Expert: Candy Brauer - 12/5/2004

Question
I am doing a project on The Count of Monte Cristo in which the main character acts as if he were God. I need to disprove this and I wanted to know if it says anywhere in the bible humans should not act like God?  Thanks. If I could get an answer by tmrw or Tuesday, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

Answer
Hi Chris.  :-)  Here's the answer to your question:

The bible does indeed contain the teaching that man and all of God's creation should not act like gods.

For starters:

Genesis 3
1   Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2   And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3   But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4   And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5   For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6   And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7   And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

God didn't say that if Adam and Eve ate of the tree, that they'd be like gods.  That's a little leaven that Satan threw into the lump, to try to tempt Eve to eat of the tree.

Genesis 11
4   And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
5   And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
6   And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
7   Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
8   So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

The people of Babel/Babylon - lead by Nimrod, tried to become as gods.  They instead got scattered.

Matthew 23:11
But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

In other words, to be great, you must become a servant.  That is the opposite of being like a god.

Satan also tried to become a god:

Ezekiel 28
13   Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14   Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15   Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
16   By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
17   Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

and

Isaiah 14
12   How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13   For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14   I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15   Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

Now, there are a few places in the bible where men are referred to as gods.  But 'gods' there, means judges.

Nimrod is referred to as a false god. - Bel/Moloch.  His son is Baal, and his wife, Semiramis, is known in the bible as Ashtoreth.  These are the false gods that Israel kept whoring after.

I hope this helps you out.  :-)

-Candy Brauer
http://www.genuineprofit.com