Re: Were Hebrews/Jews originally pagan? If so what were there gods?
I've read the arguments that the Hebrews, like their other semitic cousins, were initially polytheists. The Caananite El is direct cognate to one of the common Hebrew names for God, and the Hebrews clearly were once accustomed to worshiping Asherah, or "The Queen of Heaven".
The Christian and Jewish story is that these traditions were borrowed from foreign peoples, yet we know from linguistics that many of these "foreign" peoples came from a very similar cultural background, and even had similar religious terminology. At some point in recent history, they had ancestors in common. So maybe they weren't so "foreign" after all. It doesn't seem that their Gods were perceived as foreign either; Why would there be so many people who thought it was alright to worship Yahweh along with other deities, unless this had been going on for some time before monotheism was implemented?
In Jeremiah 44, the Hebrews even say that they and "their fathers" used to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and then they were forced to stop. This sounds less like Hebrews adopting trendy new Gods from foreigners (as the Christians would have it) and more like an ancient and deeply rooted tradition.
I've read the arguments that the Hebrews, like their other semitic cousins, were initially polytheists. The Caananite El is direct cognate to one of the common Hebrew names for God, and the Hebrews clearly were once accustomed to worshiping Asherah, or "The Queen of Heaven".
The Christian and Jewish story is that these traditions were borrowed from foreign peoples, yet we know from linguistics that many of these "foreign" peoples came from a very similar cultural background, and even had similar religious terminology. At some point in recent history, they had ancestors in common. So maybe they weren't so "foreign" after all. It doesn't seem that their Gods were perceived as foreign either; Why would there be so many people who thought it was alright to worship Yahweh along with other deities, unless this had been going on for some time before monotheism was implemented?
In Jeremiah 44, the Hebrews even say that they and "their fathers" used to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and then they were forced to stop. This sounds less like Hebrews adopting trendy new Gods from foreigners (as the Christians would have it) and more like an ancient and deeply rooted tradition.
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