Which God, If Any?

PREFACE

This essay is long as it must be in order to be as comprehensive as possible. However, it is in sections for your reading convenience. The reason for it being so long is to present as many facts and evidence as possible, yet the subject is so huge as to preclude all facts and evidence, namely, that the bible is very much in error, and that it is proved by the bible itself in many, if not most instances, as well as a few other well known and accepted sources.

Please take your time reading it to get the full effect of the facts I'm presenting.

Believe it or not, this is only the tip of the iceberg. To include all errors would be to write an essay the size of the bible itself, if not larger.

The reason for this essay is all of the headline and attention grabbing that is being done in "the name of God". This "God", or "Lord", is always the one mentioned in the bible when those in the West are speaking of "God" that they claim is the creator of the Universe as well as the earth, and us humans too.

Some of the proofs mentioned here have previously been given in other essays and stories, but many have not. The bible is voluminous and that has made it easy for religions and preachers to cherry pick what they would tell us, and often out of context as originally intended.

Fundamentalists are particularly egregious in their push to have us all believe that the word of the God of the bible is the word of the one true god, and creator of all as in Genesis. Many of them have gone so far as to take it as literal that the earth is only six thousand years old, or perhaps ten thousand at the most, and some foolish enough say that dinosaurs walked the earth with men. They would have you believe this in the face of scientific facts to the point of having a park ala Disneyland or others like it depicting such scenes. They are teaching this to their young, and imbuing them with their ignorance.

However, this essay, as all of my other essays and stories, is to try to educate lesbians, and now also, since they are more in the news lately and targets of bigots, those who are transgenders, transsexuals, intersex, and transvestives. Any others that may be interested in learning the truth of the lies being told about the bible are also welcome to read. Those specifically mentioned have been demonized and made to believe that they are an abomination in the eyes of their god, the god of the bible, and will burn forever in eternal fires of hell.

That is taken from a compilation of books that are fiction called the bible.

Early on, I always heard that there were many paths to truth. That sounded as if it was logical. That was then. Since that time, I have learned that

the path to any truth had to be laden with verifiable facts that are germane to the subject.

Lies are not to be found on any path to truth. Suppositions by men who are thought to be learned are subject to scrutiny and verifiable by facts, and not conjecture called beliefs. Going to the source of their "facts" and verifying them is a must if one is to stay on the path to any truth.

If you are after seeking the truth, that is, and in particular, about the God of the bible.

Please note: Again, this was intended for lesbians who have a problem with church, cultural, or societal norms with regards to their lesbianism and how they have been told that the God of the bible will punish them. I know that some countries in the West have laws against homosexuality as well as other countries too. In the West, these laws are derived from the bible which is supposedly the word of God Almighty, the creator of all, therefore to be obeyed, and some countries are near to the US. Also, it continues in other parts of the world. Uganda has recently made homosexuality against the law, and Russia, if not having a law against it, is definitely against homosexuals.

To be humiliated, or made to feel fear, ashamed or guilty for being as you know within you that you are, is something that truly needs to be addressed, and corrected. As I have said, the best path to truth is to follow the path of verifiable facts. Herein are facts and their sources which you can easily check out for yourself to help you decide if there is any reason to believe in the bible and its condemnation with regards to your lesbianism.

No one should be told how to live if that mode of living is not directly and truly harmful to anyone else. We are not all the same as science proves, other than that we are humans, but we'll not get into that here.

If it is possible, you should live and love as is in you to live with those who welcome you as you are, as you were born to be, or as you have chosen to be. If it is possible! Some may feel that it is not possible. For those who feel trapped and unable to confront it, I wish you as much peace as you can find within yourself. However, by no means should anyone be allowed to make you feel shame or guilt, or to humiliate you for being as you are, nor push you into a church where you will find your redemption for your erroneous way of wanting to live. That's BS!

Though, as I said, originally intended for lesbians, I have now add those who are Transgender, Transsexual, Intersex, or Transvestite, for they too, are coming under increased pressure from a fixed culture that won't accept them for being as they were born to be, though science is proving that they are either a part of evolutions diversity, or the result of random DNA morphing, or even born as a result of environmentally induced genetic changes, or maybe from errors in developmental sequencing from embryo to birth (which will be addressed in the essay later).

Still, all are welcome to read, however, herein you will find pure facts directly from the bible, as well as some historical and scientific verities. So that none can say that the bible doesn't say it, I give book, chapter, and verse where any can verify it for its truthfulness. That said, comments are welcome, as are inquiries, but no challenges or apologetics will be allowed to remain in the comments section simply because you "believe". No "ifs, ands or buts" on this—your personal beliefs to the contrary are not solicited here.

