Polytheism in the Bible?

Thanks to scholars Ben Stanhope, Mark W. Chavalas and Chris Hansen for reviewing this video. Chris takes more a polytheistic understanding but still provided valuable feedback and pointed out errors that we were able to fix.
Join us at: www.inspiringph...
To help support this ministry click here: / inspiringphilosophy
Sources:
Michael S. Heiser - Reply to Thom Stark: The Most Heiser
Polymnia Athanassiadi and Michael Frede - Pagan Monotheism in Late Antiquity
Stephen Mitchell and Peter van Nuffelen - One God: Pagan Monotheism in the Roman Empire
James Hoffmeier - Akhenaten and The Origins of Monotheism
Jens-Andre Herbener - On the Term “Monotheism"
Jan Assman - Monotheism and Polytheism in "Religions of the Ancient World: a Guide,"
by Sarah Iles Johnston
Michael Heiser - Does Divine Plurality in the Hebrew Bible Demonstrate an Evolution From
Polytheism to Monotheism in Israelite Religion?
Michael S. Heiser - Monotheism and the Language of Divine Plurality in the Hebrew Bible and
The Dead Sea Scrolls
Michael S. Heiser - The Divine Council in Late Canonical and Non-canonical Second Temple Jewish Literature
Karel van der Toorn and Pieter Willem van der Horst - Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible
Mark S. Smith - The Origins of Biblical Monotheism
Mark S. Smith - God in Translation
B. E. Becking, Meindert Dijkstra, Marjo C. A. Korpel, Karel Vriezen - Only One God? Monotheism in Ancient Israel and the Veneration of the Goddess Asherah
Otto Eissfeldt - El And Yahweh
Frank Kermode, Robert Alter - The Literary Guide to the Bible
Bernhard Lang - Bible Review 19:6,
December 2003, Readers Reply
Nathan MacDonald - One God or One Lord?
Tryggve N. Mettinger and Frederick H. Cryer - The Dethronement of Sabaoth: Studies in the Shem and Kabod Theologies
Gerlinde Baumann - Trendy Monotheism?
Kenneth Kitchen - On the Reliability of the Old Testament

[@mr.gentlezombie8709]

Archeologists: "Actually Israel was polytheistic and worshipped a pantheon of gods" Jeremiah, sobbing: "Yes, I know."

[@bikesrcool_1958]

Most of the Old Testament *intensified crying*

[@sethcaro]

I don't undertand how some scholar can't seem to understand this. They try to make it look like there was never a true God and all was acceptable until Josiah by his own will and standards unified everyone under his believes.

[@JoshAlicea1229]

Umm… there were always “gods” (little “g”). They are akin to angels. But Yahweh/Elohim was always the One True/Most High God- Creator of heaven and earth. Yahweh injected Himself into the pantheon of the Ancient Near Eastern gods, (see Genesis 4:22-24), as the “god of metallurgy.” He did this because the fallen angels spread false gods such as Baal and Molech, Uranus, Cronos and Zeus to twist the story- as if Lucifer (the lesser god), overthrew Elohim (the Most High God). Lucifer did this by spreading the messages of Baal over throwing Dagan, Cronos overthrew Uranus, Zeus overthrew Cronos (all were lesser gods that overthrew their fathers). Lucifer was a “son of god,” yet not the Only Begotten Son- (2nd member of the Trinity). In fact, all angels were “sons of God.” Through Christ, we become sons of God by grace- what He is by nature. So we reign with Him in the Divine Council- yet never equal with Christ. So, yes. There are other gods in the Bible, but they are angels, (some righteous, some neutral, some fallen).

[@GarrulousHerald]

​@@JoshAlicea1229​ Can you elaborate on your beliefs? When you say akin to angels, does that mean they consist of angels, or are separate entities that can kind of be envisioned as like angels? And if angels are what make those lesser gods, how does it all work? Because God says you shall worship no other gods, which I suppose you can acknowledge a god existing without worshipping it, if we try to come at it from the perspective that lowercase god translates essentially to deity but with the caveat it is in no way equal or comparable to the one true God that created all... Like we use the same words to describe both, with deity being synonymous with god a lot, and it has been ingrained within us that simply acknowledging them as the same words kind of implies a form of concession. But, whatever we refer to these things as, spirits, idols, I figure in concept it's hardly different from acknowledging a demon or fallen spirit exists. But my confusion comes into place on the construction of it all. Do only fallen angels make up these spirits/idols/lesser gods? Or can those that continue to serve God also make up these beings? And if so, what kind of beings would they be capable of making without dishonoring God? If only fallen angels can make up these lesser deities, with your classification of some being evil, neutral, and righteous... Does that mean that not all of the fallen angels strictly follow Satan? That some have exercised free will to the point where they largely disowned him and perhaps seek self-serving, more independent positions? Such as a minor god that receives worship but doesn't work fully towards the whims of Satan, at least knowingly? Or perhaps they are all still in on it and the perception of a lesser god being good, neutral, and evil, is all intended to trick humanity into being distracted from the one true God? I should inquire that perhaps that in this hypothetical scenario, just because say, Zeus and Cronos existed as concepts, does not intrinsically prove they had representation in the form of an actual lesser god. It would be possible that they were just concepts brought about by any variety of influences, which may or may not have had one of these angels playing the part as one of them? I mean it's entirely possible that they were in fact simply created as purely human concepts and ideas outside of needing a patron 'angel,' to set an example, but whose to say for certain how it went about? Unless the belief is that largely every false deity is represented by either one or multiple 'angels,' and that is why humans tend to be religious because of actual forces, either instead of or in conjunction with biological and spiritual predisposition relating to their fallen nature. (Which even then, saying fallen nature seems odd, since humans originally weren't fallen, so how could that be their nature, but I guess it's in reference to the new fallen state they seem to naturally exhibit now, even if we go back far enough they 'naturally' weren't fallen. See how language can mix up meanings and communication if not precise or carefully considered.) Regarding the whole sons of God thing, how is it that the angels are sons of God by their conception, but humans are only by grace? What then defines a son of God? And finally, if you would care to share, what do you base these concepts and this interpretation off of?

[@JoshAlicea1229]

@@GarrulousHerald I’m sorry, maybe my wording was confusing. What I mean is that the gods ARE angels; that is- fallen angels. In their rebellion with Lucifer, they were not victorious, (as the Greek, Near-Eastern mythologies would elude to; that Zeus, and Baal overthrew their fathers to become the “most high” gods of their respective cultures). In their defeat, they were thrown down and deceived mankind in all the nations- hence why there are so many religions/mythologies in the world, even to this day. The common characteristics of these gods in all other religions is their desire for more power over one another (in more polytheistic religions), leading mankind to fight one another to do the same. But the One True God of the Bible is not in competition with these gods. He declares victory over the fallen angels by elevating our human nature above that of angels, by His incarnation of the Son, Jesus. In His incarnation, He humbled Himself- which is in sharp contrast to the prideful self-exaltation of Lucifer and the angels. The Scriptures are clear; that “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” So, by His life, death and resurrection, He has dethroned the gods/fallen angels from their dominion over us and the nations, released us from the power of sin and death which these gods have held over our heads since Adam’s sin. It is His HUMILITY that differentiates Him from the other gods of other religions and cultures. It is when “Christian” nations have justified the military conquest of other cultures and nations that we know they are following the gods of the nations, and not the God of all creation. I know I have hit this point already, but let me elaborate further: The Apostle Paul said that we (humans in heaven), will judge angels (1 Corinthians 6:3). He said this because Christ has elevated our human nature above that of the angels. Christ did this to shame the fallen angels in their rebellion- as they had seen themselves superior to God and the “dust creatures”He created. Therefore, in his temptation to man; to walk in rebellion to God, the serpent was cursed, having his hands and feet taken from him; to crawl on the earth and eat the dust- yet never having the opportunity to *humble himself* and be saved. In our remembrance of death, we have the opportunity to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, (yes that same hand that threw Lucifer and his angels down), and be saved

[@CJS1986]

Your videos converted me to Christianity from my pagan beliefs. Simply thank you Michael!

[@InspiringPhilosophy]

Wow, that is wonderful to hear, thank you so much for telling me. I feel extremely honored and humbled to know God uses me like this. Can I screen shot and share your comment to Facebook?

[@CJS1986]

InspiringPhilosophy absolutely

[@Navii-05]

@Tonystark Industrial Yikes, no evidence for that as far as I know

[@Angle98411]

@Tonystark Industrial Nope,get that nonsense out of here.

[@Ash2theB]

@@Navii-05 look up Atenism/Aten

[@bigbadseed7665]

"Erm, ackshually, the people of ancient Canaan worshipped multiple gods." Because the Bible definitely doesn't mention the Israelites disobeying God and worshipping other gods.

[@fatstrategist]

Exactly haha. I feel like no deep dive is needed on this subject, there's like 60+ verses talking about it.

[@tomato-ir9xs]

Except it makes no sense to worship another god considering the true gods was doing miracles left and right. Imbecile.

