From: theirony2013@gmail.com   
      
   On 2026-01-13 17:02, JTEM wrote:   
   > On 1/13/26 6:53 PM, Mike wrote:   
   >>   
   >>   
   >> Calling God a “king” does not match the normal,   
   >> literal meaning of the word. A king is a human   
   >> ruler   
   >   
   > Not necessarily, back in ancient times.   
   >   
   > People were regularly declared god kings. Lots of kings   
   > claimed they were gods and needed to be worshiped. I   
   > do believe that this had a lot to do with the Samaritan   
   > Temple losing it's legitimacy, in the eyes of the devout.   
   >   
   > NOTE:  LOTS and LOTS of confusing, contradicting info   
   > here.   
   >   
   > Most agree that it was Antiochus Epiphanes, the Seleucid   
   > king, who desecrating the Samaritan Temple with the statue   
   > of Zeus. But the man also declared himself divine! And,   
   > according to tradition, he did a right royal job of   
   > desecrating the Jerusalem Temple:  Robbing the treasures,   
   > sacrificing a pig on an alter.   
   >   
   > So the desecration of the Samaritan Temple doesn't actually   
   > rob it of it's importance. Either there's some "Historical   
   > Revisionism" by the bible writers, trying to strengthen their   
   > claim to the "Real" temple, or the Samaritans were a little   
   > too accepting of the Pagan trinkets....   
   >   
   > Also:  History didn't exist back then. They were far   
   > more concerned with writing HOW they wanted things to be   
   > remembered, not how they actually were.   
   >   
   > But, suffice it so say:  Plenty of kings proclaimed as &   
   > worshiped as gods. Plenty.   
      
   To my humble thinking, believing that God   
   is a King and believing that a king is God   
   are fundamentally different concepts. Calling   
   God a “King” is a metaphor drawn from human   
   political structures, used to express ideas   
   like authority, order, and sovereignty in   
   terms people can grasp. It does not mean   
   God literally fits the role, limitations,   
   or behavior of a human ruler.   
      
   By contrast, believing a king to be God elevates   
   a human being—limited, fallible, and temporal—   
   into a divine status. One uses human language   
   to point upward toward something beyond humanity;   
   the other projects divinity downward onto a human   
   institution. Though the words may sound similar,   
   the direction of meaning is completely reversed.   
      
      
      
      
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)