The concept of monotheism has always bothered me. Â How can someone believe in only one God? Â Even if they are deluded to the point that they believe they can communicate with a higher being, how do they know it’s the same being every time. Surely any being that was capable of such communication, or a being approaching omnipotence, would be aware of any prior communications, and as such would be able to appear as the same being.
So believing in a single God is possibly more illogical than believing in multiple Gods. Â Now, we know that logic isn’t a strong point of those who follow religion, but surely there must be some reason why people choose to believe that there is only one God, and it happens to be the one they worship.
The obvious answer is that the Holy Books say that the God of that particular book is the only God. Â Take the Bible for example, specificly Isaiah 44:6 in which the Judeo-Christian God (Yahweh) states:
“There is no God Beside Me”
As a reader of this blog you’ll know that religions have a vested interest in making you believe that their God is the only God, so shouldn’t be trusted. Â But even if you did take the Bible as “gospel”, it’s not as clear cut as one might think.
Looking at the 10 commandments, the foundations of Christian Morality (and self-preservation), we see that Yahweh acknowledges that there are other Gods out there. Â Specifically:
“You shall have no other gods before me”
Like most of the Bible, this can be interpreted in a number of ways. Â Upon first reading the natural response is to take this as Yahweh accepting there are other Gods and trying to assert his superiority over them. Â There is a subtle but important difference between “don’t believe in any other Gods” and “don’t worship any other Gods over me”. Â Any logical person would surely see this as a confession that other Gods exist.
But as I mentioned earlier, logic is not the religious person’s strong point, and as such they have attempted to explain away this little problem. Â The most popular “explanation” is that the commandment is referring to temptations, worldly goods etc., rather than actual Gods. Â This, of course, is patently ridiculous. Â To interpret the word “God” here as meaning something other than a supreme deity opens the possibility of interpreting it elsewhere in the Bible in the same way. Â Unless, of course, you choose to selectively apply this interpretation in the same way many Christians selectively believe only parts of the Bible. Â This undermines the entire concept of Yahweh as a deity as proposed by the Bible.
The commandment is not the only hint that the writers of the Bible (bearing in mind it’s inspired by God) thought there was more than one God.  The observant amongst you might have noticed that part way through Genesis the way God is referred to changes.  Initially the word “Elohim” is used.  Elohim is generally used as a plural, referring to Gods of polytheism.  Much like the attempts to dismiss the use of the word “God” in certain circumstances, many have tried to claim that in some circumstances it refers to multiple Gods, whilst in others it refers to a single deity.  Their deity, of course.  Part way through Genesis, the word Elohim is replaced by Yahweh.
This is a complicated subject, and remains a point of debate. Yahweh and Elohim are Hebrew words that have been translated into English. Â The commandment example used in the beginning of this post actually uses the word “Elohim” (translated to “Gods”), which only serves to underline and reenforce the points I made.
I’m interested in your opinions on this. Â I find the explanations provided by theists hard to swallow. Â There’s an inherent lack of logic underlying the counter points that just doesn’t sit right. Â Admittedly much of this is word play, but when religion is primarily based on a book, wordplay, and the interpretation of the language used, becomes a point of upmost importance.
i am interested
Congratulations on bringing up a well accepted point that’s been discussed in comparative religious texts and lectures for the better part of the century.
Nothing new under the sun.
No need to congratulate me. Don’t assume that everyone has the same level of knowledge as yourself. Even if this is new to only one person who reads it, then it is still worth exploring.
It’s new to me! thanks for the info
I found a very interesting article that explains that there is one God (the God family) comprising more than one God Being. http://www.gnmagazine.org/issues/gn41/youaregods.htm
Reading your article only strengthens my faith.
Dont try and prove the illogicality of Christianty, when your arguement is filled with misinterpretation, irrationality and unsubstantiated evidence.
Thankyou & God bless,
Lucas.
Hi Lucas, thanks for commenting.
There are two ways one might deal with a challenge to one’s faith. The first, and the one you’re taking, is to bury your head in the sand. To dance around the issues and to maintain the status quo because of fear. It’s understandable, especially for those who were indoctrinated at an early age. The other option is to seek the truth, to look at both sides of the argument carefully and honestly. Instead of dismissing points that are opposed to your own, I hope that one day you’l take the time to fully explore them.
Hi Athiest,
Thanks for replying.
I can understand where you come from when you talk about burying ones head in the sand, but you talk about fear. I dont fear your conceptualization of the truth, in that there is no God. I dont fear your belief that there will be no God when I die, for even when I do die I have nothing to lose, if I am wrong about my faith and there is no God when I die then I havent lost anything, I wont have a God to answer to will I? and I will die like you. On the other hand if you die in denial about the existance and teachings of Christ and the law of God, then wont you have everything to lose?
How can you comment on matters of truth? you dont know the truth, it is simply your OPINION that there is not God.
