Sunday, February 06, 2005

Henotheism: No Other Gods Before Me

Henotheism is the idea that people believe that all sorts of gods are real and have power, but that they only recognize one of those gods as their God to whom they worship. The following are a number of questions for the regular Bible-believing montheist to try and explain the apparent henotheistic origins of Israelite beliefs as recorded in Tanach:

Doesn't it seem awfully strange that the Israelites are equating theroles of God to them and Chemosh to the Moabites as to what each god's power would allow them to possess land? (Judges 11:24)

Why does David say that he is being told to worship other gods by having to take refuge out of Israel but in Philistine territory? (1Samuel 26:19)

Why did the forces of Israel turn back from defeating Moab in Moabite territory after the Moabite king offered his own son up to Chemosh? (2 Kings 3:27)

Why did Na'aman need two mule loads of dirt from Israel to serve God in Syria? (2 Kings 5:17) Because if God only has power over the land of Israel then the only way for Na'aman to worship him was to have some of that same dirt.

Why does Jeremiah say that the exiled Israelites will have to serve other gods? (Jeremiah 16:13)

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