History of Yahweh

[Mudhammam]

Another interesting tidbit I read: Allah was also just one of many gods (he was the moon god) worshipped by the Quraysh and other surrounding tribes from which Muhammad emerged.

[Chad32]

Not surprising Allah may have originated as a lesser moon god, just as Yahweh originated as a lesser war god.

[Minimalist]

Poor polecat...his little yahweh-based world is crumbling around his ears.

Tough.

From The Quest for the Historical Israel Page 175 by Israeli Archaeologist, Amihai Mazar.

Each Iron Age territorial state had it own major god: Milkom in Ammon, Kemosh in Moab, Qaus in Edom, and Yahweh in Israel and Judah. Private names found on seals, seal impressions, and other written documents in Judah (mostly from the eighth century b.c.e. and later) include in many cases the theophoric ending -yahu, while in northern Israel the common ending is -yo. Both reflect belief in the god of Israel, Yahweh, the national god of both kingdoms. However, in northern Israel, where the older Canaanite legacy was stronger, we find also private names with Canaanite theophoric endings like Baal. Indeed, the population of the Northern Kingdom included many indigenous
Canaanites, who inhabited the main northern valleys. In addition, Israel was heavily influenced by nearby Phoenicia.

An analysis of the biblical sources as well as the archaeological remains
shows that Israelite religion passed through several stages of development. The worship of Yahweh alongside a consort named Asherah is known from the inscriptions at Kuntillet ?Ajrud, a fortified citadel-like structure in the eastern Sinai desert dated to about 800 b.c.e. This unusual and remote site, located on the main highway between Gaza and the Red Sea, seems to have been used as a roadside station, but was also a place of religious activity. It
seems to have been utilized by people from both Israel and Judah, as can be detected by pottery types that represent both kingdoms. Ink inscriptions and paintings found on the white plaster of the walls, as well as on large pottery containers and a stone trough, contain dedications, prayers, and blessings. The most revealing is a dedication or prayer to Yahweh and “his Asherah.” A similar combination of Yahweh and Asherah appears also on an inscription from a cave at Khirbet el-Kom (biblical Makedah?) in the Shephelah. This combination probably reflects a theology that is substantially different from
the pure monotheistic religion as it is preserved for us in the Hebrew Bible.

This evidence indicates a strong continuity with Canaanite religion, where El was the head of the pantheon and Asherah was his consort. While the worship of Asherah was condemned by the Jerusalem prophets, they probably represent the new theology that was emerging towards the end of the monarchy among the Jerusalem intellectual elite, while the popular religion embraced by the common folk was much more traditional, preserving indigenous ideas and beliefs rooted in Canaanite religion.

In this, Mazar mirrors the opinion of William G. Dever, who studied this shit so long that he went from a fundie xtian to an agostic. You should put your bible down and study some archaeology.

[Polaris]

So you use the discovery of the ruins depicting "Yahweh and his asherah" of one cult far from other Israelite settlements as indicative of the beliefs of the Ancient Hebrews?

There's more to it than "Yahweh and his asherah". Do you believe that those "high places" mentioned so often were all altars/shrines to Yahweh or do you think there might have been something else going on there to arouse such ire in Josiah?

If memory serves me, the high places during his reign were Asherah poles.

[Minimalist]

Apologetic b.s., polecat. Excuses made after the fact by embarrassed judeo-xtians trying to preserve their bullshit interpretations.

[Polaris]

Apologetic b.s., polecat. Excuses made after the fact by embarrassed judeo-xtians trying to preserve their bullshit interpretations.

Tell that to the atheist scholars that have backed up that recollection of events.

[Jenny A]

I'm just speculating, but war gods are popular with people who are winning wars. The all powerful Yahweh, was a priestly explanation for why the Hebrews lost. It's you're own fault folks, you weren't holy enough.

But I think there's a little more to it than that. I just can't figure out what. Like other peoples, the Canaanites had many gods. But most peoples chose one god as the one most interested in their little town--angering Athena leads to bad fortune for Athens and so on. But they don't decide that that god is the only one.

I think the jealous god idea is the answer. What caused the early worshipers of Yahweh to decide that he was so insanely jealous is hard to figure out. But once the jealousy was established, oneness inevitably followed.

I am sure it's not creationism. Other peoples had creation gods that they replaced. How popular was Croons as opposed to Zeus for example?

---

El, Elohim (I believe this was during the time of Abraham and still my favorite), and Yahweh are the same God. Yahweh was a descriptive used for the name El, which later became more popular than the original name itself.

El was the name of God and Yahweh means He who makes (or will make) Himself manifest (kind of like אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה, aka I AM that I AM).

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

Genesis 6:4-5

Who were the Nephilim?

Who are the angles, demons, and Satin?

Who are the god one might have before Yahweh?

Who let the Pharaoh's magicians do any magic however inferior to what god allowed Moses to do?


-----Gods and demi gods of course.

[Minimalist]

Apologetic b.s., polecat. Excuses made after the fact by embarrassed judeo-xtians trying to preserve their bullshit interpretations.

Tell that to the atheist scholars that have backed up that recollection of events.

Yeah...whenever I want an honest report of what an "atheistic scholar" has to say, you'll be the first fucker I turn to.

[Polaris]

Tell that to the atheist scholars that have backed up that recollection of events.

Yeah...whenever I want an honest report of what an "atheistic scholar" has to say, you'll be the first fucker I turn to.

You should. For once, you would actually be able to use something that would stick against theists.

[Crossless2.0]

Yeah...whenever I want an honest report of what an "atheistic scholar" has to say, you'll be the first fucker I turn to.

You should. For once, you would actually be able to use something that would stick against theists.

OK. For instance?