Is God a man?

[YoursTrue]

It turns out so many martyrs were killed according to the Jewish Scriptures.
Saint Stephen, to begin with.


If I nobilitate man, I will not kill him. Because if I kill a man, it's like I killed God.
And I don't want to go to Hell.

Anyway, I wouldn't worry about "hell," since we all go to hell (not necessarily Gehenna) when we die until we are brought back from the dead. Hell is another term for where the dead are -- sheol is a Hebrew term for it.

 

[YoursTrue]

It turns out so many martyrs were killed according to the Jewish Scriptures.
Saint Stephen, to begin with.

That's what Jesus said -- which one of the prophets did you not kill and then put up monuments menorializing them? Remember that scripture?

 

[YoursTrue]

John 1:1-3, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being." [Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"]

Hebrews 1:8, "But of the Son He [God the Father] says,

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
and the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom."

The Father and Son are together on this in restoring perfection to heaven and earth. More details later, perhaps.

 

[muhammad_isa]

Anyway, I wouldn't worry about "hell,"..

Typical Protestant attitude .. faith is in two parts .. the hope in G-d's Mercy, and the fear of His wrath.

We are all sinners, and the fear of G-d is actually something beneficial for us.
It might save us from committing adultery, for example.
..and I don't believe that pious people aren't tempted.
Arrogance is a dangerous path to tread.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

Of course it's important! The Tanakh describes the Old Testament view of God, but clearly when Yeshua descended from heaven, that view was proven to be only a partial understanding. The New Testament clearly describes Jesus was a man when He was on Earth. Before and after that time He was God.

You are missing the point. Christians include the Tanakh as their Old Testament. This Tanakh clearly teaches the nature of God, including that he is not a man. It is impossible to accept this teaching, and then turn around and say Jesus is God. Something cannot simultaneously be X and Not X.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

Meh, I think it makes it more personal and easier to refer to god as him rather than it imo. Plus it honors Gods living nature and reflects him off his son better. I mean, if you wanna get down to the nitty-gritty, I believe God is the Cosmos, but I also believe God is a living entity. I don’t think it’s a big deal to refer to God as Him.

I think you must have accidently quoted the wrong post.

I tend to agree with you. Everything in Hebrew is either feminine or masculine. There is no "it." While God is usually adressed as Father (makes sense considering the low status of women) his Shekinah presence, as well as his holy spirit, are feminine. When translating into English, I am first very inclined to leaving it as the text indicates rather than producing a PC Bible. It is also a trait of English that "it" refers to inanimate objects, which God is not.

 

[shunyadragon]

Jesus is God. It is a fallacy in your mind.

It is a contradiction with scripture and a clam of a Roman God.

John 14:9, "Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? "

This selective citation out of context does not help your case,

 

[Balthazzar]

Numbers 23:19 God is not a man...nor a son of man.
1 Samuel 15:29 for he is not a man
Hosea 11:9 I am God and not a man
Job 9:32 For he is not a man

So four times, FOUR, the Tanakh repeats the same teaching. Wouldn't you think that makes it rather important?

We are gods, but not God and every one of us children of the most high. Ok, so we fall like the princes and die as we do, but we are what we are.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

The context of the first two appear to be in reference to the trustworthiness of God as compared to man.
The third appears to show that God does not seek revenge as man might.
The fourth appears to show that man must revere God.

This above does not result in this below:

So I don't see where there is a direct meaning with regards to the human form.

If I say, "My black cat is always tipping things off my tables!" The context is a cat tipping things off edges. Nevertheless, we CAN conclude from the sentence that my cat is black. Thus, the fact that "God is not a man" is embedded in a larger idea does not somehow make it not the case.

 

[Balthazzar]

I think you must have accidently quoted the wrong post.

I tend to agree with you. Everything in Hebrew is either feminine or masculine. There is no "it." While God is usually adressed as Father (makes sense considering the low status of women) his Shekinah presence, as well as his holy spirit, are feminine. When translating into English, I am first very inclined to leaving it as the text indicates rather than producing a PC Bible. It is also a trait of English that "it" refers to inanimate objects, which God is not.

Have you ever thought about the possibility that God may be a he, and also a she, and together they are God together. We were created in "their" image after all. We became like one of "them", male and female. We know it takes two to tango and we know that this is how life happens and how life is created; it is a procreative truth.

 

[shunyadragon]

Jesus fulfilled at least 100 prophecies in the Old Testament,

The prophesies are contradictions of the Hebrew text as understood by Jews for millennia. It is their book in their language.

said He was God,

John 17:3
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
https://www.bible.com/bible/compare/JHN.17.3
The NT describes an intimate association of Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God in accordance with Torah tradition,

There is truly and absolutely One True God. In accordance with the Torah, Man cannot be God.

and proved it by rising from the dead.

No proof here it is a claim of ancient tribal scripture without provenance.

 

[Absolutely Frank]

Numbers 23:19 God is not a man...nor a son of man.
1 Samuel 15:29 for he is not a man
Hosea 11:9 I am God and not a man
Job 9:32 For he is not a man

So four times, FOUR, the Tanakh repeats the same teaching. Wouldn't you think that makes it rather important?

Tanakh also repeatedly tells certain people to whom it belongs not to eat shellfish or pork and not to wear cotton-polyester blends. So, there is that.

