Yahweh

[SallyF]

Yahweh[Notes 1] was the national god of the kingdoms of Israel (Samaria) and Judah.[3] His origins reach at least to the early Iron Age and apparently to the Late Bronze,[4] and in the oldest biblical literature he is a storm-and-warrior deity[5] who leads the heavenly army against Israel's enemies.[6] At that time the Israelites worshipped Yahweh alongside a variety of Canaanite gods and goddesses, including El, Asherah and Baal,[7] but in time El and Yahweh became conflated,[8] El-linked epithets such as El Shaddai came to be applied to Yahweh alone,[9] and other gods and goddesses such as Baal and Asherah were absorbed into the Yahwistic religion.[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahweh


Can we demonstrate that Yahweh is anything more than imaginary ?

[Elijah John]

Yahweh[Notes 1] was the national god of the kingdoms of Israel (Samaria) and Judah.[3] His origins reach at least to the early Iron Age and apparently to the Late Bronze,[4] and in the oldest biblical literature he is a storm-and-warrior deity[5] who leads the heavenly army against Israel's enemies.[6] At that time the Israelites worshipped Yahweh alongside a variety of Canaanite gods and goddesses, including El, Asherah and Baal,[7] but in time El and Yahweh became conflated,[8] El-linked epithets such as El Shaddai came to be applied to Yahweh alone,[9] and other gods and goddesses such as Baal and Asherah were absorbed into the Yahwistic religion.[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahweh


Can we demonstrate that Yahweh is anything more than imaginary ?

Perhaps not, but so what. That does not mean that YHVH is only imaginary, nor does it mean He does not exist. Not everything can be proven in a test tube, or by an equation.

Can you demonstrate that YHVH is not behind the human ability to reason, or to imagine? Sometimes we imagine things that are very real.

[Willum]

[Replying to post 2 by Elijah John]

Perhaps not, but so what. That does[n't] mean that YHVH is only imaginary, nor does it mean He does not exist. Not everything can be proven in a test tube, or by an equation.

Perhaps not, but so what? That doesn't mean that Superman is only imaginary, nor does it mean He does not exist. Not everything can be proven in a test tube, or by an equation.

Both you and I shouldn't have to.

We should have a reasonable means to validate the truth.

Yahwey, if he existed should be easily distinguishable from myth and imagination.
If not, the reasonable person assumes he is... myth and imagination.

[Zzyzx]

.

Can you demonstrate that YHVH is not behind the human ability to reason, or to imagine? Sometimes we imagine things that are very real.

EJ, exactly the same thing can be said of anything. Can it be demonstrated that aliens (or pink unicorns) are not behind human ability to reason?

Sometimes we imagine things that are very real.

Our chore is to determine what is real and what is imaginary -- since it is just as possible to imagine things that turn out to be unreal as it is to imagine things that turn out to be real.

We can imagine, for instance, that our banker is stealing our money -- which may be true or may be false. It would be prudent to check our accounts and determine if money is mysteriously missing (and/or move our money to different banks).

Continuing to imagine without determining truth is folly.

[Elijah John]

The difference is that Superman is supposed to be a fictional, but visible being. YHVH, by contrast, is understood to be the "invisible First Cause". Clearly, we know that Superman isn't real. But we don't know for a fact that God is not real.

[Diagoras]

Yahweh[Notes 1] was the national god of the kingdoms of Israel (Samaria) and Judah.[3] His origins reach at least to the early Iron Age and apparently to the Late Bronze,[4] and in the oldest biblical literature he is a storm-and-warrior deity[5] who leads the heavenly army against Israel's enemies.[6] At that time the Israelites worshipped Yahweh alongside a variety of Canaanite gods and goddesses, including El, Asherah and Baal,[7] but in time El and Yahweh became conflated,[8] El-linked epithets such as El Shaddai came to be applied to Yahweh alone,[9] and other gods and goddesses such as Baal and Asherah were absorbed into the Yahwistic religion.[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahweh

I recognise that Wikipedia shouldnt be taken as the ultimate arbiter of truth, but if the above is at least broadly accurate, then either people are currently worshipping a group of gods as one (if they were as real as each other), or just picked their favourite from a crop of imaginary ones. Perhaps storm gods were the last ones to remain while others fell out of favour when mankind became more adept at controlling its environment. Even now, we cant control the weather, so to a Bronze Age tribe, such unpredictable events such as storms must have seemed to truly belong to the realm of some celestial power.

[Willum]

[Replying to post 5 by Elijah John]

Describing two imaginary concepts with different words does not summon one into existence.
What something is supposed to be is not a qualifier.
As to knowing, I do know Yahweh does not exist.

Every path leads to this conclusion.
History has Yahweh as a pagan storm god.
The Bible has him needing blood sacrifices, and being petulant, petty and callous.
Science dismissed the idea of an invisible first cause, with Special Relativity.

It goes on and on.
The very possibility of a God of necessary Yahweh-like properties disappeared in the 20th century.

[Zzyzx]

.

Clearly, we know that Superman isn't real. But we don't know for a fact that God is not real.

Yes, Superman is presented as fictional and his feats are presented as fictional.

However, Do we KNOW that Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and Ganapati are not real (or are real)?

For that matter, do we know that invisible, undetectable pink unicorns up in the sky are not real? How is that different from proposed invisible, undetectable gods up in the sky?

Anyone can propose whatever entities they can imagine -- and perhaps convince others to believe the entities are real. A prudent person might well ask for verifiable evidence before committing to believe. "Take my word for it (or his or this book)" may be adequate 'proof' or 'evidence' for some -- particularly if they are introduced to the belief as children and have the belief reinforced frequently by 'authorities'.

[Difflugia]

Clearly, we know that Superman isn't real. But we don't know for a fact that God is not real.

An apologetic argument can be made for Superman's reality that is just as good as any for Yahweh's existence.

The original Action Comics No. 1 was originally intended to be a call to worship, but Jerry Spiegel was then corrupted by the forces of the evil Lex Luthor. He subsequently dismissed Superman's divinity and even His very existence as mere fictions (as if!). This obviously feeble excuse works well on those with skeptical minds, weakened as they are by being so full of depraved evil, but we true believers know that Superman is real and fully in charge.

[SallyF]

Yahweh[Notes 1] was the national god of the kingdoms of Israel (Samaria) and Judah.[3] His origins reach at least to the early Iron Age and apparently to the Late Bronze,[4] and in the oldest biblical literature he is a storm-and-warrior deity[5] who leads the heavenly army against Israel's enemies.[6] At that time the Israelites worshipped Yahweh alongside a variety of Canaanite gods and goddesses, including El, Asherah and Baal,[7] but in time El and Yahweh became conflated,[8] El-linked epithets such as El Shaddai came to be applied to Yahweh alone,[9] and other gods and goddesses such as Baal and Asherah were absorbed into the Yahwistic religion.[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahweh


Can we demonstrate that Yahweh is anything more than imaginary ?

We've had 112 peeks at this thread

And not the tiniest hint of ANYTHING to demonstrate that the biblical Yahweh is anything more than imaginary.

Could this mean that we are all finally agreed that the biblical version of "God" is quite possibly imaginary ?