A few months ago I had the opportunity to engage an ongoing discussion about Christianity with a dear friend of mine. During the course of our conversation, my friend—who is a skeptic—shared a link to an article entitled How the Jews invented God, and made Him Great.
The basic primes of the article, and many similar articles online, is that the ancient Israelites did not always worship Yahweh, and in fact worshiped many ancient gods including the chief god of the Canaanites, El, whom—according to the article—eventually evolved into the Hebrew God Yahweh.
This conclusion is based on the presupposition that the Bible has been drastically altered over time, and is not historically accurate. This is of course an obvious bias, and one that is admitted very early on by the article itself. Since the article was written from this perspective, it is important to keep this in mind as one reads further, as it reveals much of what the author is intending to convey and shows that there are subtle attempts to hide the truth from the unsuspecting reader by means of selective evidence and omission of facts.
That being said, this critique of the article in question is written from my own biased perspective, and presupposes that the Bible is not only historically accurate, but also the Word of God. I do not pretend to be an expert, nor do I claim to have an answer for every biblical challenge. In fact, there are several points within the article that I chose not to address because I feel that they are largely irrelevant compared to the obvious points that I chose to cover.
All that to say, the arguments I have put forth in defense of the Bible stem from my understanding of the scriptures and history, and I hope that it will help reveal truths that may have otherwise been misrepresented.
The first obvious example of the author presenting selective evidence is found in the opening paragraphs of his article which state that "the biblical texts are not direct historical sources." However, the author makes this claim immediately after stating that "the main source for investigating the history of God is, of course, the Bible itself." Additionally, the author continues to use biblical references throughout the article to support his position while systematically ignoring the fact that the biblical record of Israel's history is identical to the historical record to which he appeals to in order to disprove the biblical text!
Nowhere in the Old Testament does it say that the entire nation of Israel worshiped Yahweh exclusively. In fact, the Old Testament records that the Israelites rarely worshiped their God at all. More often than not, Israel worshiped the pagan gods of Canaan and the surrounding nations. Yet, the author of the article continues to maintain that the Bible is not an historical account and that the presence of pagan worship in Israel is in some way indisputable evidence that Yahweh worship evolved over time. Even though widespread idolatry and pagan worship in Israel is exactly what the Bible records.
The second argument for the evolution of Yahweh worship presented by the article is just as selective as the first. Mainly, the name of God.
According to the article, the name Israel—which means "Prince of God"—is proof that the Israelites originally worshiped El, the supreme god of the Canaanites. The author then quotes Exodus 6:3 in order to make the argument that God's original name was El Shaddai—God Almighty. This is a very revealing claim. On the one hand, the author is correct; the God of Israel was known as El Shaddai during the time of the Old Testament Patriarchs. Yet at the same time, how the author chooses to interpret the name El Shaddai reveals an obvious weakness in his case.
The way this portion of his article is written is meant to imply that El Shaddai is the original name of God. However, this is a factually false claim. The first time God is mentioned in the Old Testament He is called Elohim (אֱלֹהִ֑ים), not El Shaddai. (Genesis 1) Furthermore, by verse four of the second chapter of Genesis, the name Yahweh appears in conjunction with Elohim as the compound name Elohim-Yahweh. (Or Elohim-Jehovah in translations where the Latinized form of Yahweh is used.)
That being said, while Elohim is used as a name of God, it is not a proper name in and of itself and can also mean simply god or gods. (Hebrew Names for God) Likewise the Semitic root word El simply means god, and does not necessarily refer to any one god in particular. (Britannica.com, Crossexamined.org, Evidenceforchristianity.org, wikipedia.org)
Because El is a common noun found in multiple Semitic languages it is usually followed by another name to identify which god one is referring to whenever it is used as a name for a deity. Hence the use of El Shaddai in the Old Testament. The word Shaddai (almighty) serves as a disambiguation and makes it clear which god (el) is being named. In this case, God Almighty, the God of Israel.
The same can be said of the name Baal and the equivalent Hebrew word Adonay/Adonai. (אֲדֹנָי) Both Adonay/Adonai and Baal mean lord or master. In the ancient Near East, there were many gods named Baal. But each regional deity had an epitaph added to their name in order to denote which Baal was being worshiped. (ie. Baal-Peor means "Lord of Openings" while Baalzebub means "Lord of Flies.")
