Does this support the "little gods" Faith? I believe it does.

Victor E.

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Thoughts on this passage? ALL OPINIONS and INTERPRETATION welcome. The belief in the Title is just my personal opinion based off an understanding of Gods Word.

The Unbelief of the Jews. (John 10:22-39 BSB).

"At that time the Feast of Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple courts in Solomon’s Colonnade. So the Jews gathered around Him and demanded, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

“I already told you,” Jesus replied, “but you did not believe. The works I do in My Father’s name testify on My behalf. But because you are not My sheep, you refuse to believe. My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him. But Jesus answered, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone Me?”

“We are not stoning You for any good work,” said the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because You, who are a man, declare Yourself to be God.”

Jesus replied, “Is it not written in your Law: ‘I have said you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken— then what about the One whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world? How then can you accuse Me of blasphemy for stating that I am the Son of God?

If I am not doing the works of My Father, then do not believe Me. But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works themselves, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”

At this, they tried again to seize Him, but He escaped their grasp."
 

Commander

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Re: "Does this support the "little gods" Faith? I believe it does."

Can you explain what this question means? And you may need to define "gods."
gods- with a little g. False god's, those of the Gentile/pagan/heathen worshipers, not the one true God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob.
 
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Ken Behrens

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I Cor. 8:5-6 completely destroys the notion. It is here God Himself tells us through Paul, that no matter if someone is called a "god", that for us, there is only one God.

If you go a little deeper, the issue hinges on a translation problem. The Hebrew word elohim means several things, including gods, judges, and powerful people. The Septuagint deviates in translating the passage in Psalms which Jesus quotes. That's why Jesus says, "it is in YOUR law", not "our" law or "God's" law, or His "Father's" law, etc. The Jews choose to believe in the inspiration of the Septuagint, whether it follows the Hebrew text or not. Jesus is simply saying that since the crowd follows this belief, they should not be upset if He wishes to call Himself God (which a,.) He is, and b.) He did not actually do; He called Himself "Son of God"). The King James followed the Septuagint, especially since it is what Jesus said, rather than the original Scripture where God calls them "gods" (Ex. 21:6 where elohim is translated "judges" by KJV, and "judges for God" by the Septuagint). Our dependence on the KJV, rather than the original Hebrew, confuses the issue, and leads to the confusion of the "little gods" theory.
 
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Uber Genius

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Here is an article worth reading by Dr Michael Heiser, Hebrew scholar and scholar in residents at Logos Bible Software.

http://www.michaelsheiser.com/TheNakedBible/SBL Psalm 82 in John 10 paper.pdf

His points are:

1 - How can we coherently defend Jesus as God if Jesus is calling all men gods? So equivocating the Old and New Testament of "God," may not be what Jesus was getting at.

2 - If Jesus is just claiming to be like every other mortal, then why do the Jews try and stone him?

3 - As a Hebrew OT scholar, Heiser points out that the beings describes in Psalm 82 were divine, not mortal. No second temple period Jew would have interpreted psalm 82 as mortal rulers.

Heiser concludes,

"John wants his readers to know that Jesus was divine—a claim consistent with ‚sons of God‛ being used of divine beings. Further, Jesus was not only more than man, he was equal to the Father (John 10:30) and had the Father living in him (John 10:35-36). The ‚mortal‛ view of Psalm 82 therefore does nothing to assist the claim of Jesus’ deity, whereas the view offered here males the inclusion of Psa 82:6 consistent with John’s rhetorical goal."
 
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