Was God (in the Bible) a man ?

[Ted Grant II]

People believe in the bible because they want to be saved, they want an experience with God. That is the main reason.I believe people equate the bible with finding enlightenment or spirituality which will lead them to God but I don't believe any of that is guaranteed. Like anything you get out of life what you put into it. The lesson Jesus teaches "you sow what you reap" is very insightful when applied to people and if you practice that in a kind, compassionate manner, then I believe you will find what you seek. An encounter with God though I guess depends as much on what he believes of you.

Saved from what?
Eternal punishment perhaps?
You can't have experience with an invisible man that lives outside of space and time.

 

[Ted Grant II]

Personally I believe the bible is a Jewish, Christian fictional history book. It was formed to convince people of a Jewish Messiah who is the accumulated ideals of the whole world. It was created to put a choke hold on the people of the time (couldn't have too many people running around doing as they please). I don't believe you'll experience much spirituality (aside from Jesus) within its pages and its ideas of wisdom are ancient. But it has come down through the ages as the word of God so the bible will probably always be. I get what I can from it but mostly I prefer non-fiction.

The Bible is a collection of writings by the ancestors of the Jews and were greatly influenced by the local religions (ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Canaanites etc.)
Early Christians were Jews who wanted to convert Gentiles, but had to get rid of some of the old Jewish customs in order to make their ideas more acceptable.
They also expected that their hero, Jesus, would return in their lifetimes with his army of angels to free them from Roman tyranny.
Ironically, they managed within a few hundred years, to convert the Romans and form the Catholic Church.
Morals do not originate with Religion. People invent religions and decide which morals to include, then claim they came from God or gods.
The morals evolve by the needs of individuals and groups of individuals.
I don't want you to steal my stuff or harm my children. Such common sense "morals" are universal.
So if you agree to be nice to me, I will (reluctantly) be nice to you.
Some "morals", such as found in Deuteronomy for example, were invented by leaders in order to control the masses.
Very few of the 613 commandments are obeyed.
Unfortunately, we live in a society that has developed morals that clash with "traditional" morals.
The churches, as everyone knows, are slow to respond to rapid changes in society.
If the don't change, they will not survive.
Just look at the church attendance statistics.

 

[river]

No

God is an Archon .

 

[Michael 345]

He really needed to have the rainbow appear before the rain if he wished to be reminded.

Your on dicey ground there

Effect before cause

Except even worse effect before no cause

Damn dropped my medication and the cat ate it

Good luck pussy it wasn't meant for you

 

[Michael 345]

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.

I won't be convinced until I see a yellow feathered bird paddling in the pond

Even then I'd be tempted to take it home to roast to find out what it tastes like

 

[Michael 345]

I assume, given your comments, that this was just a starting point and that actually, God had a worse punishment lined up for me.
By the way, the card game was "Happy Families".

Yes

I won't go into graphic details

Enough to say your drinking a nice wine

Your tapped on the shoulder

You hear the words

Breaks over back on your head

My card game was Divorced Singles

Much more realistic

 

[joepistole]

Everyone knows that God lives outside space and time, but that's a very modern idea.
The Bible writers, who, of course, were mostly, if not all, ancestors of the Jews, had a different idea.
There is a great deal of evidence in the Bible that God was a man with supernatural powers.
I will only give a few clues here, but it's very easy to mine the ancient scribbles for many more.