Furthermore, there are upwards of 37 different names and titles of Yahweh used in the Old Testament. Of those 37, only 7 use the prefix El. Additionally, many of the patriarchs of Israel called God by multiple names in the course of their lifetimes as recorded within the text of scripture. (O.T. Names of God, What is God's Name in the Old Testament?)
The fact that so many different names are preserved within the Old Testament manuscripts casts serious doubt on the author's presuppositions about biblical redaction. After all, if the Bible really has been redacted to the degree that the author claims, then why would Israelite scribes allow the older, allegedly pagan, names of God to remain unaltered after Yahweh worship became standardized?
The core doctrine of Yahweh worship in Judaism is that there is no God but Yahweh. (Deuteronomy 6:4) This is why the Jewish leaders tried to stone Jesus for blasphemy when he claimed to be God in John 8 and 10.
Given the sacred nature of God's name in Judaism, we would expect the redactors of the Bible to replace the older names of their pagan gods with the name of their now One True God, Yahweh, if Yahweh worship evolved from paganism. Yet we find no evidence of such reactions, and instead find that the ancient names of God are faithfully preserved within the Hebrew scriptures.
Despite the proven reliability of the Bible as an historical source, the article continues to maintain that "it is profoundly difficult to sort through the haze of layers in the Bible..." while at the same time citing historical uncertainties, inconclusive etymology and conjecture to convince the reader that the ancient Israelites adopted their religion from desert nomads (Shasu) living in the Negev and Arabia.
However, there is strong archeological evidence that these nomads were in fact the Israelites themselves. For example, the Soleb Inscription, commissioned by Pharaoh Amenhotep III in the late 15th century BC, describes a people known as the "nomads (Shasu) of Yahweh" and places them in the land of Canaan at the time of the Israelite conquest in the 1400s BC. The author alludes to this inscription in his article, yet does not cite it directly. He also fails to mention that this Egyptian inscription is curently the oldest example of the name Yahweh found outside of the Bible.
Having thoroughly overlooked the historical significance and obvious implications of the Soleb Inscription, the author continues to cite archaeological evidence of idolatry in the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah as further proof of the evolution of Yahweh worship, even though the Old Testament records that such pagan worship was wide-spread at the time—which the author repeatedly admits by way of biblical quotation.
To his credit, the author does admit that Yahweh was being recognized as the God of Israel by the 6th Century BC following a wave of revival and religious reforms carried out by King Josiah of Judah. (2 Kings 22-23) However, this is of course yet another example of how the author views the Bible as historically inaccurate except when it is convenient for his anti-biblical narrative, which he continues to maintain by stating that Yahweh worship continued to evolve in the years following the conquest of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II in 587 BC.
According to the author, the Israelites in exile developed their religion from a belief in Yahweh as a regional or national deity into a universal deity in order to explain why they had been conquered by the Babylonians. Yahweh was no longer just the God of Israel. Rather, He was the supreme God over all people and had orchestrated their defeat because they had not worshiped Him exclusively. The author also states that it was during the Babylonian exile that the Israelites first began to see themselves as God's Chosen People, claiming that the Book of Isaiah was written during or immediately after the exile.
However, as of 2018, we now have strong archaeological evidence in the form of a clay seal that there was a prophet in Israel named Isaiah who lived alongside King Hezekiah of Judah in the late 8th century BC. (Is This the Seal of the Prophet Isaiah?) While most secular sources remain unconvinced, if not outright cynical, the existence of this seal adds overwhelming credence to the biblical account. Furthermore, if this seal really is the seal of the biblical Prophet Isaiah, then that could mean that the Book of Isaiah was not written in the 6th Century BC, but the 8th. If this is the case, then that would mean that the people of Israel already saw themselves as God's Chosen people long before the Babylonian exile. Not only would this utterly destroy the argument that the Jewish religion evolved during the Babylonian captivity, it would also mean that Isaiah accurately predicted the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the first temple, as well as the exile and the subsequent return of the exiles to Jerusalem nearly a century in advance!
In closing, the author of the article reiterates his previous points that the worship of Yahweh as the One True God evolved from polytheism, stating once again that the Bible has been redacted and edited over time to make the narrative flow. However, the argument that the Bible has been redacted so far as the Old Testament manuscripts are concerned, is ultimately an argument from silence. We may not have copies of Old Testament texts dating beyond the 7th Century BC. But just because earlier copies of the Old Testament manuscripts may not have survived to the present day does not mean that earlier manuscripts never existed. Furthermore, as previously stated, the oldest copies we do have show no evidence of alteration or redaction.
