Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
No, He does NOT. What about it is a HUMAN psychological weakness do you NOT understand??? What amount of education or maturation is it going to take to get you to recognize the utter barbarity and ignorance of the beliefs you hold about God from the OT????You are a disgrace to your profession and a stumbling block to the spiritual maturity of everyone you minister to in your church.
This Topic was inspired by another poster who compared "god" as the heavenly father to our "earthly" fathers and noted similarities from the point of view of the children
My own father was a D- grade who spent as much time as he spent around us (which was not a lot, thankfully) Controlling and going out of his way to destroy every ounce of our self -esteem. While he maintained a "know it all" attitude and acted as a dictator, we later came to find out that his own self esteem was negligible at best, as well as the later realization that based on his advise, he really did not know "everything". In fact, he was closer to the opposite, but since life is not an all or nothing black or white issue (in spite of the fact that he still observes it as such to this day) I will not dwell on that but to say that when I have followed his advice(or his "control") I have been met with failure more times than not.
SO looking at my father, who acted as though he was "god", looking at his own self hatred, self defeating and self loathing attitude, I began to do a deeper psychoanalysis of the Abrahamic God (which, I believe, to be fictitious, so this analysis is the same as doing one for Sherlock Holmes or Falstaff.)
Using written sources, such as the Koran Bible, Old Testament, etc I was able to access a few psychology profiles, first isolating any disorders or abnormalities. I did get strong results answering as "god" would, based on written texts, of some personality disorders. (Interesting because I believe to this day that my own father suffered from Borderline Personality Disorder, but refused to seek any treatment, of course, saying the problem was not with him but with everyone else.)
For Example:
Isolating a Narcissistic Disorder, for God, then looking back on behaviors, we see a repeated pattern of murder and revenge, one who spews forth hatred of anyone who fails to fall down and worship him. We see this at the Walls of Jericho, the Slaughter of the idol-worshipers at Mecca, the slaughter of the Amalek.....the list goes on.
Raging anger, which results in killing, (psychopathology ?) Usually is a clear indication of self hatred.
Then there are the first half of the commandments, The Ten Commandments start with commanding worship. Apparently, some god somewhere was too afraid that if he did not command people to worship him, then they might not.
Personally, If I were god, I would not care whether people worship me or not. Heck, I am NOT god and I do not care. Do not say"OH OH That is sad the way your dad was so abusive." My ego does not require that. I am OK ! I have moved on to bigger and better things without him. And enjoying it !
But egotism.....the god sized one of the deity in question, seems to indicate some lack of self-confidence, which generates clearly from a lack of self acceptance. So God, in the Abrahamic tradition, does not even accept himself, with all of his insecurities and flaws. (Check out the interesting psychology books online for further analysis)
It would appear, then, that the god, a creation of man, was created by self-loathing, insecure men, who perhaps had inadequate examples all around them. Using the limited resources, they created a god and attributed all that was seen and unseen to him. They characterized this god as though he were made in their image, a superhuman of sorts, with the egotistical problems, and the same negative attributes and shortcomings that they themselves had.
That included a degree of self doubt, self loathing and a lack of self acceptance, which primitive man could not fathom, but could express, and they created a self loathing, self hating god who constantly makes mistakes, but denies his own imperfections, all the while possibly knowing that he is a total failure.
The Ten Commandments were provided to the Israelites because they had been living and exposed to practices that God did not approve of for about 200 years. Practices including idol worship. In fact the entire Mosaic Law was provided to the ancient Israelites so as to make them a nation dedicated to God on earth and eventually the center for true worship. A nation from which the Messiah would come from. He made certain promises to Abraham and in order to fulfill such promises the nation of Israel would need to follow a certain path. Why then not provide them guidance.
