A question on the first commandment

Mr0Mike0 · 3 months

From what I know, there were other gods. The god from the bible was, apparently, the god of war.

kamiltonian_dynamics · 3 months

Monotheistic Judaism grew out of a polytheistic tradition.

EDIT: That's why you have references to other deities, that's why Yahweh is so adamant on letting the Jews know that he was their god, that's why Pharaoh's magicians can perform magic. It's why Yahweh seems more like a petty human at times.

masterwolfe · 3 months

If I remember correctly, the Bible is a little vague on the issue of other gods, but it does mention other powers. Exodus has a couple references to the Egyptian magicians using powers that oppose Moses. This would seem to imply that there are other sources of supernatural power separate from God.

ProfessorHoneycutt · 3 months

This might help. Cheers.

JaronK · 3 months

The bible itself mentions other gods. The first genesis story, in the original language had "Elohim" as the deities. Elohim is plural, meaning "those of El." El was the Caananite overdeity, and the other gods were his children, so this effectively means "the gods."

In the second Genesis story, the deity was YHWH, currently called Yahweh or Jehovah (depending on how you pronounce it).

This means that the snake popping in and screwing up the garden makes sense... it was another god's snake.

Grapho · 3 months

The Bible calls something a god if it is worshiped in the place of the true God — Yahweh. But it does not recognize such "gods" as real, living entities.

"Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me." (Isa 43:10)

"And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell." (Deut 4:28)

"For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords” — yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. (1 Cor 8:5-6)

Wynns · 3 months

I recall reading somewhere that this type of language was to appease the traditions of the day where people might have "family gods" or whatever. The idea was that it allowed the polytheism of the time to meld with Christianity... as long as the Christian god was the main god.. everything was cool.

iam2bz2p · 3 months

Well, we should also count the Devil/Satan among the gods, no?

hakbor · 3 months

A just question my liege..

darkNergy · 3 months

Not necessarily. It could mean that you're supposed to worship the one god who obviously exists instead of all the other gods who are imaginary.

thename226 · 3 months

If you ask a fundie they'll say that anything you spend a lot of time with is a "God". Also, the bible does refer to statues, other inanimate things, and animals as Gods if people worship them.

I can give citations from the bible if needed.

PS: I'm an ex-fundie.

AL_CaPWN422 · 3 months

I always thought it was false gods you weren't supposed to worship.

SlaughterMeister · 3 months

Read The Early History of God by Mark S. Smith.

Nanocyborgasm · 3 months

That is actually the standard academic interpretation of that verse. At the time it was written, it is thought that Yahweh was simply the god of the Hebrews, who had a special covenant with them, and lived only in Israel. The same ideas were held by pagans, who viewed their gods as dwelling in specific locations, and having dominion over specific realms, just as there were different kingdoms for different kings. Temples were viewed as the homes of the gods, and services were typically performed outside of them, not inside.

Sergio-Flores_Saxman · 3 months

Old Jews believed God was the ultimate God. "Thou shout not worship any GODS before me.

otakuman · 3 months

Psalm 89:6 talks about the sons of gods, and about an assembly of heaven (this Psalm predates biblical monotheism).

SoleilSocrates · 3 months

I honestly forget the 10 commandments...I have horrible memory! Mind refreshing me!

gm64 · 3 months

For a subreddit that pride itself on "critical thinking," you seem to be doing whatever the opposite of that is.


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