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News & ArtsSunday, July 15, 2012
Religion Slog Bible Study: Isaiah 45:7
Posted by Goldy on Sun, Jul 15, 2012 at 7:00 AM
Isaiah 45:7
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
Discuss.
1
Makes sense. Even if God was off someplace else while God's minions were doing the grunt work, God's responsible if God's omnipotent and all that (or if God was the sole shareholder and still listed on the SEC filings as CEO).
5
So, context...
This whole chapter, as well as a couple chapters on either side, is all about the author touting how freaking awesome his God is while claiming that Cyrus has been blessed/chosen by this same God.
The section you chose, Is. 45 is in the second half of the book, which many biblical scholars argue was written 40-100 years after the first 39 chapters. The second section (deutero-Isaiah) was likely written after the Jews had been captive in Babylon for a generation or two.
Word came that Cyrus was going to send the exiles home, and many Jews at the time began seeing Cyrus in the prophecies of a Messiah from the first part of Isaiah. The author of Duetero-Isaiah seems to be trying to both claim Cyrus as a major leader/Mesaiah/Whatever and puff up Jehovah so that Cyrus takes notice of him too. The chapters start with "The Lord said to Cyrus his anointed..."
Chap 44 and 45 are all lists of God's power, ability, potence, etc.
This statement is basically a bit of PR trying to take the other god's main guy away.
This whole chapter, as well as a couple chapters on either side, is all about the author touting how freaking awesome his God is while claiming that Cyrus has been blessed/chosen by this same God.
The section you chose, Is. 45 is in the second half of the book, which many biblical scholars argue was written 40-100 years after the first 39 chapters. The second section (deutero-Isaiah) was likely written after the Jews had been captive in Babylon for a generation or two.
Word came that Cyrus was going to send the exiles home, and many Jews at the time began seeing Cyrus in the prophecies of a Messiah from the first part of Isaiah. The author of Duetero-Isaiah seems to be trying to both claim Cyrus as a major leader/Mesaiah/Whatever and puff up Jehovah so that Cyrus takes notice of him too. The chapters start with "The Lord said to Cyrus his anointed..."
Chap 44 and 45 are all lists of God's power, ability, potence, etc.
This statement is basically a bit of PR trying to take the other god's main guy away.
6
This was where my faith failed. I think most people falter at the hypocrisy of the religious, but there wasn't any at my church (that I could perceive - I'm sure it was really as rife with it as any other).
I could never square this with the idea that we were deserving of an eternity in Hell for something that was, at the end of the day, God's fault. What the hell is that.
I could never square this with the idea that we were deserving of an eternity in Hell for something that was, at the end of the day, God's fault. What the hell is that.
8
I just LOVE Sunday morning Bible study. Can we all hold hands now? JUST and only my hand you pervs....
9
Queerly Yours, you are a totally awesome person and a lot of people (including myself) really appreciate your edification here. Thanks for participating with posts based in study, critical thinking, and compassionate discernment. Your presence is very much respected and appreciated. Please keep contributing; you've taught me so much and made me think a lot more about scripture and its history.
12
I read on Christian websites that this passage is translated differently in different Bibles, and that it actually refers to "calamity or disaster", namely natural disasters and stuff like that. So I guess the apologetics are saying that God didn't create moral evil; he just does morally evil things, like send earthquakes to Haiti.
13
@12, sounds like their translation argument is that the LORD character is not that kind of asshole, he's this other kind of asshole.
15
To get the real meaning, you need to read the MacCrocodilian Vulgate:
"I, the Lord, thy God, can beat up your dad, and I can run faster than a cheetah, for real, I just don't want to right now because it would make you be all 'Woah!' and your face would explode, and I can lift a bajillion-pounds rock and throw it into the sun."
"I, the Lord, thy God, can beat up your dad, and I can run faster than a cheetah, for real, I just don't want to right now because it would make you be all 'Woah!' and your face would explode, and I can lift a bajillion-pounds rock and throw it into the sun."
16
Either it's a dualistic cosmology, with the opposing forces of good and evil more or less evenly matched (meaning God and the Adversary are of roughly equal power) or it isn't, in which case God is the architect of bad things as well as good things. This passage seems to indicate that the latter view sometimes prevailed. Consistent with the Book of Job, where the Adversary is depicted as operating with God's approval.
19
The LORD works in mysterious ways, and He's not going to spoil It by disclosing His tax returns either.
22
@7 Oh. The translation thing. I'm quoting the King Fucking James Bible this week. That may or may not be an accurate translation, but it's the one that informs much of English speaking Christianity.
23
22
crude language is the cry of an ignorant immature mind seeking to express itself.
when you are tempted to use it stop, think about what you are trying to express, then see if there are not some big boy words you could use that would actually convey the thought you are seeking to express.
crude language is the cry of an ignorant immature mind seeking to express itself.
when you are tempted to use it stop, think about what you are trying to express, then see if there are not some big boy words you could use that would actually convey the thought you are seeking to express.
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