Who is the God of the Old Testament?

The more you do know makes you realize how much you don't know.

Why is it that when it comes to religion that everyone believes that there point of view is the right one? I have my personal view. I would also add that I do not think a person is "wrong" for believing something different. If somebody asks me what I think I would be more than happy to share with them my personal beliefs. I have been going to Church on and off my entire life. I do not agree with everything 100% that they teach, say, and practice. I do not claim to know everything there is to know about God or the Bible or spirituality. I would not listen to anyone who says they know it all either.

i've got an answer for you, omshaanith, but it may be a bit theologically apocryphal for you...

perhaps jesus isn't the christ. perhaps there is no christ, only the anti-christ. he supposedly commits miracles and makes promises of a glorious afterlife and such to gain favor and spread the religion of christianity, deceptive and cunning as he is. subsequently the religion is spread coercively and violently and used to justify all manner of human atrocities.

and there you have it. people take the idea of the christ, of peace and tolerance and compassion and humility and effectively subvert it into the monster it has become. cataclysmic clusterfuck accomplished, backed by a warped theology stemming from a wrathful god.

interesting concept...if he was such a bad God then why did he allow Jesus to exist and to heal other people...

It sounds like some of you are having a sunday school class. I think you all should spend some time with pictures from the Hubble telescope and just look at the far reaches of the Univese even thousands of lightyears away and tell us if you see a God anywhere. This whole Universe is violent, Chaotic and undergoing continuing birth and destruction and no human can exist in most of it. To date Earth is the only habitable place in the universe but we have destroyed so much of it with war and just plain abuse from strip mines el al. How would you expect any form of life, even invisible life to exist in a universe where the temperatures at places may reach millions of degrees? This is the twentyfirst century and if the human races continue to believe in the same old antiquated stories and mythology, then the Human races will never advance beyond the first stages of a species of animal.

In The old Testament and especially the five books of moses, God proclaims himself to be a God of War and by God he has been that all of these thousands of years and that is the same God that the Jews worship. The five books of Moses known as the Torah or the Pentateuch. Describes how the jews were practically nomads, wanderers or better Gypsy's. They spread their venom from Palestine to the Ur of the Chaldees along the Tigres and the Euphrates and each time they were expelled, very likely for their wierd religious rituals and practices. Tacitus called them an indolent bunch from the Valley of Ida on the Island of Crete. For that he was almost banished.

It comes down to this: Do you believe in God or not. If you don't, then don't worry about it. If you do, regardless of how twisted modern religion may have made everything, and how marketable the bible is, or that you don't speak hebrew, greek or aramaic, know that God is completely able to work around all of that. There is nothing in this modern world He cannot overcome. I would be happy to talk with anyone about this. I'm no expert, but I can refer you some. ecto_man3@hotmail.com

Jehova is a word that was created in the middle ages. In original Hebrew there are no vowels. Later markings were added to indicate vowels to preserve the language.

It was created by a man who took the words YHWH (which was never altered as it is g-d's personal name) and the consonants from Adonai to create the word Jehovah. The name has no meaning in any language.

Just another one of the small ways the faith has been changed and twisted over time.

It doesn't surpise me that so many people don't believe in anything when everything has been changed so much it's nearly unrecognizable and no longer makes any sense.

I blame televangelists.

I'm gonna read that book as soon as possible.

i got a question who is nathaniel j. merritt and since when does he think he "found" the real story of the creator of this world. this fictional novel along with the other fictional novel, the Bible, are there for your pleasure not to be taken literally

Mr. Merritt clearly has a bone to pick with institutionalized religion. And, perhaps rightfully so! According to a quick search, and his own words, he is a former Jehovah's Witness and former member of the "Watchtower cult".

Despite all the terrible things done in God's name, I would encourage you to continue to pursue the truth. Don't let self-interested people scare you away from investigating! Wrestle with these ideas. There is more going on than you can see with your eyes or that can be explained to you by a pundit.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A3UQ4G8RBLAXSQ/ref=cm_pdp_rev_more?i...

It seems like some people., no matter how much sense you make will still deny the existence of a peaceful, loving and caring God who does not tell you to go kill those you don't like. Call it nature or Jesus Christ or the universe or whatever you percieve him to be but he is all of that and more and surely isn't telling me to destroy people, the planet , or the universe if I could. The old testament is a fairy tale with and evil leader, no doubt, kill your neighbors? What kind of God is that? Wake up people! God does not destroy what he has created out of love!

