In this blog, I may shake you a little bit if you have held Christian or Jewish principles dear. I don't know at this point who all is following, but if it is only the 5 I invited, knowing who you are I need to assure you my faith is still intact. Nothing has moved me. But some very interesting concepts have been presented in this book I am reading.
When bibliologists study the scriptures they bring into the research questions that most would not consider, or most likely, even have come to mind.
Exodus, the second book written supposedly by Moses, is a continuation of the history of this nation of God's chosen people, as well as the beginnings of the laws of God being handed to man. Most famous, and first in line, are the Ten Commandments.
Much has been written about, preached about, debated about and held in contempt of these 10 laws. They were, according to bible tradition and interpretation, laws that God inscribed on stone that was left in the care of Moses while in the wilderness with the Israelites. You know the story.
The first commandment has some bibliologists going in a direction that might might twist your knickers, so hold on.
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Exodus 20:3, KJV. Notice the small g in gods. A small and seemingly insignificant thing. But religions seem to be divided on similar small and insignificant things. Also notice the wording of this first and greatest commandment (according to Jesus Himself).
It does NOT say, "Thou shalt have no other gods." But it seems to be implying that if you do have other gods, they will be secondary to me, the principal god. Or, as we now refer to Him, God.
And in fact, if this happens to be true, it fits much better with the beliefs of the day. Peoples of known cultures and religions at that time believed in many gods. And this god, was not outright discounting them, but advising these, His chosen people, that He would be first in their worship and allegiance.
This is known as monolatry. You can look it up. It seems from all of the ancient writings that Moses and those who followed him were not monotheistic, but were instead monolatry. That is, acknowledging many gods, worshipping only one.
This in and of itself is not earth shattering, at least to me. But is when coupled with the knowledge that the god of the bible was of two models. First was a god that was not omnipresent. He had to appear to most of the most important figures in the early Old Testament. In clearer language, He was not always with them, but "came" to them. Later we find god everywhere all the time, omnipresent. We have on face value two different gods. At a known point in the scriptures we have a turning point in who god is. The scriptures even call Him different names.
These two concepts, a god who is not omnipresent, and a people who are not monotheistic, staggers those of us raised in the traditional Christian thought pattern. I believe that these two concepts would not make for easy teaching, and would most likely cause great confusion and maybe much disrespect for the scriptures.
For me, it cements some ideas I have carried for many years. And it actually strengthens my faith and clears my head.
Hope I haven't impacted your thought process negatively.
