AMA (Ask Me Anything): My Beliefs have Changed

[Richard Amiel McGough]

In the next chapter, God appeared to Abraham in the form of three men . Each time God spoke to abraham, it was in the singular (Jehovah.) Each time Abraham addressed God it was in the plural (Adonai) Now ,God in his wisdom Choreographed this scene in such a way as to circumvent the kind of argument that your friend put foreward : that adonai could mean singular or plural. Sarah stood behind the tent door and said to herself ,"shall I have pleasure , being old . My lord (ADON) singular, being old also."
Alec

Hey there Alec,

The consonants in the word Adonai are the same ADNY for both the singular and the plural. The difference is only a single little vowel point under the Yod. I checked the Hebrew text and found that the word written in Gen 18 is not the plural. Where did you get the info that said it was plural?

Also, when Abraham spoke to the three "men" he used a mix of singular and plural verbs. For example:

Genesis 18:3 And said, My Lord (Adonai, singular), if now I have found favour in thy (singular) sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: Let (singular) a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves (plural) under the tree: And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye (plural) your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye (plural) come to your servant. And they said (plural), So do, as thou hast said.

I am guessing that he was speaking to the "leader" of the three men when making requests, but had to use the plural when speaking of the washing of their feet. But it is interesting that THEY spoke in response. We see a very strange mixture of singular and plural throughout this chapter:

Genesis 18:9 And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. 10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.

I think there is some basis for seeing a "hint" of the Trinity in Gen 18 because the three "men" are spoken to in the singular as the "Lord" but I don't think anything definitive can be proven from this passage. It's just a debatable "hint" at best.

All the best,

Richard

PS: As an aside, I find it sadly ironic that Abraham served up milk and beef together in Gen 18:8! This is a direct violation of the kosher laws made up by the rabbis centuries later. I say it is "sadly" ironic because of the endless hassle the Jews put upon themselves when they invented the non-biblical "kosher law" that forbids the eating of milk and meat together.

[alec cotton]

I believe the Bible for many reasons . Reading it I am forced to the conclusion that Jesus is God Jesus said " I and my father are one emphatically. Isaiah wrote ,Unto us a son is born and he will be called the everlasting father : Mighty God. So the son is identified as the father.John one states that in the beginning was the word and the word was God. Go to Genesis and you read the word Elohim .
Jesus is elohim who created all things. Further along you read Jehovah elohim or Jehovah Jesus. He himself said "before abraham was ,I am (THE)
I am . God made man in his own image. To think that because I am this shape then God must be this shape is stupid. God is a triune being and I am a triune being. I am body soul and mind . What ever label you might want to put on them it comes out just the same.I have seen several times , instances which prove that the brain is not the mind. This body can be kept funcioning indefinitely withot a mind or soul (life force). A body can have a life force without a mind. The person is then said to be comatose or in a permanent vegetative state. Body soul and spirit are separate and yet inseparable.
Alec

[gilgal]

Over the last few years my beliefs have changed on many things. For example:

1) Evolution: I have educated myself and now believe that all living organisms have descended from a common ancestor. This is not really a "change" since I never explicitly denied evolution - I usually just ignored it and went along with the general evangelical skepticism of it. But now that I have studied the evidence, I am convinced of common descent.

2) I believe that all religions are false. This should not come as a big surprise since pretty much everyone agrees that all religions are false except perhaps the one they happen to adhere to. I simply realized that there is no single religion known as "Christianity" - all we have are a thousands of sects: Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Seventh Day Adventist, Fundamental Baptist, Independent Baptist, Reformed Baptist, Dunking Donuts Baptist, Calvinist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, etc., etc., etc.. and these sects are not just a "little" different - e.g. the Westminster Confession of Faith explicitly declares that the Pope is ANTICHRIST, whereas the Pope explicitly and "infallibly" declares that "it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff" (source) so all Protestants are damned. Of course, the Pope contradicts the Pope on this (and does so infallibly!) since it is not acceptable in the modern world to say such things. Examples like this can be multiplied indefinitely. Obviously, religion is madness incarnate. Attempting to find a solution by appealing to the early Creeds solves nothing.

3) So what about the Bible Wheel as proof of the Bible? Good question. The Bible Wheel does indeed cause me to pause and wonder what it possibly could mean. Without it, I would have rejected the confusion and contradiction known as the "Christian Faith" long ago. But now I see that the Bible Wheel proves nothing with regards to the thousands of mutually contradictory religions that claim the Bible as their source. Therefore, the Bible Wheel has little if anything to do with those religions.

I have much more to say but I wanted to break the ice and get the conversation going.

Richard

RAM or AMA!!!