Why Monotheists Must Fight

originally posted by: Abednego
a reply to: pthena
Original name was Urushalem, named in honor of Salem (Babylonian god of peace).

There is only one God (at least that is my opinion). And a lot of entities pretending to be the "one".

"have i not said, 'ye are gods' ?" - Jesus
of course, we were copies of elohim.

a reply to: wasaka
Interesting indeed.
Melchizedek was king and priests at the same time. later the Hebrews try to replicate that by having 2 leaders, kingly leader and the priestly leader (being the priestly one the most important, because represent the closest one to God).

About the land:
I definitely think there is something of importance hidden in there. That would explain why everybody wants a piece of that land. Powerful people probably knows what is really going on with the place.
I think I read a theory about it somewhere, need to search my books again.

a reply to: Kantzveldt

i am not a rosicrucian myself, i just see truth in some of what they have said. even alchemy, if you think about it, sounds like advanced science that was lost from some former age (and they just didn't have the full text to follow), in effect, the ability to rearrange atoms to form different substances, similar to the replicator that served up captain picard's "earl grey tea hot". isn't everything made out of a certain amount of elements, arranged in electrons, neutrons and protons, which when added to or subtracted from, form different substances? that's like basic chemistry now.

a reply to: pthena

> The God of Tom, Betty, and Susan

Nice read.

In my view, most of the problems in the world
can be traced by to monotheism. It is a scourge
upon the Earth.

Imagine a world without monotheism. Consider
how very different it would be.

originally posted by: Abednego
a reply to: wasaka
Interesting indeed.
Melchizedek was king and priests at the same time. later the Hebrews try to replicate that by having 2 leaders, kingly leader and the priestly leader (being the priestly one the most important, because represent the closest one to God).

About the land:
I definitely think there is something of importance hidden in there. That would explain why everybody wants a piece of that land. Powerful people probably knows what is really going on with the place.
I think I read a theory about it somewhere, need to search my books again.

HERU-salem?
oh boy. whee. thanks wasaka and abednego

This was a pretty funny post OP, thanks for the laugh lol I myself find any of them hard to believe honestly, but hey there's only one God right

a reply to: wasaka

Yes, it would. And I imagine that all of you who hate on monotheism would be here railing against polytheism and polytheists. After all, it is simply wrong to make sacrifices to appease this god at spring time to make sure the rains come and that god in the winter to make sure that the sun turns back and another god after a plague hits to abate whatever ill caused his or her wrath to fall upon us.

Not so very different. Only the names have been changed and the needed quota of blood.

a reply to: wasaka

For discussion on Jerusalem,

see: What Jerusalem?

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Dionysus (sounds like a good guy to have as a buddy, all the free booze you can handle!)

There was that time when he assumed that I had a cork-screw.

I showed him the trick of heating a needle til it was red, pushing it thru the cork, for pressure release, then push the cork down into the bottle.

He was impressed, said, "Is that what they call American ingenuity?"

I just said, "I'm sure some one in Europe must have thought of that too."

a reply to: teslahowitzer

what did these other gods do to get their attention?

Peace treaties between nations and states were usually ratified in a temple. The treaty would have the names of the gods of both nations on it. The treaties were kept in the temple for safekeeping.

There is a story in Genesis wherein Abraham makes a treaty by erecting stones. The stone pile receives the name of Abrahams god and the other fellow's god.

Also, in Mecca, the temple there had many, many little statues representing tribal treaties for peace. Some monotheistic religious people wiped them all out.

a reply to: undo

After all these years and people still don't understand the ironic insult Jesus was making.
The 'gods' are the political and religious leaders, the judges
and they will die like men.

The imagery of the psalm itself is straight from polytheist religion.

1God presides in the great assembly;
he renders judgment among the “gods”:
2“How long will youa defend the unjust
and show partiality to the wicked?b
3Defend the weak and the fatherless;
uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
4Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
5“The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.
They walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6“I said, ‘You are “gods”;
you are all sons of the Most High.’
7But you will die like mere mortals;
you will fall like every other ruler.”
- Psalm 82 NIV

a reply to: pthena

You should show him how to open a beer bottle with a lighter. That's pretty exciting too.

originally posted by: pthena
a reply to: wasaka

For discussion on Jerusalem,

see: What Jerusalem?

"the thread is actually about the 2nd temple, and whether
Jerusalem should have ever been rebuilt at all after
Babylonian destruction."

Interesting. Another example of God changing his mind.
However, I don't think this example helps the case of
my Open Theology friends. They argue that God doesn't
know the future in perfect detail... which seem rather
obvious from a plain and simply reading of the Bible.

God repents. He changes his mind.

This is not the God of the Stoics who knows everything,
but rather the Hebrew God who has chosen not to know
everything.... why? ...for the sake of having a relationship
with his chosen people, one might assume.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Actually, the beer tender is female.

I just learned the lighter trick about a year ago. Before that I used to work around the crimps with a spoon.

a reply to: wasaka

I don't think this example helps the case of
my Open Theology friends

Open Theists tend to emphasize that God's most fundamental character trait is love, and that this trait is unchangeable. They also (in contrast to traditional theism) tend to hold that the biblical portrait of God is of one deeply moved by creation, experiencing a variety of feelings in response to it.
-Wikipedia-Open Theism

If you remove biblical from the description you have a fairly good picture of why many cultures have gods almost the same but not quite the same. The gods themselves are moved by their new geography and the economic base of the people. Cattle ranchers have gods slightly different from farmers.

a reply to: pthena

this is why Orthodox Theologians will often
refer to Openness Theology as atheistic,
or say it leads to atheism.

I would argue it leads to rational thought,
which in turn leads some to atheism. But
for others, it makes God more approachable
because He care about them in NOW, in the
present moment.

a reply to: wasaka

I think that any theological approach that honestly seeks truth will eventually lead to something like atheism.

a reply to: wasaka

"the thread is actually about the 2nd temple, and whether

Sorry. It's been a couple of years since I thought about these things. It must have been a different thread with details about Solomon's temple. Pictures and everything.

originally posted by: pthena
a reply to: wasaka

I think that any theological approach that honestly
seeks truth will eventually lead to something like atheism.

Yes, I think you are right. Well said.

Atheism is a word which describes other people.

Although the literal definition of “atheist” is “a person who believes that God does not exist,” according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, 14% of those who call themselves atheists also say they believe in God or a universal spirit. That includes 5% who say they are “absolutely certain” about the existence of God or a universal spirit.

www.pewresearch.org...

a reply to: wasaka

Atheism is a word which describes other people.

It's a label. I only have one close associate who is honest to gods atheist. Meaning for her there is no one to argue with or about. She realizes that I will never be a complete atheist. She's cool with that. We laugh about it. I'm cool with her.