Today, if we want to know pretty much anything, we "Google" it on our smart phones. In ancient Israel, special people would "Yahweh" it on their Ephod …
The ephod is frequently mentioned in close connection with the sacred oracle. When Saul or David wished to question Yhwh through the oracle, they commanded the priest, "Bring hither the ephod" (I Sam. xiv. 18 [A. V. "ark of God"], xxiii. 9, xxx. 7). This connection between the ephod and the oracle may also be seen very clearly in the combination of Urim and Thummim with the ephod in the official robes of the high priest. It is the prerogative of the priests to carry and to question this ephod with the oracle. The sentence "Ahiah was at that time carrying the ephod before Israel" actually means that Ahiah was then the chief among the priests of Shiloh (I Sam. xiv. 3, xiv. 18 [LXX.]; compare xxiii. 6). On the oracle compare Urim and Thummim. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5790-ephod
Yes …!
DIRECT communication could be made with Yahweh/Jehovah, and all manner of questions answered and futures foretold …!
If we had a biblical Ephod today, could debate questions on this site be answered immediately …?
The Ephod - a Biblical Smart Phone
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1213
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Re: The Ephod - a Biblical Smart Phone
Post #2Could it be that atheist just don’t really want to hear?SallyF wrote: ...
If we had a biblical Ephod today, could debate questions on this site be answered immediately …?
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Tcg
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Re: The Ephod - a Biblical Smart Phone
Post #3Yes, they could. In a world with technology that allows us to communicate with each other virtually instantly, one has to wonder why God remains silent. Technophobic? Stage fright? MIA?SallyF wrote:
If we had a biblical Ephod today, could debate questions on this site be answered immediately …?
Tcg
To be clear: Atheism is not a disbelief in gods or a denial of gods; it is a lack of belief in gods.
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Not believing isn't the same as believing not.
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I must assume that knowing is better than not knowing, venturing than not venturing; and that magic and illusion, however rich, however alluring, ultimately weaken the human spirit.
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Not believing isn't the same as believing not.
- wiploc
I must assume that knowing is better than not knowing, venturing than not venturing; and that magic and illusion, however rich, however alluring, ultimately weaken the human spirit.
- Irvin D. Yalom
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Willum
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Re: The Ephod - a Biblical Smart Phone
Post #4[Replying to post 2 by 1213]
More likely, it was just another fairy-tale device on top of a fairy-tales story part of a fairy tale religion.
Or maybe millions upon millions of atheists on an entire spectrum, just decide they are uninterested in the fundamental truths of reality, and so ignore anything they might hear.
Yup, that's it.
More likely, it was just another fairy-tale device on top of a fairy-tales story part of a fairy tale religion.
Or maybe millions upon millions of atheists on an entire spectrum, just decide they are uninterested in the fundamental truths of reality, and so ignore anything they might hear.
Yup, that's it.
I will never understand how someone who claims to know the ultimate truth, of God, believes they deserve respect, when they cannot distinguish it from a fairy-tale.
You know, science and logic are hard: Religion and fairy tales might be more your speed.
To continue to argue for the Hebrew invention of God is actually an insult to the very concept of a God. - Divine Insight
You know, science and logic are hard: Religion and fairy tales might be more your speed.
To continue to argue for the Hebrew invention of God is actually an insult to the very concept of a God. - Divine Insight
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OnlineWilliam
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Re: The Ephod - a Biblical Smart Phone
Post #5[Replying to post 3]
Tcg: In a world with technology that allows us to communicate with each other virtually instantly, one has to wonder why God remains silent. Technophobic? Stage fright? MIA?
William: If I was the Creator of this Creation, I might think I would find ways of hiding 'in plain sight'...inside the Creation and would express myself through the Creation with hints, so therefore through the technology wrought by the overall process.
From within the Creation, it would then appear to me as if I had lost myself by hiding myself from myself, and I would thus attempt to find ways in which to see if I could discover myself, through the creation.
I say this because I imagine that I would perhaps have had to have been - pretty bored - or perhaps interested in what might happen, or even perhaps a little 'crazy' to create such a universe and then inject myself into it.