 

[shunyadragon]

This idea that God is not a man, I wonder if that was a reaction to the beliefs of other religions that worshiped human leaders as being divine? If so that's not saying that a divine Son of God cannot take on the form of one of his own created beings for a time?

I believe the citations did not allow for exceptions. Belief in Jesus Christ as a God is indeed another Roman polytheistic religion,

 

[Absolutely Frank]

We are gods, but not God and every one of us children of the most high. Ok, so we fall like the princes and die as we do, but we are what we are.

You snuck Psalm 82 in on them.

 

[I Am Hugh]

The standard orthodoxy of Christianity is that Jesus is "fully God and fully man." IOW he is not God with the illusion of a man's body, or a man husk with God's spirit inside, or part God and part man. Just fully God and fully man.

That doesn't mean every Christian believes this. For example, I have talked to Christians online who are more into the man husk idea. And there are one Christian denomination, Jehovah's Witnesses, that teaches otherwise (and that is why most Christians say it is not a Christian church).

And me? Well, of course, being a Jew, I don't think any man is God. Not Jesus, not Caesar, not David Koresh, no one.

What about Moses and the Judges. Are they not gods?

 

[shunyadragon]

This idea that God is not a man, I wonder if that was a reaction to the beliefs of other religions that worshiped human leaders as being divine? If so that's not saying that a divine Son of God cannot take on the form of one of his own created beings for a time?

I believe the citations did not allow for exceptions. Belief in Jesus Christ as a God is indeed another Roman polytheistic religion,

Tanakh also repeatedly tells certain people to whom it belongs not to eat shellfish or pork and not to wear cotton-polyester blends. So, there is that.

There is a very good reason for that at the time shellfish were forbidden, because especially in the arid world of the Middle East where contaminated shellfish is common do to red tides.

 

[Absolutely Frank]

I believe the citations did not allow for exceptions. Belief in Jesus Christ as a God is indeed another Roman polytheistic religion,

There is a very good reason for that at the time shellfish were forbidden, because especially in the arid world of the Middle East where contaminated shellfish is common do to red tides.

Does that reason apply now? Why?

 

[shunyadragon]

Anyway, I wouldn't worry about "hell," since we all go to hell (not necessarily Gehenna) when we die until we are brought back from the dead. Hell is another term for where the dead are -- sheol is a Hebrew term for it.

Only 200,000?

 

[shunyadragon]

Does that reason apply now? Why?

Science. and the fact over time the "red tides" are better understood and not as prevalent in more suitable climates shellfish can be safely harvested.

Why are The Seas named Black, White, and Yellow?

Why is the Black Sea black? The sea was first named by the ancient Greeks who called it "Inhospitable Sea." The sea got this reputation because it was difficult to navigate, and hostile tribes inhabited its shores. Later, after the successful development of the coast by Greek colonists, the sea...

ssec.si.edu

The Red Sea gets its name from the color changes that occur in its waters. The sea is usually a deep blue-green color, but it can sometimes turn reddish-brown due to algae blooms. The algae, Trichodesmium erythraeum, is a cyanobacteria that grows abundantly in the Red Sea and can cause periodic blooms. When the algae die, they spread across the water's surface, causing the sea to take on a reddish-brown color.

I would not eat shellfish from the Red Sea today

 

[Coder]

Thus, the fact that "God is not a man" is embedded in a larger idea does not somehow make it not the case.

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 that light.

As mentioned, I don't have a strong position on whether God became a man as Jesus. Because what that actually means can vary and does anyone really understand it?

Do you believe that God spoke in the Burning Bush, and do you not also believe that God spoke through the prophets and that God's teaching is in the Jewish Scriptures? I certainly see the beauty of God's wisdom there.

If we are created in the image of God, what does that mean?

If you read my other post, I propose that the distinction between the realm of God (I don't even know how to say it), and the physical world may not be what we think it is. Scientists speak of evolution, in religion we see an evolution in the understanding of God.

Regardless of belief about Jesus, does the Scripture(s) "...God is not a man..." mean that God could not appear as a human form? I don't know, it's not for me or any of us (I think) to think of God in terms of what God may or can do. I simply don't see those Scripture(s) as strictly meaning that God is saying that He would never work through a human form. I see those Scripture(s) as saying that God does not have human flaws. From this we can conclude that if God did work through a human form, the human would not be a normal man with the character flaws of human nature.

Still, I do understand, and the Scripture(s) may have some meaning that God is not in a human form, but I don't see that God is saying that He would never use a human form. Repeat what does it mean that we are in the image of God. If we have further understanding of that we may better understand this other question. E.g. what makes "man", "man"? Is it our physical form or our fallen nature? Both? Neither and something else?

The concept of God not having character flaws as humans, I can grasp. The concept of God as a physical form, or speaking through prophets, or speaking in the Burning Bush, I do not understand. I don't know what this entails, or means actually. Still, do I believe that the Prophets teach wisdom from God? I don't disbelieve it, that's for sure. I seek to understand exactly what this means. From there we may all have better discussions about this other question.

Exodus 4:5 "...the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, did appear to you."
What does that mean?

Exodus 4:16 "He will speak to the people for you: he will be your spokesman,* and you will be as God to him."
What does that mean?