The oldest portion of the Old Testament scriptures we have discovered to date is the priestly blessing of Aaron from Numbers 6:22-27 which was found inscribed on a pair of miniature silver scroll amulets dating to the late 7th Century BC. Additionally the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1946 provided us with a wealth of Old Testament writings dating from 3rd and 4th Centuries BC which are virtually identical to the modern Old Testament. By comparison, the oldest extant manuscript of Homer's Iliad dates from the 10th Century AD; nearly 1,800 years after it was first penned in the 8th Century BC!
The fact that we have Old Testament documents that have survived for as long as they have is astonishing given the fact that they are written on perishable materials. But even if a message is carved in stone there is no guarantee that it will survive the decay of centuries. For example, what little we do know of the Canaanite god El comes primarily from fragmentary clay and stone tablets. Most of the tablets devoted to El specifically are nearly illegible. Therefore much of what we do know of him comes from his appearances in other Canaanite myths which are themselves fragmentary at best. (El-Canaanite God) That being said, there are enough surviving myths of El for one to clearly see that there is no comparison between El and Yahweh. (El's Divine Feast)
Not only does the author continue to maintain his position on biblical redaction despite strong evidence to the contrary, he also fails to offer any conclusive evidence in support of his position. The vast majority of the article is therefore comprised of ad hoc statements and poorly veiled attempts to mislead the reader by use of selective evidence, circular reasoning, and bible-debasing rhetoric that is completely undermined by the author himself the moment he starts quoting the Scriptures as an authoritative source.
All in all, How the Jews Invented God, and Made Him Great is a demonstrably one-sided article that fails to accurately represent the truth and succeeds only in misinforming the gullible.
All that to say, it is crucial for any reasonable, thinking person to study the Bible thoroughly. It is easy for someone to tell you that the Bible says something that it does not say if you do not know what the Bible actually says.
If you are a skeptic, then I strongly encourage you to study the Bible before you challenge it. If you really want to know what it says, then study it thoroughly. Look at the text in the proper context and in its original languages. Study the histories and the mythologies of the peoples and nations within the text. Know what it is you are challenging before you challenge it so that you will be well informed and avoid misrepresenting the facts.
If you are not a skeptic, then I would encourage you to do the same! Know what it is that you believe and why you believe it is true. This will help you accurately represent your beliefs and keep you from being misled by religious myths, one-sided arguments and quasi-intellectual nonsense.
*Update January 31st 2020: Recent excavations at Tel Abel Beth-Maccah in northern Israel have uncovered fragments of pottery dating from the 9th-10th century BC. One fragment in particular bears a Paleo-Hebrew inscription citing the family name Benayau, which is translated: Yahweh has built. Not only does this fragment allude to the fact that there was an Israelite city in a region of Israel long thought to be uninhabited at the time, but also that Yahweh worship was already well established in ancient Israel some 300-400 years before the Babylonian captivity. (Hebrew Inscription on a 3,000-year-old jar Could Redraw the Borders of Ancient Israel, New Hebrew Inscription to Redraw Israel's Ancient Borders?)
To his credit, the author does admit that Yahweh was being recognized as the God of Israel by the 6th Century BC following a wave of revival and religious reforms carried out by King Josiah of Judah. (2 Kings 22-23) However, this is of course yet another example of how the author views the Bible as historically inaccurate except when it is convenient for his anti-biblical narrative, which he continues to maintain by stating that Yahweh worship continued to evolve in the years following the conquest of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II in 587 BC.
According to the author, the Israelites in exile developed their religion from a belief in Yahweh as a regional or national deity into a universal deity in order to explain why they had been conquered by the Babylonians. Yahweh was no longer just the God of Israel. Rather, He was the supreme God over all people and had orchestrated their defeat because they had not worshiped Him exclusively. The author also states that it was during the Babylonian exile that the Israelites first began to see themselves as God's Chosen People, claiming that the Book of Isaiah was written during or immediately after the exile.
