kh (02/14/83)
Before you try to prove the existence of GOD, you should first consider what you are proving. There are many different kinds of gods, after all. Despite some people's insistence that they are all the same God, they have many different characteristics. Just off the top of my head, I can think of a few types of gods: Creator of universe Creator of man Omniscient and/or omnipotent being Very powerful being Perfect (whatever that means) being Patron of the Jewish race Great man (a.k.a. really hoopy dude) such as Buddha, Gandhi Anyone voted to be a god by the Roman senate While some of you may try to equate one or more of these, even the gods themselves don't always agree on who has rights to what. After all, does the god of the Old Testament ever say that he is the ONLY god? I know he says not to worship others (which seems to imply ...), but does he ever actually deny the existence of others? I haven't read much of this collection of stories, so the more learned may wish to comment. Kenny Hirsch "I'm an atheist -- I don't believe in Zeus." duke!unc!kh kh.unc@UDel-Relay Chapel Hill, N.C.
lwall (02/16/83)
Yes, the god of the Old Testament denies the existence of any other gods: This is what the LORD says-- Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. (Isaiah 44:6 NIV) This is just part of a much longer passage that is basically anti-idolatry. It is my opinion that verses 16 and 17 demonstrate a sense of humor on God's part. Peace, Larry Wall ...decvax!trw-unix!sdcvax!lwall P.S. Speaking of humor...(perhaps this ought to be in net.nlang), it seems that the words "new" and "old" are going the way of all flesh, so to speak, and coming to be synonyms for "good" and "bad", just as many fine words have done in the past, e.g. "villain", etc. Perhaps this is part of the problem in coming up with a reasonable name for what is commonly called the Old Testament. Action item for you word smiths out there: come up with a new (?) pair of words that express temporal ordering but that don't have so many of the emotional connotations given to "new/old" by Madison Ave. Our culture has gone wacko over the worship of change. In times past it seems that old things (and people) got more respect.
dje (02/25/83)
Concerning the wordsmiths' "action item" to come up with an alternative to Old/New Testaments... How about Jewish Scriptures and Christian Testament? Dave Ellis Bell Labs, Piscataway 5941ux!dje