Christian Deceptions: One God Out Of Many

  • Thou shalt have no other gods before me

    First commandment

  • So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

    Genesis 1:27

  • Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,...

    Genesis 1:28

  • And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

    Genesis 3:22

  • When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years." The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

    Two organisms are in the same species if they can mate and produce a fertile offspring.

    Genesis 6:1-4

  • Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other. (Tower of Babel).

    Genesis 11:9

  • Now the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. When he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth.

    Genesis 18:1

  • And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. He said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you."

    Genesis 22:1

  • Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left.

    1 Kings 22:19

  • And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.

    Isaiah 37:19

  • Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

    Isaiah 44:6

  • For the moth will eat them like a garment, And the grub will eat them like wool. But My righteousness will be forever, And My salvation to all generations." Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of the LORD; Awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not You who cut Rahab in pieces, Who pierced the dragon? Was it not You who dried up the sea, The waters of the great deep; Who made the depths of the sea a pathway For the redeemed to cross over?

    Isaiah 51:9-10

  • And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them

    Exodus 6:2-3

  • For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.

    Exodus 12:12

  • The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.

    Exodus 15:3

  • Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods?

    Exodus 15:11

  • Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods

    Exodus 18:11

  • You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me

    Exodus 20:5 (one of many quotes of a jealous god)

  • Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.

    Exodus 22:28

  • You shall have no other gods before Me.

    Deuteronomy 5:7

  • When the Most High divided the nations, when he separated the sons of Adam, he established the borders of the nations according to the number of the sons of the gods. Yahweh's portion was his people, [Israel] his allotted inheritance.

    Deuteronomy 32:8-9

  • God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment."

    Psalm 82:1

  • The heavens will praise Your wonders, O LORD; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD? Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD, a God feared in the council of the holy ones, great and terrible above all that are round about him? O LORD God of hosts, who is mighty as thou art, O LORD, with thy faithfulness round about thee?"

    Psalm 89:5-8

  • For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

    Psalm 95:3

  • How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land?

    Psalm 137:4

  • Jesus answered them, "I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me"? The Jews answered Him, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God." Jesus answered them, "Has it not been written in your Law, 'I SAID, YOU ARE GODS'?

    John 10:33-36

  • Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

    Matthew 28:19

It's commonly thought among scholars that Judaism began as a polytheistic religion and was later edited to become monotheistic. Here are some residual verses from that time.

When Elyon divided the nations, when he separated the sons of Adam, he established the borders of the nations according to the number of the sons of the gods. Yahweh's portion was his people, [Israel] his allotted inheritance. (Deut. 32:8-9)

Here we see Elyon, the head of the divine pantheon, dividing humankind among his children, giving each his inheritance. The idea of a divine pantheon with a chief deity, his consort, and their children (the council of the gods) was widespread through the Ancient Near East. Elyon (short for El Elyon) is the chief god, not just in Jewish writings but also in Canaanite literature. The passage concludes with Yahweh receiving Israel as his inheritance.

We learn more about terms like "sons of the gods" by widening our focus to consider Ugaritic (Canaanite) texts. Ugarit was a Canaanite city destroyed along with much of the Ancient Near East during the Bronze Age Collapse in roughly 1200 BCE, a period of widespread chaos in that part of the world from which Israelite civilization seems to have grown.

The Ugaritic texts state that El and his consort Asherah had 70 sons, which may be the origin of the 70 nations (or 72) that came from Noah's descendants listed in Genesis 10.

Then [Elohim] said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness" (Genesis 1:26).

The pronoun "us" is used. The clever apologetics was that this was the trinity. But why would Genesis assume that the early Israelite reader knew about the trinity without even explaining it? Some argue that it was angels helping God with his creation, but why would an omnipotent god need help from angels?

[Elohim] stands in the assembly of El; in the midst of the gods he renders judgment. (Psalm 82:1).

For who in the skies can compare to [Jehovah]? Who is like [Jehovah] among the [sons of God], a God who is honored [in the great assembly of the holy ones], and more awesome than all who surround him? (Ps. 89:6-7) Here we see the concept of a divine council.

For [Jehovah] is the great God, and the great King above all gods (Ps. 95:3).

All the gods bow down before [Jehovah] (Ps. 97:7).

I know [Jehovah] is great, and our Lord is superior to all gods. (Ps. 135:5)

And many more verses celebrate Jehovah while acknowledging the existence of others.

We've seen where the Bible documents how Yahweh lost a fight with the Moabite god Chemosh (2 Kings 3:27).

"God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods." Psalms 82:1 KJV

"Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" Exodus 15:11 KJV

Genesis 3:22:

"And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:"

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/crossexamined/2016/01/biblical-polytheism-jewish/

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