Made in God’s image. Yuk. Not me thanks.

Originally Posted by BigJohn

The scripture does not say "Created in God's image" but says "Let us create mankind in our image". The 'us' that is used is interesting. Paul commented further on the 'us' by saying Jesus was the first of creation and the rest of creation was done by Jesus. We can assume the "us" is at least Yahweh and Jesus. The conversation may have included others such as the "sons of God".

Well, putting aside for the moment all those other translations provided in the above posts, you still are not addressing the issue of whether it is intended to mean that man is created in God's image.

Now, even in the translation you provide, I would take the us to be more like the royal we (actually, a plurality is not a bad way to look at God even if taken literally, but that is a tangent). Given the old testament writings precede the new testament writings by many centuries, I don't think we can assume those who originally wrote the book of Genesis, irrespective of how and by whom it is later translated, interpreted to mean, and/or modified, were thinking about us, we, or Jesus. Maybe they knew about Jesus's coming in the distant future, but it is a stretch, and is not supported in the writing itself but only speculated by someone hundreds of years later.

But of course all of that is a big red herring when it comes to the question at hand in this thread. Does the Bible imply that us, we, God, Jesus, or even Gods hired help, created mankind in the image of God. And if so, then what does all of those other seemingly sadistically horrible actions credited to God in other parts of the Bible say about what mankind is? Or to put it another way, why does the God of the old testament seem to be portrayed, in parts, as one of the worst sadistic immoral human tyrants we could imagine. Which I expect is driving the OP's expression of disgust at the thought of being created in a similar way.

Or conversely, what does the nature of man, if anything, explain about the image of the God he worships, and the stories mankind tells about that God? When we look at some of the stories of the Jewish rulers prior to Jesus's time, we see, like many rulers of that time, be they monarchs or religions leaders, they were often some of the worst sadistic immoral human tyrants we could imagine. The God of the OT, often seems to reflect the image of those tyrants.

A challenge for you religions scholars out there.
I recall seeing in a documentary some time ago that included a historical account that I can't find a reference to at the moment. I wanted to cite it here as a good example of the worst sadistic immoral human tyrants we might imagine. Is anyone familiar with this story? I think it is a historical thing outside of the OT, but it may be in there some where?

In an power struggle between the ruling family dynasty of Israel and the main religions order of the time (I though it was the Pharisees although it was before the NT...so?). The ruling dynasty came out on top and made a public show of what happens to those who oppose them. They rounded up the religions leaders and forced them to watch as their families were put to death in front of them, and then killed the religions leaders themselves.
Yuk, right?

[sky]

Originally Posted by ketzer

Well, putting aside for the moment all those other translations provided in the above posts, you still are not addressing the issue of whether it is intended to mean that man is created in God's image.

Now, even in the translation you provide, I would take the us to be more like the royal we (actually, a plurality is not a bad way to look at God even if taken literally, but that is a tangent). Given the old testament writings precede the new testament writings by many centuries, I don't think we can assume those who originally wrote the book of Genesis, irrespective of how and by whom it is later translated, interpreted to mean, and/or modified, were thinking about us, we, or Jesus. Maybe they knew about Jesus's coming in the distant future, but it is a stretch, and is not supported in the writing itself but only speculated by someone hundreds of years later.

But of course all of that is a big red herring when it comes to the question at hand in this thread. Does the Bible imply that us, we, God, Jesus, or even Gods hired help, created mankind in the image of God. And if so, then what does all of those other seemingly sadistically horrible actions credited to God in other parts of the Bible say about what mankind is? Or to put it another way, why does the God of the old testament seem to be portrayed, in parts, as one of the worst sadistic immoral human tyrants we could imagine. Which I expect is driving the OP's expression of disgust at the thought of being created in a similar way.

Or conversely, what does the nature of man, if anything, explain about the image of the God he worships, and the stories mankind tells about that God? When we look at some of the stories of the Jewish rulers prior to Jesus's time, we see, like many rulers of that time, be they monarchs or religions leaders, they were often some of the worst sadistic immoral human tyrants we could imagine. The God of the OT, often seems to reflect the image of those tyrants.

A challenge for you religions scholars out there.
I recall seeing in a documentary some time ago that included a historical account that I can't find a reference to at the moment. I wanted to cite it here as a good example of the worst sadistic immoral human tyrants we might imagine. Is anyone familiar with this story? I think it is a historical thing outside of the OT, but it may be in there some where?

In an power struggle between the ruling family dynasty of Israel and the main religions order of the time (I though it was the Pharisees although it was before the NT...so?). The ruling dynasty came out on top and made a public show of what happens to those who oppose them. They rounded up the religions leaders and forced them to watch as their families were put to death in front of them, and then killed the religions leaders themselves.
Yuk, right?

Right, yuk.

Are you sure the Documentary wasn't called The Tanakh

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by white pegasus

bj look at Gen :27 or rather Ill just paste it below-it is from the NIV version of Bible

So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

Does this verse contradict what is written in Genesis 1:26?

