The God of Abraham says he isn't the only god around

[Skwim]

Exodus 20:2-3
"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3"You shall have no other gods before Me.

Psalms
“There is none like you among the gods, O Lord” (86:8); “For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods” (96:4); “Our Lord is above all gods” (135:5); “He is exalted above all gods” (97:7); “For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.” (95:3.).

​

So, why do you think these other gods exist, other than to make the god of Abraham jealous?

Exodus 34:14
For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
​

And, isn't jealousy a rather odd emotion for an omnipotent and omniscient god to have?

Jealousy
[jel-uh s]

1. feeling resentment against someone because of that person's rivalry, success, or advantages (often followed by of).

2. feeling resentment because of another's success, advantage, etc. (often followed by of).

3. Characterized by or proceeding from suspicious fears or envious resentment.



​

 

[djhwoodwerks]

Yes there were/are other gods, but no "LIVING" gods. There is only one living God. These are the other gods;

Act 7:39-40 (ESVST) 39 Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, 'Make for us gods who will go before us.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Exodus 20:2-3
"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3"You shall have no other gods before Me.

Psalms
“There is none like you among the gods, O Lord” (86:8); “For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods” (96:4); “Our Lord is above all gods” (135:5); “He is exalted above all gods” (97:7); “For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.” (95:3.).

​

So, why do you think these other gods exist, other than to make the god of Abraham jealous?

Exodus 34:14
For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:​

And, isn't jealousy a rather odd emotion for an omnipotent and omniscient god to have?

Jealousy
[jel-uh s]

1. feeling resentment against someone because of that person's rivalry, success, or advantages (often followed by of).

2. feeling resentment because of another's success, advantage, etc. (often followed by of).

3. Characterized by or proceeding from suspicious fears or envious resentment.



​

In my oh so limited contextual knowledge of scripture, from what I read the gods the God of Abaham (GoA) is refering to are pagan gods and idols. Here are some verses. (of course, people will correct me. Not my point though)

Deuteronomy 12:31

You shall not behave thus toward the LORD your God, for every abominable act which the LORD hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods

The pagans (thinking of, what was that movie, Ten Commandments where they made gods of gold and such. Gods just means objects of worship. GoA just wanted people to worship him only)

Be cursed is the man who makes an idol or a molten image, an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret ' And all the people shall answer and say, 'Amen.'

Deuteronomy 18:9-14

When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. (I feel sooo insulted as a pagan ) There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations theLord your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before theLord your God, ...

Gods are the things worshiped and practiced by pagans "people of the land".

There isn't any reference to another god like the GoA. As far as I know.

 

[George-ananda]

The God of Abraham says he isn't the only god around

Of course that is just what an ancient writer said that He said. I think He may often be a victim of bad publicists.

 

[Skwim]

Yes there were/are other gods, but no "LIVING" gods. There is only one living God. These are the other gods;
.

How do you know they aren't living anymore?

The pagans (thinking of, what was that movie, Ten Commandments where they made gods of gold and such. Gods just means objects of worship. GoA just wanted people to worship him only)

Be cursed is the man who makes an idol or a molten image, an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret ' And all the people shall answer and say, 'Amen.'

Deuteronomy 18:9-14

When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. (I feel sooo insulted as a pagan ) There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations theLord your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before theLord your God, ...

Gods are the things worshiped and practiced by pagans "people of the land".

There isn't any reference to another god like the GoA. As far as I know.

But the GoA doesn't say or even imply the gods referred to in the passages I posted were earthly things at all.


.

 

[rosends]

one could argue precise semantics in the verse which are worded rather strangely -- Ex 20:3 (and Deut 5:6) for example says "there should not be for you other gods". It doesn't say "don't worship other gods". Instead it says that there shouldn't be for you any gods (whether or not they exist in reality, you shouldn't establish them). Ex 34:17 tells the peopple not to make any gods for themselves. Interestingly, 34:14 says not to bow to other powers (the word means "power" and not just "god") and then 34:15 refers to the gods that the other nations worship which are, by definition, not valid BECAUSE they are what the other people worship. So the text seems to differentiate between God and gods. God exists in the text but gods, though they might be bjects of worship to humans, are so because they are constructs of humans.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

How do you know they aren't living anymore?


But the GoA doesn't say or even imply the gods referred to in the passages I posted were earthly things at all.

.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you. When GoA refers to Idols, he is refering to what (idols) and who (gods of the land) not any gods that are similar to himself. In the Bible, it doesn't explain the nature of any other god but the GoA. So, other gods can be a invisible Dunkey, for all we know.

 

[djhwoodwerks]

How do you know they aren't living anymore?

Act 7:39-40 (ESVST) 39 Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, 'Make for us gods who will go before us.

