The ‘God’ of the old testament is completely different from the Jesus Christ of the new testament.
Being a polytheist, I believe that both of them are powerful spirit gods.
I dislike the old testament and I am not willing to worship that “God”, although I respect Jesus.
For anyone who has read it, YHWH was said to practice collective punishment. The ten plagues of egypt are a perfect example. Not all egyptians were evil, but because of their king’s choice, they all suffered, instead of “God” only targeting the king. Things like “righteous anger”, and divine jealousy over worship are terrible beliefs. Jesus’ attempt to reform religion went a long way, even if it wasn’t perfect. Jews killed jesus and other early christians too. They were not nice guys with their fancy god’s chosen race bullshit.
Jesus was a Jew. It was the Romans who killed Jesus. That fact is supported by extra-Christian sources. Those few Jews who colluded with the Romans according to the gospel accounts were from one sect that was cooperating with the Roman occupation. That the Jews have some sort of collective responsibility and guilt for what a few allegedly did, is based on a distorted view of justice that has had tragic consequences for the Jews.
But then the same can be said for the KKK.
What did saul do before he was having his revelation? He killed early christians and was a jew. It did happen. Christianity was a derivative of judaism, only with new texts added to old noes. This was seen by some as apostacy.
I don’t think that’s what Dan was saying.
and oddly enough that was one of the things citicized about the God of the old testiment in the OP… that he judged a whole people by the actions of a few or in this case the actions of their king.
Where is your evidence that Saul killed anybody? I suppose they could see it any way they wanted to. So what?
Israel was a nation. KKK is a hate group.
Unless my memory of the bible that ive heard is terribly wrong, Saul was trying to oppress and kill christians, then one day his donkey or horse or whatever talked to him and there was a blinding light, and he was blinded for a while. Then he changes his name to paul and tries to be an apostle, and starts being a big influence. Funny who god chooses.
The Pharisees were a hate group (and still are as far as I can tell).
I agree with the General premise of the OP, that said all my knowledge of the Old testament is second hand at best. So perhaps I shouldn’t really have a position.
So you’re also a Polytheist Dan? Why’s that?
I don’t see that. Wikipedia states:
Some [scholars] have speculated that Jesus was himself a Pharisee and that his arguments with Pharisees is a sign of inclusion rather than fundamental conflict (disputation being the dominant narrative mode employed in the Talmud as a search for truth, and not necessarily a sign of opposition).[33] Jesus’ emphasis on loving one’s neighbor (see Great Commandment), for example, echoes the teaching of the school of Hillel. Jesus’ views of divorce, however, are closer to those of the school of Shammai, another Pharisee.
Others have argued that the portrait of the Pharisees in the New Testament is an anachronistic caricature. Though a minority of scholars follow the Augustinian hypothesis, most scholars (including Christians and non-Christians) date the composition of the Christian gospels to between 70 and 100 CE, a time after Christianity had separated from Judaism (and after Pharisaism emerged as the dominant form of Judaism). Rather than an accurate account of Jesus’ relationship to Pharisees and other Jewish leaders, this view holds that the Gospels instead reflect the competition and conflict between early Christians and Pharisees for leadership of the Jews, or reflects Christian attempts to distance themselves from Jews in order to present themselves in a more sympathetic (and benign) light to Romans and other Gentiles — thus making them a biased source concerning the conduct of the Pharisees.
Besides, the New Testament picture of the Pharisees is not all negative. Apostle Paul boasts of being a Pharisee. Gamaliel is portrayed as a wise man who showed judicious restraint toward the early Jesus community.
Appose and oppress yes, but I know of know evidence that he killed anybody as you stated above.
I’m a polytheist because it seems like the most reasonable position to take on theism in general.
I’m not a creationist, but I do believe a few things were either engineered or created. Most of it wasn’t, though.
I think it would be sad if a higher being declared himself, herself or itself a god, but it is just a word.
I believe in many higher forces in nature. Not just one.
They are both good and evil, just like both good and evil arose in the realms of mortals, by consequence.
Monism doesn’t make sense in some cases, although some truths are one, some truths are many.
Same with gods.
I’m glad I kept reading this thread before posting a response. Cuz I was going to work up a post similar this this one from Felix. Great minds think alike. Great post Felix …
I dislike the old testament because it’s too highly revered for something that comes out of the bronze age.
I’m going with Einstein on this one :
“The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation, no matter how subtle, can (for me) change this.
For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions. And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people. As far as my experience goes, they are also no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything ‘chosen’ about them.”
~Albert Einstein’s ‘God Letter’