Is all of the Bible monotheistic?

[ultimate777]

See http://www.thefreedictionary.com/monolatry which says in part:
monolatry: the worship of one god without excluding belief in others.


See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolatrism for more details which claim that at least up until the time of Moses
the Hebrews were not monotheistic, but monolatristic. Later they became monotheistic.

It seems quite persuasive to me. What do you think and why?

[PaulSacramento]

The bible mentioned other gods yes, but only one SUPREME God was worshiped by the Israelite - YHWH.
Monotheistic is more "one supreme God is worshiped" than "Only One" God exists.
One theory is that these other "gods" were simply the fallen angles trying to make a "name" for themselves.

[Seraph]

The Bible mentions many gods like Baal, Dagon, Ashera, etc. I believe it makes it clear that these are nothing more than statues though. When Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal, they were exposed as false prophets after they failed to get their god to do anything. They are "false gods" because they don't actually exist.

[ultimate777]

Paul and Seraph, I am very sad, it seems when I ask people questions they want to answer questions I did not ask rather than
questions I asked It's like I ask someone whether or not it is going to rain and they tell me the prediction for the temperature and whether or not it is going to rain is none of my business

Did you access the URL's I cited? I never said the Israelites worshipped other gods, I never said that other gods actually existed. I just think the Bible might suggest in some parts that the authors believed other gods existed at one time but they were not to worship them. If you were a Hindu you might not worship Kali, but you might believe she exists. Google Kali for a real trip

Another thing, how did Moses write part of the Bible after he died?

[PaulSacramento]

Paul and Seraph, I am very sad, it seems when I ask people questions they want to answer questions I did not ask rather than
questions I asked It's like I ask someone whether or not it is going to rain and they tell me the prediction for the temperature and whether or not it is going to rain is none of my business

Did you access the URL's I cited? I never said the Israelites worshipped other gods, I never said that other gods actually existed. I just think the Bible might suggest in some parts that the authors believed other gods existed at one time but they were not to worship them. If you were a Hindu you might not worship Kali, but you might believe she exists. Google Kali for a real trip

Another thing, how did Moses write part of the Bible after he died?

You asked what we thought and we gave you our opinion, sorry it wasn't what you wanted it to be.
Moses is traditionally stated as the author of the Pentateuch ( the five books of the torah) BUT that doesn't mean he was the only writer or that they weren't edited after his death ( to include mention of his death for example) and Moses wrote down the traditions that were passed down to him that were existing by oral traditon.

[Seraph]

The wiki page presents the idea that the authors mightve possibly acknowledged the existence of other gods because it makes references to them, but I said that it seems to me and probably most here that when the Bible refers to the other gods, the author is referring to the figures that their cults worshipped, but probably didn't believe they existed.

Now if I remember correctly, according to Genesis, the Israelites were in fact polytheistic before Abraham encountered God and promoted monotheism, but similarly the author of Genesis acknowledges that these other gods were just statues, as Abraham points out in the book when he smashes the statues that his father kept.

[Byblos]

The wiki page presents the idea that the authors mightve possibly acknowledged the existence of other gods because it makes references to them, but I said that it seems to me and probably most here that when the Bible refers to the other gods, the author is referring to the figures that their cults worshipped, but probably didn't believe they existed.

Now if I remember correctly, according to Genesis, the Israelites were in fact polytheistic before Abraham encountered God and promoted monotheism, but similarly the author of Genesis acknowledges that these other gods were just statues, as Abraham points out in the book when he smashes the statues that his father kept.

Of course they did not believe these gods existed. No one does. They are false gods, they don't exist by definition.

[Seraph]

After looking it up (something I probably should've done before posting), it appears that the story of Abram smashing the idols of his father Terah is not in Genesis but is a Jewish tradition as well as in the Quran.

Must be one of those days.

[PaulSacramento]

I am not sure we can say they didn't exist at all and I am not sure if one can read the passages and get " ever existed" from them with 100% certainty.
We know that Satan often passed himself off as an "angel of light" and it is quite possible that these false gods were fallen angels trying to pass themselves off as gods.
False doesn't = non-existing or never-existing.

[Byblos]

I am not sure we can say they didn't exist at all and I am not sure if one can read the passages and get " ever existed" from them with 100% certainty.
We know that Satan often passed himself off as an "angel of light" and it is quite possible that these false gods were fallen angels trying to pass themselves off as gods.
False doesn't = non-existing or never-existing.

I may have phrased it wrong, people who believed in these false gods certainly believed they existed. But we know better, we most certainly can state without any reservation that these false gods are exactly that, false gods and they did not exist. It is a logical contradiction to say false gods do exist (or did exist).

[PaulSacramento]

I am not sure we can say they didn't exist at all and I am not sure if one can read the passages and get " ever existed" from them with 100% certainty.
We know that Satan often passed himself off as an "angel of light" and it is quite possible that these false gods were fallen angels trying to pass themselves off as gods.
False doesn't = non-existing or never-existing.

I may have phrased it wrong, people who believed in these false gods certainly believed they existed. But we know better, we most certainly can state without any reservation that these false gods are exactly that, false gods and they did not exist. It is a logical contradiction to say false gods do exist (or did exist).

Ok, but are you saying that these false gods did NOT exist because they were beings that claimed to be Gods or are you saying that people just made them up?

[Byblos]

I am not sure we can say they didn't exist at all and I am not sure if one can read the passages and get " ever existed" from them with 100% certainty.
We know that Satan often passed himself off as an "angel of light" and it is quite possible that these false gods were fallen angels trying to pass themselves off as gods.
False doesn't = non-existing or never-existing.

I may have phrased it wrong, people who believed in these false gods certainly believed they existed. But we know better, we most certainly can state without any reservation that these false gods are exactly that, false gods and they did not exist. It is a logical contradiction to say false gods do exist (or did exist).

Ok, but are you saying that these false gods did NOT exist because they were beings that claimed to be Gods or are you saying that people just made them up?

I'm not sure I understand your question. If you're referring to actual people who were worshiped as gods (such as pharaohs for example), the person being worshiped certainly existed but was he a god? he was believed to be but since we know there is only one true God then we can emphatically state that this person was a false god and therefore, did not exist as a god.

If on the other hand, you are referring to false gods that were worshiped without being personified then it's even worse, we already know they are false gods and therefore did not exist. There is no such thing as a false god existing, it makes no sense. There always was and always will be one true God. All other gods by definition never existed and never will.

[PaulSacramento]

I think it is your use of "existing" that is throwing me off...
Are you saying that the "false Gods" mentioned in the OT never actually existed ( were made up by man) or that they were NOT Gods and never existed AS Gods?

[Byblos]

I think it is your use of "existing" that is throwing me off...
Are you saying that the "false Gods" mentioned in the OT never actually existed ( were made up by man) or that they were NOT Gods and never existed AS Gods?

Well sort of both. If they never existed as gods (and we know they couldn't have) then they are false gods and therefore made up.

[PaulSacramento]

Made up to BE Gods or beings that were made up and never existed at all?