What do you think of Matthew 27:46-50?

Frank Goad said:

What do you think of Matthew 27:46-50?

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As with most NT theology, Matthew here is making Jesus into a fulfillment of Jewish messianic expectations. Just as the Psalmist began the cited prayer in abject despair, he ended it in a triumphant chant to God. Matthew knew that his readers would have been literate enough to know this about the Psalm, so that they knew that Jesus was praying a Psalm that ends in hope, not despair. He did want Jesus's last words to be despairing - how could they be, since Matthew thought of Jesus as Son of God and Messiah? - but rather a testament of trust in God's ultimate mercy.

wizanda said:

Polytheism was taking the 24 Elders, and making them into gods; when they're only divine aspects of the One Source.

In my opinion.

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Contextually, these are called the Host, and even 'angels'. I don't know who you are referring to as making them into gods of equalness, to the main God, or who is worshipping them, in the manner that one worships the Main God.

Desert Snake said:

Contextually, these are called the Host, and even 'angels'. I don't know who you are referring to as making them into gods of equalness, to the main God, or who is worshipping them, in the manner that one worships the Main God.

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wizanda said:

What I understand to have happened is due to the Babylonians having polytheism, where it was a continuation of the Canaanite deities, the Jews went opposite to them.

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In my opinion.

wizanda said:

In my opinion.

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Book of Matthew,
Problem with inference, direct worship
Book of John,
Problem with direct belief statements, problem with inference
Book of Luke
Problem with worship
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So, by any effective use of most of the New Testament, you don't have an argument.
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By 'jews' you must not mean judaism, since as you know, judaism claims to worship what you consider, 'not the main g-d'.

Hence your argument is totally unclear.

Excerpt:

Basic Premise: The idea of God is an evolutionary idea. One which has had a cultural progression from polytheism to monolarity in various places throughout human history, from Kemet (Egypt) to Levant (Canaan). The religion of ancient Israel is a product of this same process. They borrowed not only their neighbor’s architecture but the name of their god as well, then the nature of this tribal deity changed over time.

Before you reject this out of hand, you should know that archaeology is revealing that the Israelites were merely nomadic Canaanites, and there is much evidence that they were originally polytheistic. Indeed, Yahweh was only one of the gods in their pantheon, but being their national god he became the prominent figure and eventually the only one to survive in the Jewish tradition.

All this was mere speculation on the part of a few “conspiracy theorists” until eighty years ago. Before that, and even to this day, the vast majority of Christians look to the Hebrew scripture as their authority and thus their single source of faith.

Even those who uphold the authoritativeness of “Holy Writ” will admit polytheism in Israelite history had a long run until under Hezekiah and then later Josiah destroyed the temples, idols and altars of other gods.

Josiah’s reign is one of monolarity pushing towards monotheism which doesn’t fully take root until after the Jewish exile.

Polytheistism, God, and the Ugarit Text

The Biblical word for God is “EL” and that word is not Jewish in origin, but rather it traces back to older Levant (Canaanite) religion. The patriarch Abraham is known as the father of the world’s three great monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

For centuries his faithfulness to one god (at a time when people worshiped many deities) has been regarded as a monumental break with the society around him. However, an archaeological discovery known as the Ugaritic texts is opening a window onto a different cultural context for Abraham’s story and it is turning most assumptions about “god” on their head.

EL is the supreme creator god of the Canaanites who lives with the other gods on Mount Zaphon (similar to Mount Olympus of the Greeks but located at the mouth of the Orontes river near the border between Turkey and Syria). He is the father of all the gods and men and is often addressed as such by the Canaanite gods. He is the god of the earth and the air who is represented by a bull. He is derived from the Sumerian god AN.

In the Bible EL is translated as God. Elohim is the plural form of EL yet in most places in the Bible it is used in the singular sense so it is also translated as God instead of gods. Strict monotheism was not fully developed in Israelite thought until their exile to Babylon.

Before then Yahweh (translated as Lord in the Bible) was the god of Israel and Judah (officially their only god) whose principle power and characteristic was that of justice and righteousness.

Because he judged other peoples and gods he soon came to be seen as the supreme God (the equivalent of EL), and finally as the only God for all people.

Polytheistism, God, and the Ugarit Text