Today’s Judaism and
Christianity are monotheistic and their followers
assume that this has been so since their inceptions.
But a more in dept study of the Bible reveals another
reality.
We should understand that oneness of mankind, is
relatively a new concept. Our ancestors who lived
thousands of years before us had no use for such
oneness nor they could comprehend it. Tribalism was
the name of the game. Love of one’s country was part
of the religion. Respect for human rights had no
meaning for them. They considered themselves superior
to the rest of humanity and their god more powerful
than other gods. Of course each people had their own
god and protector who defended them during the wars
and they made sacrifices to him. The polytheism is
even reaffirmed in one of the Psalms.82
God
standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he
judgeth among the gods
How
long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the
persons of the wicked? Selah.
Defend
the poor and fatherless: do justice to the
afflicted and needy.
Deliver
the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of
the wicked.
They
know not, neither will they understand; they walk
on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth
are out of course.
I
have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are
children of the most High.
But
ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the
princes.
Arise,
O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all
nations.
Here YHWA is addressing other
gods, supposedly the gods of other nations admonishing
them for being negligent and unworthy of their duties
as gods. The interesting part is the verse 82:6 where
YHWA reminds all the gods that they are the children
of the Most High. Who is this Most High? Who is YHWA
talking to? Are there many gods? Who is this father of
all of the gods? Is there another god superior to YHWA
and other gods who has begotten all of them? It is not
clear whether YHWA considers himself also to be the
son of the Most High or not, but apparently he (YHWA)
must regard him (the Most High) with respect as he
mentions his name with much reverence.
The bible assures that YHWH is the god of the Hebrews
(Exodus 7:16) and warns them not to worship other
gods. In fact many verses in the Bible acknowledge the
existence of other gods. Judaism and even Christianity
were not originally monotheistic religions. There is a
paragraph in the New Testament that shows that even
Christ thought that YHWA is only the god of the Jews
and his own mission was restricted to the children of
Israel.
Mark:7
25: For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an
unclean spirit, heard of him (Jesus), and came and
fell at his feet:
26: The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation;
and she besought him that he would cast forth the
devil out of her daughter.
27: But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be
filled: for it is not meant to take the children's
bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.
28: And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet
the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.
29: And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way;
the devil is gone out of thy daughter.
30: And when she was come to her house, she found the
devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the
bed."
See also (Matthew 15:26)
There are a lot of verses in the Old Testament that
show YHWA was only the God of the Jews and that other
nations had their own gods. Obviously these other gods
compared to YHWA were the underdogs. Here are some
examples:
"He assigned to each nation a god but Jacob’s
descendents he chose for himself" (Deut. 32:9)
"The Lord alone led his people without the help
of a foreign god: (Deut. 32:12)
"Lord who among the gods is like you"? (Ex
15:11)
"The Lord the God of the Hebrews…" (Ex
7:16)
"Listen to everything that I, the Lord, have said
to you. Do not pray to other gods; do not even mention
their names" (Ex. 23:13)If there is no other god
what is fuss?
"I will live among the people of Israel"
(Ex. 29:45) So God is not Omnipresent, he is not to be
found in the rest of the word and he plays favoritism.
"…. the god is with us and has defeated the
gods who protected them" (Num. 14:9) How can he
defeat someone who dose not exist and how that non
existent being would be able to protect anybody?
"… Your god let the men become refugees…
" (Num. 21:29)
"By doing this, the Lord showed that he was more
powerful than the gods of Egypt" (Num. 33:4) How
can one be more powerful than something that does not
exist?
"There is no god in heaven or on earth who can do
the mighty things that you have done" (Deut.
3:24) If there were no other gods the first part of
this sentence would have sufficed.
"Has any god ever dared to go and take a people
from another nation and make them his own?"
(Deut. 4:34) Implying that other gods are weak, or
care not for their believers.
"Do not worship other gods, any of the gods of
the people around you" (Deut. 6:14)
"The Lord your God is supreme over all
gods…" (Deut. 10:17) Here Jehowa is being
compared again to other gods, so there must be other
gods, or there can be no comparison.
See also (Deut. 11:16, 28; 12:30; 13:6, 12, 28:10)
So it is clear that the early Jews were not
monotheists. The reason behind this obsession of
worshiping one god and not the others becomes clear
from the following verses.
“Never come to worship me without bringing an
offering” (Ex. 23:15)
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘When you take a census
of the people of Israel, each man is to pay me a price
for his life, …Everyone must pay this in an offering
to me” . (Ex. 30:11-13)
Hence, the Israelis had to relinquish the worship of
other gods and worship just YHWA. And they had to make
some material offerings to him so their prayers gain
acceptance. Then there were rituals for cleaning the
impure objects, marriage, birth etc that required the
believers to make offerings to god.
“The first born of an animal already belongs to the
Lord,… A calf, a lamb, or a kid belongs to the Lord,
but the first born of an unclean animal may be bought
back at the standard price. Plus an additional 20%”
(Lev. 27:26,27).
One-tenth of all the produce of the land, whether
grain or fruit, belongs to the Lord.” (Lev.27:30).
But who is going to benefit from all these offerings?
Of course the vicegerent of god on Earth, who else?
