I believe we've discussed this word in the past. It is used of Moses when
he stood
before Pharoah in place of God and it means judge/magistrate. Same in Ps
82:6.
However when satan tells Eve that if they eat from the forbidden tree they
will be as
gods the word means spirit or demon ie, they will be like him... but it is
never ever
"diety" There is only one God. judyt
DAVEH: I've thought about this quite a bit, Kevin. Though I have not yet had time to really study it, I think Talmage may have been in error (If not in error, certainly he is not considering the implications surrounding Christ's usage of it to defend himself.) when he mentioned this by simply surmising gods were judges in this instance. Were that the situation, Jesus response to his detractors would have no impact, as I see it. Those accusing Jesus of blaspheme could only have been rebutted IF gods related in PS 82:6 reflects deification. The same argument applies to the online Bible definition related by Vincent below. In essense.....Jesus was accused of claiming to be God and his retort was that Scripture tells us that it is possible for others to be God too. Do you suppose Jesus was wrongly quoting Scripture? Of course not. The logic Jesus used was that the Jews could not stone him for claiming something that was possible for any of them."Divinely Appointed Judges Called 'gods.' In Psalm 82:6, judges invested by divine appointment are called 'gods.' To this the Savior referred in His reply to the Jews in Solomon's Porch. Judges so authorized officiated as the representatives of God and are honored by the exalted title 'gods'" (Jesus The Christ Talmage pg. 501)
This alone logically dispells the theory that only one God exists. But as Jesus pointed out to them....His Father is greater than all (vs 29). And as he points out elsewhere, it is the Father to whom we should worship and glorify, even though he (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit are also God.
I did a brief word search on "gods" using the Online Bible. The context of those scriptures is that the word "gods" refers to demons, lifeless idols, or people who will perish off the earth as in Jer 10:11 and Ps 82. That hardly makes a case for there being other gods floating around out there.It's obvious from all the scriptures which I just now looked at (some 200 plus) that "gods" when used in reference to people does not mean a powerful spiritual entity as we think of God. I believe that it likely means two things: we are each our own god in as much as we are self-centered and put ourselves first, and we have become like gods, as did Adam and Eve, because we know good and evil.Another thought occured to me as I read Ps 97:9 (RSV) "For thou, O LORD, art most high over all the earth; thou art exalted far above all gods." If I understand lds-ism correctly, they say that God the Father was once a man like us. If this is true, there must have been another god who was the big kahuna when our Father was supposedly still a man, yet Ps 97 says that He is above all gods. How can He be above the god(s) who came before Him (assuming that lds-ism is correct)?vincent j. fultonOn Sun, 29 Feb 2004 22:10:40 -0800 Dave <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:The problem in Mormonism is that you open
up again the Roman and Greek idea of there being many gods, which I
believe would be contrary to Scripture and the cherished teaching of
Scripture that there is only one God.
DAVEH: I don't see it that way at all........Paul pretty well explained it in 1Cor 8:5-6......For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
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