Regardless of what terms are used to describe God and/or his actions (i.e. murder, slaughter, insecure, egotistical, etc) what really is being said is God behaves in an evil manner. However, when speaking of "evil" in the Biblical sense it is not lost on a thoughtful person that evil is not a black and white term. The idea of evil in the Biblical record requires a differentiation between what is moral, immoral or even that the term evil is used in the sense of calamity at times that really trips up people. Even on a secular level topics of evil, morality and calamity are intertwined. Let me give you an example: the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (the bombings didn't differentiate between babies and children and adult soldiers). Some would say such actions were evil others would say that it wasn't. I suppose one's viewpoint would depend if a person was living in those cities at the time of the bombings as opposed to a parent of a GI wanting a quick end to the war instead of a protracted and bloody invasion of Japan. So what it comes down to is a question of morality. Were the bombings evil in the sense of bringing calamity. I think most people would agree it was a calamity. However was it immoral? That's really where people's opinions differ. Some would say yes others no and still others would say it was a "necessary evil." Likewise when portraying God with derogatory terms what really is being said is God behaves in an evil (i.e. immoral way). People focus on the difficult to fathom accounts in the Bible when deriding God but ignore the other accounts that give us a full picture. He destroys that is true but the Biblical record tells us he takes no delight in the death even of someone wicked. If God is indeed an omniscient being then it also means he can, if he chooses, know a person's life path from beginning to end (no man or men can do that although we can guesstimate). I think what also trips people up is that accounts portray an angry God and at other times a God of mercy. However, let's use a secular illustration such as a judge. A jury of one's peers in the USA decides the guilt or innocence of an accused. But, it's the judge who hands down the punishment. That punishment could be death. Yet the judge goes home at the end of the day and behaves as a loving father. Is the judge a murderer because he handed down a death sentence or is he a loving father? Likewise is God a murderer because he judges and hands out a sentence or is he a loving father? In using the illustration of the judge I would say most people would reason a judge is fulfilling multiple roles in his day to day activities. In like manner I would say God does the same. It's part of the Biblical record that Abraham knew he would not live to see the lands that he was residing in but rather his offspring would take possession. God in fact told Abraham it would take about 400 years for the people to progress from bad to worse. Four hundred years. Societies have made 360 degree turnarounds in terms of morality in half that time.
The Ten Commandments were provided to the Israelites because they had been living and exposed to practices that God did not approve of for about 200 years. Practices including idol worship. In fact the entire Mosaic Law was provided to the ancient Israelites so as to make them a nation dedicated to God on earth and eventually the center for true worship. A nation from which the Messiah would come from. He made certain promises to Abraham and in order to fulfill such promises the nation of Israel would need to follow a certain path. Why then not provide them guidance.
What I noticed was this translation
You shall have no other gods before[a] me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
The third sentence there , about being a jealous god, reeks of low self esteem, insecurity, dependence and emotional instability. (We already know that the Abrahamic god is very emotionally unstable).
Psychology today describes Jealousy as
Jealousy is a complex emotion that encompasses many different kinds of feelings ranging from fear of abandonment to rage and humiliation. Jealousy can strike both men and women when a third-party threat to a valued relationship is perceived, it can be a problem among siblings competing for parental attention, or envy after a more successful friend. Conventional wisdom holds that jealousy is a necessary emotion because it preserves social bonds, but jealously usually does more harm than good, creating relationship conflict and strife.
Considering the threats of harming one's innocent offspring in a jealous fit does not sound like "healthy Jealousy" to me. In fact, it reeks of a very unhealthy relationship, forged out of fear and forced companionship.
I am sure that ISIS believes they are only honoring god by taking and selling sex slaves. This is one example of "Forced Companionship" They seem to be preaching that they are doing the will of god when they kill anyone who states a different faith than their own. They will point to these very commandments to justify their own hatred and rage. And what is at the center? Fear. Plain and simple, fear, self worthlessness, and self abhorrence. Projected back onto the god of Abraham.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hd4me
God in fact told Abraham it would take about 400 years for the people to progress from bad to worse. Four hundred years. Societies have made 360 degree turnarounds in terms of morality in half that time.
