I'm speaking about largely the OT here, the God Dagon is mentioned and there are numerous other references to a multiplicity of God's. Even the commandment "serve no other God but me" seems to imply the existance of other Gods. So then why are we lead to believe that "God" is the only God? Even to say "the One True God" is implying that there are other Gods, just not the correct one. Which brings up another question, How do we know that the God Christians are worshipping is the right God? Maybe he was just Greedy God and wanted all the glory for himself (maybe he's Satan...) and he convinced a bunch of desert wandering sandal wearer's to come up with a bunch of ambiguously worded texts proclaiming his authority after bribing them with concepts of paradise after death. I'm not trying to be a troll or anything here, I just want some reflection on this.
2006-07-26 12:10:50 · 27 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Your idea is not new. There was a group of people who actually did believe that the "God" who created our world, Yahweh, was a minor god because only a minor god would actually mess with matter. The cult was wiped out by the early Christian church, in rather a messy way. Of course, the church also wiped out the Cathars, too, and the Cathars simply had a couple of minor doctrinal differences. Hmmm. The church sure has gone against the commandments, hasn't it?
2006-07-26 12:15:51 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
your right its called polytheism/Idolatry.
their is a concept that worshiping other "gods" would bring about some force or power, but that is too complex a discussion for right now.
as for how G-d convinced a bunch of people in the dessert that he was G-d look what happened. You have a group of slaves taken out of what was the America of its day and leaving the land utterly destroyed and then they all hear G-d's voice in the desert speaking to them at the same time on Mt. Sinai. You have no other situation of a mass Prophesy in any other religion or text on earth.
you in turn can reflect on this
2006-07-26 12:18:18 · answer #2 · answered by Gamla Joe 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There were other gods in two ways.
1. People just imagined them to be gods when they weren't....
2. Some false gods were actually demonic spirits that the people worshipped. So they were not gods, but the people treated them like they were....
Both groups were called false gods, since they were not really god. They just had the name "god" assigned to them.
ancient example: some people thought the moon and sun were gods and worshipped them. Obviously they are just planets...and are not supernatural. Demons are supernatural but they are not gods either. they are fallen spirits.
modern day example....some people think money is a god.....they worship money.... but money is not really a god...and has no supernatural properties. But people will make it their highest priority in life, a place reserved for god only. Another example is worshipping movie stars as if they were god. These are false gods, and are not gods at all......
The concept of god is one of a spiritual being that is all powerful, all knowing, all present, creator and giver of life. There is only one God that qualifies. That is what the bible means.
2006-07-26 12:25:14 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
...or maybe the desert-wandering sandal-wearers came up with their own god, claiming him to be more powerful than the gods the other folks had, as part of their inferiority complex? Obviously they didn't have the huge civilizations, splendid cities, etc. of some of the other groups of the time (Egyptians, Babylonians, etc.), so they had to do something to feel better about their miserable existence...
A fact conveniently overlooked (or glossed over) by most christians is just what you brought up -- that the god of the old testament never claimed to be the one and only god, only to be the god of the Isrealites, their own special god just for them. That god acknowledged the existence of the gods of other people, he just claimed to be better than them and to be the one the Israelites should worship -- and for that worship and obedience to him, he promised to take care of them. It's not the same god most christians (mistakenly) believe in these days...
2006-07-26 12:17:14 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have wondered this same thing. Especialy the commandment about "no other gods before me" That does seem to imply that there are other gods out there. Also, UFO's are in the Bible, Ezekeal saw a flaming wheel in the sky.
Sorry I don't have an answer for you but know you are not the only one who wonders about this.
2006-07-26 12:18:49 · answer #5 · answered by Dave 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
what He means is that different people worship things like, money, fame, other people, things around them. All God wants is you. He gave His only begotten Son for our sins. Satan puts lies into your head to make you believe that God isn't real. God theres only one and He is so awesome. He loves you unconditionally. If you dont believe that, I am sorry. I'm not perfect and I dont want you to think that I am being judgmental, God, he's not greedy. Satan wants people to hate God. He is very deceitful. That's why people act the way they do.
2006-07-26 12:20:44 · answer #6 · answered by free4eva45 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
there are no other gods, but they were created by man. the "one and only true God" is for clarification on who the real and only God there is. They are for refence like Baal, he was an idol that was nothing but people worshipped it. They are gods in reference to being worshipped and named but not really gods but not the God of the Holy Bible Jesus Christ.
Hopefully this makes sense
2006-07-26 12:18:13 · answer #7 · answered by justwondering 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The difference is that all other gods besides GOD (YVWH, Jehovah) were man made. The NT even talks of money being a god...something manmade that is worshipped.
And GOD calls Himself a Jealous God, not greedy god.
2006-07-26 12:16:25 · answer #8 · answered by pknutson_sws 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Creator call's Satan the God of this World (Earth).
Jesus called us God's.
"God" mean's that you are given the Authority to Chose and Speak your own Word's.
satan is an Angel, Angel's were NOT given the right to Chose and Speak their own Word's. satan tried this and got kicked out of Heaven.
The Creator is a GOD, too. We are God's only in the sense that we have the Authority to Chose and Speak our own Words. We are not Creator's.
2006-07-26 12:18:33 · answer #9 · answered by maguyver727 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I want to take your question seriously, BUT you rambled and gave yourself away.
Other gods are mentioned in the Bible. They are called god's in the Bible.
But text without context is error.
If you were an Israelite back in OT times and you wanted to get God to judge you negatively in a hurry, you would begin the erect Asherah poles and make sacrifices to Baal.
God condemned those practices. FYI.
All of the rambling I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and call it . . . . . getting all the stupid stuff out.
2006-07-26 12:16:00 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