Quote:
Originally Posted by Yekcidmij
Quoting the church fathers is fine, but if they think Psalm 82 is refering to deification of man, they are simply wrong. The "gods" in Psalm 82 are killed according to the Psalm. That's the extreme opposite of deification. If Jerome misread it that bad, well I'm sorry for Jerome. If Jerome wants to talk to me about it, that's fine too.
I also unfortunately don't have access to the entire work by Jerome so I can't read the snippet in it's context. Since you are quoting the work, what is the context of the quote? Surely you check sources, right?
Church fathers aren't scripture and I laid out my take on Psalm 82, and it's relation to John 10, so quoting church fathers is nothing more than an interesting footnote, and calling it "interesting" is a formality of respect.
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Scripture often has both an earthly meaning and a heavenly/spiritual one. We see it here, as well.
They are talking about the divine council here. These are sons of El that are each given an earthly kingdom to rule over. Yahweh received the greatest prize: Israel. Many of them squandered their divine inheritance, using intrigue to steal the portions of others. Job 1 tells about Satan and the sons of El going to challenge Yahweh to a dual over his son, Job! This is exactly what Psalms 82 is directly going after. They were to deal well with their earthly children over whom they'd been given authority. Instead, they squandered their opportunity and many fell from their divine place. Some suggest that Isaiah 14:12-20 tells of the Babylonian king representing one of these divine sons falling from heaven as he sought to overthrow God. LDS doctrine teaches it was none other than Satan (Moses 1:4, Abraham 3:24-28). Both in the ancient writings of the divine council and in LDS scripture, we read of challenges being made to God and Jesus' role as Savior.
Funny how a young farm boy from the Northeast could figure that out when it has taken biblical scholars up until the last 25 years to begin to understand this!
Here are a few links concerning the divine council:
The Heavenly Divine Council
Reconsidering Psalms 82:6
And here's Psalms 82 in the New American Bible version:
Quote:
A psalm of Asaph. God rises in the divine council, gives judgment in the midst of the gods.
2
"How long will you judge unjustly and favor the cause of the wicked? Selah
3
Defend the lowly and fatherless; render justice to the afflicted and needy.
4
Rescue the lowly and poor; deliver them from the hand of the wicked."
5
The gods neither know nor understand, wandering about in darkness, and all the world's foundations shake.
6
I declare: "Gods though you be, offspring of the Most High (El Elyon) all of you,
7
Yet like any mortal you shall die; like any prince you shall fall."
8
Arise, O God, judge the earth, for yours are all the nations.
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