It is from the Bible that Christians learn many of the specific characteristics of their god. They may say that they believe in God as a result of some direct experience of him, but when it comes to the belief that this is specifically their “three for the price of one” deity, they rely on scripture. It is there that they learn, among other things, that he is both the Yahweh that picked the tribe of Israel as his favorite as well as the Jesus that gave the Sermon on the Mount.
But how likely is it, if there were an omnipotent, omniscient, changeless, eternal creator of the universe, that he would be the deity described in scripture?
If Yahweh is the one true god, why was he originally worshipped much like any of the false gods of other ancient tribes? Why was he, just like them, thought of as a local god who fought against the enemies of his people? And why did he, like the false gods, demand sacrifices?
Why, even after they began worshipping only Yahweh, did the ancient Israelites remain monolatrists, who still believed in the existence of the gods of competing tribes? And why did they believe in stories about Yahweh that were rehashed out of the pagan myths of others, such as the story of the flood (which they got from the Babylonians)?
Worst of all, why, when he became incarnate, did this god – according to the information found in scripture – also believe in these stories?
Religious thinkers try to make the Christian God into a high philosophical concept. He is outside of time, wholly other, a being whose existence is part of his very essence. It all sounds very sophisticated. But until they can properly answer simple questions like the above, their god will continue to be no more believable than any of the other ancient deities.
[Originally published at Debunking Christianity]
But how likely is it, if there were an omnipotent, omniscient, changeless, eternal creator of the universe, that he would be the deity described in scripture?
If Yahweh is the one true god, why was he originally worshipped much like any of the false gods of other ancient tribes? Why was he, just like them, thought of as a local god who fought against the enemies of his people? And why did he, like the false gods, demand sacrifices?
Why, even after they began worshipping only Yahweh, did the ancient Israelites remain monolatrists, who still believed in the existence of the gods of competing tribes? And why did they believe in stories about Yahweh that were rehashed out of the pagan myths of others, such as the story of the flood (which they got from the Babylonians)?
Worst of all, why, when he became incarnate, did this god – according to the information found in scripture – also believe in these stories?
Religious thinkers try to make the Christian God into a high philosophical concept. He is outside of time, wholly other, a being whose existence is part of his very essence. It all sounds very sophisticated. But until they can properly answer simple questions like the above, their god will continue to be no more believable than any of the other ancient deities.
[Originally published at Debunking Christianity]
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