specter-global Communism is so powerful that even God fears it

The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. - Genesis 11:6

  • Mardoniush [she/her]
    ·
    4 months ago

    It's a common fear in the "Yahwist" portions of the OT. It's thought by many scholars that the OT is an attempt to merge the theological texts of, essentially, 2 gods that by the time of the compilation (and possibly the original source writing) had become 1.

    As far as we can tell, Yahweh and El started off as a national god and the Creator god above them respectively, possibly metaphysically connected. El is the standard Canaanite word for the high god, though the Bible's version has some key differences to other versions of the deity even in very early sections. We have no fucking clue where Yahweh came from, he appears to be a deity isolate.

    As theology progressed Yahweh and El become more and more conflated, though some say this was there from almost the beginning.

    Anyway, they have very different personalities. Yahweh is very concerned with his chosen people and their perception of him. He's often scared of Hubris, and is keen to do flashy shit to prove how powerful he is. He also does some stuff that El would probably be unlikely to do, though the P source sometimes confounds this.

    Anyway he comes across as a gigantic asshole. He's a very Pagan-esque god

    El isn't perfect, but is more abstract and powerful and usually merciful (by the standards of Iron Age Deities...so...not particularly.

    Obviously the sections of Christanity/Judaism that can read have noticed this, and have any number of fascinating dodges to this conflict, some of which might even be true.

    • jose_estaline [he/him]
      ·
      4 months ago

      Great comment, I know very little about this subject, do you have any book recommendations about the subject, especially about this part "Obviously the sections of Christanity/Judaism that can read have noticed this, and have any number of fascinating dodges to this conflict, some of which might even be true."?