Christian God/Gods Theories

[Norse_Angel]

Starting this topic, I'll admit that I forget where I heard this theory, and if anyone has a source to site for its origins, it would be appreciated.

So the first theory puts into question everything dealing with the physical being of God in the Christian Faith.
Simply put, in the bible, it is stated that all humans are made a perfect image of God. The first two humans in the Christian stories were Adam and Eve. If Adam and Eve were made in with the perfect image of God, then God must be gender fluid, or bisexual. Is this wrong to say? I mostly hear references to the Christian God as "He" and "Him" but that just doesn't make sense with the philosophy of creation.

The second theory questions Christianity as a monotheistic religion. As there are numerous angels in the Christian faith, and as they are worshiped and prayed to along with God, is it logical to state that there are multiple deities? Not even just focusing on the Angels, but Jesus as well, being worshiped as a God in Christian practices. Is Christianity monotheistic or polytheistic?

These topics may have been touched already over these forums. If so, please direct me to the proper threads.

[THANK...]

In the translation of the Holy Bible that I was given Genesis 1:26 reads, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" suggesting that a multitude of beings created man. In Qabalism 'God' is Yahweh/YHVH, or Yod Heh Vav Heh, the Tetragrammaton, composed of four parts thus the Four Elements, which can be seen as four distinct entities (but that is my own theory that each element has a presiding Godhead over each letter, as each Major Arcana of the Tarot that are related to each Hebrew Letter has a unique spirit).

Translators of the Old Testament relate Elohim to the Creator that we read about in Genesis. Elohim is a plural name, and feminine at that. El (or AL -Aleph Lamed - "Extending Power" - Kabbalah of the Golden Dawn by Pat Zalewski-) is the male form of God. In other Qabalistic lore we have Yahweh who is the male aspect above in Heaven and Shekinah who is the 'indwelling power of God' upon Earth, a form of the Goddess. So, God is not so much bisexual but one part Creator exists as the Deity of the Heavens and one part Creator exists as the Deity of the Earth.

When one considers that the Holy Trinity of the Catholic Faith are really just different aspects of the same Godhead and Angels are but emanations of God's Light with no consciousness or will beyond that of God's, then I would consider Christianity a monotheistic religion. But because of all the Pagan Gods they demoted to Saints, Christianity is, as far as I can tell, polytheistic. I look at the devotion of Mary and Jesus as a sign of that truth.

Most Catholic angels, demons, and saints can be equated with earlier deities. The dreaded Qliphoth, or Sitra Ahra, the Other Side and Shells of the Qabalah has a bad name due to the Judaic philosophy behind the demonic qlipha (shells, opposite of sephirot), but can be related to older Cannanite and other pre-Jewish Gods, such as Baal, which means Lord, thus you have Baal Phegor (Lord of the Mountain) or Baal Zebub (Lord of Heavenly Dwellings). It really depends on how the practitioner sees their idea of God. Taking Hinduism for example, many practitioners are considered polytheistic due to the vast amount of Gods and Goddesses within certain sects. If Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are believed to be distinct entities and each are married to their wives Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Parvati/Kali, then you have a polytheistic religion, if, on the other hand, you view Brahma as the Supreme Godhead and Vishnu and Shiva are simply thoughtforms and the Goddesses are just projections of Brahma's Shakti, then you have a monotheistic religion.

[B. de Corbin]

So the first theory puts into question everything dealing with the physical being of God in the Christian Faith.
Simply put, in the bible, it is stated that all humans are made a perfect image of God. The first two humans in the Christian stories were Adam and Eve. If Adam and Eve were made in with the perfect image of God, then God must be gender fluid, or bisexual. Is this wrong to say? I mostly hear references to the Christian God as "He" and "Him" but that just doesn't make sense with the philosophy of creation.


...and in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them
King James Version.

Take that as thou mayst.

- - - Updated - - -


The second theory questions Christianity as a monotheistic religion. As there are numerous angels in the Christian faith, and as they are worshiped and prayed to along with God, is it logical to state that there are multiple deities? Not even just focusing on the Angels, but Jesus as well, being worshiped as a God in Christian practices. Is Christianity monotheistic or polytheistic?

It depends on who you ask, and on their holy politics.

Are the angels emanations of the "grace of God," (i.e.: manifestations of its love/care/compassion), or are they independent entities in their own right? There is no clear answer, only what different folk believe.

[Medusa]

Actually the first two humans were said to be Adam and Lilith. And that Lilith chic was a pretty good interpretation of what it is to be god. She wasn't going to take it on her back. Good for her. Too bad she now stalks all of Eve's children.