[@el_killorcure]

​​@@tomato-ir9xsut once the geneartion who witnessed the miracles died out, the new ones woukd forget and fall back into polytheism. I mean hello, Book of Kings describing Elijah having to challenge the priests of Baal to a public display of power to prove which god was the real one?

[@zephinhmusic6766]

@@el_killorcure there's also a story in the Bible of Yahweh and the Israelites loosing a battle against another nation and another god which just proves Yahweh isn't all powerful if he can be defeated by another god and from there the dominos start to fall.

[@el_killorcure]

@@zephinhmusic6766 Name book, chapter and verse, and let's see the full context of said story...

[@jaloniwilson]

This helped A LOT. Been struggling with this concept for about a month now. Great video

[@davidjulian8643]

I showed this to my young Earth, "Bible only", SDA sister. I am in the hospital now.

[@user-yj9qq2zd9i]

Well forgive her, if she loves Jesus with all her heart. On the Judgement Day, Jesus will give her eternal life, but will still explain her these things Himself:)

[@user-yj9qq2zd9i]

If she doesn't listen to you she will certainly listen to Him.

[@brando3342]

@@justchilling704 Correct, he likely did not.

[@brando3342]

@@justchilling704 Yes, I agree.

[@brando3342]

@@justchilling704 Good to see you here too. I agree, giving into the world on subjects that refute scripture, leads way to giving into the world on a multitude of other subjects that refute scripture. Especially when it has to do with macro evolution. I don't know how old the earth is because the Bible isn't specific, so things like that I think "So long as we follow Christ", but Jesus himself said Adam and Eve were the first, so that I can't waver on. I haven't seen those, but I will check them out, thanks!

[@AS-ft4nc]

Today's church culture is very different from the ancient Jewish culture. When people read the so-called weird passages of the Bible, they tend to skip those verses. This is what caused many of them to fail to answer difficult theological questions.

[@zhihanlim3500]

It's not 100% similar,but the various contexts "Elohim" can be used is incidentally similar to how "kami" can be used in Japanese culture to refer to gods/spirits as opposed to just referring to an all powerful God(ie Yahweh)

[@crazyitalianguy000]

I was just about to write that.

[@ceasedesist9676]

Iirc there were actually 3 creator deities for the shinto, above even the amatsukami and the kotoamatsukami (deities before izanagi and izanami) Five exist, but only 3 are regarded as the creator deities.

[@crazyitalianguy000]

@@ceasedesist9676 japanese christians refer to the christian God as Kami.

[@isaacleillhikar4566]

Gosh, I mentionned the Kami. No, if the jews talk like the firt religion was, then its easy to see, these could have become things like the Kami and the pantheons. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGPEp2CumdmArbs

[@Rotisiv]

Kami is a general term that can denote anything supernatural (specifically spirits and/or deities wether they be minor or major).

[@Segnor1]

That's actually an important question I've been asking myself so thank you for this.

[@MR-li1jj]

There is only one god look around you

[@gemox3225]

These are difficult subjects, and the answer obviously can't be uncovered without a thorough knowledge of the scriptural languages and the archaeological record. Thanks for your extremely detailed work!

[@SandeepVerma-bf1ry]

Love you brother from Indian Ex-Hindu......Brother how can i connect with you on social media etc etc....Is there any way.

[@InspiringPhilosophy]

facebook.com/inspiringphilosophy

[@RegisNdeTene]

Hello @Messiah Jessus, I would love to hear your testimony from Hindu to Jesus. I used to practice Yoga for 8months and God called me out of it. So I wish to hear from you.

[@utuberme1]

Hi man, I'm also from India

[@SandeepVerma-bf1ry]

@@RegisNdeTene Yoga is not any religion .And you also know that....But Hindus feel very proud that yoga is Hindu discovery ,But truth is that yoga born in Indian Culture .It can be from Buddhist/Indus valley peoples/Hindus.No one can tell it from certainity... And Hinduism is not a cool religion that is why India has never been a stable country since 10th Ad.It can be due to Islam /Hindu clashes also.But the prime reson is caste system in Hinduism...That is why today India is going through rough face...And Hindu texts are very derogatory towards both womens and low caste/untochables. Hindus vedas and zoroastrian Avesta is 99% similar.And Hinduism is a rival sect separated from early mazdainism when Hinduism used to be european area/Turkey.Zoroastrian god is Asura while their evil is deva and this is exact opposite of Hinduism.Hinduism god is deva while evil is asura.Indra /Brahma/Shiva /Vishnu are godly diety in hinduism while evil dieties in Zoroastrianism....... Early vedas call asuras to be non rival of devas,it means that these two sects were living together with little separation/cultures earlier...... I can go on for a day listing on Hinduism,But in short Hinduism is a non sense religion and more nonsense are its followers who astonishingly praise hinduism whithout knowing A B C D of Hinduism......

[@RegisNdeTene]

@@SandeepVerma-bf1ry thank you for your elaborate description. So i often wonder how an Indian born inside a heavily influenced hindu environment comes to Christ, likewise a Muslim born in a very heavily influenced Islamic environment come to Chirst. So if it is not too personal do you mind sharing how you discovered Christ? and how your life has changed ever since? and how does your environment cope with you etc etc. Are they accepting? do they see you as strange? What compelled you to look for a different belief system as I understand Christ is fundamentally different from any belief system out there. So it takes a giant leap of faith to abandon what we were brought up with and follow Christ. It's even harder for 'so called' christians to live by faith. So I wonder about someone who comes from another belief entirely. I hope i'm not too poky.

[@rickyparrish2570]

Man, you do a really good job with research and presentation. Keep up the good work.

[@JamesAsp]

There is an interesting book by Wilhelm Schmidt - "The origin and growth of religion", that takes up how different cultures knew God originally, but then lost much of their concept about Him. It supports your view that rather than monotheism evolving from polytheism, it seems like polytheism evolved from monotheism. All the best

[@ReneSance]

Didn't Romans 1 also say something along the lines of everyone knew God, but decided to worship other things anyway? Or am I reading that incorrectly?

[@JamesAsp]

@@ReneSance Yes, many missionaries have used these similarities found in other religions to point back to the original creator. Even Paul did that when talking about the altar the greeks had to the unknown God. Since this video, "InspiringPhilosophy" have made another video about this topic too. "The Case for Ancient Monotheism Documentary".

[@JamesAsp]

@Blah Blahblah Muslim? They are usually those confusing christianity with polytheism. Jesus is God seen in the flesh. We are made in His image. It is not He who resemble us, but we Him. If you create a virtual world and want to visit it and interact with it, do you jump in through the screen or move around with a character? Jesus can do no things without the Father and He and the Father is one. But the Father was still on his throne while Jesus walked around here. There is still no contradiction in saying the Father and the Son are different, just as your virtual character is you but still are different. Have a nice day and God bless.

[@JamesAsp]

@Blah Blahblah You wrote: " You literally don't even know what you worship or basic Christian theology." -------------------------------- You think I don't know. Maybe I actually do know. The conflict between Arians after Chalcedon was they thought Jesus was a creation, but as He is the one and only God He has existed with the Father eternally. Some other part of christian theology you want to know?

[@JamesAsp]

@Blah Blahblah No, I am not a modalist because I think God can be both the Father, the Son and the Spirit all at same time. God is not bound to one location and place like we humans are. But these are the one and only God. This is why we say trinity. We do not say 1+1+1, but 1x1x1. Hope that clears it. So do not break against your own Quran when it say: "And do not say, "Three"; desist - it is better for you." as we say only one God. Also the reason I brought up Arianism is because it wasn't cleared up until around 671 when the last king to hold such a view lived.

[@MrWhocares51]

Why do you not have millions of subscribers?!?! Seriously, this is some of the best content out there.

[@gareginasatryan6761]

The Greeks believed in some vague “eternal god” that presided over the universe. Aristotle even hints at this. But none of the gods are analogous to God of Israel. Even Zeus is not eternal. As a matter of fact, Zeus is not the first god or even the creator of the world. The Olympian gods came from the primordial gods that created the universe. Which begs the question as to why Zeus was the chief one. But that’s a discussion for another time

[@willievanstraaten1960]

Garegin Asatryan: "eternal God and Zeus" As I believe all Gods are fictions of imaginations and reasons to explain what they did not understand. Plagues, Drought, earthquakes, Failed crops, Thunder, Volcanos etc. It had to be supernatural intervention and I understand why they believed such. Now we understand these phenomena and the God notion is fast fading and expelled by facts and reason.

[@willievanstraaten1960]

@Mlk Steppu, Last King of Ugarit Typical theist assumption that you understand it all and non-superstitious non-theists do not have access to information. As you say: "it is good to know." The difference is I know this about believers for a very long time. In fact, I was a worshiper for 33 years and I know you and them very well. Assert away and continuously I know you do this to get a good feeling, ignorant of truth and facts. Then you make these pointless, hollow, empty statements that you assume is an argument. Very clever King of Ugarit.

[@willievanstraaten1960]

@Mlk Steppu, Last King of Ugarit Please watch this it might help sorting facts, truth and myths. kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5bTZZqkoq-YiKc

[@akimoetam1282]

Willie Van Straaten you watch a lot of Richard Dawkins... that’ can’t be for your brain.

