Atenism was NOT the first monotheistic religion?

@JimboSaturn I don't think that commandment alone should be used as proof that in the old testament canon, other Gods literally existed. I mean, the story in genesis literally details creation where God made everything, right? It doesn't say "in the beginning, there was Molech, Baal, AND Jehova" does it?

@BRUUH In Genius there are also curious uses of the word "we"

@JimboSaturn That's right, and i've always wondered about that. I'v never known what to make of that. As a christian, I was taught that this referred to the trinity. If one is gnostic (then they probably don't really care about genesis but whatevs) they believe this is probably the demiurge. Some ppl just say it's God telling angels (who themselves are not considered Gods) to assist him.

@BRUUH https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/articles/MSmith_BiblicalMonotheism

@BRUUH But Genesis was written 2,000 before Christ and the oral tradition it comes from is even older so it is not the trinity.

@JimboSaturn A christian would say that genesis was WRITTEN before THE COMING OF CHRIST but that christ is eternal, and predates genesis being written, and thus genesis was reffering to them before christ was revealed to mankind.

@BRUUH ... @JimboSaturn is correct.
Modern Bibles use the word 'God' , but its translated from 'Elohim' - which is a masc. plural of 'El' - roughly meaning 'one who judges, elevated one'
Its like how seraphim is a plural of seraph.

Thus, when the Elohim said stuff like "we shall make him in our image"....it makes complete sense.

More interestingly, many old testament stories in the Bible have been gathered and amalgamated from older Mesopotamic, Sumerian and Akkadian tablets about their gods and creation;
- The home of the Eden, and the creation of the Adamu
- The flood story and Ziusudra and the ark.

Many polytheistic religions evolved into monotheistic. Sometimes, (like in Egypt, or ancient Sumer, or Roman times) - it wasnt unusual for a God to govern an percinct or city.
Each of the Gods had their own domain to rule over.

(This supposedly was an evolution between the gods, as power struggles started to break our, so domains were allocated)

Thus many ancient religious stories are attributed to a multiple of different gods, as they would have been told honoring the god of the area the story spread into .
So although there was a Pantheon of gods, particular peoples would only pray to the god that specifically looked after them.

What also makes it even more confusing is - gods live for a flipping long time - potentially eternal - man isnt .
So some gods from ancient religions made it into newer ones, or be came gods of Many religions like the sumerian god Enki is also supposedly known as Shiva, and Ptah (and also Thoth): gods of creation, and wisdom and knowledge respectively. Hes also known as Quetzalcoatl and suposedly the snake/god that gave wisdom in the Bible to Adam.

It all gets very confusing, as many ancient names were designations - so gods could have a multitide of names for their multitude of gifts they governed for mankind -.ie: wisdom, farming, knowledge, writing, love, war, etc.
Just like the Christian angels - their names were their appointments or designations:
( Take note of the syntax "iel" - its literally "i El" - "of God"......eg:
Uriel (Ur i El) = light of God
Azrael (Azriel - Azra i El) = retribution of God
etc ...
Notice how they use El, not Elohim - these were the warriors or messengers of the gods.
And each god had their own army so to speak.

Ugh....im going on and on.
I love this stuff. Ancient religions are spookily more connected than we think - similar gods, similar stories, even similar imagery :
Like the snake - its connected to wisdom over and over again , from the Mayans to China, from Sumer to the Bible.

@OogieBoogie I'm aware of that fact but I still can't get behind it as canon. The reason is because Aramaic is a dead language, and the Aramaic used when the OT was written was even different than the aramaic used by Jews in the time of Christ. We are speaking English in 2024, and are still debating the use of "they" as singular or plural. I can't say for certain that this translation means multiple people, especially when if you just read the bible stories outright, it's clearly describing one entity, named either Jehova or Yahweh (or whatevs), doing things as the only diety.

It's ok if you "go on and on". I like hearing your thoughts on things. You're a really cool user and i'm glad you contribute on any post you contribute to.

@BRUUH thats interesting, coz i see it as the Bible comments a few times to evidence of other gods .
As in "thou shalt have no other gods before me" and "I am a jealous god".
Why would He be jealous if the other gods were false and didn't exist?

There is a theory that God/gods are spiritual beings of light or energy or something. And that although they can manifest in human form and imbibe human pleasures such as food, sex etc, they possibly survive or thrive off spiritual energy .

So the more belief in them, the greater their power so to speak .

As to meaning - i only repeated what i have learnt from scholar Mauro Biglino who's profession it is to translate the bible for the Vatican.

I know the bible has been modernised for easier comprehension - but the thing is - if the translations arent correct in the first place - than all renditions since are incorrect.

Even Mauro explains that he has a huge tomb of a dictionary that is used for reference - as biblical scholars are presented with words that have multiple possible meanings - and there is still argument over what passages actually mean .
There has been massive amounts of artistic and theistic licence used in the Bible over the centuries....alterations, changes, elimintarions, and restructuring.

Humanity is still not at a point of knowing enough, to successfully fully translate and cross reference, with pure objectivity this phenomenal book.

But then...it still gets its main idea across - and THAT'S the point .
One is supposed to read it and have ones heart filled with the deeper meaning and love of the almighty .... and each other.

Plus it doesnt matter who or if there are other deities - we choose where to put our beliefs 🤗