Idolatry in the Bible

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>>>>> "Dave" == DAchorn  <DAchorn@AOL.COM> writes:

    Dave> I'm interested in studying the various pagan idols mentioned
    Dave> in the Bible.  For example, the O.T. mentions Baal as some
    Dave> kind of diety.  What was the philosophy and belief behind
    Dave> Baal worship?  What was behind the golden calf?  Where in
    Dave> the world did that idea come from?  What about Ashtaroth,
    Dave> Baal-Peor, Chemosh, Dagon, Molech, and so on.

    Dave> If anyone has insight into the various beliefs that
    Dave> represent these idols please respond.  Also, any books or
    Dave> recommended reading material would be helpful.

    Dave> Thanks!

    Dave> Dave Achorn Dachorn@aol.com

I will give the short answer -- no references to scripture, only
appeals to the natural tendencies of humanity.

I am a computer scientist.  I got my hands on a real computer for the
first time in 1967, and IBM 1401 with 8 KB of core memory, and a 100
KHz (10.2 usec memory cycle time) speed rating.  It would make a lousy
programmable pocket calculator by today's standards, but back then,
corporations ran their DP separtment withthese things.  I was in
school, and this was a dream realized: a real computer I could learn
about! 

Well, before the year was over, I was already working on linear
programming and game theory.  Imagine!  A machine that coulld play tic
tac toe!  Maybe someday even chess!  Please recall last week's big man
vs machine chess match.  

What is the appeal to making artificial intelligence?  It is the
appeal of Baal, the appeal of idols and golden calves.  It is the
appeal of a God created in man's image -- made by man.  It is another
tower of Babyl -- a creation only a God to do!  

Man wants to be in control.  Eric Fromm wrote the philosophical work
"Man for himself".  Emanual Kant not only wrote "Critique of pure
reason", but also developed the theory of cosmology that now bears his
name, the theory of swirling dust and gas clouds condensing into stars
and planets.  The goal, even if it is subconcoius, is to remove the
necissity for any God as creator or controller of the univers.  Steven
Hawkins wrote "A brief history of time" to put in non-specialist terms
his work on general relativity and quantun electrodynamics.  In a
nutshell, he spends the book developing a quantized model of
space-time that can make use of the Heisenburg uncertainty principle
to "hide" the moment of creation, thereby making it possible to say
that there was no moment of creation.  But remember, a different
transformation and there is a creation visable again.  Also remember
that modern theoritical physics is a theory of measurability:  if you
can't measure it, then it doesn't exist.  This assumption is
tantamount to eliminating God right there!

Why are there idols in the Bible?  Same reason there are idols today!
Man wants to create the Gods so he can control them.  It is the pride
of life.

Now, somebody else get scripturaly specific about the names gods
listed above, and explain their relationships to each other
historically, their attributes, etc.

Remember:  DAGON BOWED!

-- 
-----------  "...  And the men went up and viewed Ai."  [Jos 7:2]  -----------
Robert Jay Brown III  rj@eli.wariat.org  http://eli.wariat.org  1 847 705-0370
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