So are you telling me that the imaginary figure we once thought was good is actually evil? WELL, that changes everything!

this explains alot of why the Israles are so blood thirsty since thier God (Satan)has been leading them down this path for generations. I never could understand how people could slaughter other people in the name of thier God. This also applies to the so called Christian right who believe the destruction of human life is all fine and well. May they all burn in hell, or maybe they know no better and should be pitied since they have been misled for so many generations. I know noe why I don't believe in the old testament, they have been led down the path of self destruction by thier so called God. (Satan)

First off, I'd like to note how original this article/book is. I'd also like to point out that no one has ever said anything like it, it's a shoe-in for a Nobel. Additionally, it took a lot of creativity to come up with such an unpopular idea. It amazes me the genius behind such works. Insert more sarcasms [here].

Luke 4:1-13

This may come as a shock to you, but there are people who have met Jahweh in a most manifest and clear way, and in the end,so will you..like it or not. His name is Jeshua, and He is Pure Love and glory.

However, his nature is also Holy, and indeed there is that , that is not holy. This is death, The One and same Creator became a man, and suffered death, so that even selfish one's, perhaps like you also, could live with him in eternal Presence. You may mock him and blaspheme until your green..but it does not change the facts.

Jesus is Lord and God. I, among many, have seen Him, and I fear and Love Him. He is returning. Turn back while time permits, for we are in the end times.

mel2:

I don't bow to trees (though I do hug one occassionally ;-)), I respect them and work to preserve them as a good steward of the only home I have. And I do believe that there is a lifeforce in them that extends throughout the Earth, as there is in the water.This perfectly formed life support system that provides all we need to survive was not made on a whim, and those who do not fear destroying that system cannot truly say they serve any God but themselves. This is why I believe the only way to peace in the world is through man having peace within himself, and that peace is attained through gnosis.

I am concerned about the last 2 paragraphs in this article. It seems the author of this article wants to justify Jesus (or his version of him) while denouncing the Old Testament Creator. But it seems impossible to divorce the 2 based on Jesus' constant citations of the Old Testament (almost every time he talks) and his actions which constantly including praying to his father whom he considers the God of the Jews. If you want to reject the Jewish religion, you have to divorce yourself from Jesus as well. Its funny to me that you are critiquing "man made religions" while you yourself (a human) are making up characteristics about Jesus. If you want to reject Christianity and the Jewish faith, based on the "differences" between the old and new covenant, that's fine and consistent, but please, don't pick and choose.

The gnostics believe that the God of the old testament is actually Ialtabaoth, a counterfeit God... and that the God of Genesis who forbid adam and eve to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was actually this counterfiet God, that did'nt want ''His'' identity revealed as a result of adam and eve eating the ''fruit'' and being awakened....

This is why they felt ashamed when they realized they were naked, not because it was shameful, but because this counterfeit God took a sadistic pleasure in observing their sexual encounters, and they realized that...and they were afraid of God when ''he'' was searching for them in the garden after the fall because they realized that this God was sinister.

Now, why would adam and eve fear an all loving God? and why if this ''God'' was all knowing, have to search for adam and eve in the garden? these questions all support the theory that the god of the old testament was a counterfeit ''God'' who had limited power, and used deception to have dominion over Adam and Eve..... But hey, anything is possible.....Gnosis, Know thyself.....

Now the idea that this counterfeit God took sadistic pleasure in observing their sexual encounters, implies that this ''God'' wasn't spiritual, but rather terrestrial, maybe even an alien being of some kind, Nephalim maybe? which means ''sons of God''....remember, that in Genesis the Torah refers to ''God'' as being Plural, not Singular. The expression used in the Torah is ''Elohim'' which is plural, and is said to mean, ''Those who came from the sky''....

Now the ''God'' or the ''Elohim'' is/are quoted as saying ''let us make man in our own image'' this implies that ''God'' or the elohim'' were physical and had an ''image''.... isn't ''GOD supposed to be an Omniscient and Omnipresent GOD, spiritual, not tangible?
Hmmmm.....

(New American Standard Bible translation---

Then God said, "Let Us make man in ''Our'' image, according to ''Our'' likeness....)

LOL, I find it funny that people in the 21st century still deal with such issues. Who is Jehona, who is god, etc.