In the Garden, east of Eden, God walks around chatting to people, not always knowing what they are up to.
When Moses goes up the famous mountain, God is hiding in a bush, then writes with his finger.
After the flood, God regrets killing most of the creatures on earth and decides he won't do it again.
He created the rainbow to remind himself of his new resolution, a sort of celestial post-it note.
God had sense organs, viz: sight, hearing, smell and one assumes taste.
I need to justify the last two...
In Leviticus, we learn that God enjoys the sweet savor of beef cooking, and consumes it !
God had plans, which didn't always work out the way he intended.
It follows that his supernatural powers are limited, but this is always the case with Superheros.
Superheros always have an assistant or mate and a near equal opponent.
Batman has Robin and the Joker.
God has Jesus and the Devil.
(I'm sure you can think of more)
Ultimately, to bring about the End Times, God is born, grows up and dies, just like a human !
Of course God is a HE and a FATHER and had Sons (first Adam, then later Jesus).
In Revelation, we learn that God sits on a throne, just above the clouds.
In Numbers we learn that God sits on a Mercy Seat on the famous Ark and is carried around.
God complains to the Israelites that He has been living in a tent and asks them to build a wooden house .
Moses regularly went into the tent to chat to God.
Catholics even believe that God had a mother !
Etc.

...or could it be man projecting himself onto the godhead?

 

[Ted Grant II]

Your on dicey ground there"

Surely, "You're" not using the word "Your" correctly.

 

[Michael 345]

Surely, "You're" not using the word "Your" correctly.

Curses you have discovered my dyslexia



Cheers

 

[timojin]

The Bible is a collection of writings by the ancestors of the Jews and were greatly influenced by the local religions (ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Canaanites etc.)
Early Christians were Jews who wanted to convert Gentiles, but had to get rid of some of the old Jewish customs in order to make their ideas more acceptable.
They also expected that their hero, Jesus, would return in their lifetimes with his army of angels to free them from Roman tyranny.
Ironically, they managed within a few hundred years, to convert the Romans and form the Catholic Church.
Morals do not originate with Religion. People invent religions and decide which morals to include, then claim they came from God or gods.
The morals evolve by the needs of individuals and groups of individuals.
I don't want you to steal my stuff or harm my children. Such common sense "morals" are universal.
So if you agree to be nice to me, I will (reluctantly) be nice to you.
Some "morals", such as found in Deuteronomy for example, were invented by leaders in order to control the masses.
Very few of the 613 commandments are obeyed.
Unfortunately, we live in a society that has developed morals that clash with "traditional" morals.
The churches, as everyone knows, are slow to respond to rapid changes in society.
If the don't change, they will not survive.
Just look at the church attendance statistics.

So you know everything. Do you know what were the morality before the 10 commandments ?
Do you know the morality among the Jungle people and how large is a jungle society ?
The present morals of our present society is it better or worse in the last 150 years , you must know we have better literature or writing then the people 3500 years ago
Moral codes are a necessity that is why they written . The powerful would not yield to the needy nor would they control their desires. Do you think man that have workers or slave would give one day to rest in one week ? Think where does that come ?

 

[Michael 345]

Do you know what were the morality before the 10 commandments ?

Of course a sense of right and wrong morals existed before the commandments

Wasn't there more than 10 in other religions?

Commandments were / are a codified form which attempt to hold each person to a set standard

When you hear someone say

"What he did is not illegal but it is immoral"

they are attempting to impose their views (frequently of a religious bent)

onto the subject of their attention

Moral codes are a necessity that is why they written

Moral codes are much more flexible in that they frequently pertain to a individuals view of the world

I prefer written LAWS which attempt to apply equally to everybody

Do you think man that have workers or slave would give one day to rest in one week ? Think where does that come ?

The bible?

But more a case of habit or tradition than a moral imperative

Governed by the periodic travel of the Earth around the Sun

 

[Ted Grant II]

Moral codes are a necessity that is why they written

I don't have a problem with moral codes, provided there is a maintenance programme.
They are a bit like roads and state laws.

Roads need to be maintained (to fix faults) and improved (to allow for new circumstances).
As you know, the main business of government is to create, amend and enforce laws.
Sometimes, criminals are burned. At other times they are imprisoned.
Speed limits vary, even in the same place, as new information is gained.
At one time, gay men were locked up. Now they can get married !
If accidents regularly occur at a particular road junction, perhaps traffic lights will help.
If jobs are scarce, perhaps border controls should be tightened.

At the end of the Bible it says...