Creating it would be one thing. Experiencing it from inside of it, quite another.
Oh What Fun We Have.
Tcg: In a world with technology that allows us to communicate with each other virtually instantly, one has to wonder why God remains silent. Technophobic? Stage fright? MIA?
William: If I was the Creator of this Creation, I might think I would find ways of hiding 'in plain sight'...inside the Creation and would express myself through the Creation with hints, so therefore through the technology wrought by the overall process.
From within the Creation, it would then appear to me as if I had lost myself by hiding myself from myself, and I would thus attempt to find ways in which to see if I could discover myself, through the creation.
I say this because I imagine that I would perhaps have had to have been - pretty bored - or perhaps interested in what might happen, or even perhaps a little 'crazy' to create such a universe and then inject myself into it.
Creating it would be one thing. Experiencing it from inside of it, quite another.
Oh What Fun We Have.
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Clownboat
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Re: The Ephod - a Biblical Smart Phone
Post #6Feel free to pretend that atheists don't want to hear or that they do. Neither will prevent you from answering the question you quoted but didn't address.
You can give a man a fish and he will be fed for a day, or you can teach a man to pray for fish and he will starve to death.
I blame man for codifying those rules into a book which allowed superstitious people to perpetuate a barbaric practice. Rules that must be followed or face an invisible beings wrath. - KenRU
It is sad that in an age of freedom some people are enslaved by the nomads of old. - Marco
If you are unable to demonstrate that what you believe is true and you absolve yourself of the burden of proof, then what is the purpose of your arguments? - brunumb
I blame man for codifying those rules into a book which allowed superstitious people to perpetuate a barbaric practice. Rules that must be followed or face an invisible beings wrath. - KenRU
It is sad that in an age of freedom some people are enslaved by the nomads of old. - Marco
If you are unable to demonstrate that what you believe is true and you absolve yourself of the burden of proof, then what is the purpose of your arguments? - brunumb
Post #7
The Ephod looks curiously like a prophecy for an iPad …!
Although - like many, many things in the fantastical world of biblical belief - we are not sure what an Ephod really was. It may have been the magical breastplate, or it may have been the garment underneath.
Nonetheless, the very special person would dress up in this very special costume and utter very special words, and was thereby enabled to make direct contact with the biblical Yahweh - the "Our Father who art in Heaven" that Christians invoke when reciting the Lord's Prayer.
The magical Ephod is one of the many, many biblical things that this Atheist - in her arguments against Christianity right here - offer as evidence that we are dealing with make-believe.
To answer the OP question …
If we had a magical biblical Ephod (and we dressed up properly) we would have direct communication with God the Father Jehovah/Yahweh, and, if Christians have the fantasy correct, with God the Son Jesus, and, of course, the birdlike Holy Ghost, and all our questions would be answered.
Or "God" could simply make a global appearance on smartphones …!?
It may not be make-believe …
But it certainly looks like it to me ...
Honestly.
"God" … just whatever humans imagine it to be.
"Scripture" … just whatever humans write it to be.
"Scripture" … just whatever humans write it to be.
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Difflugia
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Post #8
The ephod's got nothing on the Book of Mormon's Liahona (Alma 37:38), which was a compass (1 Nephi 16:10) that also received text messages from God (1 Nephi 16:26).
Re: The Ephod - a Biblical Smart Phone
Post #9It would appear they already are. I am often surprised at the secret information that seems to be in the possession of a few favoured souls. It is as though God has made his diary available.SallyF wrote:
If we had a biblical Ephod today, could debate questions on this site be answered immediately …
It has always been the wish of the powerful to read the future but the oracles were often ambiguously worded - just like biblical prophecies.
Re: The Ephod - a Biblical Smart Phone
Post #10That's a possibility but why restrict this to atheists? We all seem to hold tightly to the straws of our own opinions. I think the side that has the inspiration of the Holy Spirit should be able to present resoundingly convincing arguments. Oddly enough they don't.
Instead of seeking truth in divine whispers, perhaps a liberal application of logic, reasoning and common sense will suffice.
