Here's an interesting essay called "Who Created God?" tracing the evolution of monotheism among the ancient Hebrews:
The Hebrew god YHWH is actually an amalgam of gods and goddesses; deities of the Mesopotamians and Hittites, the Syrians and Phoenicians, the Egyptians, and most notably, the Canaanites. Titles, powers and attributes of these deities were eventually conferred on the sky-god, YHWH-Elohim when he became the one god of the Hebrews.
Hebrew prophets and psalmists were as uninterested in the polytheistic origins of their god as the Hebrew priests (kohenim) were about practicing "heathen" rituals or using heathen temples in YHWH's service.
The early Hebrews were polytheists. They worshiped many powers, with Baal (Baalzebub) and Astaroth (Astarte, Ishtar) as their major male/female deity. Baal-zebub and Astaroth were effectively demonized, as you may have read in the Bible.
2 comments:
As one who holds Jungian ideas in high regard, I can see the virtue in the Hebrew approach. The "gods" are symbolic archetypes held within a single entity - a "crystal skull" as it were. YHWH is my brain, and the archetypes battle within.
Nicely said, Michael. There's a book called The Secret History of the World by Jonathan Black that explains how the archetypes of gods and goddess are indeed fully integrated into the human psyche. Jehovah was once the Moon-God of Thought, of stemming desire, but now that faculty resides within each human being.
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