 

[Skwim]

one could argue precise semantics in the verse which are worded rather strangely -- Ex 20:3 (and Deut 5:6) for example says "there should not be for you other gods". It doesn't say "don't worship other gods". Instead it says that there shouldn't be for you any gods (whether or not they exist in reality, you shouldn't establish them). Ex 34:17 tells the peopple not to make any gods for themselves. Interestingly, 34:14 says not to bow to other powers (the word means "power" and not just "god") and then 34:15 refers to the gods that the other nations worship which are, by definition, not valid BECAUSE they are what the other people worship. So the text seems to differentiate between God and gods. God exists in the text but gods, though they might be bjects of worship to humans, are so because they are constructs of humans.

Of course it would differentiate between the god of Abraham and other gods. And I suggest that any such object of worship referred to in the text is more likely than not to be an icon of the supernatural god they worship. A god no less supernatural than the god of Abraham. Icons no different from the Cross of Jesus that people kneel down and supplicate themselves before.

 

[Skwim]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you. When GoA refers to Idols, he is refering to what (idols) and who (gods of the land) not any gods that are similar to himself. In the Bible, it doesn't explain the nature of any other god but the GoA. So, other gods can be a invisible Dunkey, for all we know.

See my reply to rosends above.

 

[rosends]

Of course it would differentiate between the god of Abraham and other gods. And I suggest that any such object of worship referred to in the text is more likely than not to be an icon of the supernatural god they worship. A god no less supernatural than the god of Abraham. Icons no different from the Cross of Jesus that people kneel down and supplicate themselves before.

the background stories of Judaism tell of people who confused the lesser powers (the heat or light of the sun, for example) with the one who created the sun, so they established the sun as an independent "god" even though it had no independent power.

 

[Skwim]

Act 7:39-40 (ESVST) 39 Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, 'Make for us gods who will go before us.

Sorry, but I fail to see how this indicate the gods referred to are no longer living? "No longer living" = Once lived, now don't live anymore.

 

[Skwim]

the background stories of Judaism tell of people who confused the lesser powers (the heat or light of the sun, for example) with the one who created the sun, so they established the sun as an independent "god" even though it had no independent power.

More tales from the past don't make or break Biblical passages.

 

[rosends]

More tales from the past don't make or break Biblical passages.

no, but they complement it and give it context and flesh out meaning.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Of course it would differentiate between the god of Abraham and other gods. And I suggest that any such object of worship referred to in the text is more likely than not to be an icon of the supernatural god they worship. A god no less supernatural than the god of Abraham. Icons no different from the Cross of Jesus that people kneel down and supplicate themselves before.

The citizens could have used the idols to represent supernatural gods. The Bible doesn't imply that. It says that humans made these gods and worshiped them as if they were the god/s rather than the GoA.

I wouldn't be surprised; however, I haven't read scripture to imply gods are anymore than what humans make as gods. Anything outside what humans create as gods, is what they call the one true god because he is not a thing or anything of that nature.

Also, you have to take into account of different interpretations. The cross is not seen to have god in it. They are geneflexing to the Eucharist to which the cross is behind it. They may bow to saints but mostly it's the sign of the cross. However, geneflex is reserved for Jesus Christ.

I mean, I see what you mean. I dont see how the Bible even says that there is anything supernatural in the idols. The only thing supernatural, according to the Bible, is GoA.

 

[djhwoodwerks]

Sorry, but I fail to see how this indicate the gods referred to are no longer living? "no longer living" = Once lived, now don't live anymore.

I don't know what you're looking for, but where in the Bible does it say there were other gods that live and breathe? The "other gods" the Bible speaks of are man made.

 

[Kelly of the Phoenix]

Saying the true God is invisible is also a good way to put a wrench in the religious iconography market.

 

[Nietzsche]

anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord.

I dunno about everyone else, but if I met a guy who could raise & command legions of the dead, I might tell the thing I was previously worshiping to either top that or to go f' itself.

 

[Flankerl]

I dunno about everyone else, but if I met a guy who could raise & command legions of the dead, I might tell the thing I was previously worshiping to either top that or to go f' itself.

Well don't cry like a little baby when Guts comes along the way and chops you and your Apostle friends up.

 

[Skwim]

The citizens could have used the idols to represent supernatural gods. The Bible doesn't imply that. It says that humans made these gods and worshiped them as if they were the god/s rather than the GoA.

Where does the Bible say this?

I wouldn't be surprised; however, I haven't read scripture to imply gods are anymore than what humans make as gods. Anything outside what humans create as gods, is what they call the one true god because he is not a thing or anything of that nature.

And what is your basis for concluding that these other gods are those that humans created?

I mean, I see what you mean. I dont see how the Bible even says that there is anything supernatural in the idols. The only thing supernatural, according to the Bible, is GoA.

Where does the Bible say this? Isn't Satan supernatural? Aren't angels supernatural? Aren't demons supernatural?