The god of the old testament has . . . . issues

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Arrian
It's not just Leviticus, though. God is pretty clearly a deranged sadist even w/o Leviticus.

-Arrian

I think god comes across more as a case of multiple personality disorder than of simple sadism. There many parts of the bible where God not only comes across as not sadistic but actually comes across as extremely compassionate.

[aneeshm]

Originally posted by Geronimo


So I probably shouldn't even bother looking to see if they have it online somewhere?

The Valmiki Ramayani is not found online - I checked . Another rendition of the story - the Ramacharitamanas - is ( on the website of the Gita Press ) . But nothing can match the flavour of the original - I am reading it right now , and it is a gripping tale , even if you already know every detail of it ( and much more gripping if you don't ) . The later renditions focus too much on the "Rama is god" aspect , whereas the Valmiki , the original writing , preserves and emphasizes the human and therefore interesting aspect of Rama . As said , try to contact the publishers and ask them if they ship outside India .

The Upanishads are ( as I said before ) found online ( at least the Nikhilananda translations , though they are a bit abstruse ) .

[Arrian]

God is growing up in the Old Testament, I think. He's a petulant child with unlimited power.

Then he becomes a dad and settles down some.

-Arrian

[Kontiki]

[grammar nazi]
There shouldn't be any spaces before parentheses or punctuation marks (except, perhaps, dashes).
[/grammar nazi]

[Cort Haus]

Originally posted by Kontiki
[grammar nazi]
There shouldn't be any spaces before parentheses or punctuation marks (except, perhaps, dashes).
[/grammar nazi]

So why is there a space before your left bracket?

[Kontiki]

Sorry, mistyped. No spaces before a closing parenthesis, nor after an opening parenthesis.

I will now be beaten by the grammar fuhrer.

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Kontiki
[grammar nazi]
There shouldn't be any spaces before parentheses or punctuation marks (except, perhaps, dashes).
[/grammar nazi]

according to what authority? maybe it's a regionalistic thing? In any event like all grammar nazi observations it is of no importance or value.

[Kontiki]

Originally posted by Geronimo


according to what authority?

How many sources would you like me to quote?

[Kidlicious]

I read the Book of Job recently. It occured to me that Job was not a real person. It's a story to teach something about why there is suffering in the world, or rather how we should behave in the face of it. I think anyone who can take stories like that as events that actually happened to real people needs to rethink things.

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Kontiki


How many sources would you like me to quote?

one with universally recognized jurisdiction over all speakers of english.

[OzzyKP]

Re: Re: Re: Re: The god of the old testament has . . . . issues

Originally posted by Geronimo
leviticus is indeed a difficult read. I also found christianity a lot less palatable after reading it than I had before.

If anything though it shouldn't count as a strike against Christianity, but rather against Judaism. The whole point of Jesus is to make a new covenant and in some ways (not all of course) to start over clean. I consider all the barbaric parts of the OT swept aside by the NT.

[Geronimo]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: The god of the old testament has . . . . issues

Originally posted by OzzyKP


If anything though it shouldn't count as a strike against Christianity, but rather against Judaism. The whole point of Jesus is to make a new covenant and in some ways (not all of course) to start over clean. I consider all the barbaric parts of the OT swept aside by the NT.

yes that's convenient. However the same God is the author of both covenants and he gave the leviticus version first. It is unsettling that an omnipotent, omiscient, creator of the entire universe would need to offer multiple covenants including earlier 'barbaric' ones which then had to be completely swept away to start clean.

[Kidlicious]

I don't find the 'new' convenent any different. There's still suffering in the world. Nothing in the NT explains it any differently.

[Last Conformist]

A small doubt - is the King James Version of the Bible authentic enough for a student like me ?

Yes. Assuming you want to study English literature.

Actually, the KJV is an interesting case for the historian of religion. As a translation, it's inferior to almost any modern (say, post-1850) version, and you should stay away from it if you are interested in the roots and early forms of Christianity. However, in some modern Christian circles, the KJV text itself has attained status as sacred and inerrant, so if you want to study these branches specifically, the KJV is highly useful.

[Last Conformist]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: The god of the old testament has . . . . issues

Originally posted by OzzyKP


If anything though it shouldn't count as a strike against Christianity, but rather against Judaism. The whole point of Jesus is to make a new covenant and in some ways (not all of course) to start over clean. I consider all the barbaric parts of the OT swept aside by the NT.

Jesus had to die so that God could admit he'd been a dick?