Speaking as a Christian, this is exactly how I’ve always interpreted it. I figure if God had meant to say “I am the only god”, he would have left our the “before me” qualifier.
So you’re free to believe in, pray to, make offerings to, and otherwise interact with any and all gods of your choosing, as long as you remember who’s Numero Uno.
Isn’t this in fact because the Jews were monolatrists, not monotheists? They believed in the existence of other gods but YHWH was the only one they worshipped. Eventually they moved to monotheism and the commandment was then seen in a different light.
I don’t think Christianity has ever admitted the existence of a god other than the one true God, it would kind of defeat the point, wouldn’t it?
No, I meant what I originally said. My understanding of the evolution of Jewish religion is that they accepted there were other gods but they only prayed to one - that’s monolatry, not henotheism. The wiki article on monolatrism agrees with me.
That said it’s all semantics, since I don’t believe in any god at all (other than me, that is).
It’s interesting to me that (at least in the wikipedia-linked version), the Noahide Laws only seem to prohibit male homosexuality, without even mentioning lesbianism. Is this just a matter of translation/interpretation, or is that law deliberately worded that way?
I keep reading this a “Naugahyde” laws. The laws that govern fake leather.
Personally, what I find cool about the [del]Naugahyde[/del] Noahide laws is that if you aren’t Jewish but follow them, you’re ok. It’s about how you act, not what you believe. Cool.
ETA: other things I can do- slowly tease my cat by dangling and twitching this piece of string. Bwahahaha
To me it underlies a philosophical idea- that your acts are more important than your beliefs.
The people that this rule pertains to are trying to co-exist and the idea says that if you respect the laws you don’t have to be Jewish to be righteous. Contrast that with the idea held by many, for example, that regardless of your actions if you don’t accept Jesus you will be damned.
It also lays the groundwork for why I can reconcile atheism and Judaism in my own life, and that I can be surrounded by theists (at my synagogue) that have no problem with my atheism.
