Saturday, October 6, 2007

Hear, O Israel! יהוה is our God, יהוה is One.

I believe Deuteronomy 6:4.
Hear, O Yisrael! Yehvah is our God, Yehvah is One.
I also believe Exodus 20:1-3:
And God spake all these words, saying, I am Yehvah thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
I also believe Moses 1:6, (emphasis is mine:)
And I have a work for thee, Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for he is full of grace and truth; but there is no God beside me, and all things are present with me, for I know them all.
This puts me at odds with pretty much everyone. I don't think Jesus is God, or if he is considered a god yet, he is not our God, anyway. I do not believe that Jehovah (which I am rendering Yehvah) is Jesus, as some modern Mormons do, as such a theology clearly violates all revealed scripture, latter-day and otherwise. Yehvah, the God of Israel, is our Father and our God, and the only God with whom we have to do.

I do believe in the doctrines of deification (eternal progression) and the plurality of Gods, but I believe that worship is to be directed only to the One God. I believe this monolatry is the pure and ancient belief held by Moses, and that it later transformed into the strict monotheism held by today's Jews. So I'm at odds with Orthodox and Conservative Jews as well. I'm not sure how this belief would fare among reform Jews, but I am curious to hear their point of view.

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