Mark S. Smith - The Birth of Monotheism

The University of New England's Tangier Global Forum and its founding director, Anouar Majid, host Mark S. Smith on "The Birth of Monotheism" in Tangier, Morocco. The event took place on Thursday, January 19, 2017.

[@geraldpolmateer3255]

I appreciated such humble and honest presentation. Such presentations should be seen as an example for all to follow. Fortunately I have had some professors like Mark Smith and they changed my life and influenced how I taught students.

[@BrantAxt]

I love it when people in the audience lead with "one small question" and then ask about some huge theological assertion

[@shashanktripathi3398]

thanks dr smith, reading your books.

[@thegentofculture]

I genuinely, honestly need to know how you could know all of this about the Bible and then say "I'm a believer". Like honestly, why and how? Don't tell me faith, please don't say faith. That's bizarrely unreasonable when you can definitively prove there was no mass Hebrew exodus, mass slavery in Egypt, you can trace the very birth of YHWH as a concept through a nomadic cult and how it came from the meeting of a foreign deity and the Canaanite pantheon. Which part of the law could be true?

[@HamstaHammond]

Critiquing the possibility of God’s nature and reality by examining the cultural and linguistic lineage which coincides with it is like critiquing what someone means when they use a word by examining the etymology of the word. God’s interactions with the world-if He cares at all to include humans in it the story of the world-will always have the quirks and mannerisms of all human language and culture. To notice ‘human-ness’ in the Bible is not to necessarily conclude the absence of ‘God-ness’. It is simply to acknowledge just that: it’s ‘human-ness’

[@eugene3484]

Somebody or something created this universe. This did not happen organically by itself. That’s why

[@adams.7538]

What is perplexing to me is Smith believes all of this and yet is "Catholic", I'm not sure how this is compatible with his faith.

[@Saracen786]

I enjoyed learning from this. I hope the Professor looks into the forgotten works of Mr Schmidt. From 1912 to his death in 1954, Schmidt published his 12-volume Der Ursprung der Gottesidee (The Origin of the Idea of God). There he explained his theory of primitive monotheism, the belief that primitive religion among almost all tribal peoples began with an essentially monotheistic concept of a high god - usually a sky god - who was a benevolent creator. Schmidt theorized that human beings believed in a God who was the First Cause of all things and Ruler of Heaven and Earth before men and women began to worship a number of gods: "Schmidt suggested that there had been a primitive monotheism before men and women had started to worship a number of gods. Originally they had acknowledge only one Supreme Deity, who had created the world and governed human affairs from afar."

[@InvisibleCitizen]

What about zorothustra

[@anselthompson365]

Did Noah practice monotheism?

[@shashanktripathi3398]

This simply destroys all the abrahaminical religions Judaism Christianity and Islam.

[@COMMANDMENTSGALAXY]

NAMASKARA, GOOD DAY EVERYONE, ВСЕМ ДОБРЫЙ ДЕНЬ, 好每一個人, SJALOOM, With ALL, Respect, FOR The STUDIES, Which I, Surely, DO APPRECIATE . || THE FIRST PURE MONOTHEISM THE FIRST PURE MONOTHEISM, According To The TENACH, Was, In The Pre - FLOOD Timeline, During The EPOCH Of ENOSH, The SON Of SETH. See GENESIS CHAPTER 4 | VERSE 26 GENESIS CHAPTER 4 | VERSE 26 26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enosh; then began men to call upon the name of the LORD. ||* Great Respectful ENOCH This FIRST PURE MONOTHEISM, May NOT Be UnderEstimated, Because, It Gave BIRTH, To A Great Respectful HENOCH Or Great Respectful ENOCH . || The TRUTH Of GREAT ENOCH ! The TRUTH Of GREAT ENOCH, Also PROVES, By Holy JHVH Himself, THAT, 'Original sin', DOESNT EXIST !!!! REGARDS, TAKE CARE !