If so, where?
Why would there be a commandment to not worship other gods?
I understand that Yahweh picks on those who worship idols but it says nothing about other gods. As a matter of fact some other gods get some play in the old testament.
The new testament is quiet on this issue.
2007-11-05 00:48:57 · 27 answers · asked by Emperor Insania Says Bye! 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
LabGrrl - I like your comparisons. Cracks me up.
2007-11-05 01:49:46 · update #1
Quoting scriptures that say do not bow before other gods or you shouldn't worship other gods does not answer the question. I already understand that as a Christian I cannot do that. It does not answer whether or not there ARE other gods.
2007-11-05 01:52:46 · update #2
Mary P - you clearly understand what I am asking. Thank you.
2007-11-05 01:54:01 · update #3
New Testament - oh yeah, forgot about the Zeus thing. But Paul was quick to dismiss that he was Zeus, not that Zeus did not exist.
Saying that there are other gods has no impact on the belief in my belief in Yahweh. I still worship him so I'm having a hard time figuring out why we equate belief with worship.
2007-11-05 01:56:08 · update #4
Example - I'm married. I love my wife. My heart belongs to her. I acknowledge that other girls exist but they do not have my heart like my wife does.
The same goes for God. Yahweh has my worship, while I can believe there are other gods, they do not have my worship.
I still have a hard time with seeing how that belief is having other gods before Yahweh.
2007-11-05 02:00:42 · update #5
If the ancient gods were man-made then chances are.....this one is too ;)
2007-11-12 03:45:38 · answer #1 · answered by Cal A 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Bible and the Christian religion state that there is only one true God. This God is a Trinity: 3 Persons in 1 Being. However, the Bible (and therefore true Christianity, which follows the Bible as the Word of God) recognizes that some people will worship something other than this Trinity as a god. These are defined as false gods. This is shown by the difference in capitalization. These gods are not real, which is why the Bible states that there is only one God, or that there are no other Gods. But, because some people will worship them, the Bible commands that one not worship other gods.
God is described as a jealous God. However, the word has evolved to have a different main meaning than when it was used at the time the King James Version of the Bible was written. Jealous as used here means "Intolerant of disloyalty or infidelity; autocratic: a jealous God." This is like a king who is intolerant of his subjects living in his country but serving his enemy.
I do not claim to fully understand how God can be 3 and 1 at the same time, or some other characteristics of God. If I could fully understand Him, He would not be God. I, as a limited being, cannot understand an unlimited Being. God is greater than I, and if I could understand Him completely, I would be greater than He. Why would I want to serve a God that I am better than?
I realize that my answer will probably not convince you that Christianity is truth, but I hope that it does answer your question.
2007-11-05 01:38:27 · answer #2 · answered by jmc4christ 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Bible says that Yahve, or Jehovah is the one and only true God. He is the only one that exists.
Other people worshiped other gods (for example: Baal, Astarte, Moloc), but that do not mean they existed. If you pay attention to the Old Testament you would notice the step by step revelation god provides:
* At the beggining only God (Yaveh, Jehovah, Adonai) is presented.
* Then, other nations changed the true God by other gods / idols; Yaveh is presented as superior, more powerfull than those other gods.
* Then, the idea of those gods are ridiculed, check the passage of Elijah vs the 400 priests of Baal.
* At last Isaiah concluded that the other gods are just the idols, gods of stone or wood that have ears and can not hear, have eyes and can not see. Isaiah analyses the foolish of this when he wrote that man go to the forest, bring down a tree, take part of the wood to make an idol and worship it; and at the same time took the rest of the wood for the fireplace.
2007-11-05 01:14:12 · answer #3 · answered by Darth Eugene Vader 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The word "gods" appears in the bible I believe 183 times (or there about, I know someone that had an online version and did a search for the word and it came up with that many results) and is usually in in reference to the fact that other peoples, such as the Hittites, worshipped different gods. Even the commandment that says that they should have no other gods before God doesn't say that there aren't other gods, nor that one should not worhip other gods, on that GOD has to be first and foremost.
As to the fact that the new testament says little or nothing about other gods, remember that the bulk of it is foucsed on Jesus and his life and teachings moreso than anything else so the mention of other gods from other peoples being absent is understandable.
2007-11-05 07:10:32 · answer #4 · answered by kveldulf_gondlir 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, it does.
Habakkuk 2:18-20
Deut. 4:28-39
Deut. 32:17, 37-39
1 Cor. 8:4-6
These are just a few references. If you have a concordance look up the words "god" and "gods". Also, read the prophets if you have any doubt what God thinks of these other gods.
The commandment not to worship other gods is there because God is jealous of our attention and affection. When you are a Christian, you belong to God. He doesn't want you bowing down to other gods who have done nothing for you and don't exist. It's like your spouse committing adultery. When you are married, do you want your husband or wife to be spending large amounts of time with another man or woman? Telling them how wonderful they are and declaring their love for that other person? Would you want them to sleep with that other person? No. When you love someone, and they "belong" to you, you are jealous of their love and attention - you want it all to be given to you and not someone else. And that isn't wrong - that is a good thing! It means you really love the person. If you were ambiguous, and you really didn't care if they stayed faithful to you or not, that would indicate that you really don't love them that much.
God feels the same way - all through the old testament, he describes Israel as "whoring after other gods". He is saying that it's as if they are committing adultery with these other gods.
Make sense?
2007-11-05 01:47:24 · answer #5 · answered by Blue Eyed Christian 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It clearly states that there are other Godlike people. What are the angels if not Gods or at least demi Gods? What are demons? What is Satan but the God of the Underworld? Christianity is anything but monotheistic. The term for God in the Bible is Elohim which translate as three or more. From this came the trinity. It could have been more from the translation. It seems that an arbitrary decision was made to choose three but it could easily have been 100.
God talks of creating man in "OUR" image. He was clearly talking to others, be they other Gods, demi Godys, Saints, Helpers, Elves - who knows.
2007-11-05 00:59:49 · answer #6 · answered by penster_x 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The bible does say there is but one God
the bible also says that Jesus is his sun and therefore is a god as well.
I could go through and find many places where there are references to other gods.
The devil is mentioned many times. He supposedly was sent out of heaven to dwell in hell so he must have been a god as well. Some say he was the brother of the one people call god. Another family feud it seems.
Do not believe anything you read in any religious writings. Not that they are all lies but that they are based on what does not exist.
2007-11-05 01:11:58 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I had this out with a theology prof in college. The old testament does imply that there are other gods. Two of the ten commandments mention this. No sense in being redundant. That is the argument I used then and he admitted that it did sound that way. Also, remember in genesis about the sons of god mating with human females?
2007-11-05 01:09:09 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Deuteronomy 5:8-10
verse 9: You shall not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me
2007-11-05 00:55:57 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are a few N.T. references to other gods. For example, in Acts 14 when Paul healed a cripple in Lystra, the people started hailing him and Barnabas as Hermes and Zeus come to them in human form ... and it mentions a priest of Zeus getting ready to offer a major sacrifice of bulls to them.
Later, in Acts 17, Paul found himself surrounded by idolatry and worship of a plethora of gods in Athens. He very diplomatically used one of the inscriptions "to an unknown god" to make the case for God.
2007-11-05 01:12:20 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
People believed in other gods from the beginning of time. But what God says is that those are false gods and they should not be worshipped.
What I have trouble with is where God refers to "us" and "our" in this verse: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:..." (Genesis 1:26)
Who are the others that make up "us" and "our" to God? This seems to say there are other equals to God.
2007-11-05 10:15:32 · answer #11 · answered by Michael B - Prop. 8 Repealed! 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