What exactly IS David's tabernacle? How was it different than Moses'? Who will build it? Is it aplicable for today? Why did David go to THIS tabernacle while his son, Solomon, went to Moses' tabernacle (2 Chronicles 1:3-4)? How could David build something for G-d contrary to Moses' laws/rules & yet G-d obviously accepted it?
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the tabernacle of David is a prophecy for when the messiah will come (who is a descendant of David) and restore the Temple. \n\nThe tabernacle that moses made in the dessert was used by the nation of Israel until Solomon built the first Temple in Jerusalem
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Exodus 20:4 & 5\nSo that leads to the questions......\nwhy do so many places of worship ignore this command?\nand is God pleased with this practise?\n\n:(
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Heeeww, alot of opinions. But just like the Bible, only the author's interpretation is the correct one. ;)\n\nFor those who stumble at the thought of comparing God to man... it is just a parable or analogy. After all, did not Jesus do this with the prodigal son? Or was He blowing it as well?\n\nOK, Heron, here is the skinny. The guard is that which blocks personal fellowship with God. I can describe it no better than Isaiah did in chapter 59...\n\nBehold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.\n\nSo to all of those commenting above, yes, God is capable of hearing all who call. But if there is sin in your life, it will cause a seperation. Eliminate the sin barrier, and you have instant access. This is why we needed a Savior.\n\nSo, what my study says is that we need a mediator, someone to go before us and grant us access. Job lamented that he had no such mediator to go before him to a holy God (see Job 9) It says in 1 Timothy 2:5\n\nFor there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.\n\nSo, we accept Christ into our hearts as Lord and Savior for the forgiveness of sin. Through His blood we are made clean, thus eliminating the "guard" and granting us access. Now we can speak to God, not as some fearful omnipotent Creator, but as our Father in heaven. As we get to know and love Him, we realize through the promises in the Bible that we have been adopted as sons and daughters wherein we can cry out, "Abba!"\n\nThis point was so important for me to teach my kids, that while they were growing up, they learned to call me Abba instead of Dad. Because I want them to know that when they read this promise in the Bible, they will know immediately what it means.\n\nRomans 8:15\nFor you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”\n\nGalatians 4:6\nAnd because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”\n\nThe whole point of "Getting Past the Guard" was to put in earthly terms a parable about the eternal realm. It is not an easy task, but it has caused at least a few people to come to know Jesus as Savior. And for that I am thankful and all the angels in heaven rejoice.
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The zeal which consumed the Lord (v17) was that the Temple of God was where men were to come to meet with GOD, not to face legalism and marketing schemes.  \n\nThe disciples recognized the sign that was given (v17), but the Jews in the Temple did not (v18), because they were too involved in using legalism to merchandise God, and not involved enough with studiing the scriptures.  So Jesus told them of another sign of the Messiah (v19), and they were even more confounded.\n\nConsider the 94th Psalm, esp v8.
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i'm pretty sure you know the Christian view... this is something i've been thinking about a good bit lately - Genesis talks about 'when a man leaves his parents and basically takes a wife... they live together and become one.. sorry - paraphrasing i dont like... i'll add more as i research\nI'm curious more because of the jewish prophecy concerning the messiah; of a virgin, yet of the line of David. \n& my head hurts.
