Parallels in Hinduism

Hinduism is not an exclusive religion. That means that salvation in this system does not depend on you believing some articles of faith. According to hinduism, you can be "saved" in any other religion. What is important is your karma, good deeds.

Also, their idea of salvation is quite different from ours. They want get out of the circle of reincarnations and get one with God, i.e. to cease to exist as individuals.

And now, do not know what I wanted to say in my post. But whatever, I will click on "Post reply" anyway.

And in the Bible Satan, also called Apollyon (Abaddon), is the Destroyer who rules over the Bottomless Pit (the abode of demons). So even this Hindu *trinity* is at odds with the Bible. Indeed a careful examination of Shiva will confirm that he resembles Satan [with a king cobra around his throat, and a trident (pitchfork) in his hand].

REVELATION 9
1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.
11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

Agreed. Like I said, I don’t think they have everything right. They seem to have a few pieces of a puzzle, not put together correctly. The question I suppose is, how is God the Omega? Does He allow, or inspire the Destroyer? Is this synonymous with Brahman? Is Yeshua the Creator and Satan the destroyer? If there had not been a previous destruction, why would they have a Shiva? I don’t know personally. I just find it interesting.

Rom 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Rom 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Rom 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
Rom 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

This is what the world knows about God.

Creation testifies there is a God, a higher power, who created all things, and of His attributes, which one of them is love, for He provided food, and the means to make clothing, and shelter, so the world is without excuse, and testifies of the 2 greatest laws, love God, and love people.

But some people when they knew God did not glorify Him as God, but looked at Him from a natural viewpoint, the occult, nature worship, or as an atheist, believing in evolution as the way things came about.

The natural man does not receive the things of God so they can only look at things from a natural perspective, where the saints see things from a spiritual perspective.

Hinduism, Buddhism, the new age movement, or anybody like them look at God from a natural perspective, and cannot see the truth.

Isa 44:8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.

Isa 43:10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
Isa 43:11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.

1Co 8:4 As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.
1Co 8:5 For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)
1Co 8:6 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.

1Ti 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

1Ti 6:14 That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:
1Ti 6:15 Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;
1Ti 6:16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

There is only one God, the God of Israel, and Jesus Christ is God the invisible Spirit showing a visible manifestation of Himself, and there is no other gods although many people say there is other gods.

And people are not believing in the same God whatever they believe, for if it is not the truth then it is not the same God, and they are looking at God from a natural perspective, and not a spiritual perspective in the truth, so it is not the same God, but they are following a false god that does not exist.

And God did not create any other gods for there is no God beside Him, and no God created before Him, and no God created after Him.

And how can there be another God, when God is an omnipresent Spirit that fills all space, and God is not created, and God means supreme being, when anything that is created to be a so called god would be made of physical matter which God can disassemble at any time He wants, so how is that a God.

Anybody that claims a God that is not the God of Israel, and His attributes, and character, and ways, as shown in the Bible, is not the same God, and is false, and does not exist.

Rev 9:11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

Rev 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

Shiva the Destroyer is not the angel of the bottomless pit, because Shiva does not exist, but in the minds of people that think that Shiva is real.

The angel in Revelation is a fallen angel, and Satan goes to the bottomless pit in the future, and then to the lake of fire.

The Hindu trinity is of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. They are respectively the creator, preserver and destroyer of the universe. They are also aligned as the transcendent Godhead, Shiva, the cosmic lord, Vishnu and the cosmic mind, Brahma. [HinduismMythology]

What do Trinitarians believe? Without looking on a search engine if you please.
Isaiah 45:5
"I am the Lord, and there is no one else;
There is no God except Me.
I will embrace and arm you, though you have not known Me,


No Other Is God

I don’t disagree that’s what it states in English but clearly this is incongruent throughout scripture. I believe there is a supreme God, Yahweh. However the word elohim clearly means gods. “Let us make man in our image?” There is just more to the story.

Some claim that all deity identified within and by religious traditions other than that of Judeo-Christian are in fact manifestation of the El, the One God, that is honored and revered in the Judeo-Christian construct. And since there can be only one creator power, there can be no creator power described or honored in any faith on earth that can refer to other than that one.

