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We have a spirit.. our spirit connects and gives understanding to the elbow (a picture/analogy) of the soul and the soul instructs the body what to do (In a perfect world)
Monotheism - a much misused term in trinitarianism!
Can you show me some evidence of ‘The concept of polytheism is specifically apparent in the OT and archaeology’?
So you cannot simply define what ‘Father’ means?
I didn't... I said what my Father does.
All divine personalities are God. They are all unified.
Much the same as our spirit, soul and body... all unified. Some people believe the spirit and soul are one in the same... regardless it is still "unified" with the body.
It is the nature of God to delegate creative powers and authority to subordinate deities. But they are ALL indistinguishably unified in divinity.
Thanks Kenny. You have a wonderful way of understanding things.
Are you suggesting that Yahweh God, the Israelite God, … had a wife? Or are you saying that this was just pagan belief?statues and small idols of both male and female Asherah are commonly found in Hebrew village archaeological sites. Some pictures in this reference. The reference goes into more detail and history, and the Hebrews became monotheistic after their return from exile.
Asherah - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
In Israel and Judah
Between the tenth century BC and the beginning of their Babylonian exile in 586 BC, polytheism was normal throughout Israel.[35] Worship solely of Yahweh became established only after the exile, and possibly, only as late as the time of the Maccabees (2nd century BC). That is when monotheism became universal among the Jews.[36][37][38] Some biblical scholars believe that Asherah at one time was worshipped as the consort of Yahweh, the national god of Israel.[37][39][40]
There are references to the worship of numerous deities throughout the Books of Kings: Solomon builds temples to many deities and Josiah is reported as cutting down the statues of Asherah in the temple Solomon built for Yahweh (2 Kings 23:14). Josiah's grandfather Manasseh had erected one such statue (2 Kings 21:7).[41]
Further evidence for Asherah-worship includes, for example, an eighth-century BC combination of iconography and inscriptions discovered at Kuntillet Ajrud in the northern Sinai desert[42] where a storage jar shows three anthropomorphic figures and several inscriptions.[43][44] The inscriptions found refer not only to Yahweh but to ʾEl and Baʿal, and two include the phrases "Yahweh of Samaria and his Asherah" and "Yahweh of Teman and his Asherah."[45] The references to Samaria (capital of the kingdom of Israel) and Teman (in Edom) suggest that Yahweh had a temple in Samaria, while raising questions about the relationship between Yahweh and Kaus, the national god of Edom.[46] The "asherah" in question is most likely a cultic object, although the relationship of this object (a stylised tree perhaps) to Yahweh and to the goddess Asherah, consort of ʾEl, is unclear.[47] It has been suggested that the Israelites may have considered Asherah as the consort of Baʿal, due to the anti-Asherah ideology that was influenced by the Deuteronomistic Historians, at the later period of the kingdom.[48] Also, it has been suggested by several scholars [49][50] that there is a relationship between the position of the gəḇīrā in the royal court and the worship (orthodox or not) of Asherah.[51] In a potsherd inscription of blessings from "Yahweh and his Asherah", there appears a cow feeding its calf.[52] Numerous Canaanite amulets depict a woman wearing a bouffant wig similar to the Egyptian Hathor. If Asherah is then to be associated with Hathor/Qudshu, it can then be assumed that the cow is being referred to as Asherah.[citation needed]
William Dever's book Did God Have a Wife? adduces further archaeological evidence—for instance, the many female figurines unearthed in ancient Israel, (known as pillar-base figurines)—as supporting the view that during Israelite folk religion of the monarchical period, Asherah functioned as a goddess and a consort of Yahweh and was worshiped as the queen of heaven, for whose festival the Hebrews baked small cakes. Dever also points to the discovery of multiple shrines and temples within ancient Israel and Judah. The temple site at Arad is particularly interesting for the presence of two (possibly three) massebot, standing stones representing the presence of deities. Although the identity of the deities associated with the massebot is uncertain, Yahweh and Asherah or Asherah and Baal remain strong candidates, as Dever notes: "The only goddess whose name is well attested in the Hebrew Bible (or in ancient Israel generally) is Asherah."
The name Asherah appears forty times in the Hebrew Bible, but it is much reduced in English translations. The word ʾăšērâ is translated in Greek as Greek: ἄλσος (grove; plural: ἄλση) in every instance apart from Isaiah 17:8; 27:9 and 2 Chronicles 15:16; 24:18, with Greek: δένδρα (trees) being used for the former, and, peculiarly, Ἀστάρτη (Astarte) for the latter. The Vulgate in Latin provided lucus or nemus, a grove or a wood. From the Vulgate, the King James translation of the Bible uses grove or groves instead of Asherah's name. Non-scholarly English language readers of the Bible would not have read her name for more than 400 years afterward.[53] The association of Asherah with trees in the Hebrew Bible is very strong. For example, she is found under trees (1 Kings 14:23; 2 Kings 17:10) and is made of wood by human beings (1 Kings 14:15, 2 Kings 16:3–4). Trees described as being an asherah or part of an asherah include grapevines, pomegranates, walnuts, myrtles, and willows.[54]
The above, of course, is in relation to "other gods" which the Israelites were continuously admonished not to worship. IOW, idolatry.statues and small idols of both male and female Asherah are commonly found in Hebrew village archaeological sites. Some pictures in this reference. The reference goes into more detail and history, and the Hebrews became monotheistic after their return from exile.
