Could Yahweh be an "avatar" of God?

[PVE1]

Although most of my religious beliefs stem from the Abrahamic traditions, I do believe in a lot of Eastern ideas as well. With that being said, I have also found it extremely difficult to believe that God showed Himself only to the Jews. If God is the God of everyone, why would He only display Himself to the Jews? Lately, I've considered the idea that maybe God had showed Himself as Yahweh to the Jews, much like what the Hindu traditions believe about the avatars of the Supreme Being (God) i.e. Krishna. Anyone else think this could be a possibility?

 

[Midnight Pete]

Yahweh is a name for God Himself. Within the Judeo-Christian tradition there are many different names for God, each one carrying a slightly different meaning.



ELOHIM......Genesis 1:1, Psalm 19:1 meaning "God", a reference to God's power and might. ADONAI......Malachi 1:6 meaning "Lord", a reference to the Lordship of God. JEHOVAH--YAHWEH.....Genesis 2:4 a reference to God's divine salvation. JEHOVAH-MACCADDESHEM.......Exodus 31:13 meaning "The Lord thy sanctifier" JEHOVAH-ROHI......Psalm 23:1 meaning "The Lord my shepherd" JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH.......Ezekiel 48:35 meaning "The Lord who is present" JEHOVAH-RAPHA.........Exodus 15:26 meaning "The Lord our healer" JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU......Jeremiah 23:6 meaning "The Lord our righteousness" JEHOVAH-JIREH.........Genesis 22:13-14 meaning "The Lord will provide" JEHOVAH-NISSI.........Exodus 17:15 meaning "The Lord our banner" JEHOVAH-SHALOM........Judges 6:24 meaning "The Lord is peace" JEHOVAH-SABBAOTH......Isaiah 6:1-3 meaning "The Lord of Hosts" JEHOVAH-GMOLAH........Jeremiah 51:6 meaning "The God of Recompense" EL-ELYON..............Genesis 14:17-20,Isaiah 14:13-14 meaning "The most high God EL-ROI................Genesis 16:13 meaning "The strong one who sees" EL-SHADDAI............Genesis 17:1,Psalm 91:1 meaning "The God of the mountains or God Almighty" EL-OLAM...............Isaiah 40:28-31 meaning "The everlasting God"

• ABBA.............................Romans 8:15
• ADVOCATE.........................I John 2:1 (kjv)
• ALMIGHTY.........................Genesis 17:1
• ALPHA............................Revelation 22:13
• AMEN.............................Revelation 3:14
• ANCIENT OF DAYS..................Daniel 7:9
• ANOINTED ONE.....................Psalm 2:2
• APOSTLE..........................Hebrews 3:1
• ARM OF THE LORD..................Isaiah 53:1
• AUTHOR OF LIFE...................Acts 3:15
• AUTHOR OF OUR FAITH..............Hebrews 12:2

In my opinion, the Man Jesus was an avatar of God. (Not to be confused with the eternal 2nd person of the trinity.)

 

[Levite]

Although most of my religious beliefs stem from the Abrahamic traditions, I do believe in a lot of Eastern ideas as well. With that being said, I have also found it extremely difficult to believe that God showed Himself only to the Jews. If God is the God of everyone, why would He only display Himself to the Jews? Lately, I've considered the idea that maybe God had showed Himself as Yahweh to the Jews, much like what the Hindu traditions believe about the avatars of the Supreme Being (God) i.e. Krishna. Anyone else think this could be a possibility?

First, YHVH (the attempt to pronounce the name as Yahweh or Jehovah stems from misunderstandings, first by the Latin translators of antiquity, then by early Enlightenment German Biblical scholars, involving the vowelling of the unpronounceable name with the vowel marks for "Adonai," the more euphemistic name of God that Jews say aloud when reading the name YHVH) cannot be an avatar of God, because He is God. As I have noted elsewhere, YHVH, as a name, as a word, is symbolic of a paradox. It is the Hebrew verb "to be" in all three tenses simultaneously: a name that is itself a representation of God's eternality and transcendence.

Second of all, we do not believe in the concept of avatars. Jews have always believed that God has no physical form, nor does He take physical form.