WHICH GOD. IF ANY?

El was the chief god at Ugaritand perhaps of other cities or places such as Canaan. Yet El is also the name of God used in many of the Psalms for Yahweh, the otherwise biblical name of God (as well as Jehovah); or at least that has been the presupposition among pious Christians."Yet when one reads these Psalms and the Ugaritic texts one sees that the very attributes for which Yahweh is acclaimed are the same for which El is acclaimed. In fact, these Psalms were most likely originally Ugaritic or Canaanite hymns to El which were simply adopted by Israel....El is called the ""father of men"", ""creator"", and ""creator of the creation"". These attributes are also granted Yahweh by the Old Testament. (Found on the Internet on various sites.)

Here are a few psalms with regard to God, presumably of the bible, or Gods:

Psalm 82 (New International version) Verse 1 "God presides in the great assembly; he renders judgment among the "gods."

Psalm 82 (KJV) Verse 1 "God standeth in the congregation of the mighty: he judgeth among the gods."

Psalm 82 (The Catholic Family Connections Bible, New American Version) Verse 1 "God rises in the divine council, gives judgment in the midst of the gods."

Psalm 89, Verse 6 (KJV) "For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord?Who among thesons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?"

All of the above are more than suggestive of the Jewish belief in more than one god. Deuteronomy, chapter10, verse 17:

"For the Lord your God, is God of gods..:"

In 1975/76, archeologist Zeev Meshel from Tel Aviv University, discovered an inscription at a place called Kuntiller Ajrud in northeastern Sinai. The inscription reads:

"I have blessed you by Yahweh of Samaria and [his] Asherah."

His findings were published in 2012 and are easily found on the Internet.

Asherah, in various places, was said to be the consort of Yahweh as can be seen in the above and this below as well:

...''El Qom Uriyahu, the king, has written this. Blessed be Uriyahu through Yahweh, and his enemies have been conquered through Yahweh''s Asherah."

A puzzle to help you in your wondering:

Ever wonder about how "God" is portrayed in various ways, or wanted to question it, but felt as if it would be blasphemous of you? If so, read on and wonder, and maybe question as would well be appropriate.

If the President of the US asks his Secretary of State to visit another country that is heavily dependent on us to give them a warning, and also tells him to come right back without delay, and he does go but before returning, our Secretary of Defense being nearby tells him to stop with him, and that the president said it's okay, but is secretly lying, would it make sense for him to stay?

Further, if he does stay, and then the Secretary of Defense tells him that since he didn't obey the President's order to return immediately, he was going to be fired on his return, would you think that was right, or made sense? Or is it entrapment out of caprice, and wholly lacking any logic?

In essence, that is what the bible says God did with one of his prophets who thought he was doing exactly what God wanted him to do.

Over chapters 11 through 13, we are told the story in the book of I Kings as follows [copied later below for those wishing to see it immediately]:

God is pissed at Solomon for not being true to him so he decides to punish him by taking away ten tribes from him, but only after he, Solomon, is dead. His son Rehoboam is the one that gets punished, but that's not the story.

The story is that Jeroboam is the one who is said to have been hand picked by God to be king over those ten Northern Tribes, but Jeroboam quickly goes astray with false idols that he's made so nobody has to go to Jerusalem to worship.

God sends one of his prophets from Judah, a prophet not named, and he does as commanded, and also, as God has commanded him, he refuses Jeroboam's offer to dine and drink with him after the prophet entreats God on his behalf to undo an instant punishment, and Jeroboam does and it is rescinded by God.

Dutifully, the prophet then goes on his way, but is requested by another unnamed old prophet of God to come and dine with him. When t prophet demurs and he repeats that God said he shouldn't stop to eat or drink, this old prophet says that an angel told him that God said it was okay, but we are left to know that he's telling a lie.

The prophet from Judah says okay since he is told that God's angel said it was okay, and goes to dine with the old prophet. On doing so, the old prophet tells the prophet from Judah that because he disobeyed the words from God's mouth, he won't be buried in the sepulchre of his fathers. The prophet heads back to Judah on his ass, but is killed by a lion, one that neither eats him, nor his ass, but both stay right there.

Now compare the present day tale, and the biblical tale. Is there logic to either one, or do they both seem illogical and capricious?

More, is this the action of a God that in the New Testament we are given to believe from the words that a writer put in Jesus' mouth that that God is a loving and forgiving father?

