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One God Versus Many

One God Versus Many - A Solitary God in the Company of Many (Part 2)

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The concept of the Christian Trinity is puzzling, to say the least, but what about the Jewish/Christian god’s admittance to the existence of other gods? Here are the Old Testament instances where this god identifies, or admits, the existence of other gods. Most of the verses relate to the law as it was handed down to and recorded in the Torah by the Jewish patriarch Moses.

“For on this same night I will go through Egypt…executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt—I, the Lord!” Exodus 12:12

 “You shall not have other gods besides me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them.” Exodus 20:3-5

“Whoever sacrifices to any god, except to the Lord alone, shall be doomed.” Exodus 22:19

 “You shall no revile God (or the gods), nor curse a prince of your people.” Exodus 22:27

“Make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.”  Exodus 23:13

“Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.”  V. 24

“Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.” v.32

“For the LORD, your God, is the God of gods, the Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome.” Exodus 10:17

“I will pronounce my sentence against them for all their wickedness in forsaking me, and in burning incense to strange gods and adoring their own handiwork.” Jeremiah 1:16

This Hebrew god makes it clear that his followers are not to worship other gods, going so far as to threaten punishment for doing so. Sound familiar? Yet not only does this god admit to being one of many, his followers do as well (though they claim him to be better than the others).

“Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods?” Exodus 15:11

“Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods.” Exodus 18:11

“And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.” 1 Samuel 28:13

“The Lord ... is to be feared above all gods.” 1 Chronicles 16:25

“God standeth in the congregation of the mighty, he judgeth among the gods.” Psalm 82:1

“I have said, Ye are gods.” Verse 6

“Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord.” Psalm 86:8

 “For the Lord ... is to be feared above all gods.” Psalm 96:4

“Worship him, all ye gods.” Psalm 97:7

 “Our Lord is above all gods.” Psalm 135:5

 “O give thanks unto the God of gods. Psalm 136:2

“Thus you shall say of them: Let the gods that did not make heaven and earth perish from the earth, and from beneath the heavens.” Jeremiah 10:10

“The Lord will be terrible to them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth.” Zephaniah 2:11

According to these verses it appears as though early followers recognized their god as one of many.  Jews and Christians believe these references are not necessarily about living gods, but rather man-made idols. This is a possible explanation, though one may assume that at least the all-knowing god would be able to confer his meaning accurately if such were the case.

Yet other verses again claim that there is only one god in the Old Testament. For example:

"This is what the Lord says — Israel's King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.” Isaiah 44:6

This is only one of many similar verses that claim the existence of only one god. How is it possible that there are many and yet only one? Did only one god out of many form the heavens and the earth, or did only one exist? These scriptures seem to contradict themselves, causing one to wonder whether or not they should seriously be considered in the first place. While one cannot help but to admit that the Jewish/Christian concept of a single god is revolutionary, it is also hard to comprehend, and thus hard to get behind.

References

The Skeptic's Annotated Bible

Who is the God in Genesis?

Bible

How many Gods?

 

Comments

Peter Harrap's picture

It is not for us to describe God, or makes claims for it. We are a part of it and are surrounded by its manifestations.  Enjoy them!!!

 

decided to post the egg link as a home page..but too ignorant to know if it works see

Johan Hendrick · Nimbin univerity

Charlie Jenkins your right of course but we need to comprehend the concepts of mortality/finality/other and all the possibilities one can only gain by looking beyond the self sufficiency of the wholy holy father of 'at-one-ment '

we [ie he/me/u] are being being our many parts together we reveal the greatness of the one sustaining all our being

iis not your hand yet a part of your body oh arm?

Reply · Like

· Unfollow Post · June 2 at 8:09pm

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I am reminded that loki is a big key in all of this [he was one who tested 'the gods' ..ie us too many times just to try to get us to wake up facebook page link deleted its wandferd down a few posts since then anyhow so I will try to surmise or summer ize or better allow us to be surprised ..yeah the later ..anyhow have a nice day..wonder what loki has in store for us so beware the trickster comes

then I replied a few other posters eg bellona Edmonds love is a many variable term [does not a cat love the mouse it plays with that dies]..love is a sacred-word [a s-word]..that's why even loving ourselves is as danger..and the only true love is the love of other..

nothing can change till we do that..even loving the turning of the other cheek..because the one tearing itself apart is a thing we don't want to see..

[I guess im really only talking to me]too.. but heck what else when we too are an eternal part of it all...seeking simply to know thyself...[then a few more as I followed the lead of other replies..that I then referenced back to 8 posts from last year at olo forum at other posts that might have moved further down[but I tok some notes under the vision of the girl in pink [2de video I mentioned]..previous post..anyhow as I say we are all simply to play our many and varied parts in the role of the holy holy ones self discovery process we enjoin into via loving other as but other recv-elations of the greater ourself [the one holy spirit]..god of gods its not our smallness we fear..but that we shall be called to greater duty that fall upon self realised 'gods'

the key for the revelation was the previous you tube clip but the conversation evolved from this clip :"The Dumbest People Ever"..the conversation I replied to begins under the words of paul Watson with these words [Our attention spans are less than that of a goldfish] my reply lies further down that then goes to another topic [its easier to quote it by rote lets just say I love many dumb arses [including myself a fool]but alex paul rusty max and even in the video/we have to be able to laugh at ourselves to see the big joke of 'self'..its simple yet its complex its reverent relevant yet irrelevant even irrelevant in seeing me I see u [iou=icu2]..its interesting and true in a way.