Third of all, who says that God only showed Himself to the Jews?! We certainly don't say that. Judaism has always presumed that other peoples have other ways that God expects them to relate to Him, other traditions of revelation meant for them. That goes hand in hand with the belief we have always held, that Torah was meant for the Jewish people alone. It was never intended for all humanity; in part because God presumably has handled relations with other peoples differently, demanded different things from them, showed them other aspects of Himself than those He has shown us.

 

[PVE1]

I made this thread as kind of a "brain storm". I completely understand that Judaism does not recognize any such concept that I have put out. I was kind of hoping to look past dogma and tradition in hopes of maybe seeing if there could be something else. If God has no physical form, Who came down and ate with Abraham in Genesis? Also, I think avatars are STILL God, just in a form that humans can comprehend.

 

[Storm]

Although most of my religious beliefs stem from the Abrahamic traditions, I do believe in a lot of Eastern ideas as well. With that being said, I have also found it extremely difficult to believe that God showed Himself only to the Jews. If God is the God of everyone, why would He only display Himself to the Jews? Lately, I've considered the idea that maybe God had showed Himself as Yahweh to the Jews, much like what the Hindu traditions believe about the avatars of the Supreme Being (God) i.e. Krishna. Anyone else think this could be a possibility?

No more than any other little-g god.

I believe in the deities of virtually all faiths, but I don't believe any of them is God. They're just a different form of life.

Third of all, who says that God only showed Himself to the Jews?! We certainly don't say that. Judaism has always presumed that other peoples have other ways that God expects them to relate to Him, other traditions of revelation meant for them. That goes hand in hand with the belief we have always held, that Torah was meant for the Jewish people alone. It was never intended for all humanity; in part because God presumably has handled relations with other peoples differently, demanded different things from them, showed them other aspects of Himself than those He has shown us.

Interesting, I had never heard this. So, do Jews accept all traditions as valid? Are some more valid than others? If so, by what criteria do you evaluate them?

 

[Madhuri]

Although most of my religious beliefs stem from the Abrahamic traditions, I do believe in a lot of Eastern ideas as well. With that being said, I have also found it extremely difficult to believe that God showed Himself only to the Jews. If God is the God of everyone, why would He only display Himself to the Jews? Lately, I've considered the idea that maybe God had showed Himself as Yahweh to the Jews, much like what the Hindu traditions believe about the avatars of the Supreme Being (God) i.e. Krishna. Anyone else think this could be a possibility?

No, I believe that the Abrahamic God is fictitious, an attempt by particular people to have their own unique God version. However, I do believe that God has appeared in various forms round the world. Jesus may very well be an avatar. He has a lot of similarities to Brahma. So he is (potentially) an expansion of an expansion of an expansion (etc., etc.) of God.

 

[Levite]

Interesting, I had never heard this. So, do Jews accept all traditions as valid? Are some more valid than others? If so, by what criteria do you evaluate them?

Not entirely all traditions, no. We accept as valid only monotheism. Historically, that means Jews have mostly excluded from validity anything besides Judaism, Islam, and (mostly) Christianity. Today, though, as interfaith dialogue becomes more frequent and more coherent, many Jews have expanded their notions of validity to include Vaishnavic Hinduism (which essentially teaches that all "gods" are merely manifestations of the One), and Sikhism, and even certain indigenous faiths that, like the Vaishnavic Hindus, teach that their spirits or gods are all really manifestations of the One God.

However, we separate out amongst polytheists those whom we believe know that there is only one God, but choose to worship other things as a demonstration of rebellion, versus those whom we believe worship many gods because they have simply misunderstood, or have not been able to understand the nature of God as One. The former category (which is more or less nonexistent), we are prohibited from interacting with. But the latter category, while we still hold they are in error, we interact with them in business and as friends. Also, we differentiate polytheists, who may believe in more than one god, but deem those gods entities of spirit, perhaps to be symbolically represented using idols, but consider the idols only vessels that may temporarily pipe through some of the spiritual energy of the god; and idolaters, who worship the idols themselves, and believe that they can create something that literally becomes a piece of the god. The former, we hold are in error, but it is a less grave error; the latter, we hold are in deeply egregious error, which is (in theory) not to be countenanced.

