The Old Testament Supports Polytheism

I don’t see that the arguments are convincing to anyone who is not a Christian. I was implying that you have to read the bible convinced there is only one god and that The bible is 100% True to believe the post hoc rationalizations is what I’m saying not that I think there is some credence to them. From Con “This discussion is not about perspective, it's about the Bible.” Agreed. It is about the actual text about what the bible does in fact say. If you spend time explaining away very straightforward passages it’s because it’s not about the actual text. What am I saying when I suggest that the OT bible supports polytheism? This is important because the argument is simply about standard dictionary definitions. Gods have supernatural attributes powers and are worshipped. Multiple beings in the bible fit this definition. Con can call them demons or false gods etc but they are supernatural beings that exist and were worshipped. Based on the OT it is very clear that multiple beings like this exist. I’m obviously agreeing that they didn’t didn’t in fact exist but that is what the book says. That it’s not literally true does not get you past the fact the the OT does support polytheism. Jeremiah 46:25 The New king James Version translates this clearer than Con’s King James version,”The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will bring punishment on Amon of No, and Pharaoh and Egypt. Amon is a sun god and Jeremiah 46 says God will punish him. This acknowledges that another God exists and will be punished by Jehovah. Con states, “I don't see how this is proof that they exist, and if they do that they're nothing more than demons” Demons fit the definition of gods that I have used and this a is a concession that they exist. Judges 10:6 “Then the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, the gods of Syria” This talks about Israelites serving other Gods. Con simply asserts that talking about the multiple gods that exist does not support polytheism. It specifically states that the Israelites served the other gods. Exodus 34:14 “(for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), “This passage can be more accurately translated to bow down” How is this better when the passage mentions something you should not do with another God. Bowing down makes it clearer. You shouldn’t worship/bow to another god because Jehovah would get jealous. This is an obvious acknowledgement that other Gods Exist and supports the idea that they do. Deut 32:16-17 “They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods; With abominations they provoked Him to anger. They sacrificed to demons, not to God To gods they did not know,To new gods, new arrivals That your fathers did not fear.” Again gain Jehovah is jealous of new gods here equated with Demons. “The god's in these passages were seen in many different things. Deuteronomy 4:19 says that some worshiped the sun, moon and stars. This does not mean the Bible teaches that there is a Sun God and a Moon God. It simply means the Bible is teaching that people did in fact do this.” They are told in that passage not to mention the sun and moon who were commonly thought to be gods. I mentioned that they were told not to mention Amon the sun God. not a great example but is 100% consistent with the idea that they were gods so it’s an additional point in favor of polytheism. Worship Of course I do agree that you can worship something that isn’t there but the repeat obsession with the worship other gods supports a polytheistic understanding. The number of active verbs that reference multiple gods obviously support polytheism as a world view. The main God is jealous of them. Peeps are constantly told not to worship or serve them. Jehovah will punish them. People who sacrifice to them are condemned. These clearly site real beings. That Con agrees that these other gods don’t actually exist does nothing to dispute that the OT bible does support the polytheistic world view. New Testament That the New Testament constantly emphasises that there is only one tri-god does not change what the Old Testament clearly says. That the OT sequel attempts to correct it does not change that the Old Testament, taken alone, supports polytheism. Miracles and the power Of Gods It’s true that most OT gods could not accomplish much. I’ll agree that they were the lamer versions of Jehovah and that’s really the point of the Old Testament: our god is the best out of all the gods. That they must necessarily also be called angels and demons since God created all of them does not change this. - There are multiple examples of god referenced repeatedly as real beings that fit standard definitions for god. You can call them demons or false gods. You can, in other books, claim the really did not really exist but the OT supports polytheism. The book itself repeatedly talks about multiple gods supporting polytheism over monotheism. Thanks to Con; good debate.