In Genesis 1:1 the word "Elohim" has a sense of plurality.
Judaism is monotheistic, but emerged from an environment with elements of polytheism.
Later, in Isaiah 44:6 the correct understanding of God is clarified and taught:
"...there is no God but me."
From this, one can see clearly, that...
Hi Indigo,
The question implied the goodness in contrast to "merely". Perhaps, I was thinking somewhat in terms of your aforementioned science perspective. I do see your point, and we don't disagree, however, I think that we can consider further:
I don't believe that God creates and then...
I think that it's reasonable to surmise that purposefully vague language is used in the Book of Revelation. Was emperor Domitian a tyrant?
"Fourth century writings by Eusebius maintain that Jews and Christians were heavily persecuted toward the end of Domitian's reign."
Domitian - Wikipedia
Are we merely a carbon-based life form? If we believe that all existence and life is in the mind of God (so to speak), what does that mean about us? (food for thought)
Hi, I fixed my wording (typographical) to clarify that I think that the word "man" in the Scriptures of this thread isn't gender specific and means "humans".
Yes, English lacks a gender-neutral pronoun (as we all know). Perhaps someone can tell us the meaning of the original Hebrew word "man"...
Jupiter ("father in heavens (sky)" was a male figure. Today, we have advanced to see "Father" more in terms of "Creator". To "father" as a verb, has that connotation. I don't know what the original Hebrew word for man is in a Scripture such as Numbers 23:19 is. However, I think that we can have...
Here I discuss my belief in the role of the holy spirit in the use of Jesus (as the christ [messiah]) in the parable intended for both Greco-Romans and Jews.
As we know, the Jewish people generally did not believe the unified religion, and did not believe statements about Jesus as messiah. This...
Hi, I no longer believe in the trinity teaching and I also no longer have to kid myself and others that it was logical to me.
People say that the Bible must be understand in context.
"the men who drew up the creeds and wrote the theological texts?"
They must also be understood in their...
Sirach 43:32
"Beyond these, many things lie hidden;
only a few of his works have I seen."
Sirach 1:6
"The root of wisdom—to whom has it been revealed?
Her subtleties—who knows them?"
Sirach 37:8
"Watch out when one offers advice;
find out first of all what he wants."
Is this two-party corporate-funded system a democracy?
Dictatorships: Number of options: 1
Two-party system: Number of options: 2
I think that "we the people" can help ourselves much more by voting for any candidate besides those of the two party system.
Every election we should have at least...
I believe that we see symbolism for Greco-Romans (as shown in many of my posts) and sacrificial lamb symbolism for Jewish people, in what you are saying here.
The Jewish Bible depicts that Elisha and Elijah participated in the resurrections of children.
2 Kings 13:21 says that a corpse came...
Hi, the use of the laws of Moses is shown in the Jewish Bible itself (Nehemiah). "Accepted by whom?" The Jewish people in Jerusalem. They knelt, then made booths as described in the law, and had a feast for seven days.
This thread is about references to the Bible in the Bible itself. The post about the Jewish Bible, correctly was restricted only to evidence from within the Jewish Bible itself. There is extra-Biblical evidence about the history of the Jewish Bible.
Capitoline triad. Jupiter ('pater') translates to "father in the heavens (sky)"
Jesus is depicted as ascending (taken up, carried up). Clearly fits Roman Jupiterian symbolism.
Hi, I don't recall if he said "monotheism" in particular, so I don't want to misquote Rabbi Skobac. Let me clarify by saying that he spoke of the general concepts that A.) Christianity is part of Jewish history, and B.) Christianity may be of God as part of a journey for others besides Jewish...
Hi Indigo,
"I think that these Scriptures (e.g. in light of how God worked through Moses) are the best to debate Christians."
Typographical: I meant to say that the Scriptures that show "God is not a man" are not the best in debates with Christians. The may have some value, because like this...
I don't think that the Christian Bible authors wanted to depict Jesus as being in disagreement with the Torah. The Jewish Bible is included with the Christian Bible. The Jewish Bible is referenced in some places to convey that Jesus is messiah.
Jesus did teach about the spirit of the law vs...
Yes. What is physical matter though? "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you." Scientists peer beneath the atomic level etc. But matter is part of existence and therefore because I believe that all existence is in God's mind (so to speak) that it is not "separate" from Him. So for God to...
Yes, I understand that reasoning, however the focus seems to be God teaching us to understand that He is not like us in the sense that He does not have the character flaws that we humans do. God also teaches that His thoughts are higher than ours and I see the first three of those Scriptures in...
Perhaps unlikely, and also perhaps unknown, but does a Jewish congregation of students of Jesus exist today, that is from an original congregation of the Jewish followers of Jesus?