[@legateelizabeth]

Zeus was in charge because after he slayed Kronus he and his brothers drew lots as to what they would rule. Zeus lucked out and ruled over the sky, while Poseidon got the sea and Hades the underworld. Being that he was the one that was the reason everyone was even out of Kronus' stomach in the first place and he got the pride of place domain, he became King of Olympus. He wouldn't be that forever though, Prometheus prophecised that one of Zeus' children would overthrow him, as he had his father Kronus, and he had his father Uranus. It's not all that hard to grasp. Greek myth is super fun and readily available, give it a read sometime!

[@Project-nf7rt]

Late to the party but I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who wrestled with this. Skeptical arguments usually don’t bother me but this one had me sweating a little 😅. I mostly sorted it out myself but this was still a huge help to me.

[@Summersunshine2023]

Check out The Dark Side of God Ep 4 The God of Light and Darkness kzbin.info/www/bejne/q5SkeJSCmcykr68si=T-ktvvy7ulV99eQy And Psalm 82 Elohim stands in the council of El kzbin.info/www/bejne/an2tiKd-ZZVjhdUsi=KV5ZEXBnVyuHF6nb

[@DanielPeter_records]

i have been struggling to find an answer or explanation thank you so much

[@joeregan.]

In the ancient Hebrew, before it was turned into the Babylonian square script, letters were pictures. "El" was: aleph - lamed (Ox + Shepherd Staff, or strong leader) "Elohiym" was: aleph - lamed - hey - yud - mem. (Ox - shepherd staff - behold/see/bring attention - hand with arm - water/blood/life) The important part is yud-mem, or -im, when put together as a suffix is how you change a masculine noun to a plural noun, so you are looking at: "Strong shepherd behold plural". Edit: There are examples in the bible that use Elohiym as singular and plural. In Genesis, it is used as a singular noun as "He Elohim said", but in Exodus Chapter 32 when talking about the "gods" they will make, it is used as a plural noun. In the Shema Yisrael ""Hear, O Israel: YHWH our Elohiym, YHWH is one"", it is showing he is singular also. They are simply ascribing him all of the divine powers that be. This is also why you can say YHWH is the "Almighty Elohiym", or the "Elohiym of Elohiym". The bible also says people are Elohiym, but I dont think that means we are spiritual beings or that we are more than one. It just means each of us is a ruler of something. A dad may rule his family, and a king may rule a nation. We are a kind of strong rulers, just not the ruler of rulers. YHWH is simply HWH with a prefix of Y. The root is HWH, which means exist. Y can be used in front of a verb to say He. If you want to say He Exists, you add a Y prefix to exist. If you want to say I exist, you add an Aleph suffix instead. So the same name of "exist/HWH" would be "I exist" or "I AM" or HWHA, if said in first person, or "He Exists" in third person. "YHWH" This is why you do not see the name YHWH until God is speaking to the people in bondage. They are probably praying, save us, are you even there or listening? And God sent Moses to tell them, I AM, I exist. So they call him He Exists. YHWH.

[@deluxeassortment]

I don't believe this is correct. Elohim means "family of El", El being a generic term for God, but descended from the name of the Ugaritic god El (From Akkadian Ilu). El fathered Yam, Mot, and Hadad (as in Ba'al Hadad or just Ba'al), and the term Elohim is a collective reference for El, Asherah, Yam, Mot, and Hadad. In one story, El came to the shores and saw two women (Athirat of Ashera and Rahmayyu) bobbing in the sea, and took them as wives. He took a staff and threw it at a bird and roasted the bird on a fire. He then fathered Shahar and Shalim and the children of the sea. The term Elohim collectively became a reference for the entire family of El, including El, his wives, his sons, and any of his "children of the Sea"

[@joeregan.]

Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium Chloride that is certainly not how the ancient hebrews used it. Many peoples did use the same alphabet though so others may have used el and/or elohim in other ways.

[@deluxeassortment]

@@joeregan. Agreed, the ancient Hebrews used it to denote God and any manifestation of God, such as an angel, in his many forms. But the etymology of the word itself most certainly descends from Ugaritic usage prior to the monolatristic introduction of Yahweh to Israel and Judah by the Kenites and his subsequent elevation to universal monotheistic status. The plural -im suffix once represented multiple gods in the family of El, but, once the priests instated monotheism after the fall of Babylon, they decided observation of any other god was simply a manifestation of the one God, and thus elohim came to represent the many manifestations. See the Hebrew interlinear for: Psalms 8:6, Psalms 82:6, Genesis 1:26

[@joeregan.]

​ Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium Chloride Looking at the interlinear for Genesis 1:26 I think proves my point. Here are the words with prefixes and suffixes. and~he~SAY(V) (וַיֹּאמֶר / wai'yo'mer) Elohiym (אֱלֹהִים / e'lo'him) we~will~DO Notice the singular personal pronoun "He" as part of the verb say, pointing to elohiym the noun to show elohiym is one ruler/power, and it goes on to say "we" will make a human in "our" image. This indicates another someone or something was involved or used in the doing, not that elohiym is more than one. In Genesis it says "He shaped", and "He Said", "He Elohiym", and He YHWH Elohiym, so how did another help at all? I read it as YHWH Elohiym was the father and the earth was the mother that helped bring life forth. Anytime it says "land", it uses a she prefix. Also when "she" does something, like make grass sprout, it says "she" made it sprout to her kind. 24 and~he~SAY(V) (וַיֹּאמֶר / wai'yo'mer) Elohiym (אֱלֹהִים / e'lo'him) she~will~make~GO.OUT(V) (תּוֹצֵא / to'tsey) the~LAND (הָאָרֶץ / ha'a'rets) SOUL (נֶפֶשׁ / ne'phesh) LIVING (חַיָּה / hhai'yah) to~KIND~her (לְמִינָהּ / lê'mi'nah) BEAST (בְּהֵמָה / bê'hey'mah) and~TREADER (וָרֶמֶשׂ / wa're'mes) and~LIVING~him (וְחַיְתוֹ / wê'hhai'to) LAND (אֶרֶץ / e'rets) to~KIND~her (לְמִינָהּ / lê'mi'nah) He, the mighty powers over many said: the land will birth out living souls to "her" kind. So it is personalizing earth by calling her a she, and saying she will make or bring forth after her kind. And when it gets to making man in "our" image, the earth was still personified and the man would be part earth and part God. (Instead of being in all the image of the land like the grass for example, we are in the image of both.) We are half Father God half mother earth. :)

[@joeregan.]

@@deluxeassortment Now, if you say the genesis we have now has been modified to say "He Elohim", and the original version was many Gods making the earth, it doesn't matter what I quote of it to show the writers of the bible saw Elohim as one power. I guess I need you to quote something that shows this happened. But in that case, you probably should not cite Genesis 1:26 as proof. :) At a certain point, faith is involved. Faith that if there really is one God now, he would have revealed himself before Abraham to mankind, and had some form of relationship, like the bible says Adam and Noah had. If this happened, it would have made people monotheistic to Yahweh before people fell away and he was introduced to Abraham.

[@JG-777]

Man you do awesome work. This is is such an important concept that not many modern day Christians understand. It ties together the whole story of the Bible and God's plan in a more cohesive way, and also make Christianity one of the only religions that can explain other religions, without just saying "they made theirs up, but we totally didn't make ours up", which is an important distinction. You do a great job of breaking down the important concepts in an academic yet accessible way. This video is much more easily digestible than listening to hours of Michael Heiser or the other guys in that sphere, so of course its just my luck that I didn't see this back 3 years ago when I was first learning this stuff lol.

[@bens7686]

Yes!

[@riru363]

Wassup Ben, glad to see you here

[@leonelhuicho174]

Haha, Nice to meet You Ben, You brought me into this world of biblical scolarship.

[@akimoetam1282]

Yes!

[@TheRealFlenuan]

ok Ben

[@m.danielmills7091]

This is excellent. Rarely do I find myself so thoroughly captivated by a video essay like I was with this. Just excellent. I'm going to straight up donate to your ministry. I'd love to see a video on how you prepare and research for your projects. I'm all over the place in my studies so I'd like to pick your brain on how you organize.

[@InspiringPhilosophy]

Hello! Thanks for wanting to donate. If you donate monthly I share that type of information on quality live streams I do for all donors. Basically, I do live Q&As ever 3 months for all donors where you can ask anything.

[@m.danielmills7091]

@@InspiringPhilosophy Done

[@InspiringPhilosophy]

@@m.danielmills7091 Thanks, let me know if you have any trouble signing up.

[@joshuavandernoord6912]

Fantastic video. You really covered all the bases here. Looking forward to your next video about this topic.

[@leebagaming]

Love you, Michael! The writer of the first piece you utilized in this video is Myuu, and his compositions are free to use as long as credit is given. I noticed that you did not outline the music you used in the video's description. Just thought I would let you know. Keep up the good work. Lord be with you.

[@iLoLedHaha]

Im excited youre covering this, my minds been on it Ever since you guys did the livestream.

[@InspiringPhilosophy]

Which live stream?