Not really.


Genesis 1:26 contains a tremendous amount of information. It reads "Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

The scripture claims God was speaking to others when he said “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness". Who was God speaking to? The apostle Paul provided some clarity in Colossians 1:15-16 which reads:

15. "The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him."

But there is also the lingering question "Where the 'mysterious' Sons of God also partially or fully included?"


As for Genesis 1:27: this scripture is very simple in construction. To me, it is like a person making the statement "I built a house in 2003". At first glance, the sentence is very simple in nature. But if we examined what really happened in 2003, we might find out the person had nothing to do with building the house. The house was built by a contractor who also hired numerous sub-contractors.


In Genesis 1:27, the other party or parties that were having a discussion with God is not mentioned. Even today, we still do not have an absolute clear picture of the parties involved in Genesis 1:26 but we do know now that at least one of the parties involved was Jesus.

Originally Posted by BigJohn

I do not know where you got that information. It is not found in the Bible unless you manipulated the expression "Let us make man in our image" to mean what you want it to be.


Can not those same words be used to describe the Gnostic God?


What? The Christian God and the Jewish are the same.




If you do not think you are up to Yahweh’s evil ways, are you happy about it?

Regards
DL

I am not surprised you mis-paraphrased Genesis 1:26. This i a common error. The scripture reads "Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.""

Most people reduce the expression "let us make mankind in our image" to something like "Mankind is made in God's image" which is not accurate.[/quote]

I agree that the bible is innacurate.

It still shows a vile prick of a god.

Or do you see geocidal as a good trait?

Regards
DL

Originally Posted by ketzer

Genocidal, infanticidal, homophobic, misogynous, etc... it sounds to me like man is envisioning a God that is a lot like man.
Of course there is the loving, merciful, self sacrificing, side of things in those stories as well.

And don't forget about the long gray beard, makes God seem wise I suppose.

A sacrifice by a god!

Do you really think a god would die for us instead of just rescinding his original unjust condemnation?

Would you die or just forgive without having to die?

Especially given that god cannot die.

Regards
DL

Originally Posted by BigJohn

The scripture does not say "Created in God's image" but says "Let us create mankind in our image". The 'us' that is used is interesting. Paul commented further on the 'us' by saying Jesus was the first of creation and the rest of creation was done by Jesus. We can assume the "us" is at least Yahweh and Jesus. The conversation may have included others such as the "sons of God".

You break the first commandment by putting Jesus above Yahweh.

You reject the prick and like his son, whose morals are hardly god like, as Jesus is supposed to use genocide again when he returns.

Regards
DL

Originally Posted by BigJohn

Does this verse contradict what is written in Genesis 1:26?

Not really.


Genesis 1:26 contains a tremendous amount of information. It reads "Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

The scripture claims God was speaking to others when he said “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness". Who was God speaking to? The apostle Paul provided some clarity in Colossians 1:15-16 which reads:

15. "The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him."

But there is also the lingering question "Where the 'mysterious' Sons of God also partially or fully included?"


As for Genesis 1:27: this scripture is very simple in construction. To me, it is like a person making the statement "I built a house in 2003". At first glance, the sentence is very simple in nature. But if we examined what really happened in 2003, we might find out the person had nothing to do with building the house. The house was built by a contractor who also hired numerous sub-contractors.


In Genesis 1:27, the other party or parties that were having a discussion with God is not mentioned. Even today, we still do not have an absolute clear picture of the parties involved in Genesis 1:26 but we do know now that at least one of the parties involved was Jesus.

Look up the Jewish concept of Divine Council.

Jesus asked, have ye forgotten that ye are gods?

You have. I have not.

Regards
DL

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by Soul Seeker

Look up the Jewish concept of Divine Council.

Jesus asked, have ye forgotten that ye are gods?

You have. I have not.

Regards
DL

I guess you have not read many of my posts.

I have written a considerable amount about Elohim and the implications of that word.

Originally Posted by BigJohn

I guess you have not read many of my posts.

I have written a considerable amount about Elohim and the implications of that word.

True that I did not research your posts.

I can only take so much immoral views at one time.

You go ahead and focus wherever you like, but I have noted that you don't care about how immoral your thinking or your satanic god think.

Genocide is good to you, as you do not condemn Yahweh for using it.

Regards
DL

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by Soul Seeker

You break the first commandment by putting Jesus above Yahweh.

You reject the prick and like his son, whose morals are hardly god like, as Jesus is supposed to use genocide again when he returns.

Regards
DL

Reread what I wrote.
I did not put Jesus above Yahweh.


As for the rest of your comments: everything was fine at first. Mankind had the promise of ever lasting life. Then somebody changed all of that. The one who made that change is the one who should be blamed for the 'mess' mankind is in. Now God plans restoring everything to the way it was. Unfortunately, some have sided with the one who has caused all of these problems.