Ceeboo wrote:As we read about Moses leading his people toward the promised land, we come across the story about the bronze snake.
I believe this is a very clear reference to Darth Vader, or as he was formerly known (before he turned), Anakin Skywalker. Remember, he was tanned and had bronze hair, and later, he was like the serpent in the Garden of Eden. He was the lead in the fight for the dark side. Not until the end do we see his true form.
Yep. It's obvious. This is a prophecy about Darth Vader. If you read it the right way, it's the only thing you can conclude. What's amazing about the authors of this book is that they had no idea Star Wars would be a thing. Incredible!
It really makes you stop and think, doesn't it?
God belief is for people who don't want to live life on the universe's terms.
Or, it's a legend about a people afflicted by poisonous snakes whose priests told them they needed to worship a golden snake to remove the curse of the snakes. Then later priests turned that story into one about the supposed one true God with whom they had a covenant. And now even later priests are telling people THAT story is really about Jesus.
The world is always full of the sound of waves..but who knows the heart of the sea, a hundred feet down? Who knows it's depth? ~ Eiji Yoshikawa
Chap wrote: And your attempt to rescue the character of bloodthirsty and vengeful old Yahweh ('Kill them all except the virgin girls, whom you may ....') as he actually was when people took him seriously, by assimilating him to your version of a later religion - well, nice try, but no cigar.
There is an interesting idea here. I am not sure Chap, what later religion you might be referring to but Judism and Christianity would fit. Some of the material you refer to does have a quality of a more primitive cult than what you find with the prophets or psalms. I am unsure just when it would have been that people took this earlier version seriously. 800 bc perhaps.(though it is presented as earlier) I have wondered if it is actually a fictional version of belief pushed by some extremists who want Deuteronomist holy war rules and a mililtary conquest that never was. Extremist at the time of Josiah reform might be the believers. I wonder whether it is better to view these as thought experiments on how to handle social conflict or as more primitive magic soaked views of what God is like.
huckelberry wrote: I wonder whether it is better to view these as thought experiments on how to handle social conflict or as more primitive magic soaked views of what God is like.
Or God's continuing effort to access His Creation.
Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up.
Chinese Proverb
Jersey Girl wrote:Or God's continuing effort to access His Creation.
Wouldn’t a direct approach be super-easy for an omnipotent creator to figure out? : )
Oh, things are very difficult when you are the omnipotent creator who makes all the rules. Walk a parsec in his sandals, then talk about it.
I think the idea that Yahweh exists and wishes to communicate helpful information to humanity is nicely refuted by the fact that he is said in the fictions recounted in the Bible to have told people all kinds of stuff about their diet that he absolutely insists on (no prawns, no cheeseburgers etc) but never gets round to saying 'Oh by the way - boil your drinking water. It would take a long time to explain why, but trust me on this, just like you have to about the cheeseburgers.'
Just think of all the pain, misery and loss of loved ones that might have saved the ancient Israelites. Meanwhile the heathen Chinese and Japanese got the habit all by themselves, thanks to tea.
[Edited for typo]
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Zadok: I did not have a faith crisis. I discovered that the Church was having a truth crisis. Maksutov: That's the problem with this supernatural stuff, it doesn't really solve anything. It's a placeholder for ignorance.
Seek freedom and become captive of your desires...seek discipline and find your liberty I can tell if a person is judgmental just by looking at them what is chaos to the fly is normal to the spider - morticia addams If you're not upsetting idiots, you might be an idiot. - Ted Nugent
Jersey Girl wrote:Or God's continuing effort to access His Creation.
Wouldn’t a direct approach be super-easy for an omnipotent creator to figure out? : )
It's strange to think there's this powerful maker smart enough to create all this, but he just forgot to install some kind of interface with that creation.
That must have been a forehead-slapper.
Look mom! I built a computer!
Where's the keyboard and monitor?
Do'h!
God belief is for people who don't want to live life on the universe's terms.
As a believer, I thought it might bring some value to the Bible study if I shared a few thoughts.
From the very beginning, God dwelt among his creation (us). The rejection of His supreme authority is what caused the separation from the garden and with God Almighty. It is not that God can not live in the presence of sin - he can do anything. God is supremely Holy and he will not!
From this first rejection, we find throughout scripture that man continues to reject God and God's authority - Thus we find people that have lived their lives separated from God. This remains true today - people reject God and they are living their lives separated from God.
So, God dwelled among us in the garden. Then God had Moses make the tabernacle and his presence was there. Then came Solomon's Temple where his presence was as well. Then the second Temple.Then God came into his very own creation as man and dwelled among us (Jesus). Then the Holy Spirit (God) was sent down and dwelled in hundreds of thousands of human beings that have since fallen asleep and then Holy Spirit (God) continues to dwell in hundreds of thousands of human beings alive today that testify of His Grace - His Glory - and for His praise. And when Jesus returns, it will not simply be another example of God entering into His very creation, it will be to bring everything in His creation back to Him. The rejection God period will come to an end.
So, a view and perspective does exist that recognizes how much God does engage in the very creation he has created.
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