“…Lord’s permanent property; it shall belong to
the priest” (Lev. 27:21)
The whole religion was invented by the priesthood to
milk the gullible and ensure their dominance and
hegemony over the foolhardy believers. You can find
plenty of verses in the Bible where the author makes
sure the priests are well fed and well paid. There was
nothing an individual could do without paying the
clergy their lion’s share. When a believer had to
slaughter an animal for his household consumption. He
could not do it anywhere else but in the “tent of
the Presence of the Lord”. He had to bring it to the
altar and sacrifice it there. And the priest would
keep the best part of it. “Then, when the shoulder
of the ram is boiled. The priest shall take it and put
it, together with one thick loaf of bread and one
biscuit from the basket, into the hands of the
Nazirite, Next the priest shall present them as a
special gift to the Lord: they are a sacred offering
for the priest, in addition to the breast and the leg
of the ram which by law belongs to the priest. (Num.
6:19,20) also (Num. 7:5)
This is how and why religions were invented. Similar
rituals and costumes can be found in today’s
primitive societies where the shaman, the witch or the
medicine-man have their hold on the simple minded
believers.
MONOTHEISM
Moses is a mythological figure. Some doubt even his
historical existence. But what is certain is that the
Pentateuch the five first books of Torah that are
supposed to be his revelation are not the work of
Moses. This has been demonstrated by many Jewish and
Christian scholars A simple proof for this statement
is that all the five books of Pentateuch are narrated
by a third person. The speaker is neither YHWA nor
Moses. Another obvious proof is that at the end of
Deuteronmy. 34:1-12, there is an obituary of Moses
that reads,
And
Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the
mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is
over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all
the land of Gilead, unto Dan,
And
all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and
Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the
utmost sea,
And
the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho,
the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.
And
the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I
sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob,
saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have
caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou
shalt not go over thither.
So
Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the
land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
And
he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab,
over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his
sepulchre unto this day.
And
Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he
died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force
abated.
And
the children of Israel wept for Moses in the
plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping
and mourning for Moses were ended.
And
Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of
wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and
the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did
as the LORD commanded Moses.
And
there arose not a prophet since in Israel like
unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,
In
all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent
him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to
all his servants, and to all his land,
And
in all that mighty hand, and in all the great
terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all
Israel.
How is it possible for someone to
write his own obituary centuries after his own death?
The above shows that these books that are allegedly
written by Moses were actually written many centuries
after his death when even no trace of his tomb was
left. The fact that no one knew of the exact place of
his burial is also an indication that he was either a
legendary an mythological figure or was not important
enough for Israelis to keep track of his tomb or make
him a shrine. Even if there ever existed a person with
the name of Moses, all the stories attributed to him
are fabrications of the later priests who forged the
entire Bible as it has been demonstrated by many
modern Biblical scholars.
So neither Judaism nor Christianity were originally
monotheistic religions. Then who is the father of
monotheism? To whom shall we give the credit for this
new theology that inseminated intolerance and is
responsible for many wars amongst the nations as each
claimed to be the chosen people of the most-High and
the only ones with the truth?
If you guessed Muhammad you are wrong. The father of
monotheism is Paul. This man was a true believer with
an unshakable faith that Jesus was the Son of God,
(perhaps because he never laid eyes on him and did not
know him personally to be aware of his weaknesses). He
became determined to preach the message of Christ that
was rejected in his own homeland, amongst the rest of
humanity. But this was a tough sell. Other nations had
their own gods and would not listen to the preachings
of a foreign cult. Many had customs that were
different from those of the Jews and those that Jesus
practiced. What Paul did is what any good salesman
would do. He changed his product to make it more
attractive to his western clients. Paul was clever
enough to realize that if he had to convert the
Gentiles into Christianity, he had to re-invent a new
Christianity palatable to their taste and liking.
He soon dropped the requisite of circumcision,
belittled the importance of Sabbath, undermined
Jesus’ preference of the Jews and even claimed that
he is preaching the messages of a pagan "unknown
god". This is reported in the following verses.
"Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and
said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things
ye are too superstitious.
For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found
an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I
unto you." Act
17:22,23
The temple dedicated to the unknown god was built
because of the Athenian's concern not to leave behind
any god, very much the same concept when we dedicate a
monument to the memory of the Unknown Soldier. The
unknown god was certainly the least of the gods and
not as Paul wanted to believe the Creator of the
universe.
It looks like by then many had come to see the
similarity and the oneness of humankind. And therefore
it was unreasonable to believe that each nation had a
separate creator. It is interesting to observe that,
as we saw in the above episode, apparently Jesus was
less aware of this oneness than his disciple Paul. The
reason is obviously circumstantial. Jesus was born and
raised in a closed and dogmatic society. He, like his
contemporary compatriots believed that the Jews are
the chosen children of God. He was not concerned for
the Gentiles and even rejected to assist them when
they came to him. On the other hand, Paul was a more
sophisticated and learned person. He had traveled
extensively, was familiar with many cultures and had
been in touch with great civilizations. His views were
more cosmopolitan than those of Jesus. In his opinion,
if Christ was the Son of God, his message should not
be reserved only to the Jews but must spread to all
the nations of the world. He, unlike his master, did
not believe that God would play favoritism. But like
Peter believed that “God is not respecter of
persons” Act
10:34
Thus, monotheism owes its popularity to the clever and
more universalistic views of the disciples of Jesus
and not to his own teachings. The spread of
Christianity in the West, forced the early believers
to adapt the teachings of Jesus and make it more
appealing to the new converts. In this way, a local
and obscure cult of few Jews became the religion of
choice for Romans who eventually made it the religion
of the entire continent.