However, as of 2018, we now have strong archaeological evidence in the form of a clay seal that there was a prophet in Israel named Isaiah who lived alongside King Hezekiah of Judah in the late 8th century BC. (Is This the Seal of the Prophet Isaiah?) While most secular sources remain unconvinced, if not outright cynical, the existence of this seal adds overwhelming credence to the biblical account. Furthermore, if this seal really is the seal of the biblical Prophet Isaiah, then that could mean that the Book of Isaiah was not written in the 6th Century BC, but the 8th. If this is the case, then that would mean that the people of Israel already saw themselves as God's Chosen people long before the Babylonian exile. Not only would this utterly destroy the argument that the Jewish religion evolved during the Babylonian captivity, it would also mean that Isaiah accurately predicted the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the first temple, as well as the exile and the subsequent return of the exiles to Jerusalem nearly a century in advance!
In closing, the author of the article reiterates his previous points that the worship of Yahweh as the One True God evolved from polytheism, stating once again that the Bible has been redacted and edited over time to make the narrative flow. However, the argument that the Bible has been redacted so far as the Old Testament manuscripts are concerned, is ultimately an argument from silence. We may not have copies of Old Testament texts dating beyond the 7th Century BC. But just because earlier copies of the Old Testament manuscripts may not have survived to the present day does not mean that earlier manuscripts never existed. Furthermore, as previously stated, the oldest copies we do have show no evidence of alteration or redaction.
The oldest portion of the Old Testament scriptures we have discovered to date is the priestly blessing of Aaron from Numbers 6:22-27 which was found inscribed on a pair of miniature silver scroll amulets dating to the late 7th Century BC. Additionally the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1946 provided us with a wealth of Old Testament writings dating from 3rd and 4th Centuries BC which are virtually identical to the modern Old Testament. By comparison, the oldest extant manuscript of Homer's Iliad dates from the 10th Century AD; nearly 1,800 years after it was first penned in the 8th Century BC!
The fact that we have Old Testament documents that have survived for as long as they have is astonishing given the fact that they are written on perishable materials. But even if a message is carved in stone there is no guarantee that it will survive the decay of centuries. For example, what little we do know of the Canaanite god El comes primarily from fragmentary clay and stone tablets. Most of the tablets devoted to El specifically are nearly illegible. Therefore much of what we do know of him comes from his appearances in other Canaanite myths which are themselves fragmentary at best. (El-Canaanite God) That being said, there are enough surviving myths of El for one to clearly see that there is no comparison between El and Yahweh. (El's Divine Feast)
Not only does the author continue to maintain his position on biblical redaction despite strong evidence to the contrary, he also fails to offer any conclusive evidence in support of his position. The vast majority of the article is therefore comprised of ad hoc statements and poorly veiled attempts to mislead the reader by use of selective evidence, circular reasoning, and bible-debasing rhetoric that is completely undermined by the author himself the moment he starts quoting the Scriptures as an authoritative source.
All in all, How the Jews Invented God, and Made Him Great is a demonstrably one-sided article that fails to accurately represent the truth and succeeds only in misinforming the gullible.
All that to say, it is crucial for any reasonable, thinking person to study the Bible thoroughly. It is easy for someone to tell you that the Bible says something that it does not say if you do not know what the Bible actually says.
If you are a skeptic, then I strongly encourage you to study the Bible before you challenge it. If you really want to know what it says, then study it thoroughly. Look at the text in the proper context and in its original languages. Study the histories and the mythologies of the peoples and nations within the text. Know what it is you are challenging before you challenge it so that you will be well informed and avoid misrepresenting the facts.
If you are not a skeptic, then I would encourage you to do the same! Know what it is that you believe and why you believe it is true. This will help you accurately represent your beliefs and keep you from being misled by religious myths, one-sided arguments and quasi-intellectual nonsense.
*Update January 31st 2020: Recent excavations at Tel Abel Beth-Maccah in northern Israel have uncovered fragments of pottery dating from the 9th-10th century BC. One fragment in particular bears a Paleo-Hebrew inscription citing the family name Benayau, which is translated: Yahweh has built. Not only does this fragment allude to the fact that there was an Israelite city in a region of Israel long thought to be uninhabited at the time, but also that Yahweh worship was already well established in ancient Israel some 300-400 years before the Babylonian captivity. (Hebrew Inscription on a 3,000-year-old jar Could Redraw the Borders of Ancient Israel, New Hebrew Inscription to Redraw Israel's Ancient Borders?)
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