Back in the day you would pick and choose the gods you worshipped, like from the greek or roman pantheon. But if you chose to worship God you would have to put him literally before the other gods.

If Cthulhu is your number 2 you immediately need to check for hemmorhoids.

This take is actually pretty close to the original reading. In the ancient near east it was a given that there were many deities. It's not that the worldview of the Bible is a strict monotheism but taht YHWH is the supreme God and the source of all.

"when Moses wrote the tablets"

The historical context here is really interesting, but this line is a head scratcher. A) god didn't write the tablets, Moses did it himself, B) tacit support for historicity of Moses. It's like not the religious viewpoint, but not the secular one either. Though I may be splitting hairs about a nonessential clause here.

Yahweh was just one of many gods worshipped at that time. Which is why like 1/3 of the ten comandments are related to his own insecurities

You seem to be looking for something to be offended by. Sad.

No, he was speaking about Ahura Mazda

In the Bible story God made the first set, but they were destroyed by Moses in a meltdown. Moses had to carve the rewritten replacements which are the ones that get written down.

Regardless of whether someone thinks Moses is historical, the story itself is a coup of sorts.

Unrelated, but has anyone else noticed the ten commandments read like a bad AI prompt?

Trying to explain to my five year old why transendentalism is going to ruin their life and perpetuate generations of human suffering without scaring them. Maybe if I lead in with “Catholics are going to rape you! Stay away from the church!” they’ll get the core logic and reason without experiencing any kind of reflexive emotional response.

Are you fucking for real? Yeah, let's compare some theoretical woo to centuries of very real sexual abuse by the Catholic (and lets be real, every fucking other) church.

How is "transendentalism" going to ruin your child's life and perpetuate generations of human suffering? What the fuck are you even talking about? Like the type of meditation that hippies thought was magic?

If you look into the Hebrew a little more, the word we translate here as "God" is "Elohim", which is better translated as something like "spiritual beings". This word is also used for angels, demons, etc.

In fact, the phrase "Lord of Lords" is actually "Elohim of Elohim", making it a statement that he's the greatest spiritual being, which is a lot more distinct from "King of Kings" than we usually notice when he's referred to as "King of kings and Lord of lords".

Elohim is even used once to refer to the "ghost" of Samuel, when Saul seeks out a medium to ask him for advice in 1 Samuel 28.

Ah yeah forgot that part. Been awhile since Sunday school.

I think it says "thou shalt have no other gods besides me."

Nothing cleans you put better than a tablespoon of incomprehensible, mind shattering horror in your morning coffee.

1. religion is capable of inventing a god that doesn't exist.
2. Israelites needed a propaganda boost to rebel against Phoenecians, and offshoot religion helps.
3. Elders that went up to the mountaintop with Moses can unanimously be on board with Hasbara to fuel war against Phoenicians. Ends justify the lie.
4. Yaweh becomes supreme god, and Phoenicians deserve death for failing to accept all commandments. Including/especially the very weird idolatry one, that gods would typically accept as narcissistic reverence. Thou shalt kill all heretics.

There's a logical problem to a language-based religion, in that even a literal interpretation is still an interpretation. Your understanding is not infallible, and no one on Earth likely believes The Bible, 100% verbatim, yet many claim to.

If the source material is always fuzzy then who is to say what a real christian is? Who is the authority? What is? The book itself isn't sentient and Jesus isn't here to break any ties.

But then, you'll get people who say they know God, that they talk to God and it would seem as though their belief and participation is, from their perspective, at least, beyond the limitations of the Christian source-code. They allegedly know God via dimensional speed-dial via.... vibes. I don't believe he does, but they do, so, rules of engagement, I temporarily have to believe he does until I'm done speaking to the person with mental health problems.

Living in the American south is like having multiple gears of belief to swap into like a 6-speed transmission based on who you're talking to. Alright, what flavor of kool aid is this person drinking?...

You want it, you've got it : https://www.biblestudytools.com/exodus/20-3-compare.html

All of the translations have something in common... they say have no "other gods". They don't say "there are no other gods"

I think that is just how monotheists prefer to translate it, I believe "before" is more impartial.

There is some, but not the most part :

The Message Bible
3 No other gods, only me.

Knowing which some is the most accurate is a multi millennium debate, with not clear answer. Shall digging in ?

The trinity is a post-biblical reinterpretation, from around 4th century AD.