Things I absorbed today

[Worm of Despite]

I'm posting some things my history teacher passed along to the class today. I'm not sure if it's all correct, but I do find it extremely enlightening:

The Commandment "have no other Gods before me" (I paraphrase) doesn't mean that there are no other Gods; when originally created, it served the same purpose as a wife saying "have no other woman before me". So, the Hebrews originally did acknowledge the existence other Gods--but they only worshipped theirs.

So, their original belief system would be a henotheism, rather than a monotheism. Interesting! I guess that means there weren't always specific notions; the religion evolved over time.

Instead of thinking their God was defeated when they befell rough times, they slowly came to assume the opposite: what if their God controlled the other ones, and it was all part of a greater scheme? Politically, the Hebrews didn't amount to much in the ancient world. Their ethnic group would've been swept away like any other, had they not taken such measures as recording their customs and performing circumcision. But they took such measures; they survived, thus giving spawn to Judaism and Islam--and Christianity, to a lesser extent.

[[Syl]]

The bible does mention other "false gods" like Ba'al (directly translated = lord).

Gotta say, though, you lost me on the circumcision bit.

[Cail]

Didn't you know Syl, removal of the foreskin makes for much better memory retention.

[[Syl]]

Oh, I... uh... forgot.

[Baradakas]

Circumcision added to a cultural beleif that separated the Jews from all the "rabble". It was also part of thier ancient covenant with God, and was all inclusive to thier racial identity.

I think that is what Foul meant.

[lurch]

....That was the case in early civilizations...every time there was a draught
or earth quake,,or whatever misfortune,,the sect that was closely associated to whichever God of the event..felt abandonded...Um,,the difference became..the hebrews believe that God chose them..rather than the previous habit of folks,,choosing the God of the moment. By placing God in mystical elevated stature,beyond the mundane,,as in Give Me a Winning Lottery Ticket or a great harvest this year..,the abstract concepts of how to act no matter what befalls you ( 10 commandments) elevated the stature of being Human as well. They were just coming out of slavery. And indeed they documented..As a result of that documentation effort..scholars can trace the evolution of the God that chose them. There is huge tradition to this day,,of tracibilty to roots,,back to the original tribes,,the chosen....hhhmmmm...where have I've been hearing much mention of the chosen recently?.....................................MEL

[Worm of Despite]

Circumcision added to a cultural beleif that separated the Jews from all the "rabble". It was also part of thier ancient covenant with God, and was all inclusive to thier racial identity.

I think that is what Foul meant.

Yah

[lurch]

..concerning the delicate matter of circumcision...along with not eating pork nor shell fish..there is the whole health reality. In those days..if one wanted to not get sick,,then not eating pork and shell fish,,pre-FDA days you know,,was a smart thing to do.In a scense,,circumscision was a good idea to achieve the same results..They had no idea of bacteria and what not..They knew tho..by practiceing these " Nots"..they had a better life. Fascinating application of the unknown into the mystical.........MEL

[Avatar]

So, the Hebrews originally did acknowledge the existence other Gods--but they only worshipped theirs.

Even much later, when christianity was carried to the pagans, christ was called the New god, rather than the only one.

And in regards to lurch's post, I've often thought that at the time, religious "commandments" were the only way to convince people to carry out practices that were beneficial to their survival as a society.

--Avatar

[dennisrwood]

or maybe God set forth some things to protect us?

[Cybrweez]

Actually, I always took gods to be anything we put our trust in. Money is a very powerful god, power also. The God of the Bible says don't put any other gods before Him, IOW, put your trust in Him alone.