ChrisK
18th June 2010, 20:00
While I am at it, here's my first essay for my philosophy of religion class.
The typical Christian view of God is of an all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving being that is the supreme and only deity. As one of the central tenets of Christianity, this belief in one all-powerful God, is what defines Christianity as a monotheistic religion. The one question is, is this view consistent with history? It is my contention that portions of the Old Testament of the Bible give credence to the belief that the Christian god was originally a henotheistic God of the Israelites.
In the stories of the Old Testament, one thing is very clear; God is the personal God of the Israelites, not a God for everyone. God takes special care of one group of people, the descendents of Abraham. The Old Testament only traces the history of a tribe of semi-nomads through their nationhood, but never any other peoples. This seems to be a more personal God, not a universal God. Additionally, God walks with the people of the tribe of Abraham so that they will go on through the desert and not settle where they were (Exodus 33). This would indicate that He takes care of only this one tribe and not any of the others. A monotheistic omnipotent God would watch all of His children, not just a select few of them. God also shows a scant regard for the other peoples of the world. He goes as far as to tell His children,
“I am going to drive out the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites before you. Take care that you make no pact with the inhabitants of the country which you are about to enter, or they will prove a snare in your community.” (Exodus 34)
In this passage, God is not only indicating that He does not care for those people in those lands, but He even tells His children to never associate with them. This shows a clear distinction between His children and the rest of the world. Thus, the Israelites can be seen as having a personal God, who protects them, and no others.
Another point in the case for the God of the Old Testament as being a personal God and not the only God comes from the name Yahweh. Yahweh is the actual, personal name of God as evidenced by this passage, “I am Yahweh your God,” (Exodus 20). The function of a name is to distinguish things from one another. If there is only one God, why would He need a name to distinguish Himself from others? He would simply be God and not have a personal name, known only to a select group of individuals.
Of utmost importance is the fact that various passages in the Bible indicate that there are possibly multiple gods other than the God of the Israelites. To return to the last point, the sentence, “I am Yahweh your God,” indicates that God is not the only god. The use of the word “your” indicates a God who is personal to these people, not the only god. It could be argued that the presence of a personal god, would give credence to the belief that there are multiple other personal gods. Additionally, during the time that the Israelites were slaves, the Egyptian wise men were able to duplicate the actions of Moses. They did this by both turning staffs into snakes, by turning water to blood and calling forth frogs (Exodus 7-8). The power of these men is clearly one that is divine and it would not have been Yahweh who gave them such power, but it would have had to been the gods of Egypt who gave them such power. The final evidence that the books written by Moses were henotheistic comes from the Ten Commandments. Two of the commandments are, “You shall have no other gods to rival me,” (Exodus 20) and “You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything I heaven above or earth beneath or in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them…” (Exodus 20). If the God of Moses was a monotheistic god, then only one of these commandments would be needed. But instead they are both separate commandments. The former tells the Israelites to worship no other gods and the latter tells them not to worship false gods. By having this distinction, the Ten Commandments are clearly implying that there are many gods and that the Israelites should only worship the god of their tribe and not those of the other peoples. The books of Moses clearly indicate the existence of many gods other than Yahweh, their personal god.
The idea of God as being a monotheistic god is not supported by the books of the Old Testament written by Moses. If anything, these oldest books indicate a henotheistic personal god who is named by and protects His people, even if He is the most powerful of the gods. It would not have been until later in their development that God became the monotheistic all-powerful being that is believed in today.
Comments?
The typical Christian view of God is of an all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving being that is the supreme and only deity. As one of the central tenets of Christianity, this belief in one all-powerful God, is what defines Christianity as a monotheistic religion. The one question is, is this view consistent with history? It is my contention that portions of the Old Testament of the Bible give credence to the belief that the Christian god was originally a henotheistic God of the Israelites.
In the stories of the Old Testament, one thing is very clear; God is the personal God of the Israelites, not a God for everyone. God takes special care of one group of people, the descendents of Abraham. The Old Testament only traces the history of a tribe of semi-nomads through their nationhood, but never any other peoples. This seems to be a more personal God, not a universal God. Additionally, God walks with the people of the tribe of Abraham so that they will go on through the desert and not settle where they were (Exodus 33). This would indicate that He takes care of only this one tribe and not any of the others. A monotheistic omnipotent God would watch all of His children, not just a select few of them. God also shows a scant regard for the other peoples of the world. He goes as far as to tell His children,
“I am going to drive out the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites before you. Take care that you make no pact with the inhabitants of the country which you are about to enter, or they will prove a snare in your community.” (Exodus 34)
In this passage, God is not only indicating that He does not care for those people in those lands, but He even tells His children to never associate with them. This shows a clear distinction between His children and the rest of the world. Thus, the Israelites can be seen as having a personal God, who protects them, and no others.
Another point in the case for the God of the Old Testament as being a personal God and not the only God comes from the name Yahweh. Yahweh is the actual, personal name of God as evidenced by this passage, “I am Yahweh your God,” (Exodus 20). The function of a name is to distinguish things from one another. If there is only one God, why would He need a name to distinguish Himself from others? He would simply be God and not have a personal name, known only to a select group of individuals.
Of utmost importance is the fact that various passages in the Bible indicate that there are possibly multiple gods other than the God of the Israelites. To return to the last point, the sentence, “I am Yahweh your God,” indicates that God is not the only god. The use of the word “your” indicates a God who is personal to these people, not the only god. It could be argued that the presence of a personal god, would give credence to the belief that there are multiple other personal gods. Additionally, during the time that the Israelites were slaves, the Egyptian wise men were able to duplicate the actions of Moses. They did this by both turning staffs into snakes, by turning water to blood and calling forth frogs (Exodus 7-8). The power of these men is clearly one that is divine and it would not have been Yahweh who gave them such power, but it would have had to been the gods of Egypt who gave them such power. The final evidence that the books written by Moses were henotheistic comes from the Ten Commandments. Two of the commandments are, “You shall have no other gods to rival me,” (Exodus 20) and “You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything I heaven above or earth beneath or in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them…” (Exodus 20). If the God of Moses was a monotheistic god, then only one of these commandments would be needed. But instead they are both separate commandments. The former tells the Israelites to worship no other gods and the latter tells them not to worship false gods. By having this distinction, the Ten Commandments are clearly implying that there are many gods and that the Israelites should only worship the god of their tribe and not those of the other peoples. The books of Moses clearly indicate the existence of many gods other than Yahweh, their personal god.
The idea of God as being a monotheistic god is not supported by the books of the Old Testament written by Moses. If anything, these oldest books indicate a henotheistic personal god who is named by and protects His people, even if He is the most powerful of the gods. It would not have been until later in their development that God became the monotheistic all-powerful being that is believed in today.
Comments?