[@noescape2108]

@@InspiringPhilosophy I think he refers to Response to Evid3nc3

[@minoritygroyper8341]

@@InspiringPhilosophy could you do a video on a athiest youtube channel called Milwaukee athiests

[@jupiterfive1331]

@@minoritygroyper8341 I always find it amusing that atheist make a channel about atheism and yet they claim it's not a belief, so they make a channel about something they don't even believe in? Funny!

[@iLoLedHaha]

@@InspiringPhilosophy Responce to Evidence The History of God

[@micahmatthew7104]

This series is amazing

[@akimoetam1282]

daniel dunbar it’s called having a opinion

[@akimoetam1282]

daniel dunbar yeah you don’t know how KZbin works

[@akimoetam1282]

daniel dunbar not really, idk his salary but he’s not making enough money to warrant corruption charges

[@akimoetam1282]

daniel dunbar ok buddy, you keep believing that he’s making big money off of niche topics.

[@micahmatthew7104]

@@dannyd1098 There's not a lot of money in this business, if IP wanted to money he wouldn't be doing this. This video isn't even monetized-from what I can tell- and most of the money he earns is via patreon where people chose to give him money for him to continue to make these kind of videos...

[@spectre8533]

Yes, there is. God criticize it all time.

[@marcoonlinetv7769]

Except, ELOHIM, the word for GOD itself in Bible always means 'GODS", there is no word in Bible for one God but for Gods

[@darth3911]

Marco OnlineTV it’s because there is God the father God the spirit and God the son the 3 in one

[@marcoonlinetv7769]

@@darth3911 Find that definition in Old testament ??? Verse please ???

[@marcoonlinetv7769]

@@darth3911 Jews were polytheist until Persian rule over Israel. From Persia Jews get Satan, Demons, Angels, Judgment day, second coming of God, magic ...all ides are from Zoroastrian preached for hundred of years. The Bible is edited many, many times !

[@spectre8533]

@@marcoonlinetv7769 Nah.

[@user-yj9qq2zd9i]

Michael, will you ever make a series on Reliability of Old Testament or Evidence for Exodus. I think that would be very interesting. Also, what do you think are good sources for evidence for Exodus?

[@InspiringPhilosophy]

2021

[@user-yj9qq2zd9i]

@@InspiringPhilosophy Wait, do you have a list of what topic you will cover in each year?:)

[@InspiringPhilosophy]

@@user-yj9qq2zd9i Yes, I update my donors every 3 months on unlisted live streams I do for all of my donors.

[@user-yj9qq2zd9i]

@@InspiringPhilosophy I learned from your channel and other channels that God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just must be real. I simply don't understand why atheists wouldn't simply say ,,Okay, He exists, I just don't wanna honor Him or love Him." I am not gonna guess why are they continuosly not convinced like you tried in Divine Hideness (no insult in this part of comment) but I just don't get WHY? Why not say at least ,,He is real, I just am not ready or willing to worship Him."? I...I don't understand why they don't simply admit like ,,Some god exists, but I don't believe in religions." I mean, even IF I leave Christ (God forbid it!), I will just never be ready to be atheist, but rather a deist. Atheism simply doesn't make sense to me.

[@thomasecker8897]

@@user-yj9qq2zd9i Same here.... and C.S Lewis, a former atheist, agreed with this. He considered atheism to be too simple and boylike in thought.

[@randomvideoblogs8012]

I like how you used the graphic from evid3nc3's video and you used the same monotone voice to begin your presentation too.

[@InspiringPhilosophy]

Glad someone noticed the connection.

[@acropolismauve8496]

Istvan Tomas I can’t believe I used to be an atheist and I used evid3nc3’s video and other atheist, youtubers as justification for my beliefs. In other words teenagers will always be idiots.

[@Rotisiv]

@Scourge Purger *incorret.

[@estebansteverincon7117]

Except that he *totally* left out evid3nc3's mentioning that king Josiah had reformed Judah's former polytheism (anyone can see this polytheism by merely searching "Ancient Canaanite Religion") by mandating the exclusive worship of Yahweh, forbidding all other forms of worship. The instruments and emblems of the worship of Baal and "the host of heaven" were removed from the Jerusalem Temple. 'Israel was always monotheistic and was worshiping Yahweh the whole time' *my ass* If you want _actual_ evidence that monotheism _did in fact evolve out of polytheism_ in the Levant, just compare Biblical passages with the Baal cylce: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHamlq2DjtqabsU

[@x-popone6817]

@@estebansteverincon7117 Did he ignore that in this video or in his response to evid3nc3? Because he made a response to him years ago, so perhaps you'll find an answer there.

[@greyworld6242]

Now I’m imagining a divine United Nations meeting, try picturing that.

[@pragavirtual]

Now imagine that they are not really divine, they are aliens, from the interestelar planet rescue workforce, wherever a planet (and theyr habitants) needs help, they come. They re not allowed to have intercourse with the natives, if they do, theyll not be permited to leave...

[@avenue4624]

I will say I do not always agree with what you say, but you do lay the info down in an easily digestible way. Thank you

[@ChristianityCommons]

I really appreciate how much time and work to make you took to make this! Keep it up Michael!

[@shin.511]

Great stuff brother God bless you!

[@ywwb]

Father, Son, Holy Spirit. 1 God, Amen

[@leonelhuicho174]

Interestingly, the Number of the Sons of God is 70, and the Number of the members of the Sanhedrin is also 70.

[@TheNikolinho]

and...back in Torah there were 70 something (forgot, sorry), and Jesus sent 70 besides the Twelve. (and supposedly 70 scholars translated Septuagint)

[@BlockyBookworm]

@@TheNikolinho In the Torah, I think it was seventy elders.

[@TheNikolinho]

@@BlockyBookworm as i remember, when the Israelites arrived "somewhere", it was 70 something and 12 something. maybe 12 palm trees or 12 wells, i forgot. but the 70 and 12 reminded me of Jesus' apostles and Jesus' disciples!

[@BlockyBookworm]

@@TheNikolinho As I remember, 70 elders and 12 tribal leaders, referred to with something resembling a designation as father or head of a household.

[@noescape2108]

7 is a symbolic number of completeness and perfection

[@daoholisticwellness945]

Great videos! Have you ever studied Chinese religions? They seemed to acknowledge many levels of gods, the highest ones were beyond sacrifice and offering, while the lowest ones are more demonic and sometimes want offerings of blood. They have their own cosmology for dealing with these different levels.

[@danielboone8256]

Well, if the Resurrection happened, isn’t Taoism false?

[@daoholisticwellness945]

Not necessarily. In fact the idea of someone transmuting their body is accepted in Taoism.

[@noescape2108]

Yes! I read Matteo Ricci and James Legge! Elohim can accurately be translated into Shen in Chinese. Tian/Shangdi and its similarities with the God of the Bible made me convert to the Catholic faith! To not forget in Chinese Theology you have the belief of a transcendent but also imminent God, through which he incarnated as a man. Sounds familiar? Logos = Dao, and Christ is the eternal logos! It is sad that the Neo-Confucianisms would have all converted to Christianity if it was not for the Confucian rite controversy. :(

[@P.H.888]

The Bodily Resurrection ✝️ Jesus Christ is The First 1 so The First Born in The New Creation! The Head, The body follows.... 🕊

[@lionelchan1601]

@@noescape2108 Peace, The Confucian Rite controversy parallels the Roman one. If Confucian rites are not idolatry and are a kind of civil contract, then early Christians refusing to pay respect to the Roman state also may have been causing difficulty needlessly. Just because an emperor claims embodiment of a kind of divinity, it does not follow that he is claiming to be "Most High". The drama and spectacle of it certainly was a factor in converting the empire though. Quite similar to how Holocaust histories have brought many to Judaism today. No question Christianity (via colonialism) brought modern ways and moral sentiments to the entire world, including other religions. The thought on this video may help to tweak things, to include a greater toleration of unseen powers (rather than a mere denial of their existence or blanket maligning of their goodwill) as part of the complex spiritual picture. Peace.

[@__.Sara.__]

I think I have myself sorted out on this. That was a scary experience to be on the verge of unbelief!

[@InspiringPhilosophy]

No worries, you can always email me if you need help. Also have you seen part 2 - kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJKVZ2N6ftiasLM

[@__.Sara.__]

@@InspiringPhilosophy I haven't, but I will! Thank you, IP.

[@saintfreezy6914]

this isnt the reason you shouldn't believe, Jesus didnt fulfill all Jewish prophecy

[@thesterrave]

@@saintfreezy6914not yet

[@pleaseenteraname1103]

One of your best documentaries for sure.

[@appalachiahiker853]

Hi IP i was Waiting this episode for 3 years bro. Thanks

[@vibrantphilosophy]

Great stuff Michael! I’ve been reading the books you recommended and they’ve been great!