If you don't believe this—and you shouldn't—you should verify whether this is truly reported here or not. As stated earlier, here are the salient chapters and verses in I Kings to prove whether what is written here is true or not:

"I Kings, 11:31 And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith th Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give then tribes to thee:

I Kings, 12:28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O, Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

I kings13:1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 13:2: And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord: Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name. 13:8: And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat nor drink water in this place: 13:9: for so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest. 13:11 Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that they man of God had done that day in Bethel...13:15 Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. 13:16 And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place: 13:17 For it was said to me in the word of the Lord, Thou shalt not eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest. 13:18 He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee unto thine house,that he may eat break and drink water. But he lied unto him. 13:21 And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, 13:22 But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of they fathers. 13:24 Andwhen he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase. 13: 26 And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord: therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake unto him."

As you think about the above, consider this: We are given to understand that the old prophet who deceived the prophet from Judah was fully informed of all that God commanded that prophet from Judah to do, so if he let it be known that he knows, then the prophet from Judah has no reason to not believe what the old prophet tells him is of the Lord and thus the old prophet was acting on God's behalf in this matter, and with God's full consent and command, else it would not have happened by the way, nor the lion behaved as it did.

Also, ask yourself why God would deem he should test his prophet from Judah with deceit as he did? What was the reason for it? We are not told, nor are we given to think that there was any reason whatsoever for this test and subsequent punishment from God (to show that God should always be obeyed exactly isn't good enough here as a reason for such capriciousness). We are left to believe that it was just God letting the reader know that God was God, and that was it. Is that capriciousness by God? Or is it all just a tale written by men, a story and no more, or maybe something to hold the totally ignorant in thrall and obedience as in a cult.

Cult may be more than worth considering.

There may be a logic to why this story was made up, but that is for speculation in some other forum. Here, to us, we are told by Fundamentalists, that the bible is the error free, that is, inerrant, word of God, period! Is that true? Is it inerrant? Is it the word of a real God, or foolish men pulling the wool over an ignorant mass?

Now to get with it:

Just about every time God is mentioned in the West, it generally refers to the God of the Jews and Christians (or Muslims, but called Allah by them). That God of the bible has been challenged and first that challenge was met by Fundamentalists who say that the word of that god is inerrant, that is; without error as it is found in the New Testament of Christians and the Old Testament of the Jews, or The Holy Bible comprising both.

When that was refuted, the "Creation" movement was begun, but again, their movement was to say that the God of the bible was, and is, the Creator who is perfect and to be obeyed. That too has been challenged only to be met by those who claim an Intelligent Designer was and is responsible for all of creation and that Designer again being the God of the bible as the one responsible for creation, and as such is inerrant.

Is the God of the bible really God as they proclaim? Or is there another God? What is the truth of this, if the truth can be found?

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT TRUTH

In my story,The Devil's Gateway (and others), the character, Liv, speaks about"foundations" being needed to build anything on.

In the Gospel according to Luke, in chapter 6, verse 49, it says:

"But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man thatwithout a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great."

Here are a few of the words we find in the bible with regard to "truth", what we may easily call the"foundation" of all we're told to believe in:

In the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 31, verse 24, Moses is said to be speaking before his death. There he is said to write:

"And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished..." In the last verse of that chapter, verse 30, it says that:

"And Moses spake in the ear of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended."

That ends chapter 31.

In chapter 32 he is said to continue speaking, and in verses 3 and 4, it is written that he says:

"Because I will publish the name of the Lord; ascribe ye greatness unto our God; He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgement: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he."

"His work is perfect...a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right..."

There we have one version of "truth". The God proclaimed in the bible is a God of truth and his work is perfect. That should constitute a"foundation" to build on.

In the New Testament, in the Gospel According to John, it is written that Jesus, just before going to the Garden of Gethsemane, that praying, he said in chapter 17, verse 17:

"Sanctify them through thy truth:thy word is truth."

This same gospel, chapter 4:24, has Jesus saying:

"God is a spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and intruth."

Lastly, in that same gospel, chapter 8:32, Jesus is said to have spoken these words:

"Andye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

When a person is suspected of having cancer, a blood test can be done to look for CEA (carcinogenic antigen), a marker which is a good guidepost, or marker, to indicate whether a person has cancer, or if cancer is recurring.

The phases about truth from the bible quoted above may not give the "truth", but can serve as good markers, maybe not for truth itself, but to expose cancerous lies where a solid foundation of truth should be. Cancer is prevalent in our society, and so are lies. Facts help us to establish where lies exist (just as CEA markers help us know if cancer exists), and therefore to determine if a work is truly true, or fictive.