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added 2/6/06 @ 11:17am central time\n\nAnd every response to your additions can be answered by going to http://JewsForJudaism.org as well as http://OutreachJudaism.org as well as http://MessiahTruth.org as well as http://www.geocities.com/realjewsforjesus and so many others. But they wont mean anything to you, because you are now a Christian, and no longer a Jew, IF you ever were one......\n----------\nObviously, for a "Jewish man," you know little of the Bible or of Judaism or of Gd.\n\nPLEASE look at the following::\nhttp://WhatJewsBelieve.org\nhttp://Convert.org \n\nThe basic beliefs of Christianity about Jesus are against what the Bible says, and so Real Jews cannot believe in Jesus at all.\n\nThe Christian understanding is that the Messiah, Jesus, died for the sins of the people. The messiah is supposed to be a human sacrifice that is the blood sacrifice necessary for the forgiveness of sin.\n\nBut we are taught in our Torah that no one can die for the sins of another. In Deuteronomy 24:16 it specifically says this:\n\nDeuteronomy 24:16 The fathers shall not \nbe put to death for the children, neither \nshall the children be put to death for\nthe fathers: \nevery man shall be put to death for his \nown sin (eesh b’chet-o yumatu).\n\nIn Exodus 32:30-35, Moses tries to offer himself to atone for the sins of the people. To be written out of Gd's book, means to be written out of the Book of Life, which means Moses was asking to die for the sins of the People. Gd's response is No, it does not work that way, each man dies for his own sin:\n\nExodus 32:30-35 And it came to pass on the \nmorrow, that Moses said unto the people, \nYe have sinned a great sin: and now I will \ngo up unto the Etrnl; perhaps I shall make \nan atonement for your sin. And Moses \nreturned unto the Etrnl, and said, Oh, \nthis people have sinned a great sin, and \nhave made them gods of gold. Yet now, if \nthou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, \nblot me, I pray thee, out of thy book \nwhich thou hast written. And the Etrnl \nsaid unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned \nagainst me, him will I blot out of my \nbook. \n\nThe whole of chapter 18 of the book of Ezekiel is about this idea, that no one can die for someone else's sin. Further, this chapter of Ezekiel teaches us that all we have to do for Gd's forgiveness is to stop doing the Bad and start doing the Good, and Gd will forgive us.\n\nSo, the Bible is clear, no one can die for the sins of another, and this means that Jesus cannot die for anyone else's sins.\n\nChristians also believe that one needs a blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin, that one who does not have such a blood sacrifice will die in their sins, and go to hell, except for the sacrifice of Jesus.\n\nThis, too, is UnBiblical. The Bible describes blood sacrifices for the forgiveness of sin in the Book of Leviticus. But it is in Leviticus itself, in the middle of the discussion of the sin sacrifices, that we are taught that we do not need a blood sacrifice to be forgiven for our sins. Offering a blood sacrifice was an expensive thing to do for the family offering the animal. Was forgiveness then, to be only for the rich? No, because if one could not afford a blood sacrifice then one who sins could bring flour, which has no blood and no life as their sacrifice, and Gd forgave them!\n\nLeviticus 5:11-13; But if he be not able to \nbring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, \nthen he that sinned shall bring for his \noffering the tenth part of an ephah of fine \nflour for a sin offering; he shall put no oil \nupon it, neither shall he put any \nfrankincense thereon: for it is a sin \noffering.\n\nFurthermore, read the Book of Jonah. In Jonah, the People of Ninevah do three things in order to be forgiven by Gd. They fast, they pray for forgiveness, and they stop doing the Bad and start doing the Good, and Gd forgave them! This is exactly what we do on Yom Kippur, we fast, we pray for forgiveness, and, h
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Hi Rodney. Good evening/day.Very good subject! First of all, in case anyone does not know what sin is, let's define it.  Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. or MKJV- Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness-1John 3:4. Myself included, we need to ensure that we know what sin is so that we can be sincerely repentant and strive to not commit sins. You are correct everyone sins, that is why Jesus - the perfect Son of God who was sinless died for our sins and rose from the dead. Second, the word rapture is not in the Bible. Jesus will return to raise the dead and claim those of us who are saved. John 3:13 says  -And no one has ascended up to Heaven except He who came down from Heaven, the Son of Man who is in Heaven. May God Bless  you.
