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Elohim means God or gods?

Halcyon

Lord of the Badgers
Jayhawker Soule said:
He told you that? The Royal 'we' is well attested. Did your "singular God" somewhere declare that s/he would avoid such usage?
Royal 'we', how random. Not exactly relevant to a God though is it?

Not my singular God who told you he was mine?

Don't you think its odd that there are so many references to other gods in the bible? Yahwah talking about himself in the plural is just the start.
 

jonny

Well-Known Member
Halcyon said:
Royal 'we', how random. Not exactly relevant to a God though is it?

Not my singular God who told he was mine?

Don't you think its odd that there are so many references to other gods in the bible? Yahwah talking about himself in the plural is just the start.
I don't think its odd at all. :D
 

Halcyon

Lord of the Badgers
jonny said:
I don't think its odd at all. :D
Lol, ok. Why?

Why does God need a name - YHWH, surely only things that are one of many need a name to distinguish them by?

Why did YHWH only pick the Jews to share the truth of the universe with, why not everybody at the same time? Is it because other tribes had their own Gods? Did YHWH find their 'ficticious' gods too much competition?

Why do other concepts of God, and about a million deities predate textual evidence of YHWH if he is the only God that exists?
 

jonny

Well-Known Member
Halcyon said:
Lol, ok. Why?
The LDS church teaches that God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three separate beings. It is fairly complicated doctrine that we know little about, but it also teaches us that we all have the potential of becoming like our Father in Heaven. What does that mean? I have no idea. Also, the creation story in the Book of Abraham (in LDS scriptures) uses Gods instead of God. http://www.sacred-texts.com/mor/pgp/abr4.htm

Halcyon said:
Why did YHWH only pick the Jews to share the truth of the universe with, why not everybody at the same time? Is it because other tribes had their own Gods? Did YHWH find their 'ficticious' gods too much competition?
Have you ever read the Book of Mormon? The book is an account of Christ's ministry to a tribe in America. I don't believe that this was an exception. Christ said in the Bible that he had other sheep who needed to hear his voice.
 

Halcyon

Lord of the Badgers
jonny said:
The LDS church teaches that God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three separate beings. It is fairly complicated doctrine that we know little about, but it also teaches us that we all have the potential of becoming like our Father in Heaven. What does that mean? I have no idea. Also, the creation story in the Book of Abraham (in LDS scriptures) uses Gods instead of God. http://www.sacred-texts.com/mor/pgp/abr4.htm
So, there you go then, you accept the plural definition of Elohim.

No, i haven't read any Mormon literature - i got turned off by several points. Reading from a hat, suggesting Native Americans were actually originally white but changed as a punishment from God, not being able to recreate scripture word for word when the original was 'lost'.
But, maybe i was too quick to judge, wisdom can be found in many sources afterall.

Anyway, my point wasn't really concerning Christ who appeared late on in human history, i want to know why God let pagan beliefs exist and continue unabated right from the beginning of humanity's time on earth.
 

Jayhawker Soule

-- untitled --
Premium Member
Halcyon said:
Royal 'we', how random. Not exactly relevant to a God though is it?
You tell me. You are the apparent expert in God talk, though you've yet to divulge the source of your revelations.
 

Deut 13:1

Well-Known Member
Halcyon said:
First, there are two creation storiesa, and they are contradictory - go read your Hebrew of Christian bible. Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 are two different variations on the same story.
I just re-read them, what seems to be the problem?

Halcyon said:
Second, Elohim is a plural word and it does mean gods.
I already said it was, it's just a word that even though is in it's plural, means one.
 

nutshell

Well-Known Member
I'd have to spend more time looking at the similarities between Genesis 1 and 2, but what if one creation story was speaking of a spiritual creation and the other a physical? Just a thought.

Regarding the God or Gods debate...here's more evidence of Gods from the Bible.

Ex. 20: 3
Thou shalt have no• other gods before me.

God didn't say there are no other gods. He's saying that there are other Gods, but I'm going to be number one. In modern times this scripture is often interpreted to mean money and other material possessions, but to the Israelistes, this was a confirmation of who's running the show.
 

Halcyon

Lord of the Badgers
nutshell said:
I'd have to spend more time looking at the similarities between Genesis 1 and 2, but what if one creation story was speaking of a spiritual creation and the other a physical? Just a thought.

Regarding the God or Gods debate...here's more evidence of Gods from the Bible.

Ex. 20: 3
Thou shalt have no• other gods before me.

God didn't say there are no other gods. He's saying that there are other Gods, but I'm going to be number one. In modern times this scripture is often interpreted to mean money and other material possessions, but to the Israelistes, this was a confirmation of who's running the show.
Quite nutshell, as for the genesis 1 vs 2 problem, have you ever heard of Lilith? She's the first wife of Adam, ancient Rabbi's created her in an attempt to reconcile the two stories. And if they thought there was that much of a problem, who are we to twist the meanings?

That quote is a good quote (i'm no good with quoting things, i have an awful memory for where i've read something).
It brings to mind the lengths YHWH went to prevent the worship of Baal, including mass infanticide i believe, something you wouldn't think necessary if Baal wasn't any real god and thus competition.
 

jonny

Well-Known Member
Halcyon said:
So, there you go then, you accept the plural definition of Elohim.

No, i haven't read any Mormon literature - i got turned off by several points. Reading from a hat, suggesting Native Americans were actually originally white but changed as a punishment from God, not being able to recreate scripture word for word when the original was 'lost'.
But, maybe i was too quick to judge, wisdom can be found in many sources afterall.

Anyway, my point wasn't really concerning Christ who appeared late on in human history, i want to know why God let pagan beliefs exist and continue unabated right from the beginning of humanity's time on earth.
I can see why some of that stuff would turn someone off.

As to the question of why God would allow Pagan beliefs, he lets us believe whatever we want. I've never known of God to stop anyone from believing what they want to believe.
 

Halcyon

Lord of the Badgers
jonny said:
I can see why some of that stuff would turn someone off.

As to the question of why God would allow Pagan beliefs, he lets us believe whatever we want. I've never known of God to stop anyone from believing what they want to believe.
Meh, I just personally couldn't take a prophet seriously if he read from the inside of a hat, then couldn't recreate lost documents which were supposedly inspired by God. Also, the lineage of native americans has been traced back to people from Asia, so i know they were never white (or arabic). I like Mormons, i just could never follow your faith in a serious fashion.

As for God never stopping anyone believing what they want, which bible have you been reading!? Here's a few quotes;

"He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed." Exodus 22:20

"Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name." Psalms 79:6

"If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them...And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death...So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee." Deuteronomy 13:1-5

"And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars..." 2 Kings 11:18

"So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem...And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. [The LORD] was found of them: and the LORD gave them rest round about." 2 Chronicles 15:10-15

I got these quotes from religioustolerance.com, there were several more, some too long to post - go here if you are interested; http://www.religioustolerance.org/intol_bibl3.htm
 
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