Here are two quotes that directly contridict each other on the subject of jealousy

Exodus 20:5
"You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me"

Galatians 5:26
“Let us not become conceited, or irritate one another, or be jealous of one another.”

If God is the essence of perfection, as it must be in Christian dogma, how can both of these statements both be true?

Tyler, izzy, etc...let me guess

"wrong FFC, one book is from the OT and the other is from the NT"

Did I get it right?

PS: Before answering the question, I'd appreciate it if you took Gods omniscience into account, thanks

I don't get it.

Old testament and new testament. The perfect god messed up 1st edition but corrected it in 2nd edition?

You can't go from a god of death and destruction to a god of "he loves everyone".

Old testament is equally the truth as the New testament. It's like if I killed a whole city, but then paid my dues with 21 years jail(in Norway :D) and came out and claimed I AM NORMAL AGAIN I WILL DO NO HARM.

I've always considered the term jealous God a metaphor. Actually meaning that people deserve respect for what they do, but God deserves a higher amount of respect for what he did. That amount of respect being praise and even worship.

There are obviously some sins that don't apply to God.

For instance, thinking you're perfect is a sin. Not for God, He IS perfect. Not asking for forgiveness is a sin. God doesn't need to ask for forgiveness, as He's never sinned.

God doesn't want us to have other gods. That's what He means by this (in my opinion, I don't want to put words in His mouth...) We shouldn't be jealous of others, because it makes us unhappy. This rule is for our own protection.

Understand?

If God is perfect, it would not sin. And jealousy is a sin, so by being jealous it is sining.


Believing you are with out sin is a sin because it is a lie, which is a sin. But if God is with out sin, it is not a lie for it.

^Good rebuttal.

How I take it is how I said it in the third paragraph, though. Not literal jealousy, but not wanting us to have other Gods.

It'd be interesting to see what the word was in the greek.

I suppose it's too far-fetched to consider this stuff was written by people who wanted to recruit people into supporting their church. "Hmmm, how can we scare them into staying with OUR church? I've got it! Tell 'em God is jealous! We'll say, 'you can't have other Gods, you need to tithe to THIS God. Dig down DEEP into your hearts and pockets!'"

I suppose it's too far-fetched to consider this stuff was written by people who wanted to recruit people into supporting their church. "Hmmm, how can we scare them into staying with OUR church? I've got it! Tell 'em God is jealous! We'll say, 'you can't have other Gods, you need to tithe to THIS God. Dig down DEEP into your hearts and pockets!'"

Yes it is blatantly obvious that it's pure horse sh*t made up to recruit everyone under 1 leader.

A difference in the way the word was used. Let's take a look through the OT. Many MANY times idoltry was equated to adultery. Now answer me. When you have a wife, are you not "jealous" of her? Tell me, do you think we should just say "Yeah, go sleep around with who you want. Just make sure not to give me AIDS." Of course not. The same thing. Israel were God's people, his "bride" so to speak. He didn't want them "playing the harlot" (quoting other Biblical books) with other gods. The second reference you gave seems to be referring to coveting, such as to be jealous of somebody for what they have. Which can easily lead to other things (stealing, adultery, etc.). Look at the context, because it really does matter.

A difference in the way the word was used. Let's take a look through the OT. Many MANY times idoltry was equated to adultery. Now answer me. When you have a wife, are you not "jealous" of her? Tell me, do you think we should just say "Yeah, go sleep around with who you want. Just make sure not to give me AIDS." Of course not. The same thing. Israel were God's people, his "bride" so to speak. He didn't want them "playing the harlot" (quoting other Biblical books) with other gods. The second reference you gave seems to be referring to coveting, such as to be jealous of somebody for what they have. Which can easily lead to other things (stealing, adultery, etc.). Look at the context, because it really does matter.

Here comes the arrogance again.

The Hebrew noun 'qinah' means "insistence on exclusive devotion; toleration of no rivalry; zeal; ardor; jealousy; envying." The Greek 'zelos' has a similar meaning.

So, God was telling his people to worship only him. Which makes sense, because none of the golden calves or whatever else they came up with were real.

then, the second scripture is used like we'd use 'jealousy' usually.

The Hebrew noun 'qinah' means "insistence on exclusive devotion; toleration of no rivalry; zeal; ardor; jealousy; envying." The Greek 'zelos' has a similar meaning.

