On Gods

James Jordan · 19 Apr 2001, 15:04 · from whorl-v0012.mbox · original

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From: James Jordan <jbjordan4 at home.com>
Subject: (whorl) On Gods
Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 15:04:38
Message-ID: <whorl-v0012-0656 at digest.urth.net>
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Dan'l,
	Good post on gods. Just a note from a professional Old Testament teacher:=20
the word "gods" ('elohim) is used for angels and for human judges. At root,=20
it means "power/s." Certainly the Israelites continued to fool with other=20
"false" gods, as the OT shows us all the time. But having no other gods=20
"before Me" does not imply approval or a temporary toleration of idolatry,=20
but rather means that no created power is to be placed equal to the Creator.
	To use Biblical language, Clinton and Bush are gods. So are volcanoes,=20
hurricanes, and any other power in the world that is more powerful than=20
human beings. We have to respect such gods, but never confuse them with the=20
Creator, or render them worship as we do the Creator. I don't think Yahweh=20
expected any less of ancient Israel.
	And I think this is also part of what Wolfe is dealing with. Such gods do=20
exist, and some are bad gods who want the worship that should go only to=20
the Outsider/Pancreator/Increate. One has to sort this out: properly=20
respecting such gods without worshipping them, even if some of them try to=20
demand it.
	As for Operation ARES: I'd enjoy a discussion on Urth list. Any takers?=20
Sure, it's inferior, but interesting.  I wish Wolfe would let somebody=20
publish the whole thing, which I recall as being about 3x as long as the=20
published version. Even inferior Wolfe is good, and it would be fun to read.

Nutria


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