The First Commandment
- Thread starter Cris
- Start date
truthseeker,
The commandment clearly talks about gods and I have seen nothing yet that indicates that he wasn't referring to the conventional meaning of supernatural beings.
So far it looks like God believed there were other gods.
How do you know that that was what he meant? If he had meant that then why didn't he say that?
The commandment clearly talks about gods and I have seen nothing yet that indicates that he wasn't referring to the conventional meaning of supernatural beings.
Fine, but there is no indication that that was how the commandment was meant to have been interpreted.
So far it looks like God believed there were other gods.
Jenyar,
The commandments have nothing to do with a benefactor God providing guidance to his chosen people, he would have no reason to mention other gods.
Yes of course, including those who wrote the ten commandments, they couldn't help themselves.
The commandments have nothing to do with a benefactor God providing guidance to his chosen people, he would have no reason to mention other gods.
Au contraire mon ami
The Ten Commandmends have everything to do with who God is and how He should be followed. Missing the point is called 'sin'.
The ten commandments are there to demonstrate two things: Love (respect) God alone with everything you have, and love (respect) the next person as yourself.
If you have a wife, do you show her respect by sleeping with someone else, even if it means nothing to you?
There is one God, and some people don't know which of the many gods they have heard of are Him. If you follow the ten commandmens you are admitting that you belong to Him. By them you can know who God is. And He is not other gods.
The Ten Commandmends have everything to do with who God is and how He should be followed. Missing the point is called 'sin'.
The ten commandments are there to demonstrate two things: Love (respect) God alone with everything you have, and love (respect) the next person as yourself.
If you have a wife, do you show her respect by sleeping with someone else, even if it means nothing to you?
There is one God, and some people don't know which of the many gods they have heard of are Him. If you follow the ten commandmens you are admitting that you belong to Him. By them you can know who God is. And He is not other gods.
REALLY, I DON'T THINK IT IS AN IMPLICATION. IT IS A CLEAR COMMAND BECAUSE IN THE DAYS WHEN THE 10 COMMANDMENTS WAS GIVEN TO THE ISRAELITES, THERE ARE OTHER EXISTING RELIGIONS, WHICH CHRISTIANITY/JEWISH TRADITION CONSIDER AS HAVING FALSE GODS. THAT WOULD BE TAKING THE COMMANDMENT LITERALLY.
TAKING THE COMMANDMENT IN OUR CONTEXT, THE OTHER GODS MAY THEN IMPLY OTHER THINGS THAT PRECIPITATED IN OUR CULTURE AND SOCIETY...LIKE MONEY, SEX, FAME, POWER...WHAT HAVE YOU.
REALLY, YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE TEXT IN ITS CONTEXT BUT THE CHRISTIANS BELIEVE THAT THE BIBLE APPLIES FOR ALL TIMES/PERIODS. SO, YOU ALSO TAKE THE TEXT INTO YOUR OWN CONTEXT.
I MYSELF WOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO REPHRASE IT BECAUSE IM A CHRISTIAN AND IT IS WRITTEN IN REVELATION (SOMEWHERE NEAR THE LAST VERSES) THAT WHOEVER ADDS TO OR DELETES/OMIT SOMETHING IN WHAT IS ALREADY WRITTEN CANNOT ENTER HEAVEN (OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT...I QUITE FORGOT)
FURTHERMORE, IT WOULDNT MAKE MUCH SENSE TO YOU OR TO ANY OTHER PERSON BECAUSE GOD AND HIS ENTIRETY IS BEYOND OUR COMPREHENSION. WE ARE MORTALS TRYING SO HARD TO COMPREHEND SOMETHING OUT OF OUR LEAGUE...THE IMMORTAL...ETERNITY. EVEN HIS CREATION IS STILL A PUZZLE TO US, HOW MUCH MORE CAN THE CREATOR BE KNOWN TO US?
Cris,
He said so...! And Jesus even points that out in Matthew 6...
There are religions that have false gods. It could easily be that. In fact, it could easily be both.
Just an example... you cannot Love God and love money at the same time. You cannot have two gods.
There WERE false gods. And there are still many false gods.
The gods thing
I'm not trying to start an arguement here, but does it not say, at least in King James version: We shall make man in our image? Is that not plural? Then it goes to the singular tense a couple of verses later. So, is it a misinterpretation with We shall make man in our image, or is it that the writer wanted people to believe in an omnipotent being-one God-but neglected to take the plural text out? Just a point I wanted to mention.
I'm not trying to start an arguement here, but does it not say, at least in King James version: We shall make man in our image? Is that not plural? Then it goes to the singular tense a couple of verses later. So, is it a misinterpretation with We shall make man in our image, or is it that the writer wanted people to believe in an omnipotent being-one God-but neglected to take the plural text out? Just a point I wanted to mention.
SanDolphin61
Registered Senior Member
Re: The gods thing
Yes it does and also says after our likeness.......This is explained as being the trinity by most Christian religions and I have not looked into this enough to have an opinion on it so I won't comment.
Yes it does and also says after our likeness.......This is explained as being the trinity by most Christian religions and I have not looked into this enough to have an opinion on it so I won't comment.
jenyar,
Not unless they are just imaginative ideas written by religious zealots. Claiming their ideas are really the commands from a god might be acceptable to a gullible ignorant people several thousand years ago, but they do not have any relevance to modern people.
We can reason for ourselves the value of love and mutual respect. You have clearly reasoned this for yourself since you are supporting the ten commandments, unless of course you want to claim that God is controlling your ability to reason. There is no need to introduce the concept of a supernatural component.
Again these values we can clearly determine for ourselves, as you are demonstrating here again.
Not quite. There are unsupported claims for one god. And there are many definitions of gods. Unless you also want to claim that there are multiple gods.
Since most of the commandments make direct reference to God, then it is effectively impossible to follow them without having a religious bent.
An authoritarian tyrant, who gives commands without teaching or explanation.
But it would appear that he thinks he is just one of many gods, according to the first commandment.
Cris ... gone Googlin'
Jewish History (Kent State)
It seems relevant to note that Google also spits out a website calledAkhenaten: Not an influence on Jewish monotheism. Still going through that.
But at this point, I'm still leaning toward the First Commandment protecting Yahweh-God's market-share in a heavily paganized region.
An interesting entry on Evolution from Jewish Encyclopedia includes notes on the evolution of religion:
However, the more I root around, the more I'm finding on henotheism in Jewish history, lending what I consider good credit to the notion that the First Commandment was an effort to preserve the Yahweh-God above all others worshipped in the area.
Also, it seems handy when a man marries a Jewish woman--it resolves handily whose church they go to.
:m:,
Tiassa
Jewish History (Kent State)
I spy, with my eye, something that begins with the letter "h".
It seems relevant to note that Google also spits out a website calledAkhenaten: Not an influence on Jewish monotheism. Still going through that.
But at this point, I'm still leaning toward the First Commandment protecting Yahweh-God's market-share in a heavily paganized region.
An interesting entry on Evolution from Jewish Encyclopedia includes notes on the evolution of religion:
Perhaps I should get off my lazy butt and put this together into a more organized essay.
However, the more I root around, the more I'm finding on henotheism in Jewish history, lending what I consider good credit to the notion that the First Commandment was an effort to preserve the Yahweh-God above all others worshipped in the area.
Also, it seems handy when a man marries a Jewish woman--it resolves handily whose church they go to.
:m:,
Tiassa