So, God was telling his people to worship only him. Which makes sense, because none of the golden calves or whatever else they came up with were real.

then, the second scripture is used like we'd use 'jealousy' usually.
This is pretty much what I was going to say, except I didn't know the Hebrew word "qinah" (nice job :icon_clap). When you take verses out of context and take the words too literally, it's easy to say that there are contradictions. However, words don't translate perfectly from Hebrew and Greek to English. The point of the verse FFC pointed out in the OT isn't to tell the reader that God is jealous, but to tell the reader that God prohibits the idolization of other Gods/things/people by use of a metaphor (or an English word that best suits the Hebrew word, though not exactly).

It's a heck of a selling point, it keeps the valued customers from switching to another church. It's a clever way to eliminate competition. Monopoly, baby!

It's a heck of a selling point, it keeps the valued customers from switching to another church. It's a clever way to eliminate competition. Monopoly, baby!

It's funny how that works today even. Humans haven't become any smarter :(

^It's funny how you completely ignored aron's post.

I didn't ignore it, I just had a different explanation than "God was telling." How did "God tell?" Who did "God tell?"

How come God doesn't tell people anything else? Don't you think, with the way history has gone since Jesus' time, that some more instruction might be in order? Is it fair for God to simply sit back and judge, with how much the world has changed since then?

I'm apt to think that, if there is a God, God doesn't "tell" people anything directly and never has. We've figured it all out for ourselves thus far, even going so far as to figure out how to turn a profit out of superstition...

^Was talking to McCrank, not you.

^It's funny how you completely ignored aron's post.

Actually I wasn't ignoring it at all.

Noj pretty much nailed it about that post and I posted that I agreed.

So the book tells you that god told us to not worship anything else. Which makes sense in the way that followers won't change church as Noj already said and will probably change to that church since it claims it's the real deal. Kinda sounds like one of them cheap commercials of some fitness machine or something with Chuck Norris. "I've been using it for 25 years and it's totally pro. You can just throw out every other fitness machine you have because they are useless compared to this."

And Aron actually says "it makes sense because the golden calves are not real"

What if I told you that I have a book that says exactly the same BUT the character in this book is called "The Dictator". Basically if you work hard for him he will send you to paradise island when you get old and if you disobey him he will send you to prison where you will be a subject of cornholing all day every day. Did I mention that he loves us? Yep he does.

for I the Lord your God am a jealous God

This kind of jealousy does not equal our (human) kind of jealousy, it's more to make a point, IMO, but of course you have to take everything into context. You'll only get bits and pieces of the puzzle here and there, and you have to fit them all together. You can't just take a verse here, and take one there, and say hey look these two contradict themselves!! SHOOPDAWHOOP! I WIN! Nah, it don't work like that.

Take my sig for example:
“There is no God.” (Psalm 14:1)

You could say (and people HAVE) LOL!! I WIN!! Bible even says there is no God! LOL!!

Nah, see, it don't work like that.

I suppose it's too far-fetched to consider this stuff was written by people who wanted to recruit people into supporting their church. "Hmmm, how can we scare them into staying with OUR church? I've got it! Tell 'em God is jealous! We'll say, 'you can't have other Gods, you need to tithe to THIS God. Dig down DEEP into your hearts and pockets!'"

I won't dismiss the fact that there are many churches that are more about money then God. Fortunately there are still a few great churches who are doing what they are supposed to be doing, and these churches do not care how much money you donate.

-- I see Aron got this handled, translations.. this is why you gotta be careful, modern Bibles only get worse with these translations imo.

^ =Z28=, Just wanted to give you props for your sig, I love it!
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good (Psalm 14:1)

Just remember everybody


The fool

Einstein
http://www.xtraordinarypeople.com/media/images/celebrity/full/Albert-Einstein.jpg


says in his heart

Benjamin Franklin
http://img.thebody.com/housing/2007/ben_franklin.jpg


“There is no God.”

Galileo Galilei
http://pos-psych.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/galileo-galilei.jpg


They are corrupt

Mark twin
http://impiousdigest.com/MarkTwain.jpg




their deeds are vile

Thomas Edison
http://www.projectshum.org/Edison/thomasedison.jpg


there is no one who does good

No one! Like Warren Buffet! Who donated $40,000,000,000.00 (Yes, that's 40 Billion Dollars) to charity! But as the almighty Yahweh said, he's a fool! He does no good!
http://johnfenzel.typepad.com/john_fenzels_blog/images/warren_buffett_1.jpg


Now excuse me while I throw away my incandescent lightbulbs and light my candles, why would I take advantage of a silly invention by Atheist FOOLS like Edison!