Most have. Again, there is ISIS, Vizio's flock (who clearly follow a god of hate, straight from the pen of vizio himself) There is an entire obsession amongst certain followers, usually fundamentalists, who skew the scriptures into proving that "god" does have hate. If any entity has hatred, then it must spring somewhere from self hatred. Therefore, the god in question does have self hatred and self doubt.
But then again, fundamentalist religions, especially those espoused by Vizio, amount to little more than "Scriptural pornography", a self gratification at the emotional flaws of others based on a precept of "God loves me, but not you" .... Which is really just another example of the lack of self acceptance and therefore, self hatred.
So yes, based on the traditions of the Old Testament, Koran, and Torah, and even throwing in the mentally unstable teachings of some of the New Testament writers ramblings and hallucinations, the"god" of this is full of hatred, as are so many of his self proclaimed followers, and based on this example, the same god knows that he is inadequate, even in the eyes of others, which is all that allows him to be, and therefore, self loathing.
Amen.
No, He does NOT. What about it is a HUMAN psychological weakness do you NOT understand??? What amount of education or maturation is it going to take to get you to recognize the utter barbarity and ignorance of the beliefs you hold about God from the OT????You are a disgrace to your profession and a stumbling block to the spiritual maturity of everyone you minister to in your church.
I am heading over to the recipe section so that I can rep you again.
Mystic remains one of the positive lights of Christianity, but consider the following
He is educated.
He is NOT a fundamentalist
He is NOT a Biblical Literalist
He is not a nutjob.
Kind of different from the run of the mill wackos like....well..... you know who
Mystic reminds me of some of the Fascinating Jesuits my wife introduced me to when we were visiting her Alma Mater in DC
These are priests but they are pursuing, or have attained, PH.ds in subjects outside of theology and religion. They seek education for the sake of learning and teach not a single philosophy, but a holistic approach to life.
This is a polar opposite of Vizio's anti-intellectual stance towards life and religion.
Mystics experience intrigues me because although I am an atheist, I have an interest in what he says, and he approaches the subject with a true understanding although many here do not seem to get it. Mystic is a blessing to his profession.
No, He does NOT. What about it is a HUMAN psychological weakness do you NOT understand??? What amount of education or maturation is it going to take to get you to recognize the utter barbarity and ignorance of the beliefs you hold about God from the OT????You are a disgrace to your profession and a stumbling block to the spiritual maturity of everyone you minister to in your church.
I'm not quoting the OT. This is the problem when you base your opinions of God off of feelings, emotions, or other people's opinions instead of the Bible. You seem to get the basic names and terms from the Bible, but I have not seen that you really understand or comprehend what the Gospel is about.
The problem is, your image of God is too small. You focus on one of his attributes and ignore the rest.
Romans 9:6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
I'm not quoting the OT. This is the problem when you base your opinions of God off of feelings, emotions, or other people's opinions instead of the Bible. You seem to get the basic names and terms from the Bible, but I have not seen that you really understand or comprehend what the Gospel is about.
The problem is, your image of God is too small. You focus on one of his attributes and ignore the rest.
Romans 9:6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
According to your bible, love is not an attribute of God, it is what God IS. The quote is not "God is loving", but rather, "God is LOVE".
So if elsewhere in your bible it claims that God does something that is in direct opposition to love, than either it is wrong or the god the writer was speaking of is not the same God.
According to your bible, love is not an attribute of God, it is what God IS. The quote is not "God is loving", but rather, "God is LOVE".
So if elsewhere in your bible it claims that God does something that is in direct opposition to love, than either it is wrong or the god the writer was speaking of is not the same God.
You really need to read that in context. It's an attribute. It's one of his moral attributes. Just as hate is also a moral attribute.
It's not unloving, nor is it contradictory to hate immorality and sin.
You really need to read that in context. It's an attribute. It's one of his moral attributes.
"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God IS love."
And
"God IS love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them."
There is your context. God IS love. You just can't wiggle out of that.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