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll.
And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.
He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen.
Come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

As you can see, amendments are not allowed.
No sensible government would ban amendments to rules.

Well, he didn't come soon.
Is that such a bad thing?

 

[StrangerInAStrangeLand]

So you know everything. Do you know what were the morality before the 10 commandments ?
Do you know the morality among the Jungle people and how large is a jungle society ?
The present morals of our present society is it better or worse in the last 150 years , you must know we have better literature or writing then the people 3500 years ago
Moral codes are a necessity that is why they written . The powerful would not yield to the needy nor would they control their desires. Do you think man that have workers or slave would give one day to rest in one week ? Think where does that come ?

^^^
Which 10 commandments???

<>

 

[Michael 345]

As you can see, amendments are not allowed.
No sensible government would ban amendments to rules.

Well, he didn't come soon.
Is that such a bad thing?

No sensible government would ban amendments to rules

Agree

So as you put it he didn't come soon so I guess we are free to consider the commandments abandoned and adjust them to our little hearts content

My overall view of LAWS would be as follows

I put laws into 3 main groups with a myriad of sub groups

First main and most important group Laws of Physics

Unbreakable

Second group
Laws of humans

Generally written with various degrees of consent
can be adjusted
can be dismissed
are flexible in interpreting depending on context

Third group
Laws of morals

These laws are extremely personal
are formed from own personal experience
can be adjusted
can be dismissed
are flexible in interpreting depending on context
live solely within each person's brain

I contend NO personal set of laws (morals) can be considered sovereign over someone's personal set of laws

You can't break the laws of physics
You should not break the laws of humans
You can follow your own moral law except if in conflict with the laws of humans

 

[sculptor]

back to the op:

Perhaps, when we were hunter gatherers, our activities were more communal, and the chief deity was female.....(Venus figurines, etc)
and then came agriculture and the tiller of the soil killed the shepherd. Tilling the soil is a more solitary and sedentary(ownership of the land---I tilled it, I own it) activity, and dissolves tribes into small family units........................
so, the tillers of the soil(mostly men) needed a new religion with a new deity-----------and created the bible to support their position---------relegating women to a second class citizenship as a means of enforcing their male deity creation, and asserting male dominance.

.............................
kinda sucks----------really
..................
ok
caveat:
don't throw the baby out with the bath water

 

[timojin]

^^^
Which 10 commandments???

<>

The ona are written on Exodus 20 first 12 verses

 

[timojin]

No sensible government would ban amendments to rules

Agree

So as you put it he didn't come soon so I guess we are free to consider the commandments abandoned and adjust them to our little hearts content

My overall view of LAWS would be as follows

I put laws into 3 main groups with a myriad of sub groups

First main and most important group Laws of Physics

Unbreakable

Second group
Laws of humans

Generally written with various degrees of consent
can be adjusted
can be dismissed
are flexible in interpreting depending on context

Third group
Laws of morals

These laws are extremely personal
are formed from own personal experience
can be adjusted
can be dismissed
are flexible in interpreting depending on context
live solely within each person's brain

I contend NO personal set of laws (morals) can be considered sovereign over someone's personal set of laws

You can't break the laws of physics
You should not break the laws of humans
You can follow your own moral law except if in conflict with the laws of humans

You are showing your 21 century wisdom. Think in term of jungle tribesman time . Tribesmen were family oriented .

 

[Michael 345]

You are showing your 21 century wisdom. Think in term of jungle tribesman time . Tribesmen were family oriented .

Ya sorry about that

Apart from the recent post being somewhat off topic

I do understand I was not born around 2,000 years ago

Which I never would have noticed

But it seems I am not alone in my delusion illusion

So many others are reading a super hero comic book written about the same time and saying we should follow the teachings in the book

These are the same people who do not believe in the modern super heroes of the Justice League who kick ass and right the world's wrongs

 

[StrangerInAStrangeLand]

The ona are written on Exodus 20 first 12 verses

^^^
Why those rather than the other 10 commandments?

<>