Deuteronomy 4:35
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Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest know that Jehovah he is God; there is none else besides him. (ASV)
Pro
Con
Within the context of this verse, Moses exhorts Israel to follow the one true God.
Deuteronomy 4 1 “Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you... 32 “For ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been heard. 33 “Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? 34 “Or did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 “To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD Himself is God; there is none other besides Him.
PRO, not understanding the context argues that "Contrary to this...the Hebrews formerly believed in the existence of many gods." It is true that the Hebrews believed in many gods when they were in Egypt.
Now, Israel has been led out of Egypt and Moses tells the Jews that they are to follow the one true God. Contrary to the Scriptural view of God, the Jews believed in (or at least worshiped) many gods both before leaving Egypt and after entering the promised land. The erroneous Jewish beliefs involve no error in the Scriptures which accurately point out that Moses, in these verses, exhorts the Jews to believe in the one true God. The Jews are still free to choose to believe in other gods and to do so would eb contrary to that which Moses exhorts them to do.
Neutral
Edit this section to note miscellaneous facts.
JW:
The following has been moved from Pro to Neutral because it provides no reason as to why it should be considered an error:
"Contrary to this (and contrary to the belief of many Christian and Jewish apologists), the Hebrews formerly believed in the existence of many gods. See the Deuteronomy 32:8 article for more on this."
--JoeWallack 08:54, 7 Mar 2008 (CST)
