What does God want from you?

[IndigoChild5559]

You can say that again!
One problem with the Old Testament is that it turned God into a person.
It is a serious problem and it cannot be corrected.

I'm not sure where you get this. The Tanakh is crystal clear that God is not man.

 

[Trailblazer]

That just means that your god is not their god.

There is no such thing as my God and their God.
There is only one God, and that God was anthropomorphized in the Old Testament. God is not a man so God could not have done the things that were attributed to Him in the Old Testament. At best these alleged events were symbolic of certain spiritual truths.

 

[Kenny]

OK. God creates the universe and God creates you. What does God want from you?

Love and being part of the family. Friendship.

 

[Trailblazer]

I'm not sure where you get this. The Tanakh is crystal clear that God is not man.

I know that. Why then do you think the Old Testament refers to God as if He was a man with human characteristics?

 

[ppp]

There is no such thing as my God and their God.

If the god of Group A is imaginary, and the god of Group B is real, then there is a such thing as their god and "my" god.
If the god of Group A is imaginary, and the god of Group B is imaginary, then there is a such thing as their god and "my" god.
If the god of Group A is one real god, and the god of Group B is a different real god, then there is a such thing as their god and "my" god.

 

[ppp]

Love and being part of the family. Friendship.

If there were a real god or gods, then they have chosen the most foolish way to go about it.

 

[Kenny]

If there were a real god or gods, then they have chosen the most foolish way to go about it.

Yes... everybody has a better way... we can make ourselves our own gods too.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

I know that. Why then do you think the Old Testament refers to God as if He was a man with human characteristics?

It's nothing but anthropomorphism.

 

[Trailblazer]

If the god of Group A is imaginary, and the god of Group B is real, then there is a such thing as their god and "my" god.
If the god of Group A is imaginary, and the god of Group B is imaginary, then there is a such thing as their god and "my" god.
If the god of Group A is one real god, and the god of Group B is a different real god, then there is a such thing as their god and "my" god.

There is no God of Group A and God of Group B. There is only one God. People believe different things about that God, which is usually according to their religions.

 

[blü 2]

Why do you do this? You fight and fight with any excuse you can think of not to take the journey.

I've already told you your affected condescension does you no credit at all.

Wouldn't it be easier to say God is not what you seek

You can't even tell me what real thing you intend to denote when you say God.

Thus providing further support for my earlier statement, that the only manner in which God is known to exist is as a concept, notion, thing imagined in an individual brain.

End of story.

 

[blü 2]

I have .. but I interpret it in light of the whole.

i.e. alongside the Qur'an and New Testament

The OT is basically correct, but translations cause diificulties, and its age..


..if that is what you want to believe..
..but I know differently.

G-d is not a person.

I just read what it says, same as any other interesting historical document.

And there, God is a person, a character in the story, trading tricks with Pharaoh's magicians with no great success at that point.

When you read the narration, don't you get the sense of its naivety, its "storyteller" style?

 

[IndigoChild5559]

I just read what it says, same as any other interesting historical document.

I honestly think if you just read the Bible without help from scholars, you will very likely miss many things and misunderstand other things.

 

[blü 2]

and you believe this? I don't.
It's good for a movie but not for much else.

I think it's an informative glimpse of a far-distant age and the way its authors thought. Like wandering into an exotic bazaar on your travels and coming upon a storyteller with a small crowd around him.

The various stories in the Old Testament depict a anthropomorphic God, not the real God. It was written by men. Moses did not write it.

Just so.

 

[Trailblazer]

I think it's an informative glimpse of a far-distant age and the way its authors thought. Like wandering into an exotic bazaar on your travels and coming upon a storyteller with a small crowd around him.

I have never been much for stories. I have never read a novel in my whole life. I prefer to learn about what is real.

 

[blü 2]

I honestly think if you just read the Bible without help from scholars, you will very likely miss many things and misunderstand other things.

I get a lot of help from scholars. Even at first base, my RSV is the annotated version. My bookshelves and Kindle have various works of scholarship, some of them more consulted than others.

But I'm not a believer, just a student of history, of which religion is just one aspect.

 

[blü 2]

I have never been much for stories. I have never read a novel in my whole life. I prefer to learn about what is real.

We're all different. Life's rich tapestry &c.

 

[ppp]

Yes... everybody has a better way... we can make ourselves our own gods too.

Oh, no. Not that. *yawn*

 

[ppp]

There is no God of Group A and God of Group B. There is only one God. People believe different things about that God, which is usually according to their religions.

That's just what you say.

 

[muhammad_isa]

Why do you reject some of the supernatural beliefs of some of the other religions?

..because I believe that the Qur'an is true, and the literal words of G-d.

How do you know those things, like reincarnation, or incarnations of Gods from some sects of Hinduism, aren't true?

..because the Qur'an confirms it, and it is not in line with monotheism.

How do you know that the belief of most Christians, that Jesus is God and that he died on the cross and resurrected, aren't true?

Again, the Qur'an confirms it .. and it is a result of two cultures Jewish and Roman.

Then Islam believes Satan is real, but Baha'is don't.

Well, what is real?
There are numerous devils amongst mankind and the unseen.
satan is but one, and the original accuser who fell from grace.

Religions aren't consistent.

Mine is!

What can we do or should do to verify that what a religion claims are true or not?

That is for you to find out, and not for me to say.
Religion is between a person and G-d.

 

[muhammad_isa]

I just read what it says, same as any other interesting historical document.

Mmm .. but we don't all interpret it in the same light .. it's only words on a page.

When you read the narration, don't you get the sense of its naivety, its "storyteller" style?

Of course .. but I believe it is basically true, but inaccurate .. it is an old document.