An unorthodox belief in God.

[Confused Ape]

You're comparison is illusion , an attempt to deflect or disarm what I am doing. I am giving real biblical characters and events in our history, and the professional archaeology that confirms it. Greek gods and their mythical places are illusions, no professional has uncovered evidence of them.

The existence of Troy has already been pointed out to you. Mount Olympus really exists as well but nobody's ever found any Greek deities living on it.

Mount Olympus (/əˈlɪmpəs, oʊˈlɪm-/; Greek: Όλυμπος; also transliterated as Olympos, and on Greek maps, Oros Olympos) is the highest mountain in Greece and the second highest mountain in the Balkans

In judges 7:1 Gideon had a cave, we have that cave now; its no myth and no game; Its simply a real standard;

http://www.gemsinisrael.com/e_article000002707.htm

From the article -

From biblical times to more recent history this one spot has been a place where armies gathered prior to battle, where great battles were fought, and where an army in the making, trained.

The Spring of Harod flows from Gideon's Cave. This is the place where Gideon gathered his men before fighting the Midianites.

The Harod Spring also served as one the first training bases for the Palmach under Orde Charles Wingate, a British intelligence officer who was sympathetic to the plight of the Jews in Eretz Israel.

Gideon Historical-critical view

Historical-critical scholars consider the story of Gideon to be a composite narrative. Behind these various elements, and molded according to different view-points and intentions, lie popular traditions concerning historical facts and explanations of names once of an altogether different value, but now adapted to a later religious consciousness. The account of Gideon's war against Midian is a reflection of the struggle of his own clan or tribe with the hostile Bedouins across the Jordan for the possession of the territory, mixed with reminiscences of tribal jealousies on the part of Ephraim.[4]

Meaning of the name Gideon

Gideon or Gedeon (/ˈɡɪd.iː.ən/;[1] Hebrew: גִּדְעוֹן, Modern Gid'on Tiberian Giḏʻôn), which means "Destroyer," "Mighty warrior," or "Feller (of trees)" was, according to the Tanakh, a judge of the Hebrews

It's likely that Gideon did exist and gathered his army there before setting out on a successful campaign against the Midianites. If he did exist he probably believed that God had chosen him to lead the campaign. On the other hand -

As is the pattern throughout the book of Judges, the Israelites again turned away from God after 40 years of peace brought by Deborah's victory over Canaan and were allowed to be oppressed by the neighboring Midianites and Amalekites and the children of the east.

If the Israelites really were oppressed by their neighbours, Gideon could have invented the story about the miracles in order to inspire his people to go into battle.

Very unsure of both himself and God's command, he requested proof of God's will by three miracles: firstly a sign from an angel in Judges 6:16, and then two signs involving a fleece, performed on consecutive nights and the exact opposite of each other:

36 Then Gideon said to God, “If You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken, 37 behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken.” 38 And it was so. When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not let Your anger burn against me that I may speak once more; please let me make a test once more with the fleece, let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground.” 40 God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece, and dew was on all the ground.

—Judges 6:36–40

The Bible doesn't say that he had witnesses to these miracles. In later times it seems that the Israelites thought a name meaning 'lumberjack' wasn't really appropriate for a successful military leader so they added the 'mighty warrior' and 'destroyer' meanings.

The significance of these professional historical factual finds are that they give us more information about the people of those times, the places and buildings of the times , the laws of those times and the beliefs of those times.

And whether you like it or not, the gods worshipped during those times.

Exactly, which is why archaeology is so fascinating. What it can't do, though, is prove that the gods who were worshipped during those times really existed. This includes the God of the Israelites.

The Old Testament is a mixture of mythology, religious texts, folklore and history which was adapted to suit the purpose. Humans have a habit of attaching myths and folk tales to real people and here's an example from England.

The Legendary Francis Drake

It is not surprising that with such a legendary figure as Sir Francis Drake there are many folk stories told about him. Although he did not live on Dartmoor there are quite a few traditions associated with him and the moor. As he was such an heroic figure it is puzzling why some of the legends portray him as an evil person. It must be remembered that there has always been a deep belief in witchcraft on the moor and anybody who performed such feats as Drake could be regarded as possessing magical powers, in some cases these could have been believed to have come from the Devil.


It is also said on Dartmoor that the ghost of Sir Francis Drake rides the moors on dark nights at the head of a pack of 'Wisht Hounds' seeking out the souls of the unwary or un-baptised. Some people have sworn they have seen him and the Devil riding out with the dogs of hell around Wistman's Wood. Why he should be associated with these stories is a mystery and a very, very old mystery at that?

Francis Drake definitely existed and the legend of the Wild Hunt was attached to him. As I showed in an earlier post, the legend of the Wild Hunt can be traced back to Odin.