[@HipHopNerdHarryGusto]

2:01 He explains why this polytheism was all over the place. Remember the bible picks up off the flood with an 80 yr old Abram. So at the time, it could be safe to assume He and Sara were the only monotheists. But Genesis 14: 18-20 Abraham gave tithes to the Melchizedek, the Lords High Priest aka Shem Noah's first son and founder of Salem what we call Jerusalem. So one only has to ask themselves, " Who taught Shem the ways of the Most High?" Noah of course. So right after the flood, there were LITERARY A 4-5, wives included, PEOPLE ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH THAT BELIEVED THAT THERE WAS ONE TRUE GOD! As to who those other deities, they are amalgamations of the heads of the tables of nations found in Genesis and depending on the gender the diety either Nimrod/Cush AKA Baby New Year and Father time, or Semiramis the mother goddess. Nimrod has a bunch of different names 2 of which appear in the bible. Nimrod in the before the fall of the tower of Babylon, Amraphel after the fall. Remember another name for Babylon is Shinar another one of his names is Gilgamesh . Ditto goes for Cush aka Prometheus, Minos , Aethiopia and Semiramis aka Diane, Easter, Isis. Some times even the main players in the bible get caught up in the some of the folklore of these older nations. If you squint just right there is lil bit of Abraham's story in Zeus story along with Shem, Japheth and Ham aka Zeus, Poseidon, Hades. The key take away is that there is only one true god, anyone that says otherwise need to do their research on the bible.

[@markuswmenezes]

Thanks for all of your work, Michael. God bless.

[@lionhound2506]

A real great job Mike!

[@rcbmmines4579]

Ran into a few atheists mocking the Judeo-Christian religions by claiming archaeological evidence suggests polytheism was the original religion of the Israelites. Really even without this excellent video, the Bible itself gives context for why that is so, but unbelievers will do whatever they can to not believe and mock us I guess. Thank you so much for this!

[@jameswoodard4304]

Concerning the first part of this video, this really isn't that difficult. Pagan religions often have deities who are worshipped as well as other spiritual beings such as functionaries, messengers, and lower good and/or evil spirits. Polytheists would believe in multiple ruling deities (arranged heirarchically and/or according to given spheres) as well as a host of various spirits, daimons, etc who were not deities. The Ancient monotheists, in contrast, believed in *only one* ruling deity along with a host of other spiritual beings such as messengers, evil spirits, etc. The distinction is mono-deity-ism vs poly-deity-ism. The fact that the Hebrew language lacked a lexical distinction between a deity and the generic class of non-physical beings does not negate the context regarding how the word is used. There *is* only one Deity, with none other beside Him, *and* there are a variety of other spiritual beings who are not shown to have any authority or rule (even derivative authority) other than evil spirits who set up an illegitimate false hierarchy (such as the Prince of Persia mentioned in Daniel). For instance, each time a member of the "divine counsel" besides YHWH Himself does something, it is shown as God allowing the functionary spirit to act in a strictly prescribed way that ultimately works out God's divine purposes anyway. The appearance of a problem only comes in because Biblical Hebrew only had one word to describe both of these contextually-distinct classes of being. This is in no way different from the picture we get later in the New Testament. The NT shows the One God, but also the existence of myriads of good and evil spiritual beings of different kinds. The only real difference (besides the further revelation of the Trinity) is that Koine Greek (as usual) contained specific words to distinguish between categories. Thus, the Hebrew scribes had elohim and...elohim, while the Greek Christian authors had Theos, daimones, etc. However, it is essentially the same picture. No one has a problem with good and bad spirits existing in the NT, so they shouldn't have any problem with the same being described in the OT. In both the Old and the New, those "gods" worshipped by the pagans are explained as empty, vain, useless statues which were, at most, utilized by demons to aid their deceptions. So pagan gods could alternatively be said to be non-existent fictional beings, and/or demons masquerading as deities. But any way you slice it, Old or New Testament, only one *deity* actually exists. That is the Biblical testimony from beginning to end.

[@Magnulus76]

Monotheism in Israel grew out of a desire for the Jerusalem temple priesthood to control the religious life of the people by making their god the only god, no different than the Aten cult in Egypt.

[@jameswoodard4304]

@@Magnulus76 , Do you have evidence of that, or are you just making bald assertions? We have well-established documentary evidence of pre-Akenaten religion among Egyptian society, so can chart their course from well-developed polytheism (with tendencies toward localized henotheism), through Akenaten's failed monotheistic revolution, and back to an intentional emphasis on the old polytheistic status quo. As for the Israelites, as soon as any group that we can identify as such exists, the *only* documentary evidence we have of them shows them in a cultural-religious struggle between worship of a single, national, monotheistic deity which is already in place vs. a generalized tendency by the populace toward adoption of or syncretism with identifiable *foriegn* deities and practices. Let me be clear, the Bible itself depicts the general population of Israelites as being devoted to foreign forms of paganism and syncretism throughout much of that people's history. The mere presence of pagan polytheism *among* the general population of Israelites is not evidence that this millieu was the *source* of Yawistic religion. It merely corroborates the Biblical account. There is good liguistic and literary justification to regard the texts of Genesis and Exodus as having been primarily products of the time period which they claim (ie. the very origins of Israel as a distinct people). These very early and *only* sources on the issue of the origins of the people and their culture predicate their very *identity* upon the identity of their unique and monotheistic God. And remember, the official temple priesthood were not the only ones contributing to the narrative. The prophets are revered sources of authority and divine revelation, often set *against* the authority of priests and kings, throughout Israel's ancient history. There were also competing centers of worship set up in places like Dan, Bethel, Samaria, etc. If YHWH merely developed out of a polytheistic millieu, and thus you are forced to assume a conspiracy by the Jerusalem priesthood to cover it up, why doesn't the truth survive in any alternate form of worship? And if the Jerusalem priesthood exercised such vast censorial power over the beliefs of the people, why did the admitted syncretism, the corruption of the priests themselves, and other such things make it in to the official records? You can't have it both ways. Either A) The Jerusalem priesthood created a religion out of whole cloth and had the power to erase its true origins; or B) the priesthood was so bad at its conspiracy that it allowed prophetic testimony of their own incompetence and corruption, testimony of widespread pagan practice and syncretism, and the setting up of rival centers to make it into the very scriptures you would claim they had such power over. The Biblical testimony bears out, quite pragmatically and realistically, the following picture: The people of Israel were, from the beginning, identified as a people by their central worship of a single, national, monotheistic Deity. However, this traditional religion was in a constant state of competition against various waves of pagan influence and attempts at syncretism. The Biblical record is demonstrably not the result of some single, late recension by a powerful elite, but an organic record of the reality on the ground as the people understood it. There is *no* other documentary information to refute the picture it portrays. Any variant theories, especially those requiring the presence of vast conspiracies to account for the material we do have, are pure Arguments from Silence, and/or speculative assertions posing as established fact.

[@jennalillywho]

Hi Mike, do you have a video where you share your personal story on how you came to believe in Jesus? I'm just curious. Thanks.

[@InspiringPhilosophy]

I do not, sorry

[@LTDLimiTeD1995]

Is there a current translation of the Bible which doesn't autotranslate all of the God terms as LORD and keeps these terms separated?

[@kah2623]

^^, if someone knows pls tell us

[@LTDLimiTeD1995]

@The FBI Typically, most if not all popular English Bible translations replace the various terms for used for God (Elohim, El, Adonai, YHWH, etc) as THE LORD or some such placeholder in almost every case I'm asking for a version that leaves these distinctions in tact as to see where it uses El, or Adonai, or uses Elohim.

[@user-ud5ev5zs3y]

​@@LTDLimiTeD1995Super late but the Legacy Standard Bible uses "Yahweh" throughout the bible where other translations use "THE LORD". The New Living Translation uses Yahweh sometimes and uses El Shaddai in Genesis 17:1, Genesis 35:11, and Exodus 6:3.

[@LTDLimiTeD1995]

@@user-ud5ev5zs3y awesome sauce!

[@nomixhaeel]

Great video. Note that “Elohim” does not even always mean a divine being. It could just mean a lord/elite person. For example, God tells Moses he (Moses) will be Elohim in Egypt (Exodus 7:1 - though translations often add the word “like” the actual Hebrew does not say “like Elohim”) “Elohim” is also used to refer to human judges in the Bible. So the best translation into English would be lord (as in a Lord in England or a landlord, not just like a god)

[@athembelemabiza3377]

Very helpful comment...thank you and GOD bless you...🙏

[@jpproductions4746]

this is actually false when god says Moses will be like Elohim he means that he will look like a god to them remember pharaoh was a god to the Egyptians and Elohim was never used for judges it was always just the divine and spiritual

[@nomixhaeel]

@@jpproductions4746 that is one interpretation, but not the interpretation of the Rabbis through the last two thousand years (the Talmud, midrash, Rashi, etc.), so not the way it was understood by those who actually spoke the language. So, even if your interpretation is correct, my point is that the word "Elohim" was understood more broadly by those who spoke it at the time.

