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Are the gods friends with each other?

trablano

Member
I'm coming from a christian background but for some years now I'm not only going to Jesus with prayers but also to Odin and Zeus, sometimes Krishna, sometimes Allah. I find that all of these deities are good to me and I revere them. But I have issues with the assorted myths.

Yahweh is said to have caused wars and bloodshed, Odin is said to use magic and not divine powers, Zeus is said to have raped women and Krishna and Allah also have writings ascribed to them which do not portray them as benevolent.

That's why I think the ancient writings need to be reexamined and it remains to be seen whether we can or even should rely on them, and whether we maybe need new holy writings.

I believe that the ancients did not themselves see the books as so holy. They relied more on what was going around, what people experienced with God and what they said in temples or churches or mosques. It could be said that the so-called holy books are the doom of religion, except when we're free to take the good from these writings but not the bad. In the bible there are many good portions, such as "The Lord is friendly and his goodness endures forever". But there are also many bad portions, such as "The godless need be annihilated" and such.

Isn't it easy to see that the ancients lived another life and asked different things from God? Often the gods fueled the people's nationalism. My God was supposed to be stronger and more cruel than your God, so you would not attack me with the same fierceness my God was able to bestow on our warriors. I think that's sometimes been the essence of ancient thinking.

But in reality, if you go to the Gods for real and pray to them and ask them about themselves, they are all kind and benevolent beings who have the same wishes and wills like gentle humans like Gandhi or Bonhoeffer or Ossietzky or Elvis. I'm not sure why christians still take the bible for infalllible, such a teachings is crazy because we shouldn't undo the progress we have already made.

What do you think?
 

The Kilted Heathen

Crow FreyjasmaðR
Odin is said to use magic and not divine powers
Who's to say Odin's magic isn't a divine power? In the myths, though, he utilizes both. It was not through seiðr that he sacrificed himself upon the boughs of Yggdrasil, or gave his eye for a drink of Mímir's well. Nor how he and his brothers fashioned Midgard, or how he, Hœnir and Lóðurr made humanity.

Yet most myths are seen as just that - myths.

As for the Gods getting along, it really depends. From the myths, their relationships are complex within their own tribes and pantheons. They bicker and fight amongst themselves - which could be teaching a lesson, or it could be an observation on the nature of things. Some people will tell you through their Unverified Personal Gnosis that certain gods dislike others, or prefer the company of others. In the end, though, it matters little.
 

René_LL

New Member
I can only understand God, not gods. What make a god a god? Is it about power? To me God is the Creator, therefore God can not simply be a part of creation.
 

trablano

Member
Well, some of what we find in these ancient writings, is just myth and legends and fairytales, if you will. So the real point is, what is the truth about our ancient Gods?
 

SomeRandom

Still learning to be wise
Staff member
Premium Member
If humans are created in the image of the Gods, why shouldn't the Gods themselves be flawed and fallible?
What if Gods, though more powerful, are just as prone to "defects" as humans?
 

rusra02

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
I think that "what the nations sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers with the demons. You cannot be drinking the cup of Jehovah and the cup of demons." (1 Corinthians 10:20,21) I believe our worship should go only to Jehovah, as Jesus said. (Matthew 4:10)
 

trablano

Member
This doesn't surprise me coming from a pharisee who could never quite shake his phariseism. But nevertheless he knew that the law was done away in Christ and that should include the prohibition to know only one God. And given that the other religions also have spiritual evidence for their gods, this is timely and apt. We don't need another dark age where only Jesus is allowed as a God and where other faiths are purged with fire and sword.
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
We only have loving happy Gods and Goddesses who get along with each other happily. What to talk of other Gods, they will bow and salute the sages too. And if the sages for any reason get angry and curse the deities, then the curse is not dismissed but respectfully fulfilled. Our world is a little different.
 

trablano

Member
You mean a sage can curse a god? No way, man, the gods are holy and cannot be cursed. They curse nobody and only bless. They are subject to the rules of the Father God, who is Jesus' Baba...
 

trablano

Member
I don't know anything about divine powers, only that they're different from magic. Magic uses willpower and tries to defy gods. The Gods have blessings and creative and protective and many other powers at their disposal. For example Zeus can send you a flash of genius. Abba can say a word and it happens. Jesus can touch you and it brings healing.
 