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Yes,\nto find more contradictions like\nvWho incited David to count the fighting men of Israel? \n\n(a) God did (2 Samuel 24: 1) \n\n(b) Satan did (I Chronicles 2 1:1) \n\n\n\n\n\nIn that count how many fighting men were found in Israel? \n\n(a) Eight hundred thousand (2 Samuel 24:9) \n\n(b) One million, one hundred thousand (IChronicles 21:5) \n\n\n\n\nHow many fighting men were found in Judah? \n\n(a) Five hundred thousand (2 Samuel 24:9) \n\n(b) Four hundred and seventy thousand (I Chronicles 21:5) \n\n\n\n\nGod sent his prophet to threaten David with how many years of famine? \n\n(a) Seven (2 Samuel 24:13) \n\n(b) Three (I Chronicles 21:12) \n\n\n\n\nHow old was Ahaziah when he began to rule over Jerusalem? \n\n(a) Twenty-two (2 Kings 8:26) \n\n(b) Forty-two (2 Chronicles 22:2) \n\n\n\n\nHow old was Jehoiachin when he became king of Jerusalem? \n\n(a) Eighteen (2 Kings 24: \n\n(b) Eight (2 Chronicles 36:9) \n\n\n\n\nHow long did he rule over Jerusalem? \n\n(a) Three months (2 Kings 24: \n\n(b) Three months and ten days (2 Chronicles 36:9) \n\n\n\n\nThe chief of the mighty men of David lifted up his spear and killed how many men at one time? \n\n(a) Eight hundred (2 Samuel 23: \n\n(b) Three hundred (I Chronicles 11: 11) \n\n\n\n\nWhen did David bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem? Before defeating the Philistines or after? \n\n(a) After (2 Samuel 5 and 6) \n\n(b) Before (I Chronicles 13 and 14) \n\n\n\n\nHow many pairs of clean animals did God tell Noah to take into the Ark? \n\n(a) Two (Genesis 6:19, 20) \n\n(b) Seven (Genesis 7:2). But despite this last instruction only two pairs went into the ark (Genesis 7:8-9) \n\n\n\n\nWhen David defeated the King of Zobah, how many horsemen did he capture? \n\n(a) One thousand and seven hundred (2 Samuel 8:4) \n\n(b) Seven thousand (I Chronicles 18:4) \n\n\n\n\nHow many stalls for horses did Solomon have? \n\n(a) Forty thousand (I Kings 4:26) \n\n(b) Four thousand (2 chronicles 9:25) \n\n\n\n\nIn what year of King Asa's reign did Baasha, King of Israel die? \n\n(a) Twenty-sixth year (I Kings 15:33 - 16: \n\n(b) Still alive in the thirty-sixth year (2 Chronicles 16:1) \n\n\n\n\nHow many overseers did Solomon appoint for the work of building the temple? \n\n(a) Three thousand six hundred (2 Chronicles 2:2) \n\n(b) Three thousand three hundred (I Kings 5:16) \n\n\n\n\nSolomon built a facility containing how many baths? \n\n(a) Two thousand (1 Kings 7:26) \n\n(b) Over three thousand (2 Chronicles 4:5) \n\n\n\n\nOf the Israelites who were freed from the Babylonian captivity, how many were the children of Pahrath-Moab? \n\n(a) Two thousand eight hundred and twelve (Ezra 2:6) \n\n(b) Two thousand eight hundred and eighteen (Nehemiah 7:11) \n\n\nBut The Quran makes the clear challange, that if you are in doubt about it - then bring a book like it. Also, to bring ten chapters like it and then finally, to bring one single chapter like it. 1,400 years - and no one has been able to duplicate it's beauty, recitation, miracles and ease of memorization. Another challange for the unbelievers to consider; "If this (Quran) were from other than Allah, you would find within it many contradictions." And yet, another challange offered by Allah in the Quran is for the unbelievers to look around for evidences. Allah says He will show them His signs within themselves and on the farthest horizons.
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seekfind, \n\nhow did Jesus come down from heaven when he was born here on earth???!!\n\nAhmad don't ask them questions they can't answer. they can't seem to agree on whether he was God or son of God or both.\n--\nedit:\nfor mimi.\ngreat i agree with you that the Trinity doctrine is made up and that Jesus and God are indeed not equal.\nso what would make Jesus a physical son of God just because he spoke God's word? was Moses the son of God? was David the son of God?\nGod is so powerful and can do any thing he wants just by saying "be" and it is. then why couldn't God do the same in the case of Jesus' birth? we know Mary was virgin, but why couldn't Jesus be a Human Miracle? a sign from God for the Israelites?
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The law was given to the Jewish people, not to everybody. God chose the Jews to be His people. He wanted to be their king and the law was their constitution, so to speak. The only true theocracy in history! Later, the people asked for an earthly king but the law remained and is still a part of God's covenant with the Jewish people today.\nwhen Jesus came, He observed the law and even more, He fulfilled it. Does that mean it is no longer valid? \nNo, it's still valid. But it's still a covenant between God and the Jewish people. \nWhen the gospel was first preached to Gentiles, some Jewish believers taught, that all Gentiles have to become circumcised and follow the Mosaic law if they want to be followers of Christ.\nThe whole matter is discussed extensively in Acts 15. In the end, the apostles agreed, that Gentiles should not be subject to the law, but that they should be given the following guidelines: abstain from blood, from animals that have been strangled or sacrificed to idols and from sexual immorality. So why do Christians not follow these rules? Because they were not given as a law by God but rather as guidelines by the apostles. \nSo, yes the mosaic law still stands but Gentiles are not required to keep it.