[@jpproductions4746]

@@nomixhaeel you could be correct but more research points to my side

[@ReinaldoKyesse]

@@jpproductions4746 It really doesn’t

[@Murica2001]

Great work brother , can you please provide the links to the books and articles or journals you use so I can study . Thank you

[@zekdom]

17:28, 18:10 - Deuteronomy 32:8-9 and Psalm 82:1 19:06 - 2 Samuel 22:32 and Exodus 6:3 28:06, 28:45 - Psalm 24 and 29 29:30 - When reading Deuteronomy 32:8-9, read Deuteronomy 4:19-20 31:37 - Also, read Deuteronomy 32:39 and Deuteronomy 32:43 30:34, 30:49- What about Deuteronomy 32:21-22? See Deuteronomy 32:19-29 and Deuteronomy 32:39,43 35:06, 35:24, 36:00, 36:16 - What about God standing in Psalm 82? 37:18 - Is God equal with the others in Psalm 82:1? Read Numbers 14:14

[@marydetray6776]

Thanks for going into such depth on this and for taking it seriously instead of just scoffing at it and brushing it off, it's nice to get a detailed refutation on it. God bless ❤

[@paradisecityX0]

When you do your vid on the Flood and Noah/Zuisudra/Atrahasis/Utnapishtim, you go with the Black Sea Flood right? With Noah being the last of the Ubaid?

[@InspiringPhilosophy]

April

[@rosered6876]

Thank you so much for these. You've taught me so much.

[@EdKidgell]

Excellent summary of a difficult concept!

[@Matthew_Holton]

The hebrews were polytheist before the Babylonian exile. The influence of Zoroastrianism lead them in creating the Pentateuch to a monotheistic position. There is little remaining of the polytheism in the OT, aside from the separate references to El and Yahweh (who were originally two different gods). Some apologists try to excuse this by saying 'El' is a general word for god, which it is, but it is taken from the name for a particular god. The archaeological evidence in Judea and surrounding areas clearly show that Baal, Asherah, Mardok and others were worshipped right up to and even after the return from exile in 332 BC, after which a monotheistic Judiasm centred on the temple in Jerusalem became the official religion of Judea.

[@PudimOMG]

El and YHWH are The same God(Exodus 6:3), He Just have two names. But Yes, Israelitas worshiped many gods in more than one periods. But Zorastrism dont had influence on Judaism bruh

[@Matthew_Holton]

@@PudimOMG No, the Canaanite pantheon had many gods. El and Yahweh were distinctly different. Yahweh had a wife named Asherah, for example. The Hebrews were polytheist until well after the return from exile.

[@Aurealeus]

Your assessment is precise and correct. This video really doesn't take into consideration the greater Mesopotamian influences on the Levant or that the reason YHWH and El is considered the same deity by some, is because YHWH, (who was originally the deity of the Shasu tribe and later became a Canaanite deity) absorbed the attributes of El after the Israelites converted to monotheism. Not to mention, the bible writers weren't writing history, they were telling stories about a specific peoples culture and and twisted the stories to whatever they wanted them to demonstrate.

[@GarfieldRex]

Excellent videos. Watched Trey the explainer one, but this is just so much better sourced and thought.

[@bipin_here_]

Can you send link?

[@Lgnno10125]

Sometimes things like confuse me and i dont know how to handle them. But i remember what the good Lord said to do, focus on him. I may not ever understand all of this stuff, but i can have faith in Christ. And its all ill ever need. Im sure ill better understand on the other side anyway. God bless IP, you've been an inspiration!

[@freddielittle9825]

Scripture says there is only one God and our Lord and savior Jesus Christ said the same thing it is written there is only one name that has been given unto men in which we might be saved and that name is Jesus Christ ❤

[@karimelmasry2158]

Hey IP could you do a video refuting the claims that the early church was binitarian and didn’t see the Holy Spirit as God

[@leonelhuicho174]

That's a Hard One, I'd Say that the Spirit of God is described as personal on some parts of Genesis But that's the last part I'm making on My research for the trinity.

[@chapter404th]

The Holy Spirit is God’s presence in us. God is one, Jesus is God, the Holy Spirit is God, and they are One being, not three.

[@kimoelmasry784]

Abraham Girt yes but I heard many claims that this view was the most common

[@chapter404th]

@Blah Blahblah this was a year ago. I don’t subscribe to oneness doctrine anymore. I believe God the Father is the one true God, that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father, and that our Lord Jesus is the Word (expression) of the Father.

[@morielrorschach8090]

Lots of these videos are popping up suggesting Yehovah is a copy of the canaanite El. Close... but backwards. Canaanites broke off from following Yehovah. They didnt forget him entirely and made their own stories about him. But canaanite religion is a copy of the biblical account, not the other way around.

[@Mairiain]

Why are the sons of God/El in Deut 32 suddenly divine beings when they are human kings in Genesis 6? You've done a good job here but I think your biases or preconceptions marred your video on Genesis 6. We have to consider what the entire Bible says about a topic or event, which you didn't quite do for the Genesis 6 argument. Regarding this video, the Israelites were polytheists; look at the archaeology and the judgment passed on them by God for their behavior. The editors of the Bible were monotheists and the Jews did not become monotheistic until after the return from exile and even more so by the 1st and 2nd centuries CE.

[@army-st3dx]

@@luannesantana5642 so God of israel is Creator of whole universe and other dieties are also being created by him

[@amandaw9852]

Not really. Other “gods” are demons.

[@TheIZproductions]

i watch a scary story youtube channel that has this same music. threw me off for this video

[@joshbane7671]

Do you recognize me?

[@TheIZproductions]

@@joshbane7671 lol hey Hector nice to meet you again

[@joshbane7671]

@@TheIZproductions XD, nice seeing you too. I tried to change my KZbin name to my discord name, but it no bueno mi brain. XD, glad to see you about here.

[@TheIZproductions]

@@joshbane7671 yea it's a small world

[@phoneguy4815]

This is easy. 1. There are many gods (1Cor 8:5-6)), yet only one God. 2. Only One is the Most High (Psalm 97:9). 3. Only One was before and after all. (Isaiah 43:10). This is easy. Its monotheism. The bible explains itself. Peace yall!

[@MegaAppleMan12]

Amen brother many demons and rebellious spirits out there posing as 'gods' but there is one true God the LORD Jehovah! All the other 'gods' are false gods

[@oliverwilson4516]

@@MegaAppleMan12 There are no "rebellious" spirits.

[@theboi553]

I’ve been waiting for this one, I’m excited.

[@lalumierehuguenote]

Perfect ! I am happy cause there was a few things I sis not know. Thank you a lot ! Really great sources as well. Varied. Gos bless

[@jackharper6448]

If you read the Bible it clearly states that the original inhabitants of what it is now Israel were the canaanites and YES! they were polytheist. That explains the polytheist artifacts found in that area of the land. It then states that God lead the Jews from Egypt into that land.

[@Eyammovie]

I agree that Jews were monotheistic... But what you said don't hold a water. It's from the time of Solomon and onward that polytheistic artifacts were found... So what you said don't count

[@mrswagmeister1859]

Some points here I agree with, Some I don’t and are also disputed by the authors that you use for other arguments. Your argument that the “sons of El” in Deut 32 could be correctly read as “sons of Israel” is poor and disputed by virtually every author quoted in your presentation who all agree that this is an intentional change to hide plural divine beings. Deut 4, a passage that the author uses himself to argue that El and YHWH are the same being, is ironically itself textual proof that the original Deut 32 should be understood as sons of El, not Israel. The allotment is among the host of Heaven, not the mortal sons of Israel. Secondly, it has been ignored here that the scholarly work of Alan Segal who not only acknowledges the historical existence of Rabbinical teaching of plural “El”s but the use of the title “YHWH” for entities that are not themselves God, but his emissaries. Lastly, I would argue that the point of Christ’s claim was that He was the Lord of Israel. He is saying often that the Father gave Him his people. In the NT perspective of Deut 32, YHWH (Jesus) is a recipient of his allotment from El (the Father). In the model Jesus presents, he consistently shows an idea of a father giving inheritance to a son. We don’t ever see Jesus presenting a situation where he gives his sons things, but keeps something for himself.

[@JewessChrstnMystic]

@@Harvesterain I've wondered this myself.