The plural confusion for Christians can occur in the beginning, the OT. And His words in the scripture that state, in Genesis 3:22, "and Jehovah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever." That would then indicate the many rather than a one. Though there is the observation that being the King of Heaven, the textual scribes of the time translated so as to use the language phraseology that pertained to the authority of human sovereigns.
If you hear the Queen of England speak , as example, you'll never hear her speak in first person. "I declare...." Rather, she uses the sovereign kingdom inclusive language being she is sovereign over her people. "We grieve the loss of Diana...." "We denounce the act of terrorism against our people...."
And that then is why it is implied or inferred the plural in scripture means there are many gods with the one God. But God himself does not concur. And in fact states he is one and there is no other beside him.


I think the enormity of God is such that we cannot comprehend his fullness with our simple consciousness. We can only know what his word tells us and live as his holy spirit guides us into all truth within and of that.
Elohim the plural is rooted in the singular term, Eloah. Meaning God.
NAS Exhaustive Concordance : Eloah: divine (1), divine being (1), exceedingly (1), God (2326), god (45), God's (14), goddess (2), godly (1), gods (204), great (2), judges (3), mighty (2), rulers (1), shrine* (1).

Sons of gods (elohim) saw that daughters of men....

There are more references but let’s not overlook the obvious. How many words were there? Elohim often translates describing heavenly beings, (angels), even officials. That is one of the reasons you almost have to know what it says in order to translate it, not translate it to know what it says. In order to do this, preconceptions are involved. Saying there is only one gods/angels/judges (elohim) and it is only Yahweh, is implying oneness....or that might have been improperly translated.

You might find this site of interest.


Bible Lexicons

Elohim


The general Hebrew name for God is Elohim (אלהים ). Sometimes it is used with a definite article, sometimes without. Altogether it occurs 2555 times in 2310 of these instances it is used as the name of the living and true God, but in 245 passages it appears to be adopted in lower senses.

Although plural in form, [This is indicated by the termination -im, as in such words as Cherub-im and Seraph-im. Dr. Sayce tells me that in the Tel el Amarna tableta Pharaoh is addressed as gods.] the name is generally used with a singular verb when it refers to the true God. [The exceptions are Genesis 20:13; Genesis 35:7; 2 Samuel 7:23 (but see 1 Chronicles 17:12). The Samaritan Pentateuch has altered those in Genes is to the singular. Sometimes the adjective which agrees with Elohim is plural, as in Joshua 24:19; sometimes singular, as in 2 Kings 19:4.]

This name properly represented One only Being, who revealed Himself to man as Creator, Ruler, and Lord. It was his own peculiar title, and ought to have been confined to Him. Accordingly we read, ' in the beginning God (Elohim in the plural) created (in the singular) the heavens and the earth.'

The first hint at the possibility that the title Elohim might be shared by others besides the Creator is to be found in the serpent's suggestion, 'Ye shall be as Elohim , knowing good and evil' (Genesis 3:5). The translators of the A. V. render the word 'gods,' but our first parents only knew of one Elohim ; they heard his voice from time to time, and perhaps they saw his form; they addressed Him in the singular number; and the idea of any other being to be called Elohim but this One could not have entered their imagination until the Tempter said to them, 'Ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil' (see R. V.). Continues @ https://www.studylight.org/lexicons/girdlestone/elohim.html

Thanks. What came first; Our understanding of God or our understanding of the word Elohim? If Yahweh says He’s plural, do we need to adjust our theology? I think we are trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Either we accept what the scripture says, or just go around reinterpreting words to fit our thoughts.

I've met a few Tri-theist Christians. Live as you wish. If God can't argue someone into righteousness, who am I to think I can overcome where he is denied?

What came first? Our understanding of God or the word Elohim?
We are of and within God. For no thing that is created can be of anything other than God. Psalm 33

"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani,"

And by the way, leaving this as a separate post from the last one I wrote. Hinduism has thousands of god's and goddesses.
God's and goddesses of the elements, etc....

So no, God is not so fractured as to need to command and receive worship for bugs, wind, rain, sun, dirt, pain, childbirth, cramps, money, etc....
Hear oh Israel, our God our God is ONE!

And hear this oh Christians of Christian Chat, our God is ONE and he is not a hybridized animal human either! And God's salvation is not that of Moksha. Ergo, there is not one iota of semblance between the Judeo-Christian faith and that of Hinduism.


Ganesha. Elephant man.