Can you handle the TRUTH?! A must read!

[MFA]

That first one is one I've always wondered about. Why would God need to warn us against "putting other gods before Me", if there were no other gods?

Judiasm, Christianity and Islam claim to be monotheistic religions, but here we have God himself implying that there are, indeed, other "gods"!

-Darth

There are all kinds of other gods.  People argue whether or not Judaism began as a monotheistic religion or evolved into one.  Either way, people still worship all kinds of "gods" or "idols" today, although we don't recognize it because these "gods" are not represented by physical statutes.  People worship security, money, entertainment, pleasure...etc., etc., etc.

[MFA]

Are you implying that God would be unaware  that man would create gods of wood, stone, gold, flesh, paper, technology, and any number of other things?  No man serves no god, you choose whom you serve, be it your government, your money, your television, your computer, or even your family, everyone fills that void with something and makes "something" their god.

Yeah ^, that.  Sorry, I just said the same thing because I didn't read that you had posted this.

[JustKari]

Yeah ^, that.  Sorry, I just said the same thing because I didn't read that you had posted this.

LOL Great minds and all that. 

[Darth Fife]

Are you implying that God would be unaware  that man would create gods of wood, stone, gold, flesh, paper, technology, and any number of other things?  No man serves no god, you choose whom you serve, be it your government, your money, your television, your computer, or even your family, everyone fills that void with something and makes "something" their god.

This is a popular spin used to explain away the conundrum I've highlighted.

It doesn't hold up under close examination.

A true God would readily understand that idols are just that - idols and not true gods. It would have been very easy for him to point this out in the First Commandment but, instead, he implies that there are other gods that are his equal but that they should not be placed before him.

This is actually one of the things that started me to doubt the "Word of God" interpretation of the Bible (along with the two different versions of Creation in Genesis). It is clear to me that when the wrote the Ten Commandments, the Hebrew leaders were well aware that their "God" was just one of many worshiped by man in the ancient world. They wanted to make sure that anyone who bought into their religion would acknowledge their god as being the supreme God.

-Darth

[MFA]

This is a popular spin used to explain away the conundrum I've highlighted.

It doesn't hold up under close examination.

A true God would readily understand that idols are just that - idols and not true gods. It would have been very easy for him to point this out in the First Commandment but, instead, he implies that there are other gods that are his equal but that they should not be placed before him.

It certainly does not imply that they are equal.  You're reading that into the text.  The only issue is whether or not it allows other gods, as long as those other gods don't interfere with YHWH being first (which is certainly a possible meaning).

This is actually one of the things that started me to doubt the "Word of God" interpretation of the Bible (along with the two different versions of Creation in Genesis). It is clear to me that when the wrote the Ten Commandments, the Hebrew leaders were well aware that their "God" was just one of many worshiped by man in the ancient world. They wanted to make sure that anyone who bought into their religion would acknowledge their god as being the supreme God.

-Darth

And what is this "Word of God" interpretation?  Is it possible that your belief fell because it was built on an illegitimate foundation (e.g., a "Word of God" interpretation)--one that the Bible does not even communicate?  And that the rest of your belief toppled like a series of dominoes because that first domino was incorrect to begin with?

[Darth Fife]

It certainly does not imply that they are equal.  You're reading that into the text.  The only issue is whether or not it allows other gods, as long as those other gods don't interfere with YHWH being first (which is certainly a possible meaning).

And what is this "Word of God" interpretation?  Is it possible that your belief fell because it was built on an illegitimate foundation (e.g., a "Word of God" interpretation)--one that the Bible does not even communicate?  And that the rest of your belief toppled like a series of dominoes because that first domino was incorrect to begin with?

Most Christians I know believe, at the very least, that the Bible is the "inspired" word of God.

My belief "toppled" because, I started to ask questions. Rational questions. Reasonable questions. And the only answers I got made a carnival sideshow huckster's pitch sound reasonable by comparison.

If you  are saying the Bible isn't, the Word of God, then it has no more validity (or basis in fact) than, say, Homer's story about Atlantis or the Greek stories of Zeus, and Perseus and Andromeda.

-Darth

[Solar]

My belief "toppled" because, I started to ask questions. Rational questions. Reasonable questions. And the only answers I got made a carnival sideshow huckster's pitch sound reasonable by comparison.

Let me guess, you asked other idiots that were as clueless as you?
I asked God and got the straight answer, which language fails to interpret.

[MFA]

Most Christians I know believe, at the very least, that the Bible is the "inspired" word of God.

Yes.  But Christians define the process and even the meaning of "inspired" very differently.

My belief "toppled" because, I started to ask questions. Rational questions. Reasonable questions. And the only answers I got made a carnival sideshow huckster's pitch sound reasonable by comparison.

I would suggest that you asked the wrong people then.

If you  are saying the Bible isn't, the Word of God, then it has no more validity (or basis in fact) than, say, Homer's story about Atlantis or the Greek stories of Zeus, and Perseus and Andromeda.

-Darth

WHAT!?  Before I'll even address that, what do you mean by "Word of God"?  I'm not going to defend an ambiguously defined statement.  The Bible itself does not claim to be the "Word of God."  So what do you mean by that?

[Darth Fife]

Okay... I think we need a new thread as this one is wandering off into the weeds.

Agreed?

-Darth

[MFA]

Okay... I think we need a new thread as this one is wandering off into the weeds.

Agreed?

-Darth

Good idea.  Thanks for that.  I appreciate the discussion.  So many people don't know how to do that...