[@jedediahmyers7495]

I feel like the hugest flaw with this analysis is that it doesn't at all cover the actual contents of the Baal cycle, which are pretty important in showing why scholars come to the conclusions they do. Within the context of the work by itself, your argument sort of makes a ton of sense. Hence why the Essenes, isolated from the Canaanite pantheon for hundreds of years and obsessed with the ideas of angels would come to similar conclusions. But within the context of the Bronze Age Levant however, the writings are very consistent with Baal cycle myths of a younger warrior god with storm imagery overthrowing and supplanting an allfather figure. One thing that isn't explored in this video is that El is lower than Baal in the Ugaritic pantheon, who is King of the Gods by conquest. Which is consistent with his archetype, as seen in Marduk, Ashur, and Enlil. That both Baal and El were, in some form, creators as El is the initial former and Baal accomplishes the role of slaying a serpent that the world we know is made from, while standing over the surface of a great sea. It's important to know this context because otherwise the decisions of the ancient Israelites sound insane. Why, for example, did the Israelites randomly decide to start worshipping a constructed bull in the desert? The later collator of the text ascribes this to worshipping another deity. But El, in the first section of the Baal Cycle, and in other places, is referred to in terms of Bull and Cow imagery. In the context of wherever this story originated, a number of plausible scenarios would explain this. 1) The Bull is an idol of El and violates the graven image precept or 2) The Bull is an idol of El as a separate entity from YHWH, either triggering his jealousy. The Israelites also frequently name their children with Baal names. Names that would be explicitly offensive to YHWH, their national deity, if they perceived Baal as being separate. But this is where we get to the part where we have to explain that Baal wasn't a character in of himself, but a role played by your head national deity. Because Baal simply means "Lord" and has cognate titles with the other national Gods. The Baal of the Baal Cycle is Hadad, just as YHWH was likely considered, even by his most devoted servants to be their Baal. Hence why Gideon's name is Jerubaal. The explanation of Gideon's name in the Bible is incorrect. But if it simply means "the Lord Strives" it would remain consistent with the behavior of a strict Yahwehist. Bealiah/Baalyah is an Israelite name that makes it explicit that Israelites conflated the two, literally meaning "Yah is Baal" or Baal is Lord. This is not to say I think this a bad exercise, but I think you can perform apologetics for the bible within the context of Evolutionary Monotheism.

[@tj2636]

Notice how the content creator refuses to respond to objections on his video...🤔

[@ajhproductions2347]

Always love your videos. They really get the gears turning. Thank you brother!

[@SandeepVerma-bf1ry]

Brother plz add subtitles also in your videos....Its difficult for Hindi speaking people like me from India.

[@InspiringPhilosophy]

If you make them in the proper format I can add them.

[@brucequinones6951]

What is the proper format that we should have for you to add subtitles brother?

[@SandeepVerma-bf1ry]

@@brucequinones6951 No brother I was'nt talking about Hindi subtitile... I only want english subtitles..Because we Indians dont have so much fluent english to understand american speaking english......Whenever I see the debate of Ip with young earther/atheists ,I have to see the debate 2 times .Thats all... Ip's videos are short cut and best to cover whole christianity.2 days earlier I was reading John waltons book "The lost world of Adam and Eve",suggested by Ip .And Ip's video on Eve from Adams Rib gave me great help in that topic...... So it would be great if Ip's video have english subtitles also.......

[@SandeepVerma-bf1ry]

@@brucequinones6951 Indians understand English very well.But the problem comes in speed and pronounciation.Americans/Britishers have very fast and different pronounciation skills as compared to Indian english guys.

[@XD-lz5qp]

@@SandeepVerma-bf1ry you worship a god who couldn't even protect himself from the Romans Coward God 😂

[@user-io2ls6lt6t]

For "Set Among Cosmic Waters" you gave Psalm 29:47 I think you meant 29:10

[@gracethesinner8395]

Here because you're trolling David on his livestreams

[@InspiringPhilosophy]

That is what I do!

[@gracethesinner8395]

InspiringPhilosophy legendary!

[@PersianApologetics]

Thank you IP ❤ I was having a fairh crisis Over this issue Love your videos from Iran ❤️

[@aniketeuler6443]

Very beautifully explained in great detail God bless you abundantly 😃

[@tyronelol]

The bible does not promote paganism and has always been about the divine creator of the universe. (Monotheism)

[@tyronelol]

@Djedhi Scribe I agree the church has been corrupt for a long time.

[@qcbtbx]

Wow, excellent treatment!

[@truthovertea]

This is extremely helpful to put in to context things like Christine Hayes and other scholars say

[@nealswanson8684]

What's the first commandment again?

[@mugglescakesniffer3943]

You cannot be King of Kings and Lord of Lords if there are no other Kings and Lords?

[@cyberfilmproductions8987]

Earthly kings?

[@mugglescakesniffer3943]

@@cyberfilmproductions8987 ? Lord of Lords and King of Kings according to Christianity are two titles of Yahweh the war god.

[@cyberfilmproductions8987]

@@mugglescakesniffer3943 "Yahweh the war god."? Do you know anything about Christianity.

[@mugglescakesniffer3943]

@@cyberfilmproductions8987 Christianity worships yahwey the war god, Jesus the christian god and a Holy spirit. But they think it's all one god.

[@cyberfilmproductions8987]

@@mugglescakesniffer3943 Yahwey is not a war god. What religion are you if you have one?

[@solomonessix6909]

The council of the Elohim within the bible is somewhat similar to the earlier Sumarian mythology where there were other beings, but one of the Anunaki wanted to be recognized as the highest of all. This is a literal power grab!

[@savedbygrace7509]

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:” - Deuteronomy 6:4 (KJV) “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” - 1 Timothy 2:5 (KJV) “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” - 1 John 5:7 (KJV) In the bible there is only ONE GOD that who created everything. A powerful God. But there is ONE SATAN who imitated God.. Thats why in the Bible there are many gods. In Egypt there are more than 2000 gods. Because of satanic beliefs.

[@LiberatedMind1]

This is good evidence that Yahweh = Elohim, but the bible still acknowledges other Gods existing.

[@voldibayizitunda2178]

Yes other gods not other Gods. God refers to the one true God. Remember all other gods are false gods, demons or evil supernatural beings

[@NinjaPandallnight]

Elohim. Is plural for gods

[@NinjaPandallnight]

Yahweh = Enlil

[@sophiawilson8696]

@@NinjaPandallnight or Yahweh and EL

[@BananaSundae82]

When the Bible’s lore is bigger than you thought be like:

[@annoyingdude76]

I honestly thought that this was pretty obvious. Nevertheless great video, keep em coming

[@histguy101]

There are a couple of widely seen documentaries(I believe BBC) from the last 20 years or so that pose a dichotomy of "The Israelites were actually pagan" as if opposed to the biblical narratives. And a misconception has arose. You can search something like "Did God have a wife?" It's in the nature of network documentaries to pose a controversy and build up such a dichotomy, then pretend to "reveal a hidden truth," but these are picked up on by the audience not necessarily familiar with the subject and become "popular narratives." I see such things repeated quite often.

[@georgedoyle7971]

I thought it was pretty obvious too but fake news and misinformation spreads like wild fire if it’s compatible with peoples intellectualism including confirmation/attrition bias. A perfect example of this is the absurd belief there’s no burden of proof if you insist that the qualitative subjective experience of love family, altruism, morals, ethics, meaning and purpose, that is consciousness can be explained away by materialism (scientism) and is just an illusion created by “brain chemicals” and that our loved ones, family, partner and children are nothing more than chemical/biological robots.

[@Jim-Mc]

Yeah not to be dramatic but this shows the kind of attempts at mind control that exist. Set up a straw man and shoot it down.

[@brandonruiz1522]

Is John 1:1 a god? No. go with J. H. Moulton on how to understand the meaning of John 1:1c, in that the indefinite θεος describes the nature of the λογος (within the context of the verse) rather than identifying his person. This is by far the most common explanation of the indefinite θεος in John 1:1. For example Alford ("God, in substance and essence, not - ο θεος, 'The Father,' in person), A. B. D. Alexander ("actually identical in essence with God"), Stevans ("John here uses ο θεος to denote specifically the Father - the central seat and fountain of divinity - and θεος to denote the category of divine nature or essence in which the Son, equally with the Father, partakes"), B. Weiss ("participation a la nature divine"), Barclay ("the Word beloings to the same sphere of being as God"), Karl Rahner ("suggests a kind of conceptual generality"), Zerwick and Grosvenor ("shared the God-ness of God"), Harmer and Ellis ("stresses a qualitative identity while maintaining a numerical distinction from God the Father) Thus, I would translate John 1:1 as something like "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word shared the same essence as God"

[@brandonruiz1522]

While the Greek lacks the definite article on theos in the clause under discussion, that doesn't mean the English should be translated with an indefinite article. Greek and English do not enjoy a one-to-one relationship between their words. There are times in Greek when the article is present but not translated into English. Likewise, there are places where the article is not present in the Greek but the English requires it, or in this case, requires something to show the definiteness of the word. Example 1: John 18:16 in Greek literally says: "...the disciple, the other, the one known to the high priest..." That's horrible English. So it gets translated (rightly) as "the other disciple, who was known to the high priest." As you can see the word order changed coming into English as well as two definite articles dropping out. Example 2: John 1:1 contains another example of a time without an article in Greek but needed in English. It says, "en arche 'en o logos..." that is (literally) "In beginning was the Word." Notice that there is no definite article before arche. However, even the New World Translation puts the article there. That is how it should be. To leave it out would cause confusion in the English "In a beginning was the Word..." That implies that there were multiple beginnings to the universe, but that isn't what the Bible teaches. It's a difference in Greek and English. Likewise, the Septuagint of Genesis starts with *en arche.*

[@StephenWebb1980]

A good amount of angELs names end in EL. Raphael, Michael, Belial, Azrael etc

[@skoo6588]

Good call

[@han-sooyoung]

how about israEL

[@TheBanjoShowOfficial]

