nations that were round about them, and all through their history, down to the time of the Babylonian exile, they persisted more or less openly in the idolatrous practices of the nations with whom they had intercourse. They found no nation or people without a god and a religious cult.
Perhaps all things are possible, but there is absolutely no basis, beyond wishful thinking, to doubt the monolatry of the early Israelites. Even my username points to remnants of belief in the West Semitic Divine Council, as does Biblical references to the "Sons of God".pah said:Well, I'm certainly not going to argue with you, Runt. Without an an analysis of the Hebrew (which is beyond me) either one of us could be right - in the interests of an academic issue.
Ronald said:Elohim is one, the one and only creator, He says "Beside me there is no other god."
Elohim created Adam in his image, male and female He created them. My opinion and the opinion of countless Rabbis, Elohim is/has attributes of both male and female/Elohim.
The second commandment is the prohibition of idols, four negative injunctions (1) forbids belief in idols. (2) forbids possession of idols. (3) forbids worship (prostration, sacrifice, offerings, libations) (4) forbids worship, by means unique to it.
references TaNaCH.
http://www.audiowebman.org/bbc/books/bd/part3/chapter0201.htm
... The names of the various deities of the nations found in the Scriptures give a more specific witness to the actual religious thought and worship of the ancient peoples with whom the Israelites came in contact. The most common Hebrew word for God is Elohim (___) and we find it applied both to the gods of the nations and to the God of Israel. Dagon, Chemosh, and Baal as well as Jehovah are called Elohim (comp. 1st Sam. 5:7; Judg. 11:24; 1st Kings 18:24), and even magistrates and rulers bear the same title (Exod. 21:6; Psa. 82:1, 6). The word seems to have a natural linguistic connection with El (__), which is also used to designate the gods of the nations as well as Israels God. Both these words express primarily the idea of power. Israels God is spoken of as a great and terrible El (Deut. 7:21), and the great, the mighty and the terrible El (Neh. 9:32). The plural form of Elohim has been accounted for in different ways: some are of opinion that the plural indicates a polytheistic origin and usage of the name; others explain it as the plural of majesty, and others as a designed recognition of the manifold powers inherent in the divine nature. So Elohim is con*ceived as the pluripotent Being, who combines in himself and represents all the powers on high ...
pah said:When Moses come down from the mountain carring the first tablets, he came across his tribe worshipping a God (Baal, I beleive) in the form of a golden calf. Exodus 32 1:6
The commandment is in two verses in Exodus 20:3 and 20:23 and, of course in Deuteronomy 5:7 and conveys that God would not share a space with other Gods. So they, the others, must have existed if God said so. Right?