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Christians will argue that it was not suicide but rather him giving himself to "save" you. trust me There are better augments against Christianity especially if you use their own texts against them.\n\nhear is a small sample\n1) The Gospels teach that Jesus appeared to the disciples after his resurrection. We are unclear, however, whether those appearances took place in Jerusalem or in the Galilee (or at both locales). According to our reading, the Galilean accounts seem to rule out prior Jerusalem appearances. Where did Jesus actually appear? If he appeared in Jerusalem, how should we read the Galilean accounts?\n\n(2) We find the genealogy of Jesus provided by the Gospels confusing. Who was Jesus’ paternal grandfather? (We notice that Matthew says that his grandfather was Jacob, but Luke says it was Heli). Also, we notice that Matthew declares that Jesus was separated from King David by only twenty-eight generations, but Luke’s list shows a forty-three generation separation. What does this contradiction mean?\n\n(3) The genealogical line linking Jesus and King David seems to pass through Jesus’ father. But since Jesus was the product of a virgin conception, then he does not share in his father’s Davidic ancestry. How is Jesus a descendent of David?
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THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! SOMEBODY IS BRAVE ENOUGH TO SPEAK OUT IN TRUTH! You are 100% CORRECT! ALL of the so-called "holidays"(holydays) were NEVER commanded in the Bible-EVER!!! Jeremiah Chapter 10 directly mentions a "christmas tree" as an IDOL! Astarte (Easter) is mentioned many times in the Old Testament as an ABOMINATION TO GOD!!! Tammuz is also in the Old Testament! And not in a good way! People simply follow what the "crowd" says to follow! DOES THAT MAKE IT RIGHT??? Borrowing Pagan traditions and somehow transforming them into "holy days" is unacceptable worship to GOD! DON'T BELIEVE A NOBODY LIKE ME--READ YOUR BIBLE!!! Please see for yourself! Then you will know what God REALLY feels about man-made traditions.....
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it's John 1:1-2 that states "In the Beginning was the Word(Jesus) and the Word(Jesus)was with God and the Word(Jesus) was God." verse 2 says " He was in the beginning with God." so you see He was. And also think on Adam and Eve, since no man can look upon God, how then did they walk with Him? Jesus is the visible form of God that humans CAN look upon! Also seek in the old testament when it speaks of "The Angel of the Lord" you will see when the A is capitalized that the people see Him as a Deity, I believe it's Jesus, given all the studying I've done on the subject. Sampson's parents even made a sacrifice to Him, and He left them as He went up in the smoke of the sacrifice(as Jesus is The Sacrifice)!!! I hoipe this confirms this to you and God bless you.
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Question:\n\n1.  Who was this king who besiege Jerusalem during the 3rd year reign of Jehoiakin king of Judah (ans: Nebuchadnezzar)\n\n2.  Who is this man who interpret the dream of king Nebuchadnezzar (ans: Daniel)\n\n3.  What is the other name given to Daniel by king Nebuchadnezzar (Ans: Belteshazzar)
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Before answering that question -- you do realize that Satan was and is, to Judaism -- the progenitor faith of Christianity "the Advesary"  NOT the advesary of humans, no, the advesary of G-d -- and his position is actually within the heavenly court.  He's SUPPOSED to challenge G-d.\n\nThe title Devil came later, and actually means "little god" or something like that -- its been almost 20 years since I took that course.\n\nNow that said.  Your question is really primarily theological.  What you are really asking is how can God allow anyone to be born gay.  You make a presumption that very few Christians would -- that the Devil can effect a preborn infant.  You are welcome to your diverse theological construct however.  I'm going to answer the question you actually asked, rather than the one you meant to ask, I think, then I'll speak briefly to your theology.\n\nHow can someone be born gay?\n\nIn a word, genetics.  there is a great deal of scientific evidence that it is inborn.  Beyond scientific evidence there is anectodal evidence.\n\nThe fruit fly study is actually fairly conclusive.  But the pheremonal and eye blink studies are also compelling.  I've included links below for those that are interested.  Beyond that, research increasingly suggests that at least for males, X28 is the crucial gene.  I am saddened by this, because I believe that once it is proven, gay people will be wiped out -- and I think that is sad, because given the number of species in which homosexuality exists (see Dr. Bruce Bagemihl's book "Biological Exuberance" from St. Martin's Press) I think it serves a purpose.\n\nNow as to the theology behind your question:  The Bible speaks out directly about a lot of things.  It says that the world has corners (Isaiah 11:12) and that it sets on pillars (I Samuel 2:8).  