If God exists, is there a problem with offerings to other gods?

[stvdv]

my personal relationship to God is not the topic of this thread and I don't answer this. I want to stay on topic.

Very much on topic, my 2 questions

The answer to those 2 questions is the answer to the question in your OP

 

[thomas t]

Very much on topic, my 2 questions

The answer to those 2 questions is the answer to the question in your OP

I doubt it

 

[stvdv]

I doubt it

Then I know enough

 

[stvdv]

The Bible is a "golden calve" for those who believe God actually wrote it.

Good one to contemplate on

BUT

Bhagavad Gita's main Teaching disagrees with you

It all depends on one's definition of God

 

[stvdv]

....."the sacred books of many religions have become fetishistic prisons incarcerating the spiritual imagination of man." UB 195

Good one, I like it (I wondered, wow he made it up himself, but then I saw UB195)

My Master said "Good to be born in a church, don't die in it"

The Sacred Books stayed more or less the same (minor corruption), but the whole circus people made around it, indeed feels like prison to me; which could incarcerate Spiritual Imagination.

BUT: I never blame others for causing me going 'wrong'. So, though I love the quote, it's not completely true and accurate. We should never give our power away, saying 'others incarcerate us'. Better say: We lost our 'inner' connection, hence let ourselves be incarcerated by the world
@stvdvRF

 

[Brian2]

It depends.
If God exists, then God can have three mutually exclusive qualities:

1) He does not care what you offer to whom. In that case it is not wrong, just useless
2) God cares. But it does not need to be offered to Him. In that case, it is good to offer to Whomever
3) God cares that you offer only to Him. In that case it is still good to offer. At least you have a small chance to offer to the right one.

so, logically, there is nothing wrong to offer to any God.

That is the case if we do not know what God exists, if He exists. But if we assume that existence implies existence of God as in the Bible, then it is clear that the very first Commandment seems to rule out the safety of offering to the competition.

ciao

- viole

Nevertheless for the Jews, the ones under a covenant to the God who saved them from slavery and gave them the land of Canaan,,,,,,,,,the ones God had shown to that He was a real God, it would be wrong to offer to other gods to whom they were not under covenant and who had not shown them that they were real.
It would be OK if God was jealous if they started worshipping idols (wood and stone statues).

 

[Brian2]

Spoken like a true coward, however not only am I convinced that the Bible God does not exist, I am convinced that there is no guarantee it would keep its promises if it did exist.
On some petty whim such as whether grains were offered instead of meat it might condemn me.
Or it might create in me a nature that it doesn't approve of then condemn me for it.
Or I might just happen to be born a baby to the wrong parents who happened to do something to displease it and it would decide to slay me in my opinion

That post shows a true misunderstanding of the God of the Bible and the Bible in general.

 

[HonestJoe]

according to you.

According to basic common sense. Emotion is unpredictable so anyone subject to emotion isn't always going to make the best or right decisions. They're going to make imperfect and flawed decisions some times.

A God that has limitless power can also design a covenant that's binding for him. It's as simple as that.

That's like me saying I'm going to limit myself to one slice of cake a day. It might be my intention but it isn't an actual limitation since there is nothing other than my own choice preventing me from eating more cake. There is literally nothing an all-powerful being can't do and so no limitation or "covenant" they couldn't break if they wanted to.

I propose God's restricted omnipotence.

That is an oxymoron. Either God is truly omnipotent or the power of God can be restricted in some ways. You still can't have it both ways.

 

[Thief]

Emotion is unpredictable

no.....it is not

 

[Thief]

or the power of God can be restricted in some ways.

yeah......

see.....temptation in the wilderness
new testament

 

[viole]

It would be OK if God was jealous if they started worshipping idols (wood and stone statues).

You mean like statues of Christ or Mary?

ciao

- viole

 

[thomas t]

According to basic common sense. Emotion is unpredictable so anyone subject to emotion isn't always going to make the best or right decisions. They're going to make imperfect and flawed decisions some times.

According to you, it's common sense. Yu can#t cite scientific studies to bolster your view.

That is an oxymoron. Either God is truly omnipotent or the power of God can be restricted in some ways. You still can't have it both ways.

or... this:

That's like me saying I'm going to limit myself to one slice of cake a day. It might be my intention but it isn't an actual limitation since there is nothing other than my own choice preventing me from eating more cake.

exactly (to the first part of the quote). But that is an actual limitation as I see it.

There is literally nothing an all-powerful being can't do and so no limitation or "covenant" they couldn't break if they wanted to.

but that's not how God is. He keeps to his covenants. That's the way he is. Outined in the Bible.

 

[HonestJoe]

According to you, it's common sense. Yu can#t cite scientific studies to bolster your view.

I could but I don't want to. It's irrational but it is the emotional reaction you appear to have triggered in me.

but that's not how God is. He keeps to his covenants. That's the way he is. Outined in the Bible.

But if he is credited with choosing to keep them, he must have the ability to break them. Because if he didn't have that ability, regardless of whether he did it or not, he wouldn't be omnipotent by literal definition.

And if he is subject to emotions, you have no way of know that he won't suddenly decide to break any of those covenants, regardless of what is written in the Bible.

 

[Praise Jah]

I think there is one.

This post is under the premise that God is real - I mean the Creator God as outlined in the Bible.
God gives ressources to a population out of love. If they use it for offerings to some gods that did not provide these things, it's wasting them, which would be impolite towards the (real) creator.

This is at least my stance on the matter.

My neighbors have a shrine. I don't know what god that is, however, I see it occupies:
- 1 m² of their location
- electricity, since there is constanly some light on it
- candles or similar
- there is even fruit on it - but I guess that they still eat it themselves, though, I might be wrong here.
- time. They diligently make this shrine look beautiful.
- time, as they need to go get the ingredients for that shrine.

So these are all resources stemming from the creator getting used for venerating some other god.

Almighty God Jehovah requires exclusive devotion and worship. It is to him alone that sacred service is to be rendered. (Matthew 4:10) (Deuteronomy 4:24)