And in any case, no matter the belief, we have always held that while other religions may be entirely valid and appropriate for non-Jews to practice, Jews are prohibited from practicing anything but Judaism. This is not a judgment about whether a practitioner of another religion can successfully interact with God using their faith tradition, but a statement of limitation upon ourselves, because of the nature of our covenant with God.

 

[Storm]

Not entirely all traditions, no. We accept as valid only monotheism. Historically, that means Jews have mostly excluded from validity anything besides Judaism, Islam, and (mostly) Christianity. Today, though, as interfaith dialogue becomes more frequent and more coherent, many Jews have expanded their notions of validity to include Vaishnavic Hinduism (which essentially teaches that all "gods" are merely manifestations of the One), and Sikhism, and even certain indigenous faiths that, like the Vaishnavic Hindus, teach that their spirits or gods are all really manifestations of the One God.

However, we separate out amongst polytheists those whom we believe know that there is only one God, but choose to worship other things as a demonstration of rebellion, versus those whom we believe worship many gods because they have simply misunderstood, or have not been able to understand the nature of God as One. The former category (which is more or less nonexistent), we are prohibited from interacting with. But the latter category, while we still hold they are in error, we interact with them in business and as friends. Also, we differentiate polytheists, who may believe in more than one god, but deem those gods entities of spirit, perhaps to be symbolically represented using idols, but consider the idols only vessels that may temporarily pipe through some of the spiritual energy of the god; and idolaters, who worship the idols themselves, and believe that they can create something that literally becomes a piece of the god. The former, we hold are in error, but it is a less grave error; the latter, we hold are in deeply egregious error, which is (in theory) not to be countenanced.

And in any case, no matter the belief, we have always held that while other religions may be entirely valid and appropriate for non-Jews to practice, Jews are prohibited from practicing anything but Judaism. This is not a judgment about whether a practitioner of another religion can successfully interact with God using their faith tradition, but a statement of limitation upon ourselves, because of the nature of our covenant with God.

Awesome, thanks for the info.

 

[Thesavorofpan]

First, YHVH (the attempt to pronounce the name as Yahweh or Jehovah stems from misunderstandings, first by the Latin translators of antiquity, then by early Enlightenment German Biblical scholars, involving the vowelling of the unpronounceable name with the vowel marks for "Adonai," the more euphemistic name of God that Jews say aloud when reading the name YHVH) cannot be an avatar of God, because He is God. As I have noted elsewhere, YHVH, as a name, as a word, is symbolic of a paradox. It is the Hebrew verb "to be" in all three tenses simultaneously: a name that is itself a representation of God's eternality and transcendence.

Second of all, we do not believe in the concept of avatars. Jews have always believed that God has no physical form, nor does He take physical form.

Third of all, who says that God only showed Himself to the Jews?! We certainly don't say that. Judaism has always presumed that other peoples have other ways that God expects them to relate to Him, other traditions of revelation meant for them. That goes hand in hand with the belief we have always held, that Torah was meant for the Jewish people alone. It was never intended for all humanity; in part because God presumably has handled relations with other peoples differently, demanded different things from them, showed them other aspects of Himself than those He has shown us.

I'm a little confused by your post. So the hebrews never had a name for God other than God? Is that what I'm suppose to get fromt his post?

 

[Breathe]

Personally I do not consider Yahweh to be "God", or even a "little g god" (deva), even though I believe he is a divine entity, but still a "deity" of sorts. I consider him to be an asura as I consider the deities of the Bible (Torah and Revelation especially) and Quran to be asuras - whether or not the are the same or different, I don't know. That is, of course, if they even exist in the first place. For the sake of this, I'm presupposing that they do exist.

An asura is a materialistic, power-seeking, warmongering deity. Asuric qualities are pride, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness and ignorance, which I think Yahweh and Allah seem to fit into. I imagine an asura to be rather interested in what his or her servants do, as well as likely to boast among other things.



Just this fool's two cents.