To be honest, the very likely possibility that all of the surrounding Israel which the prophets inhabited was corrupted with confusion about who was _God_ under a pantheon of other “gods,” but they exhibit the sobriety and revelation to parse through the false gods and know who is the one true God, regardless of human name attributed (given that in the video it is explained that El and YHWH could be used interchangeably in Deut. 32:8 when looking in greater context) actually makes me appreciate the Bible that much more. It’s not God that wrote it, but it’s man with the spiritual revelation allowing specific individuals from his chosen people to dissect who is the true God and who isn’t, but having the understanding of when the names of the God are less important than recognizing _God_ in the manner of which he exhibits his attributes. Because _that_ is the one true God. We already know that the early Israelites, even post-Egyptian Exile in exodus incorporated certain Egyptian elements into their framework for the tabernacle with the ark of the covenant. We know that, but does that make it false? No, if anything, it’s makes the God of Israel that much more human and historically verifiable by definition because it gives us a point of reference to show that the accounts are based in real history, not fiction. And not only that, but that God is using the elements of his creation, even human cultures, and even ones already prevalent in the minds of the chosen people, to convey his message of Majesty across. Again, this just places the God we know as YHWH on the human timeline much more visibly. Again, these are humans trying to understand the place that God holds in the world, and incredibly, they do quite an incredible job of conveying it. Moreover, that in God’s mercy he gives to us his only begotten Son far later in time where civilizations have advanced so that we might, without any failure in recognition, know that _He_ is the one true God and belief in him is the only way. Like I’m sorry atheists and skeptics, but there’s no getting around the absurdly spooky congruity between Old Testament and New Testament in places that shouldn’t even be possible and aren’t mentioned in any of the letters or the gospels, not that they aren’t relevant, but in case we have ultra-incredulous skeptics that want to believe it’s all designed to fit a narrative. Watching Paul in Acts 17:28 using those poet’s words is enough to send a shiver down one’s spine because it breaks the mental boundary that this is simply “our God and it’s not yours,” no, Paul is saying “there IS but ONLY ONE GOD and I’m trying to show you who it is, because it’s not for me or for you, it is for all of us and he died on that cross and rose for us. That’s _why I’m here.”_

[@sathviksidd]

Hey brother, have you got any video on penal substitution?

[@vansantos5772]

Bottom line is that Israel did often worship other "gods" and they were in error. If there were no other "gods" then the first commandment is useless. Even the God of the universe knew they worshiped false "gods", but it doesn't make it right.

[@MetalSandman999]

Well of course. The real question is, what are these "gods"? Are they real, living beings just like the LORD who are as much a deity as He is? Are they false gods that exist only in the minds of their followers and in the form of inanimate, physical idols created to represent them? Are they something in between, like real loving beings created by the one true, uncreated God who became the objects of worship as a resukt of sin (like Michael Heiser teaches)? Needless to say, the first option is out of the question in a Christian worldview. I lean towards the second, though the third is tenable so long as a strict delineation is kept between the uncreated God of Israel and the created beings who went astray.

[@histguy101]

@@MetalSandman999 "They have legs but cannot walk. They have mouths but cannot speak."

[@MetalSandman999]

@@histguy101 That's why I lean towards the second option lol

[@phoneguy4815]

My understanding. There are many gods, yet these are created. "There are many gods" - Paul. Yet, there is only ONE who is the Most High. That is why he is called "The Most High". All other gods were created, gods mean one with mighty power. God is the God of gods. El of el.

[@vansantos5772]

Phone Guy I’m pretty sure they are real and are the fallen angels who rebelled against God. They have power and in comparison to us they are “gods”, but have no power compared to the Creator God. The Bible teaches that behind every idol there are entities which is why God commanded against creating these idols.

[@tonyagosto6093]

I remember Jacob told his household to put away their foreign gods

[@sencorbrn33u22]

Thank you so much for this video, I almost left the faith over this issue. God bless you friend!!!!! 👍👍👍👍👍

[@perseveranceiskey7353]

I always found it strange what was said in the 10 commandments. “Thou shalt not have any gods before Me”. Is if to imply there are more gods...

[@followschrist9236]

Perseverance Is Key “idolatry” anything you put before Christ as a necessity “drugs, alcohol, sex, money etc.” would therefore be your god.

[@nonprogrediestregredi1711]

The commandment referenced here is actually a mistranslation of the Hebrew. It more accurately says "Thou shalt have no other gods in my presence". Source: Mark Smith of Princeton Theological Seminary. And yes, it presupposes the existence of other gods. Not only that, but the Genesis 1:26 verse states "Then God said, 'Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness...'", which also presupposes the existence of other gods. Beyond that, the bible references the gods Baal and Asherah, reminiscent of the proto-isrealite's polytheistic/henotheistic origins.

[@tobynobel5671]

@@nonprogrediestregredi1711 I'm pretty certain that thecommandment mentioned is referring to idolatry, people were worshipping cows, statues made from trees, etc, not actual other gods, and the "create mankind 'in our image' is the Trinity, father God, Jesus, holy spirit. Which has been confirmed by Hebrew scholars in its translation.

[@nonprogrediestregredi1711]

@@tobynobel5671 You're pretty certain that the commandment is referring to idolatry? I would love to know how exactly you're convinced of that and what evidence you have to support that assertion. Mark Smith of Princeton Theological Seminary and Christine Hayes of Yale university would disagree with you, as scholars are aware that the Israelites were once polytheistic. Beyond that, William Propp, emeritus history professor at UCSD, has noted how the first two commandments are the parallels of reforms made by Akhenaten, the 14th century b.c.e king of Egypt. The taking of concepts and narratives from surrounding cultures would be consistent with much of the Hebrew bible; there is a long list of preceding ideas that the Israelites incorporated into their texts. Also, I would love to know what Hebrew scholars confirm the trinity interpretation you asserted. I'm extremely skeptical of that claim also.

[@neerajkumar-vp9yu]

One God One Faith and One Bible Shalom!!!!

[@Qohelethful]

This is such a great channel.

[@reginaldodonoghue9253]

Have you read Benjamin Sommer's essay on biblical monotheism? Our evidence for polytheism in Israelite archaeology is actually rather meager.

[@reginaldodonoghue9253]

@Christian Slayer It is, if you read the essay

[@ReasonedAnswers]

Very interesting and thorough treatment of this material. I think the key point to remember is that "monotheism" and "polytheism" are modern terms that don't reflect ancient thought. So, as you note, if an ancient Israelite was asked "do you believe in one elohim?" they would probably say "it what sense?" since the question is ambiguous. The best short explanation of the Biblical worldview is that "other gods" are both real and not real at the same times. They are real in that they people who believed in them acted accordingly and thus they controlled people's lives. They are not real in that they have no actual power since Yahweh alone is sovereign. To try to pigeon hole ancient belief into modern categories is anachronistic. However, all the evidence shows that the Biblical writers view was compatible with what we call monotheism.

[@soldierofchrist7343]

I haven't slept all night and just have been watching random videos from your channel. Note to self don't study deep theological and philosophical concepts after basically not sleeping for 3 days. My tired brain almost convinced me you were some secret Jehovah's Witness or something like that. Until I actually started to understand by what you meant Elohim, and then my brain started to calm down about the existence of the divine council. I should really go to bed after Church today.

[@fatstrategist]

What's up with Christians and anime? I swear every other Christian comment either has a Cross/Jesus or an Anime profile picture 🤣🤣

[@deepstrasz]

Apologetics are always awesome when not emotional and offensive.

[@scottpreston3892]

What this shows is that no religion is truly monotheistic. Every one has plurality of supernatural powers. The angels, demons, and saints fill the same roles in the hierarchy of the heavenly host as the minor gods, monsters, and human heroes of other pantheons.

[@MetalSandman999]

True. Although religions like Judaism, Christianity (the ambiguity of the idea of a Trinity notwithstanding), and Islam do make a clear delineation between the one uncreated God and created beings. The one true God figure in these religions is not simply a greater deity than the rest; this God is a categorically different being because He is the only living being that is uncreated; everything else is His creation.

[@silvertheelf]

...this is people being like “HEHE NOOOOOO! WE WANT ONE!”

[@arglesmith]

Great video! This is really helping me. Could you explain the position that Mark S. Smith is coming from in his works? Is he implying a syncretism of a polytheistic Israel leading to Monotheism in the Iron Age?

[@TheNikolinho]

great video

[@rolinapainter8874]

Thank you so much for your videos. I started reading BAS magazine and my faith has been shaken, but you have addressed here an issue that has caused me doubt. Please keep up the great Christian apologetics!

[@lalumierehuguenote]

Shaken to become stronger ! That's why people need sound teaching so that they can stand and not fade away when the attacks come. Great that you overcome ! What's bas magazine?

[@thomasecker8897]

@@lalumierehuguenote BAS is an acronym for the Biblical Archaeological Society.

[@rolinapainter8874]

Thanks for your rejoicing and answer. I read few BAS articles now. I’m slogging through a book by James Hoffmeier right now on the Exodus. A little scholarly for me, but hopefully fruitful. God’s grace, prayers of friends and fellowship have kept the faith meter higher on faith than doubt. Christian apologetics are a blessing.

[@thomasecker8897]

@@rolinapainter8874 That they are, my friend.... that they are.