Why doesn't God allow you to worship anyone else?

adversary
$atan

let him without sin cast the first accusation

 

I think it might be you who could benefit from reading.

The issue was never whether or not they were harmless. No-one claimed they were in this thread. What was claimed is that all religions before Christianity and Judaism were polytheistic. Believers were not persecuted for their belief in more than one god, and were not persecuted for believing in gods that the majority did not believe in.

 

I think it is the harm effect that becomes very strong in the pre-history-of- monotheism period. Other gods can harm a superstitious view of Nature. The issue is whether the superstition is allowable for the truth about Creation over and against Self-creation. It is self-creation which is and was always fragmentable. But people can wish transcendence towards the Creation for the conclusions about innocence, the conclusion that poly-theism progresses much more towards the Knowledge about human love relationships in a direct way.

God wants people to be free or to be naturally virtuous and a caring part of the community. The poly-theist actually may believe in the advanced form of religion that God will allow you to worship lesser gods.

You can worship a woman too, but instead in mono-theism in its advanced stage, it is advised that only equal Gods are to be worshiped: if they existed. How could more than one God exist, other than the One Creator.

If there was no common Creation then the world always existed, or.....

 

judeochristianity IS polytheistic imv
yhvh says not to place the other gods above him

God has admitted there are other Gods

My reading AND understanding is fine

Hows yours ?

 

You have libeled YHVH
this is fraud.

 

really did YOU read the thread ?

Seems not

 

QUESTION

7he4men DOES allow mortals to worship the other gods
they [other gods/goddesses] are his offspring

He does forbid both to the OTHER gods AND mortals
not to put them [or anything] BEFORE him.

Try reading before libeling God.

 

[sticks and stones]


4ppologies i coundnt fit all this into ONE reply it took 5 [se last 5]

 

The truth is that Satan is behind all these other "gods" in an attempt to get people to divert their worship away from God to any thing else.

 

And what if Satan was behind God? Would you be able to tell?

(Though I do think that Terry Pratchett would be a bit upset to learn that Satan was behind P'tang-Ptang)

 

Yes and he's not.

 

Why not post your reasoning? Please do not be afraid of having your opinions challenged, it is beneficial for us both.

So, how could you tell?

 

Well, I wasn't afraid, I kind of thought you were just being facetious.

Just by definition Satan can not be "behind" God.

God is almighty and the creator, Satan is not and can't be either.

God is interested in his creation and only wants what is best for mankind.
Satan is only interested in himself and what is best for him and has created nothing, unless you want to count turning himself into Satan.

Followers of the True God are known by their actions and how they live their lives. Being followers of God's son, Jesus they try to display the love Jesus showed.

Satan's followers are also known by their actions and imitation of him, their hatred, greed and selfishness, the main reason the world is as it is.

Also Jesus, God's son was tempted by Satan and if God only send his son to save mankind because Satan told him to, why would Satan try to discourage Jesus from doing what Satan, through God, send Jesus to do. The old house divided against itself will fall.

So God is not backed by Satan.

I can go on if you wish.

 

Thanks for your reply. In your post you assign certain qualities to God and Satan. You know that God is one thing and Satan is another, and each have different attributes. Those attributes you obtained from the Bible, which is quite reasonable - where else can you find them if not there?

Here's my dilemma. Hypothetically, if the Bible was Satan's work in order to obtain followers, with himself disguised as "God", then that can indeed be selfish and best for himself. You can't say it was not for certain because the only indication you have that is true and is sent from God is in the book itself. If Satan is capable of creating false gods, like you said, then he is certainly capable of creating a holy book to win over people. And if he did, then it fits the attributes you gave to Satan in your post, while at the same time fitting the attributes you gave to God.

So I don't think we can say whether Satan is behind God, but as long as the possibility remains I don't see how you can say for certain that he is not. Unless you are omniscient - in which case you are God himself.

 

Walsh, I think Jesus explained the dilemma you are speaking of perfectly when he said,

"So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up.'

If it was truly Satan that created the Bible, would Satan bare all harsh things against him for the benefit of his friends? I don't see how Satan, being evil, would withstand all these things since it goes against his behavior.

Would Satan heal the crippled, blind, deaf then of all things, save a woman from being pummeled to death with stones?

Would Satan ever try to work for the benefit of anyone? And if he did, wouldn't he be divided against himself?

Would he still be Satan if he worked for the benefit of anyone other than himself?

 

If it then benefits him, yes. Satan may very well make Pr0n a lucrative business venture, making it seem good, which in turn benefits himself.

Satan cannot byh his very nature work towards the authentic growth of the human person or soul.

Overall though, your premise and conclusions are sound.

 

Yes, I believe he would if it is a deception. You assume he is describing his real nature when he is fully capable of lying, according to the bible.

If this wins over worshippers to command, why not?

No, but who says he has? If the creation of disparate religions across the globe creates wars, bigotry, narrow-mindedness and dogmatism rather than compassion and open-mindedness then he is not working for anyone's benefit but his own.

No, but again, who says he has?

I believe we are looking at this the wrong way. First you take a description of Satan from a book, a book which may or may not have been created by Satan. Then you proceed from that description to analyse the book itself to see whether a hypothetical scenario might be true based on whether someone with those attributes would have performed an act. This seems rather circular and not based on logic. We need to look at this with an open mind.

 

Please note that most of this can be thought of as hypothetical. Not saying if Satan has or hasn't for now. I do this to bring in a point.

What you described is that Satan can deceive in ways that we may not understand. But let's be real for a moment, what is your idea of evil? If Satan told us all to not be narrow-minded, love each other, not kill, don't steal, treat elderly with respect, be kind and generous, stay loyal to our spouses, would Satan be good or evil? Would he be leading us to good things or not? Even if hypothetical.

You seem to be going by how some so-called Christians have reacted in the world and concluded from that Christianity is narrow-minded and all of that. What if Christianity does not teach any of that but just the opposite? Perhaps you're falsely judging Christianity. Remember Ghandi's quote remarking that Christians are unlike their Christ? In order to say such a thing, he would first have to conclude that Christ was peaceable, no? Do you believe that Jesus should be blamed for what his so-called followers have done in his name? Is that fair to Jesus?

If Satan taught all these good things, wouldn't he be hurting himself? I don't just mean creating a facade, I'll do nice things to appear good. I mean actively trying to lead others into good things.

If Satan was asking others to do one thing while he himself did other things, say lead others to do good things, he would still be leading others into good things despite whatever evil he did himself. If he told people to do things contrary to his own philosophy then he would be leading people away from his own philosophy.

Also, I about the part where Satan would take on what Jesus took on. Do you really think, aside from what we read in the Bible, a malevolent person would be capable of doing what Jesus had done without collapsing under the pressure of his own evil? Malevolent beings tend to be proud, even if we weren't talking about Satan. Eventually a malevolent being would crack.

Aside from that, to believe Satan created the Bible as a sort of ingenious Loki style prank against humanity, we'd first have to believe Satan is even real. If he isn't, then why even bother or worry, know what I mean? Otherwise it's just a book created by people trying to make things better or in some kind of deal. I'm not exactly sure how to express my last comment, but that's the best I can do atm. I hope you understand what I meant.

 

Sure, but would Satan ever talk to a pr0n star into perhaps joining a career that would truly benefit her/him? Not likely. I know what you mean, though. Satan can make bad things appear good and vicea versa. I mostly meant Satan trying to lead someone into a truly better life, not just a life that appears better.
:2thumbsup:

 

Yes, I was merely clarifying "better".