It says that God accepted a human sacrifice -- he may have prevented Isaacs, but he allowed a general to sacrifice his own daughter without even a murmer, the text  giving tacit support to the idea that having given his word, the man had to kill his child. (Judges 11:30-39).  The Bible  clearly maintains that genocide is often commanded by God (Joshua 10:40-42 and I Samuel 15: 2, 3 and 8) and that, after killing all the adults in a race, taking the female children as sex slaves is permissable (Numbers 31: 17-18).\n\nThe God revealed by the Bible is not only both a liar who doesn't know the natural laws of his own world, and a monster, as shown above -- but he has no real regard, even for his own people, whom he forces into cannibalism (Leviticus 26: 27-29) when he is mad at them; or his priests, whose faces he wipes with dung (Malachi 2:1-3).\n\nIt is not only gays and lesbians that are hated by biblegod.  This monstrocity also suggests killing kids who eat or drink too much (Deutoronomy 21: 18-21), and says that  if he is angry with parents he will kill their children (Leviticus 26:22) and he blames things upon children whose great-great-great grandfather committed the things being blamed on the kids (Exodus 20: 5)\n\nPutting it in a word, biblegod is a monstrocity, a horrific demiurge of evil.  Something that even he admits ( Isaiah 45:7 ) [Furthermore, the word used in Hebrew for evil, the word ra' is widely conceded to mean a number of different things:  It can mean "wickedness," "mischief," "bad," "trouble," "hurt," "sore," "affliction," "ill," "adversity," "harm," "grievous," and "sad."  So no matter what particular interpretation is given of this word -- it has profoundly negative implications.  The idea that god is sovereign over the affairs of man makes this even worse, because no matter what interpretation it has, it indicates that biblegod deliberately does harm.]; evil about which he sometimes changes his mind (Exodus 32:14).  What a font of unchanging moral
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Because they Don't know anything about false info or even the very clear contradiction in it like\n\nWho incited David to count the fighting men of Israel? \n\n(a) God did (2 Samuel 24: 1) \n\n(b) Satan did (I Chronicles 2 1:1) \n\n\nIn that count how many fighting men were found in Israel? \n\n(a) Eight hundred thousand (2 Samuel 24:9) \n\n(b) One million, one hundred thousand (IChronicles 21:5) \n\n\nHow many fighting men were found in Judah? \n\n(a) Five hundred thousand (2 Samuel 24:9) \n\n(b) Four hundred and seventy thousand (I Chronicles 21:5) \n\n\nGod sent his prophet to threaten David with how many years of famine? \n\n(a) Seven (2 Samuel 24:13) \n\n(b) Three (I Chronicles 21:12) \n\n\nHow old was Ahaziah when he began to rule over Jerusalem? \n\n(a) Twenty-two (2 Kings 8:26) \n\n(b) Forty-two (2 Chronicles 22:2) \n\n\n\n\nHow old was Jehoiachin when he became king of Jerusalem? \n\n(a) Eighteen (2 Kings 24: \n\n(b) Eight (2 Chronicles 36:9) \n\n\nHow long did he rule over Jerusalem? \n\n(a) Three months (2 Kings 24: \n\n(b) Three months and ten days (2 Chronicles 36:9) \n\n\nThe chief of the mighty men of David lifted up his spear and killed how many men at one time? \n\n(a) Eight hundred (2 Samuel 23: \n\n(b) Three hundred (I Chronicles 11: 11) \n\n\nWhen did David bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem? Before defeating the Philistines or after? \n\n(a) After (2 Samuel 5 and 6) \n\n(b) Before (I Chronicles 13 and 14) \n\n\nHow many pairs of clean animals did God tell Noah to take into the Ark? \n\n(a) Two (Genesis 6:19, 20) \n\n(b) Seven (Genesis 7:2). But despite this last instruction only two pairs went into the ark (Genesis 7:8-9) \n\nWhen David defeated the King of Zobah, how many horsemen did he capture? \n\n(a) One thousand and seven hundred (2 Samuel 8:4) \n\n(b) Seven thousand (I Chronicles 18:4) \n\n\nHow many stalls for horses did Solomon have? \n\n(a) Forty thousand (I Kings 4:26) \n\n(b) Four thousand (2 chronicles 9:25) \n\n\nIn what year of King Asa's reign did Baasha, King of Israel die? \n\n(a) Twenty-sixth year (I Kings 15:33 - 16: \n\n(b) Still alive in the thirty-sixth year (2 Chronicles 16:1) \n\n\nHow many overseers did Solomon appoint for the work of building the temple? \n\n(a) Three thousand six hundred (2 Chronicles 2:2) \n\n(b) Three thousand three hundred (I Kings 5:16) \n\nSolomon built a facility containing how many baths? \n\n(a) Two thousand (1 Kings 7:26) \n\n(b) Over three thousand (2 Chronicles 4:5) \n\n\nOf the Israelites who were freed from the Babylonian captivity, how many were the children of Pahrath-Moab? \n\n(a) Two thousand eight hundred and twelve (Ezra 2:6) \n\n(b) Two thousand eight hundred and eighteen (Nehemiah 7:11) \n\n\nBut The Quran makes the clear challenge, that if you are in doubt about it - then bring a book like it. Also, to bring ten chapters like it and then finally, to bring one single chapter like it. 1,400 years - and no one has been able to duplicate it's beauty, recitation, miracles and ease of memorization. Another challenge for the unbelievers to consider; "If this (Quran) were from other than Allah, you would find within it many contradictions." And yet, another challenge offered by Allah in the Quran is for the unbelievers to look around for evidences. Allah says He will show them His signs within themselves and on the farthest horizons.
