In the Old Testament God's essentially an ethnic and war God of the henotheistic Jews

In the Old Testament God's essentially an ethnic and war God of the henotheistic Jews.

And all evidence points to him just being an increasingly exalted Zeus/Jupiter type. Storm imagery, fighting the giant sea serpent Leviathan (note, exact cognate with Lotan, the serpent the Ugaritic storm god Ba'al fought). The flood in Gilgamesh, almost identical to the flood in Genesis was also caused by a storm god, Enlil.

And if you think the Jews were simply misunderstanding God, remember, this is when God was speaking directly to the Jews, dwelling the Ark of the Covenant, leading them in war, and performing real miracles, instead of speaking through some avatar who you could make a serious case never even claimed to be God and failed to convince the majority of Jews.

How do Christians deal with this?

>How do Christians deal with this?

By ignoring it, mostly. It's the same way they deal with even more direct contradictions and theological problems from the Old Testament.

Wow, talk about literalism. Are you just another fedora raised in a Protestant household?

Such as?

euphoric

>Such as?

Such as replacement theology, Trinitarianism, the notion of Jesus being sinless, the notion of the Messiah being God, the notion of there being original sin in the first place, or Satan being in opposition to God, just to name a few offhand things.

What is there to deal with?

The Deity acts exactly the same way in the New Testament.

>Inb4 someone posts the idea that OT God and NT God are massively different because he's never actually read the OT.

>What is there to deal with?

All the stuff OP said in his post. He's gone in a reasonable amount of detail.

It's not like he made some really vague claim in ten words then proudly declared anyone that disagreed hasn't read the OT like you did.

Yeah, we get it. Yahweh's an evil blood God that forced you parents to force you to go to church.

Can't you just interpret that as pagan people having been in touch with the same general influences of the one true God under different names?

Protip: If you use memes, you automatically lose the argument

t. Christian

So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

The difference between the Biblical God and those other deities you listed is His willingness to enter into a covenant relationship with humanity. The pagan myths focus primarily on the adventures of the deities themselves with humans usually playing only a minor supporting role. However the Bible reveals a God who is interested in establishing a close relationship with humanity and lead us out of darkness, ignorance and slavery into light, wisdom and truth.

Zeus doesn't really care what happens to us and if anything he sees us as toys to play with when he isn't preoccupied with exacting revenge or seducing some other Olympian. By contrast, the Biblical God gives humanity specific rules to live by because He is invested in us and cares about how we live our lives. There is no "law giver" archetype in the pagan religions because they do not have a legal framework in the way the Abrahamics do and it is this legal aspect that perhaps most vividly differentiates the Biblical God from the pagan deities.

Regarding the similar motifs that occur in the pagan myths, we need to remember that the Biblical explanation for pagan gods is that they are demons attempting to lead people away from worshiping the one true God. With this in mind we can understand the reoccurring motifs as these demons imitating or mimicking God in an attempt to confuse and lead people astray.

He wont reply. He doesnt have the mental fortitude.

Ive read the OT and NT multiple times and your full of shit. Let us know when you take those blinders and ear muffs of faggot.

You have nothing but insults huh stupid? Ask god for help...

If you like grasping at straws and sensationalizing obvious realities... Sure you can.

>How do Christians deal with this?
It's called the Trinity. YHWH != Jesus of Nazareth != the Holy Ghost. These are three different beings, all of them God.

You must realize that the "some avatar" in your line of reasoning (Jesus) is supposed to be the Word of God manifested as a slightly evolved ape-person. He's a different being than the old man in the sky, so he's going to have a different personality.

The Old Testament also says that God is a being a unlimited forgiveness, compassion, and love. We can see in the OT that our Lord, as much as he might love us, becomes a wrathful and jealous war god when he is revealed to us in the form of our creator. But what would God be like if he was a human? If God wasn't immortal, and was restricted by mortal limitations, what would he be like?

Sounds legit.

Yeah, the OT God doesn't delight in the idea of people suffering for all eternity.

>He's a different being than the old man in the sky, so he's going to have a different personality.
That's not how the trinity works. All three are united in will, in complete agreement on all things at all times, and all work to accomplish the same mission.

You're a heretic.

So do you think God really did slay a serpent in the cosmic ocean that the Earth is sitting in and really did open a hole in the sky, allowing the waters above to flood the earth 4000 years ago? Or did the holy spirit give them all the same metaphors?

Dude, where's your argument?

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