I dunno but he looks like a thief.

how can you know if your prayers are not responded to..perhaps it is you who does not Understand your Gods language as it is being answered?

also why would you worship nature, nature doesn't require worshiping, it seems a little silly to me. And what do you mean by nature, like plants and the earth, or the whole universe. I'm guessing a tree will be indifferent to you bowing to it

believe in god or not, he in fact did perform miracles in the old testament, like turning bitter water drinkable, or splitting the red sea through Moses. Miracle's are pretty superficial though, and its weird to judge god (if you want to see him as a character) based on miracles.

Abraham was a crazy man, but he was also a genius who made a very modern religion that still is very applicable in society today. It's so subtle you may not even realize it, for instance, how would you like no breaks in work (thank you sabbath.) First worker's rights, among other things

Yo, jmac1!

bfcooper has responded after your comment on Current.com:

bfcooper said:

"wat r u talking about this is rediculous"
...........................................................................

To just to come up with a concept of a time that we were not in and say that this is how it was is
"wat r u talking about this is rediculous"

The 2012 focus is more my speed.
I hope everyone knows how to garden and not just sit around on CURRENT and bitch about things they don't know anything about!

wat r u talking about this is rediculous

I will give you alot,
but...
don't steal my stuff!

If you do judge a tree by the fruit. Then to be the caretaker of creation means that if the tree that feeds you stops working, and is no more of use, you must find another way to feed yourself.
Ingest this as you may, but the good in the old testament and the new is still open for discussion.
Until one dies one does not know, nor do we!?
Later
j

A great book on this subject is, "A History of God" by Karen Armstrong. She suggests that the El, the god of Abraham, and Yahweh, the god of Jacob, may be different. The god of Abraham believed his was one of many. Yahweh thought he was the greatest of all gods. Later on in the Hebrew faith, they decided that Yahweh was the only god.

God is but a conceptual confusion: a metaphysical place holder for an abstraction some find necessary to structure their lives.

But I could be wrong.

John Lennon: "God is a concept by which we measure our pain".

Any religion that tells you to go out and kill your enemies has got to either have an evil entity as its god or its churches interpretations are.

Jubal:

I am one who also awaits 2012 with a renewed sense of anticipation. I hope that it will bring a new Renaissance of mind and spirit unlike any we have seen before. A time when the true realities of life will take precedence over the superficial excesses that have taken us away from our true destiny and relationship with this Earth. And I agree that it is those excesses and false priorities that have kept us from achieving peace as well.

Also I wanted to say that understanding the identity or the nature of the Old Testament God will give us many clues to why we cannot achieve peace in the middle east.

Abraham, according to the bible, was Jehovah's first friend. Israel and Islam were his direct descendants, and the Christians are his adopted children through the so called sacrifice of the lamb, which the bible claims was Jesus.

I have extensively studied both the Old and New Testament scriptures and I have read and reviewed many books on the subject, including scientific evidence about events that either support of negate the facts as presented in the Bible. For me this is an ongoing study as I learn new information every week. I keep my mind open to more. My conclusion is that we, and when I say we, it is because I used to be one of the them, have been deceived. The bible has been distorted and redacted and edited to support the money making, power brokering and deceptive religious and political practices that has kept mankind in conflict with himself throughout the ages.

I am so looking forward to 2012, not because I believe that on December 21 there will be some catastrophic event, but because I feel that our world has moved past the tipping point and that we will see a tremendous awakening of people, like has never been seen before, people coming to the realization of the absolute lie that money, property, prestige, religion, and politics are.

The Earth is my church and the divine is in all of us. Jesus spoke of that in the Gnostic Gospels. That is what I believe. And just to add, Christ (and I do believe he did exist) was nothing like the socalled original "creator"... a selfish vindictive "God" that sowed the seeds of fear and revenge instead of love and that represented everything Jesus Christ spoke against. And it was that very same selfishness, jealousy, fear, and vindictiveness that led the pharisees to hand Jesus over to the Romans to be murdered.

"I believe in GOD, only I spell it n-a-t-u-r-e "...
Frank Lloyd Wright

The notion, that a bearded white guy made the WHOLE Universe - so stupid people will behave themselves according to mommy's directives, is utterly asinine.
When one lets go of such none-sense, one can be free to finally find out what real adulthood feels like.
It feels real good. Being a real grown-up is really what you need. Really.
Forget all that dumb stuff - believing it prevents any other comprehension. Forever dumb.
Not good.

A made up character.