Asherah - Wikipedia
In Israel and Judah
Between the tenth century BC and the beginning of their Babylonian exile in 586 BC, polytheism was normal throughout Israel.[35] Worship solely of Yahweh became established only after the exile, and possibly, only as late as the time of the Maccabees (2nd century BC). That is when monotheism became universal among the Jews.[36][37][38] Some biblical scholars believe that Asherah at one time was worshipped as the consort of Yahweh, the national god of Israel.[37][39][40]
There are references to the worship of numerous deities throughout the Books of Kings: Solomon builds temples to many deities and Josiah is reported as cutting down the statues of Asherah in the temple Solomon built for Yahweh (2 Kings 23:14). Josiah's grandfather Manasseh had erected one such statue (2 Kings 21:7).[41]
Further evidence for Asherah-worship includes, for example, an eighth-century BC combination of iconography and inscriptions discovered at Kuntillet Ajrud in the northern Sinai desert[42] where a storage jar shows three anthropomorphic figures and several inscriptions.[43][44] The inscriptions found refer not only to Yahweh but to ʾEl and Baʿal, and two include the phrases "Yahweh of Samaria and his Asherah" and "Yahweh of Teman and his Asherah."[45] The references to Samaria (capital of the kingdom of Israel) and Teman (in Edom) suggest that Yahweh had a temple in Samaria, while raising questions about the relationship between Yahweh and Kaus, the national god of Edom.[46] The "asherah" in question is most likely a cultic object, although the relationship of this object (a stylised tree perhaps) to Yahweh and to the goddess Asherah, consort of ʾEl, is unclear.[47] It has been suggested that the Israelites may have considered Asherah as the consort of Baʿal, due to the anti-Asherah ideology that was influenced by the Deuteronomistic Historians, at the later period of the kingdom.[48] Also, it has been suggested by several scholars [49][50] that there is a relationship between the position of the gəḇīrā in the royal court and the worship (orthodox or not) of Asherah.[51] In a potsherd inscription of blessings from "Yahweh and his Asherah", there appears a cow feeding its calf.[52] Numerous Canaanite amulets depict a woman wearing a bouffant wig similar to the Egyptian Hathor. If Asherah is then to be associated with Hathor/Qudshu, it can then be assumed that the cow is being referred to as Asherah.[citation needed]
William Dever's book Did God Have a Wife? adduces further archaeological evidence—for instance, the many female figurines unearthed in ancient Israel, (known as pillar-base figurines)—as supporting the view that during Israelite folk religion of the monarchical period, Asherah functioned as a goddess and a consort of Yahweh and was worshiped as the queen of heaven, for whose festival the Hebrews baked small cakes. Dever also points to the discovery of multiple shrines and temples within ancient Israel and Judah. The temple site at Arad is particularly interesting for the presence of two (possibly three) massebot, standing stones representing the presence of deities. Although the identity of the deities associated with the massebot is uncertain, Yahweh and Asherah or Asherah and Baal remain strong candidates, as Dever notes: "The only goddess whose name is well attested in the Hebrew Bible (or in ancient Israel generally) is Asherah."
The name Asherah appears forty times in the Hebrew Bible, but it is much reduced in English translations. The word ʾăšērâ is translated in Greek as Greek: ἄλσος (grove; plural: ἄλση) in every instance apart from Isaiah 17:8; 27:9 and 2 Chronicles 15:16; 24:18, with Greek: δένδρα (trees) being used for the former, and, peculiarly, Ἀστάρτη (Astarte) for the latter. The Vulgate in Latin provided lucus or nemus, a grove or a wood. From the Vulgate, the King James translation of the Bible uses grove or groves instead of Asherah's name. Non-scholarly English language readers of the Bible would not have read her name for more than 400 years afterward.[53] The association of Asherah with trees in the Hebrew Bible is very strong. For example, she is found under trees (1 Kings 14:23; 2 Kings 17:10) and is made of wood by human beings (1 Kings 14:15, 2 Kings 16:3–4). Trees described as being an asherah or part of an asherah include grapevines, pomegranates, walnuts, myrtles, and willows.[54]
Not in the early history were they admonished or condemned. The text and archaeology support that up until the return of the exile polytheism was a part of Hebrew culture.
I thought the tribe of Hebrews began when God picked out Abraham from among his pagan family hood.
I never said polytheism wasn't a part of Hebrew culture (the belief in or worship of more than one god). . . . It must have because God's first two commandments forbade having any other gods besides Him and not to make any carved images to bow down to nor serve. That was the only point I was making.
I made my points based on the text and archaeology. Simply carvings of male and female deities common in early Hebrew Culture and the references to Gods in the Torah. Yes, after the return from exile and the final compilation of the Torah monotheism was the rule and engravings of God or Gods was forbidden.
I'll respond more tomorrow, but I go by archaeology and it was not after the return from exile that the Hebrews became monotheistic.
This would be expected, since, they weren't allowed to practice their religion in the open, they did Taqiya. They pretended to not be monotheists, much, like how the people of the cave originally intended to keep their faith secret in the Quran.
I’m just going by what the Bible says in the Old Testament…. Which does not detail any tribe name ‘Hebrew’ before Abraham, who left his pagan family to become its patriarch.
