If you read the old testament in particular, god never denies the existence of other gods, only that he’s the best one.
Yahweh was actually just one god in an ancient pre Jewish pantheon. He was like Dionysus, a god of harvest and wine and rebirth.
Different tribes had different chief gods, but all accepted the existence of the others. Just happened over time that the people who worshipped Yahweh were the only ones left and it became a monotheistic religion.
I’m sure back in the day, those gods were more similar to Greek gods, flawed and monstrous, and entities to fear. That’s why the old testament god is such a psychopath.
Some appear in the bible or are mentioned. Baal I know was one. And was later turned into a satan thing by medieval Christians. Ashira as well gets mentioned in the Bible in a vague sense, but she was the wife of Yahweh.
At the head of this pantheon was Yahweh, held in an especially high regard as the two Israelite kingdoms’ national god.[3] Some scholars hold that the goddess Asherah was worshipped as Yahweh’s consort,[3] though other scholars disagree.[4] Following this duo were second-tier gods and goddesses, such as Baal, Shamash, Yarikh, Mot, and Astarte
Elohim (one of his several names; I like this one, because it betrays his Canaanitic roots) is one of several Canaanitic gods, which makes a lot more sense than him being the only god yet him being jealous of other gods (that don’t exist).
Edit: El was also portrayed as a calf, which makes the worshipped golden calf make a lot more sense in the story of Israels formation. What does not make sense is the pre-Israelites going to a land they already lived in, historically speaking
Its a shame that a lack of hard evidence and a disdain for looking for more from theological groups resisting demystifying their religion means we don’t know or have records on a lot of the early days of poly to mono theism.
Considering it looks like the 18th Dynasty of Egypt had a push to move away from Poly in Amun that involved building a new captial with the help of skilled laborers from the North Canaanites only to be be attacked for their position by the older poly religious leaders causing the downfall off the new capital falling and the workers fleeing back across the desert…
I mean there is so much to piece together of how politics and the empires of the time influenced how we as humans and religions developed but then you might ruin the idea of magic with real world incredible stories.
If you read the old testament in particular, god never denies the existence of other gods, only that he’s the best one. Yahweh was actually just one god in an ancient pre Jewish pantheon. He was like Dionysus, a god of harvest and wine and rebirth. Different tribes had different chief gods, but all accepted the existence of the others. Just happened over time that the people who worshipped Yahweh were the only ones left and it became a monotheistic religion.
I’m sure back in the day, those gods were more similar to Greek gods, flawed and monstrous, and entities to fear. That’s why the old testament god is such a psychopath.
Do we know what/who the other gods were?
Some appear in the bible or are mentioned. Baal I know was one. And was later turned into a satan thing by medieval Christians. Ashira as well gets mentioned in the Bible in a vague sense, but she was the wife of Yahweh.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahwism
They mentions the egypts gods too, don’t remember where, I only know because my mom got angry at me when I questioned that part lmao
Elohim (one of his several names; I like this one, because it betrays his Canaanitic roots) is one of several Canaanitic gods, which makes a lot more sense than him being the only god yet him being jealous of other gods (that don’t exist).
Edit: El was also portrayed as a calf, which makes the worshipped golden calf make a lot more sense in the story of Israels formation. What does not make sense is the pre-Israelites going to a land they already lived in, historically speaking
Well…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ancient_Israel_and_Judah
Its a shame that a lack of hard evidence and a disdain for looking for more from theological groups resisting demystifying their religion means we don’t know or have records on a lot of the early days of poly to mono theism.
Considering it looks like the 18th Dynasty of Egypt had a push to move away from Poly in Amun that involved building a new captial with the help of skilled laborers from the North Canaanites only to be be attacked for their position by the older poly religious leaders causing the downfall off the new capital falling and the workers fleeing back across the desert…
I mean there is so much to piece together of how politics and the empires of the time influenced how we as humans and religions developed but then you might ruin the idea of magic with real world incredible stories.
I’ve never seen any evidence of him being anything but a war and storm god similar to Baal.
Great video on it for those interested: https://youtu.be/mdKst8zeh-U