Over sixty valid deities in the OT

[Willum]

So I knew there were other gods listed in the Torah/OT, but I didn't realize there were over sixty!

Sixty deities spoken about as if they were, to spout the phrase, "living gods."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category: ... brew_Bible

How can the OT claim to be monotheistic, when Asherah (Ha-Sarah), is Yahweh's wife, and so many other deities are part of the narrative?

We all thought Judaism was monotheistic, but it has as many gods as any other religion.

Can anyone explain this?

If you are Judaic, is it OK to worship one of the less bloodthirsty ones? Dagon, god of grain and the oceans, seems nice.

[Tart]

[Replying to post 25 by Tart]

The biblical writings are not "historical or scientific" ...

This dodge is used over and over ...

Yet YOU chose to put up biblical propaganda as historical truth ...?

These "scriptures" can obviously mean just whatever individual members of faith communities choose them to mean.

Its pretty straight foreword... Whoever wrote Genesis 10 distinguished the Canaanites from the Israelites, as never being one in the same, like you are suggesting... The Tribe of Canaan was never believed to be within the tribe of Israel, and vice versa...

Are you suggesting you have a more accurate interpretation of the evidence? Be my guest...

[Jagella]

Well its not.. It is about the false gods in the Old Testament, more specifically about the gods of Babylon... Isaiah 46...

But we all know that the Christian version of a god is just like those false gods in Isaiah 46. Apparently it's really hard to tell a true god from a false god.

[Willum]

5 “Can you compare me to anyone? No one is equal to me. You cannot understand everything about me. There is nothing like me. 6 Some people are rich with gold and silver. Gold falls from their purses, and they weigh their silver on scales. They pay an artist to make a false god from wood. Then they bow down and worship that false god. 7 They put their false god on their shoulders and carry it. That false god is useless; people have to carry it! People set the statue on the ground, and it cannot move. That false god never walks away from its place. People can yell at it, but it will not answer. That false god is only a statue; it cannot save people from their troubles.

(Isaiah 46)

Now that we see that there are so many deities in the OT, this could equally be Ba'el, Eylon, Yahweh or the god you profess to honor. It actually depends on the year it was written.

[Willum]

[Replying to post 28 by ttruscott]

We will, for the sake of the topic, say, "it is obvious to casual reader that this god interacts with persons or deities in the Bible, such that they seem to be an actual entity."

Such as when Yahweh punishes Amon. Yahweh interacts with Amon in such a way that a normal reader, who is not in abject denial or desperately delusional, would think that Amon was as real as Yahweh.

[StuartJ]

Modern archaeology has largely discarded the historicity of the religious narrative,[7] with it being reframed as constituting an inspiring national myth narrative.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelites

"An inspiring national myth narrative" is also known as "propaganda".

No one EVER demonstrates that any version of "God" had anything to do with the religious narrative ...

Or the national myth narrative ...

Or the propaganda.

Humans are political creatures that produce political propaganda.

Persons of faith swallow the propaganda; digest it, and turn it into "scripture".

[Willum]

[Replying to post 31 by Tart]

Well, the Bible says the Hebrew killed the Canaan. History says Pompey the Great did, and replaced them with the Sadducee, who were also probably Ba'el worshipers.

Hmmm, I wonder what we should do with these two conflicts: One from established history, and another from a book of suspected fairy tales?

[Willum]

[Replying to post 19 by Tart]

Willum, id suggest to you to go read the Bible... There is no other "living god" in the Bible other then the God of the Hebrews... The Bible teaches that all these other gods are false idols, made by men, and having no life in them...

Tart, I'd suggest to you to go read the Bible... There are many "living gods" in the Bible that are gods of the Hebrews... The Bible teaches that all these other gods interacted with, even were married to Yahweh. Though it should be apparent now that all gods are made by men, and have no life to them.

[Elijah John]

[Replying to post 4 by Jagella]

Negative:
I've been reading the references. They are 'real,' gods, vilified perhaps, demeaned occasionally, honored more rarely, married to Yahweh, once.

You drank the Kool-aid, shake it off!

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[bjs]

[Replying to post 28 by ttruscott]

The old "please explain" dodge ...

Just to cover some basics, asking “please explain…� is not a dodge.

Responding to a “please explain� by calling it a dodge and not explaining is a dodge.

[JehovahsWitness]

There are many "living gods" in the Bible ...

THE LIVING GOD

The expression "The living god" (elohim hayyim) appears numerous times* in the bible and is is uniquely associated with YHWH the God of the Hebrews.

• The living god (elohim hayyim)t is an expression that is frequently employed in scripture by the Prophets who often sought to emphasized the distingtion between YHWH and the pagan gods worshipped by the nation's around them ¤. Isaiah for example, speaks of these nations praying to "a god that cannot save them" and Habakkuk refers to "worthless gods that are speechless" ( see Isaiah 45:20, Habakkuk 2:18 NWT).
  
  The Christian writers also employed this expression, especially the Aposle Paul whose missionary journeys meant he preached to pagan people's who had a pantheon of gods. Speaking to the the pagan worshippers of Lystra Paul and Barnabus urged them to " turn from these vain things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all the things in them." (Acts 14:15).

CONCLUSION Although the Jewish people had a long history of polluting their worship by worshipping gods (and goddesses) other than YHWH/Jehovah, the bible writers again and again urged them to return to the one who they describe repeatedly as "the true and living God", expressions never once used in association with anyone but YHWH the God of Abraham.

JW




*the expression "the true god" is found 24 times in the New World Translation and 28 times in Amplified bible
https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearc ... 3&limit=50

¤ The expression "as Jehovah (YHWH) is living..." is often seen in the bible and appears to be an idiomatc expression used when swearing an oath ( see 1 Sam 26:10,16, 29:6 2 Sam12:5, 14:11 1 Kg 2:14, 2 Kg 2:6 NWT)


FURTHER READING
https://fosterheologicalreflections.blo ... cerpt.html


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