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WHO IS JESUS CHRIST?\n\nSince Jesus Christ (Yeshua the Messiah) walked this earth as a human 2,000 years ago, there has been a controversy over who he really was. The Bible tells us in many places that there is only one true God (Deu. 6:4; Mal. 2:10; Mark 12:32; Rom. 3:30; Jam. 2:19; etc.). So where does Yeshua fit into the Godhead? \n\nMost modern Christians have been taught that Jesus is the second co-equal "person" in a triune Godhead composed of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. However, many (if not most) Christians don't really understand the Trinity. Other believers today, perceiving problems with the Trinity doctrine, have adopted a belief in the "Oneness" of God which is similar to the ancient doctrine of Modalism. \n\nBefore we can truly understand who the Messiah is, we need to look at the historical background of first-century Jewish religion and subsequent philosophical/religious doctrines that arose to explain his identity. This is going to examine the beliefs of first-century Jews regarding the Godhead and present the succeeding theories put forth to define who Yeshua is. Then we will discuss by harmonizing the Scriptures with this information to better understand what the Bible really says about the identity of the Messiah. \n\nFirst, let's start by looking at what first-century C.E. Jewish religion believed about the Godhead. There has been a tendency by scholars to define first-century orthodox monotheistic Judaism in rather restrictive terms. Jewish literature or beliefs from that time frame that seem to stray from the accepted norm have been reinterpreted to accommodate Trinitarianism or used to prove that Judaism was derived from the polytheistic religions surrounding Israel. \n\nRegarding how modern scholars tend to view first-century Jewish religion as either totally monotheistic or essentially polytheistic, University of Manitoba Professor Larry W. Hurtado wrote: \n\nI suggest that on both sides of the issue . . . there has been a tendency to proceed deductively from a priori presumptions of what monotheism must mean, instead of building up a view inductively from the evidence of how monotheism actually operated in the thought and practice of ancient Jews. There seems to be an implicit agreement on both sides that more than one transcendent being of any significance complicates or constitutes a weakening of or threat to monotheism. Those who see first-century Jewish religion as monotheistic tend, therefore, to downplay the significance and attributes given by ancient Jews to any transcendent beings other than God. For these scholars often, ancient Jewish monotheism must mean that the descriptions of such beings are largely rhetorical. Though I am convinced regarding some examples, I am not sure that the descriptions are always purely rhetoric . . . \n\nThose on the other side of the issue tend to emphasize the honorific ways in which transcendent beings other than God are described and the prominent positions they occupy in the religious conceptions reflected in ancient Jewish texts, alleging that first-century Jews were not really monotheists after all. It is clear that ancient Jews were not characteristically monists or unitarians, but does this mean that they were not monotheists? That is, on both sides there is a tendency to proceed as if we can know in advance what "monotheism" must mean, which turns out to be a very modern, monistic form of monotheism, and can accordingly evaluate ancient Jewish texts and beliefs as to whether or how closely they meet an a priori standard of "pure" monotheism. ("What Do We Mean by 'First-Century Jewish Monotheism'?," Journal for the Study of the New Testament) \n\nAs the above quote shows, Professor Hurtado believes that most modern scholars have a skewed view of first-century Jewish monotheism because they evaluate the ancient Jewish writings with a preconceived idea of what mon