The Kilted Heathen

Crow FreyjasmaðR
So the real point is, what is the truth about our ancient Gods?
What truths are evident, simply put.

They curse nobody and only bless.
There are many stories of many gods cursing each other and mankind. The gods can harm us - very much seen - if we get in their way. Every day needs a night, and all of existence is most certainly not love-and-light.

Magic uses willpower and tries to defy gods.
No, magic is using one's willpower to work with the energies of the Earth and the gods - not in defiance of them.
 
The Bible answers this question. Here, it is. Now, you tell me what the Father of Jesus Christ thinks about all these Gods. (No, Yahweh is not the Father of Jesus Christ) "No one has gone to the Father that has not come to the Father."

Psalm 82New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Psalm 82[a]
The Downfall of Unjust Gods

1 A psalm of Asaph.

I
God takes a stand in the divine council,
gives judgment in the midst of the gods.
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and favor the cause of the wicked?
Selah
3 “Defend the lowly and fatherless;
render justice to the afflicted and needy.
4 Rescue the lowly and poor;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
II
5 The gods neither know nor understand,
wandering about in darkness,
and all the world’s foundations shake.
6 I declare: “Gods though you be,[c]
offspring of the Most High all of you,
7 Yet like any mortal you shall die;
like any prince you shall fall.”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth,[d]
for yours are all the nations.
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
You mean a sage can curse a god? No way, man, the gods are holy and cannot be cursed. They curse nobody and only bless.
Well, sages are nice people but they can also be affected by 'maya' (worldly illusions). Sage Narada (one of the seven immortals of Hinduism) once wanted to marry a beautiful princess and approached Lore Vishnu to make him as attractive as himself. Even this desire was a play by Lord (lila). To teach the sage to keep away from worldly desires, the Lord gave him a monkey's face.

Of course, at the 'swayamvara' of the princess (the ceremony of choosing a groom for herself), every one including the princess and her companions could not stop laughing at seeing Narada and asked him to look at his face. When he became aware of the trick that Lord had played with him, he barged into Lord's heaven and berated him. Narada cursed that he (the Lord) will also need the help of monkey's to recover his consort. Later in the 'Rama' avatara, it is the monkey army which helped him to defeat the demon king Ravana and get Mother Sita released.

But Narada learnt the lesson that even the most devoted can also be deceived by 'maya', and one has to be on guard every moment of his life. As I said, our world is different (where a strong atheist can also be a Hindu).
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
I remember Jesus cursing the cities and, of course, the fig-tree.

"Then Jesus began to criticize openly the cities in which he had done many of his miracles, because they did not repent. "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you! And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be thrown down to Hades! For if the miracles done among you had been done in Sodom, it would have continued to this day. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you!"
Woes to the unrepentant cities - Wikipedia
Cursing the fig tree - Wikipedia

And the God Almighty's warning was written in stone:

"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 parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, .."

The Christians are born eternal sinners just because God Almighty can not overlook Adam and Eve eating an apple. Mighty funny.
 
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trablano

Member
These are all stories. And I think in the stories, there is spiritual content, and content that was only for entertainment. The gods don't easily curse someone. It's just not their style. The stories are legends to be played in theatre, and to learn a thing or two spiritually. Don't seek princesses. Don't curse anybody. But in reality it doesn't happen like that. The Gods are grownups. They want to help.
 

The Kilted Heathen

Crow FreyjasmaðR
The Gods are grownups. They want to help.
Not always. Sometimes they just do their work, and if we get in the way and get hurt that's our fault. We are not so important to the world that the Gods will go out of their way to aid us. In fact, often we're the problem.
 

trablano

Member
Well the world is in trouble in this time and that's something the gods have not wanted for us. They will help us out of the misery and secure a future for the world. The gods are our friends and not our enemies.
 

The Kilted Heathen

Crow FreyjasmaðR
Well the world is in trouble in this time and that's something the gods have not wanted for us.
The world has always been "in trouble." How do you know the way things are isn't what the gods want for us?

They will help us out of the misery and secure a future for the world.
When have they indicated this?

The gods are our friends and not our enemies.
Which gods? Because I can think of several that are not friends to humanity.
 
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