.[in reality there is only god]..that said yet again the god concept isnt enough..we are all of the holy spirit..like cells in our body collectivly become me or i [eye] me inverted becomes we..the eye that i am in finding out what rather that who i really be..to love other is to love thyself..that we do unto the least we did do unto he [me]..u/we and he

and yet i am not he..[i am of the light as are you/but none of is is de-light..nor the he that is me..but see collectivly we are i or one..in time we reach the big atonement..but till then we learn from 'each other' via a sure process we find good and bad in other but realise the greatest vile enables a greater good in ending it..but i go back to the one page to expand the comment of this 'atonement=at one meant.;/

the ht's and p etc at 'thespiritscience
net 'One of the best dialogues ever written! EVER! The egg.'
anyhow more links are there

the story is confusingly phrased because its not good to disrupt the lived experience of each part that reveals the bigger picture [that of the wholly holy one=the holy spirit]..far beyond even the concept of god for that creator/father of everyone is the sun.[thus undeniably god [at least in this 'solar system is god..but not the wholy holy one who sustains the living of all even our god [ie the sun]..but lets explain

.it might help to call him [god/the father sun..adam..for just like adam gave up his rib to eve..we too [or rather our earthy mother was but an ejaculation that wast ejected just like adams rib..but from our father sun [god/adam or ana [apha negative alpha 4 short] ..

so where to take it from here see that the light from the sun is via the wholy holy one the source atonement of the life giving lights from all the suns..[indeed we are spirits evolving and one day in this vast eternity shall in our own time become as our father sun..and ejaculate our own opposing parts [eves/or wives..mothers]..yes even you not currently male but each part has its learnings lessons teachings and part to make sense of it all.
.so let end this one by seeing the holy light from the sun..falls upon adams many wives [the planets contained in gods own solar system]..we live upon the fertile one..the good seed of gods ejaculate..anyhow keep it simple light via logic of logus sustains life living trusting we reveal our own light of the most holy only one in our own time/way till his uni-verse is filled with de-light of the only holy one..of which we each reveal but a small p-art..as funny as it seems we all each play a small part ..so lets laugh at us ourselves from the heart

context is everything in progressive revelation..we know mankind has many 'gods' but the holy spirit is one..[the true one] the one of mankinds full atonement [at-one-meant]..please see that in the beginning the suns of god rejected the oneness and fell into 'the deep' where each of the suns of de-light..had their own let there be light moment/noting there is one active most wholly holy spirit..that is the inner source of all 'light..that via logic sustains life that the living find their love via their own de-light...to be clear there is own holy spirit+many suns of the light [for all intent and purpose there is only the one we call good knowable via his grace and mercy..and his signs [light love logic mercy life grace etc where these are he is shining forth his delight]..but effectively our 'god' is the sun [and heaven is filled with the suns of de-light]..so yes there are many 'gods' but only the one wholly holy spirit..in have explained it better at other times but as links are not allowed at you tube search for JADE HELM IS PROJECT LOKI..loki as many might know confounds the gods ]..links at that thread under oneundergod lead to other links..that explain the concept of the most holy one and only good [ie the classic one true god..revealed via the leaser suns of de-light.

According to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons), this is a good question, to which there is a good answer. Simply put, there is one God, God the Father, who is the supreme God to us all. There is His son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which three make up the godhead. Therefore, Jesus is also god, and the son of God. The Holy Ghost is god, a member of the godhead. We, however, pray to God our Eternal Father. We worship Him. Worshiping anything or anyone else is strictly forbidden, whether it be an idol ‘god’ as in the Old Testament or a ‘god’ in the form of fame, fortune or status.
The scriptures in Genesis using “us” refer to the members of the godhead. That should be very straight forward. Where God is referred to in the singular, let us remember that these scriptures were originally written by a man, a person. People are often in-exact in their language. Moses (the author of Genesis) could have used the word ‘God’ to mean the godhead, or God the Eternal Father. Either way, this should not be looked at as a point of conflicted meaning.
The verse in Exodus (20:3-5) and other places where and other god or gods are referenced, it is because the people of that time created idols, and Ideas and worshiped them as a god or gods. The language is not justifying that practice or legitimizing the claim that those things were in fact gods, it is just condemning the practice of worshiping anything else as a god except the true and living God. It uses the word ‘god’ so that the people will know and understand what He is talking about.
That is not to say that there are not real and legitimate gods, as described in 1 Sam 28:13. Consider that we are sons and daughters of God. We are His spirit children. Romans 8:16-17 says “…we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ…” As any child grows up to become like their parent, we can become like our Father and “joint heirs with Christ”, who is ‘one’ with His Father (John 17:11). This point of Doctrine is very different that main-stream Christian religions, yet it is true. We can become Heavenly parents with spirit children, having eternal families. In the end, however, to us, there is only ONE God, the one that we worship, our Heavenly Father.

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E.C. Rammel

E.C. Rammel is the author of Two Is Better Than One and The Oyster and the Pearl. She holds her accreditation in English and Intercultural Studies and has worked as an instructor in numerous U.S. institutions. She... Read More

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