[anunitu]

Funny,never had Lilith mentioned in moms church,they were very BIG on Satan though...

[B. de Corbin]

Funny,never had Lilith mentioned in moms church,they were very BIG on Satan though...

She was excommunicated in most Christian versions. God made a tactical error - best to not dwell on an omnipotent deity making a mistake...

Jews, that got no problem with it.

Christians, it screws everything over royally.

[THANK...]

Because it makes more sense to Christians to have a female born from a dude's rib than from Divine Clay...

[anunitu]

Divine clay..so your saying she was "Dirty?" I guess better than 72 virgins anyway..

[habbalah]

I always thought Lilith was really interesting, and kind of tragic for being cast aside for daring to say She was equal to Adam.

[Norse_Angel]

I always thought Lilith was really interesting, and kind of tragic for being cast aside for daring to say She was equal to Adam.

But just to think how many times the bible was translated and rewritten, and retranslated, and edited and rerewritten, this could have just been another manipulation by power to keep women oppressed. But I'm not any expert.

[habbalah]

But just to think how many times the bible was translated and rewritten, and retranslated, and edited and rerewritten, this could have just been another manipulation by power to keep women oppressed. But I'm not any expert.

I've had a hard time finding much about Lilith that's historical. I'd love to read more about Her, but I don't know how much of it was lost to history.

[Norse_Angel]

I've had a hard time finding much about Lilith that's historical. I'd love to read more about Her, but I don't know how much of it was lost to history.

I've always had the notion that somewhere, many truths lay hidden in texts, lost to the mass population. My mind always floats back to the Popes Private Library. According to the Vatican, shelves placed side by side would stretch 12 miles, and there rest volumes that date very far back indeed. Only the current Pope and some of his cardnials have access to this treasure trove of knowledge though.

[habbalah]

I would raid the Vatican library if I could. But I made a new thread about Lilith, since I went way off-topic.

[Munin-Hugin]

Norse, check out "The Bible As It Was", by James L. Kugel. There's whole heaps of info in there, as he is a chair of History of the Jewish Bible at Bar Ilan University in Israel and the Harry M. Starr Professor Emeritus of Classical and Modern Hebrew Literature at Harvard University. He goes through many of the "original" (or at least, what could be seen as close to original as they can get) texts, and discusses mistranslations, removed snippets, and strange interpretations through the Old Testament.

[Norse_Angel]

Norse, check out "The Bible As It Was", by James L. Kugel. There's whole heaps of info in there, as he is a chair of History of the Jewish Bible at Bar Ilan University in Israel and the Harry M. Starr Professor Emeritus of Classical and Modern Hebrew Literature at Harvard University. He goes through many of the "original" (or at least, what could be seen as close to original as they can get) texts, and discusses mistranslations, removed snippets, and strange interpretations through the Old Testament.

I've heard of this actually! I was thinking of purchasing a copy and going through it. Thanks for the reminder.

[Munin-Hugin]

I've heard of this actually! I was thinking of purchasing a copy and going through it. Thanks for the reminder.

Years ago I picked up a hardcover copy in the super discount bin when a local bookstore was going out of business. I should try to find it somewhere in my attic. If I can, I'll let you know and could mail it to you if you'd like.

[Norse_Angel]

I pm'd you. That's an extremely generous offer. Thank you :)

[THANK...]

Divine clay..so your saying she was "Dirty?" I guess better than 72 virgins anyway..

:D That's funny!

72 Virgins, 72 Names of God, 72 Techniques of Eagle Claw Kung Fu... and paraphrasing Peanut (Jeff Dunham's true voice), "I don't want no 72 virgins, I would rather have 72 sluts that know what the hell they're doing!"

[Briton]

Is worth reading what Jews say, not Christians, considering it would have been written in Hebrew, their language, after all.

https://www.quora.com/How-does-Orthodox-Judaism-explain-the-pluralistic-meaning-of-the-name-Elohim-yet-reject-that-God-is-triune

Skip down to where it starts "There is an enormous difficulty..."

It gets interesting from there.

[Bard A Madsen]

:D That's funny!

72 Virgins, 72 Names of God, 72 Techniques of Eagle Claw Kung Fu... and paraphrasing Peanut (Jeff Dunham's true voice), "I don't want no 72 virgins, I would rather have 72 sluts that know what the hell they're doing!"

Interesting... 72 is a number that relates to the Precession of the Equinox. It takes 72 years to move one degree. As a side note we live on average 72 years.

OP - In many cultures the original God was androgynous. Also, many cosmologies are started out from wet clay and within most creation begins when everything is dark, wet, and muddy. If I'm not mistaken the Hebrew version is the only one that is dust.