If God is almighty and all-knowing...

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by davidmartin

The secret book of John reveals the old testament God a lower creator of the material universe and not the true God. I think this is a later development in Gnostic thought once it passed into the gentile world. Earlier forms of Gnosis didn't seem to go down this road so much

I'll illustrate this with a joke
Back then if you said there is another God to a Jew in Judea, they would look at you like you have 17 heads and size up nearby rocks for a stoning
If you said the same thing in say pagan Rome, they'd say "interesting, now what's for breakfast, eggs?"

The secret book just reflects that later view, but plenty of it probably contains earlier material, ie one God created everything

1st and 2nd Kings tell a different story. The people were following the wrong God and did not know it!

The Ten Commandments acknowledge other Gods.

[davidmartin]

Originally Posted by BigJohn

1st and 2nd Kings tell a different story. The people were following the wrong God and did not know it!

The Ten Commandments acknowledge other Gods.

But the reforms of later rulers swept away those notions that existed once
But i'll take you up on that, lets say time machines are real. I'll pop back and preach a new God in Rome, you can try it in Judea, right outside the temple :)

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by SlayerOfLight

Then we both agree, so that answers your question. The bible was written by drug addicts that had no idea of science and how humanity originated.

Where did the drug addicts come from?

The accounts in Genesis closely relate to me at how the Talmud is constructed.

Various people wrote what their version of creation and the flood story was about. This is brought out by the different names of God which are translated into English as God, etc. But the Hebrew does reveal these peculiarities.

Examine an 19 century science book about how the Earth was formed, about dinosaurs, etc. and you will only shake your head of their ignorance.

[Altair]

Originally Posted by sky123

It did puzzle me as to how Noah fitted them into his Ark
But that was when I was a child

That's usually the first thing many peeps think about. But actually, dinosaurs are only one issue, there's also plenty of other large prehistoric animals. Of course the entire story of Noah is man made, a myth that perhaps has its origin in a local flood experience, maybe some crazy man even built a boat and was convinced he was chosen by a god. However, it's more likely it is a story with a specific purpose, but at the same time I view it along the same line as modern fiction or stories from video games, fantasy movies etc. They all serve a purpose to explain archetypes and common and recurring themes in human society..

Besides the issue with all the animals, there is of course the simple impossibility of there having been a ''global flood'', not to mention there were civilizations and communities thriving before, during, and right after the supposed flood of the bible, on all continents. So any suggestion that we all come from some survivors from 'God's favourite people' a few thousand years ago is on the same level as believing in a flat earth.

These sort of stories from the O.T. serve perhaps as useful metaphors and can have a purpose to understand issues that humans deal with, but there's nothing about it that suggests these things happened, whether that's the creation story, the Flood, the many genocides committed by a deity, or the parting the Red Sea.

[sky]

Originally Posted by Altair

That's usually the first thing many peeps think about. But actually, dinosaurs are only one issue, there's also plenty of other large prehistoric animals. Of course the entire story of Noah is man made, a myth that perhaps has its origin in a local flood experience, maybe some crazy man even built a boat and was convinced he was chosen by a god. However, it's more likely it is a story with a specific purpose, but at the same time I view it along the same line as modern fiction or stories from video games, fantasy movies etc. They all serve a purpose to explain archetypes and common and recurring themes in human society..

Besides the issue with all the animals, there is of course the simple impossibility of there having been a ''global flood'', not to mention there were civilizations and communities thriving before, during, and right after the supposed flood of the bible, on all continents. So any suggestion that we all come from some survivors from 'God's favourite people' a few thousand years ago is on the same level as believing in a flat earth.

These sort of stories from the O.T. serve perhaps as useful metaphors and can have a purpose to understand issues that humans deal with, but there's nothing about it that suggests these things happened, whether that's the creation story, the Flood, the many genocides committed by a deity, or the parting the Red Sea.

Yes I agree with you, all myths taken from previous civilizations and adapted to suit.

The Ark and Noah and all the animals was one of my
favorite bedtime stories with pictures as a child.

Now you guy spoiled it for me.
Mean people.
Is nothing sacred and innocent anymore.