Zone1 What does it mean that Jews are "God's Chosen People"?

[rosends]

Why would God choose one Group of people over another? What does it even mean to be "Chosen"? Chosen for what? Does it mean all Jews will go to Heaven?

We were chosen to shoulder the burden of God's additional commandments and we are subject to a higher standard than non-Jews if we want to earn a place in "heaven."

 

[fncceo]

We were chosen to shoulder the burden of God's additional commandments and we are subject to a higher standard than non-Jews if we want to earn a place in "heaven."

Non-Jews can earn a place in the world to come ... but, they get a room next to the noisy ice machine for all eternity.

 

[E. Pluribus]

"God's chosen people" could be the reason for the persecution and dislike of the Jews. Essentially it means that they are better than non-Jews which are fighting words when heard. Go ahead. Tell somebody you are better than them and therefore they suck.

 

[JGalt]

By the time of Adam and Eve Sumerians had a written language, agriculture, irrigation and sailboats.

Sumerians were anthropomorphic polytheists who worshiped many gods in human form.

There are 2.4 billion Christians in the world, but not one single Sumerian.

 

[expat500]

"God's chosen people" could be the reason for the persecution and dislike of the Jews. Essentially it means that they are better than non-Jews which are fighting words when heard. Go ahead. Tell somebody you are better than them and therefore they suck.

Would you like me to explain it to you?

 

[Meriweather]

Why would God choose one Group of people over another? What does it even mean to be "Chosen"? Chosen for what? Does it mean all Jews will go to Heaven?

I grew up in a large family. Our parents were always choosing one or the other of us to do something that needed to be done. We older ones were tasked with always behaving because we were the example for the younger ones. Sometimes we were given a task because we were the best at that task. Other times we were given it because we needed to learn how to properly do it. Being assigned/chosen for a task did not mean that person was loved or favored over others. It meant our parents wanted something done. So...what did God want done?

God chose a people to live lives where God was first in all things. To do this, they had to be a people set apart from those who put the things of the world first. The Chosen People were to be a light to all others of this different way of living.

So why the persecution? Abraham Lincoln who lived in the time of top hats, wryly observed that snowballs were aimed at the top hat of the taller men. No one bothers to kick a flat football.

 

[fncceo]

therefore they suck.

 

[rosends]

"God's chosen people" could be the reason for the persecution and dislike of the Jews. Essentially it means that they are better than non-Jews which are fighting words when heard. Go ahead. Tell somebody you are better than them and therefore they suck.

Except we never said it means that. That is the idea of others who want to find an excuse to hate.

 

[fncceo]

"God's chosen people" could be the reason for the persecution and dislike of the Jews. Essentially it means that they are better than non-Jews which are fighting words when heard. Go ahead. Tell somebody you are better than them and therefore they suck.

That's the problem ... Jews don't say that being chosen makes them fundamentally better than anyone else ...

... then you come along and demonstrate that they are.

 

[BreezeWood]

We were chosen to shoulder the burden of God's additional commandments and we are subject to a higher standard than non-Jews if we want to earn a place in "heaven."

all in the heavens are equal - renouncing the lies of abraham, hereditary idolatry is an obvious resolution.

 

[BreezeWood]

We older ones were tasked with always behaving because we were the example for the younger ones.

- self indulgence is the overriding corruption of all three desert religions.

 

[Calypso Jones]

As God's chosen people, the jews have been held to a high standard.

From those who are given much, much is required. Luke 12:48

You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins. Amos 3:2

As God's Chosen...Jews have been held to a higher standard for their sins...and they did and continue to sin...but no worse than the rest of us...except for the fact that God holds them to a higher standard as well as the rest of the world holds them to a higher standard. That last out of hate and revenge that they are God's chosen I think may be true.

 

[surada]

Sumerians were anthropomorphic polytheists who worshiped many gods in human form.

There are 2.4 billion Christians in the world, but not one single Sumerian.

The flood myth (Noah) also comes from Sumer.

 

[Calypso Jones]

The flood myth (Noah) also comes from Sumer.

The sumerians had a distorted take on the actual flood narrative. Actually...God's account of it makes more sense and is more logical and leaves out the outlandish details that other flood accounts have.

 

[norwegen]

They were chosen because God swore to an oath with them.

It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (Deut 7:7-8)​

But then, according to the New Testament, Israel evolved from a blood progeny to a spiritual progeny.

 

[Calypso Jones]

They were chosen because God swore to an oath with them.

It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (Deut 7:7-8)​

But then, according to the New Testament, Israel evolved from a blood progeny to a spiritual progeny.

yes, but i think the op meant originally.

 

[norwegen]

yes, but i think the op meant originally.

That's in the creation story. The Adamic people walked with only the one God.

 

[surada]

The sumerians had a distorted take on the actual flood narrative. Actually...God's account of it makes more sense and is more logical and leaves out the outlandish details that other flood accounts have.

Nope. The king of Sumer was hauling grain, livestock and beer downriver on barges.

The rivers often overflowed their banks when snowmelt from the Zagros mountains combined with spring rains. That's what built the delta south of Basra. The whole area is very flat...and there is flood sediment.

 

[Calypso Jones]

Nope. The king of Sumer was hauling grain, livestock and beer downriver on barges.

The rivers often overflowed their banks when snowmelt from the Zagros mountains combined with spring rains. That's what built the delta south of Basra. The whole area is very flat...and there is flood sediment.

and that proves what? The actual Biblical flood happened way before sumer. The remnant of humans who became Sumer told the tale distorting it along the way till they came up with their flood narrative.

 

[alang1216]

Why would God choose one Group of people over another? What does it even mean to be "Chosen"? Chosen for what? Does it mean all Jews will go to Heaven?

The Israelites chose one god among the many to be their god. The Torah documents the struggle they had in keeping their covenant while surrounded by the many other gods of the region. This situation existed for centauries until monotheism eventually took over, around 300 or so BCE. That is what the Bible and the archeology says.

Henotheism​