"Yahweh would not really be the sole Lord of the Jews until the Babylonian Captivity forced them to it, as a means of preserving an identity that ten of their tribes had already lost."
-Poul Anderson, "Ivory, and Apes, and Peacocks" IN Anderson, Time Patrol (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 229-331 AT p. 249.
"'Judaism, Yawhistic monotheism, is new and frail, still half pagan. My extrapolation is that it won't survive either. Yahweh will sink to being one more character in a crude and mutable pantheon.'"
-ibid., p. 308.
the terrible side of Kokopelli;
the deadly arrows of Apollo;
Odin's Wild Hunt;
Huitzilopochtli, eater of hearts;
Jehovah's vengeances. (16, p. 147)
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I agree! A reading of the history of the ancient Jews as recorded in the books of Judges, Samuel, Kings, etc., shows a constant struggle between those faithful to YHWH and back sliders tempted by the pagan gods of their neighbors.
And I don't take the Zuni "gods" very seriously. Even the Shaman Balawahdiwa sometimes referred to the One True God and prayed for the intercession of the BVM.
Ad astra! Sean
"And they went up into the city and destroyed it utterly; the male and the female, the young and the old, and the ox, and the ass, and the sheep, with the edge of the sword, leaving not one alive to breathe, as the Lord God of Israel commanded."
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
The books of Joshua and Judges shows the Jews as the savage barbarians they once were. Bit this savagery was not to remain characteristic of the Jews as a people, who became more civilized as time passed, as this bit from 1 Kings 20.31 shows, after King Ahab of Israel had defeated the Ben-hadad II of Aram: "His servants said to him, "We have heard that the kings of the land of Israel are merciful kings. Allow us, therefore, to garb ourselves in sackcloth, with cords around our heads, and go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare your life."
And I remember this bit from 2 Kings 6.20-23, after Elisha had led the blinded Syrian soldiers to Samaria: "When then entered Samaria, Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open their eyes that they may see." The LORD opened their eyes, and they saw that they were inside Samaria. When the king of Israel saw them, he asked, "Shall I kill them, my father?" "You must not kill them," replied Elisha. "Do you slay those whom you have taken captive with your sword or bow? Serve them bread and water. Let them eat and drink, and then go back to their master." The king spread a great feast for them. When they had eaten and drunk he sent them away, and they went back to their master. No more Aramaean raiders came into the land of Israel."
One of the many reasons why I admire the ancient Jews is because of how honest they were. They recorded both the bad and the good to be found in their history. From the most bloody atrocity to sublime acts of generosity and nobility.
Ad astra! Sean
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