Does the Bible actually tell us there are many gods? That would make more sense given God's prohibition against worshiping other gods... [Spirituality & Religion]

Here's a section of a youtube video on the nephilim talking about this idea with reference to older sources that appear to indicate that the god of Abraham was not the only god and possibly not even the creator god.
Have a look if you've got a moment. It's quite interesting.

If the link isn't automatically skipping, go the 16 minute mark to reach the relevant material.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Kpkp2vxX3I?t=960]

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Qwerty14

The Canaanites had a polytheistic religion. But Abraham worshipped what he considered the one true god. The creator of all things. He deemed those others as false "stone" gods. Gods who were nothing more than mere statues. It was believed back then that building a statue and worshipping it brought you favour from that made up god. The Jews constantly made rules against statue worship. They had stories about such things as well. The tower of Babel, the city of Jericho, the plagues of Egypt, the Ten Commandments, etc. They all talk about people worshiping these stone gods and all being let down by their false gods over the one true god of the Israelites. And why are all these stories there? Because a lot of people worshipped polytheism. Israel and Judah were very multicultural. Many of the people living there believed in other gods. Yahweh was very much the god of the Israelites and so if you weren't an Israelite you really had no reason to worship him.

Pikachu

@Qwerty14

Definitely he was the god of the Israelites. His special possession lol.
But there does seem to be a distinction in scripture between the fake stone and wood gods and other real (though obviously less powerful) gods.

Qwerty14

@Pikachu I don't think there are any other gods mentioned. Just the false ones that other people worshipped.

Pikachu

@Qwerty14

Check out that video

Qwerty14

@Pikachu Oh I watched the video before posting. The claims read like a conspiracy video. If people really wanted to change the text to remove all trace of polytheism, you'd think theyd change the first word of the text. Like do the people who believe that theory just think all Jewish people are idiots?

Pikachu

@Qwerty14

Which parts did you feel were unfounded or unreasonable conclusions based on the history of the evolving text or the shared context of contemporary religions?

[quote]Like do the people who believe that theory just think all Jewish people are idiots?
[/quote]

...why would "all Jewish people" have to be idiots in order for a minor yet significant change in text to be introduced and accepted?

Qwerty14

@Pikachu Changing text, especially so sloppily, doesn't line up with the way it is described that the Jews memorised and dictated scripture after their exile to ensure the survival of their faith. It's far more likely that Elohim is just a word that can be used both as singular and plural.

Pikachu

@Qwerty14

Sure.
It could be that this interpretation is in error.
I just didn't think it was fair to dismiss it as conspiracy and relying on the stupidity of Jews.
Based on the research done here it seems like a legitimate reading of the evidence even if you ultimately reject it for one reason or another.

Qwerty14

@Pikachu Meh, research isn't the measure of what is or isn't a conspiracy. 99.99% of experts disagree with this theory. I think that's why it reads like bs

Pikachu

@Qwerty14

[quote]99.99%[/quote]

Source?

[quote]research isn't the measure of what is or isn't a conspiracy[/quote]

Totally true. Which is why i asked you where you felt the conclusions he had drawn were in error or unreasonable.
Again, it seems to me that he's made a reasonable interpretation of the evidence and it seems unfairly dismissive to describe it as conspiracy.

Qwerty14

@Pikachu His interpretation only works if you ignore rabbinic sources. The official explanation is that Elohim is both singular and plural. It's just a homonym.

It's like 9/11. Sure it's not crazy to think Bush did it but it's not the expert opinion nor the simplest one. Same with the moon landing etc. That's why it reads like conspiracy

Pikachu

@Qwerty14

[quote]The official explanation is that Elohim is both singular and plural.[/quote]

Which only really makes sense when you ignore the context of the passages in their earliest forms and the correlations to the surrounding, contemporary religions.
It may be a fringe interpretation but i just don't think it's honest to characterize it as conspiracy.

Qwerty14

@Pikachu It doesn't make sense that a terrorist group would hijack a plane and piss off a super power capable of nuking them. Doesn't make it any less true.

Pikachu

@Qwerty14

Sorry, i'm not sure what point you're making there.