Because the bible tells you so?

[The Grand Nudger]

Why should I even respond to you when you are proving that there is ZERO genuineness in your questions? You are not looking for a discussion, you're looking for a brow beating. Are you actually looking to learn about what I believe and why? Or do you have foregone conclusions that you're just going to argue without reasoning on a single thing I am saying? You're no better than someone who believes the earth is 6000 years old because thats all they have ever known. 

I'm sorry, when my questions lead you to say something that you find uncomfortable then -I'm- the one with zero genuineness?  Not sure how that works.  You asked me to show you how a catholic could justify their belief in the trinity...and I've shown you -just one of the ways- with your own bible..which was intentionally edited to remove references to that very concept.....and yet they remain.  There are more, of course...and we'll get to the next one in just a moment.

But, for one last time... Jehovah doesn't need to say that there are no almighty gods other than him.  Almighty is generally singular.

Your adding your own presumptions to the bible? Are the scriptures not trustworthy, do they not mean what they say...and say what they mean?  Again, you don't think that the scriptures would say "there are no other almighty gods besides me", if thats what god wanted to say?  

God does acknowledge other gods. (Exodus 20:3) 

You're a liar in addition to being a polytheist?  Lets take a look at that verse eh?

-You must not have any other gods besides me.

So, no, he does no such thing, and we still have that bit in Isaiah that I offred last response, and that you're prevaricating on up above. Do you not trust scripture, or god, when he says that there are no other gods?

He is the only god that is deserving exclusive devotion and worship. Satan is referred to as the god of this system. Paul said that some had made their belly their god.

I'm not really interested in how many gods you think are worthy of worship, I only commented upon how many gods you believed in.

Could you also quote me where I admit to being a polytheist?

Sure, np...post 67, you said bluntly, unambiguously...

Jesus is a god

I don't see much wiggle room there amigo.  jehovah is a god...and jesus is a god, but..-according to you- they aren't the same god (and there are apparently different kinds of gods....).  One plus one equals two, in case you were unclear....and that is the -definition- of polytheism.  

Yes, Jesus was divine and god like. 

I'm sorry, is that what scripture actually says?  Why are you changing your tune now?  I'm afraid that we can't really have the discussion you wanted if you aren't willing to stand by the words of scripture, or even your own words from one post to the next.  

I have to remind you here that I don;t actually believe in the trinity, I think it's horseshit, same as you (so your comments about my disingenuousness are doubly amusing, lol)....but that isn't because it isn't based in scripture....it clearly is.  Catholics found a way to reconcile those statements which you are now -drowning in-.  Rather than whine "that's not what god meant" they worked out an explanation where god meant every word, and every word could be non-contradictory.  That's dedication to faith right thur.....you don't think that catholics have been tackling this for ages?  

-Jesus is a god
-Jehovah is a god
but there is only one god

The text makes claims that are difficult to reconcile with each other, that's a fact....difficult, but not impossible.  I;m also perfectly happy to call you a christian, despite your non-orthodox beliefs about the trinity and the number of gods floating over our heads (and I've found occasion to defend JW's on the that count more than once on these boards from their co-religionists)...but you can understand that an orthodox christian isn't going to see it that way, right?  You did ask me to play the catholic....perhaps you should just feel thankful that I didn;t tie you to a post and light a pile of kindling under your feet?

Would you like me to play the baptist for my next example of how the trinity can be established (I'm feelin the holy ghost)?  After we can clear up those issues above..of course?  You big bad fucking witness you....lol, tripping over the first words that fall out of your mouth. Where's all that experience you talked about.....?  Notice that you didn't actually respond to how I established the trinity...you were too busy defending your faith from your own words.

[The Grand Nudger]

BTW....I don't want to hear any more whining about browbeatings from you.  You've taken the opportunity, throughout this entire thread, to smear other christians in the mud -without a single one present to defend their faiths..the only thing hitting your brow right now are your own damned words.  The very conversation you've sparked with me is an example of this.  So forgive me if I don't give a fuck whether your fragile religious sensibilities are hurt.  

[Secular Elf]

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This, to me, seems like the flavor of that particular month. The idea of the abstract was a gradual invention and ability of the human mind. Consider how the earliest religions started with worshiping tangible things like animals or the son/moon. This evolved to more fantastic ideas of half-human/half-animals, which evolved to become completely abstract ideas of what a god is.

And I can't seem to ignore that, even though an idol-less god was the original plan, man couldn't help but build statues of Jesus or to commission paintings of God himself. Christianity is filled to the brim with imagery, even though, as you've said, god reminds us that he is invisible. Man, uhhhh uh uhhhh finds a way.

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Did the Greeks believe that statues were their actual deities or did they use them the same way that Christians use paintings and carvings of Jesus and other religious figures?   The early Hebrews built an ark to house their god and there is imagery of a god in the bible, the burning bush, walking in the garden of Eden and even like a cloud pillar in Exodus. It seems as if the Hebrews concept of god changed with the rest of the world's. 

The concept of carrying gods in arks is from Egypt.  Egypt during the Middle Kingdom (2055-1650 BCE) and New Kingdom (1550-1069 BCE) eras had exercised both political and cultural influence in the Levant area (modern day Sinai north through Israel, Lebanon, and coastal Syria) and maintained control there as part of the Egyptian Empire.  You can see Egyptian influence in Canaanite art of the period.  Current archaeological research indicates that the Hebrews and the Canaanites were culturally indistinct.  So it is not a stretch that certain ideas from Egypt influenced the ancestors of the ancient Israelites.

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2. I didn't encounter this as far as I can recall so I don't have an answer to this. For spoken language it was taught that the tower of babel story where people were tying to build a tower into heaven and god created all the different languages to confuse everyone so they couldn't build the tower.

The Tower of Babel story comes from an original Sumerian myth.

Once upon a time there was no snake, there was no scorpion,

There was no hyena, there was no lion,
There was no wild dog, no wolf,
There was no fear, no terror,
Man had no rival.
In those days, the lands of Subur (and) Hamazi,
Harmony-tongued Sumer, the great land of the decrees of princeship,
Uri, the land having all that is appropriate,
The land Martu, resting in security,
The whole universe, the people in unison
To Enlil in one tongue [spoke].
(Then) Enki, the lord of abundance (whose) commands are trustworthy,
The lord of wisdom, who understands the land,
The leader of the gods,
Endowed with wisdom, the lord of Eridu
Changed the speech in their mouths, [brought] contention into it,
Into the speech of man that (until then) had been one.

--Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta

The Jews of the Babylonian Exile Period (609-515 BCE) borrowed some themes and myths from the Babylonian religion (who inherited it from the Sumerians through the Akkadians), changed a few names, edited a few storylines, and adapted them and adopted them as their own.

[robvalue]

Cool, I never knew that about the tower story. Yet more borrowed mythology Fricking Frankenstein's monster of a religion.