Thankyou & God bless,
Lucas
There’s still the chance they believed in the wrong god.
Christians are always telling me “It’s win-win. If I’m right, then I go to heaven, if you’re right then I just won’t exist so it doesn’t matter.”
Well, if your god isn’t real, what if say, another one is. What if Zeus is the real god? Well then you’d better get sacrificing to him and living a life of virtue according to Olympian teachings or you’re going straight to Tartarus to hang out with the rest of people who foolishly believed in a Free Lunch (See: Salvation by Grace)
Try to argue against that without using circular reasoning. I know it’s hard, but try.
Lucas, the Atheis is saying his opinion but he built his opinion on the bible verses, which clearly point that there are more gods beside Yahweh. He didn’t make this up. It turns that atheist read bible with more attentions and understanding than christians. How sad. Read these verses very carefully:
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the children of men, he set the bounds of the peoples
according to the number of the children of Israel. For Yahweh’s portion is his people.
Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
Deuteronomy 32:8-9
Pay attention that there is Most High and Yahweh. Structure of the sentence gives us the meaning that there is Most High and other gods. Yahweh is among other gods. In all translation I checked there were Most High and Yahweh or Lord used. Most High separeted people, Yahweh gets his deal.
OK some clarifications. If you define “higher beings” as gods, then even Christians accept multiple deities: the angels.
If you mean “infinite being” by God, then, clearly there can only be one.
The rest of the post is just made up of red herrings:
eg of course I have a vested interest in Christianity. I also have a vested interest in promoting opera. It is not strange or sinister for me to promote my interests…
eg unlike us atheists, theists are illogical. Alas the divide is not so neat. Both camps have both geniuses and idiots.
eg the book of Exodus is emphatic that there is just one God (and that therefore the multiple “gods” of paganism are don’t exist). Judaism makes no sense without this. Are you really saying that Israelites both made up the Bible and their own monotheistic faith, but were too stupid to get them to match on this fundamental point? A little Hebrew (I have done 2 only two years) or indeed any Semitic language is sufficient to clarify all points raised here (as well as Ateizam’s confusion.
The bottom line is that when Christians claim that they believe in the existence of one God and only one God, it is all very well for an atheist to show that they are wrong in this belief, but to have an atheist arrogantly informing us that in fact we do not believe in one God but in many is too much. [If you genuinely want explanations of YHWH and Elohim and Most High by all means ask, but I don’t think you are being genuine here.]
You can deny god a million times he will not deny you once belief is stronger than disbelief love is positive hate is negative I do NOT know what a ATHEIST believes in but I know EVIL believes in god.
I have done and seen some wonder full things round me and others I have seen evil and angels to much to write about so I listen to all your comments the strange thing is you are all right and all wrong.the truth is we are all very vunruble.Psychics Acult I feel we are being played with like puppets on a string we psychics should be able to answer the questions better but we cant.We all have different abilities we don’t all get on with each other all giving different answers to the same questions I am no wiser when i became a seer i just see a lot more confusion.TRUTH half is real and half is delusion of some sort BUT IT SHOULD NOT BE IGNORD
I honestly find your view interesting, but poorly researched. This may have been through lack of preperation or understanding, or you may simply be ignoring the facts to create a strategic contrivance.
It’s probably not worth sorting through the various impurities within that piece, but the first thing I’d like to clear up, is that “Elohim” contains the “-im” ending common to many Hebrew plural nouns, but “Elohim” is used as grammatically singular and takes a singular verb from the Hebrew Bible. That word is not an exception, as the Hebrew word for “owner” (ba’alim) also contains the “-im” suffix, but is still considered singular in modern Hebrew. So therefore, the overwhelming consensus is that the Hebrew Bible promotes monotheism, and you’re claim of “Elohim” referencing numerous Gods is unsupported on linguistical terms.
On His latter name, “Yahweh”, this is basic knowledge to anybody who is well versed in hermaneutics. The Judeo-Christian God, is what scholars call, a “revealed God”. During the allegorical creation (an ingenious attack on neighbouring polytheism), God does not have a personal name because he is unknown to his creation. In the passage of Exodus 3:14, God, for the first time, reveals his name to Moses at the famous burning bush. He gives his name because Moses has no idea what to call Him in the presence of the pharoah. Elohim tells Moses to call him “Yahweh”, meaning “I am that I am”. This clearly states the trancendal nature of the Hebrew God, and infusing mystery into his nature. Notice how he “reveals” himself progressively (Christ himself, paraphrases it numerous times in the New Testament)?
Also, last thing. The commandment you speak of is a clear reference to existentialism which is prevalent throughout the Bible (even more so in the NT). The Hebrew God obviously knows that he is the only existing deity, but his reference to “no other Gods” refers to the concepts of God. In other words, He won’t accept any other foreign ideas of a deity. Once again in Exodus, when Moses is commanded by the Lord to reveal Him to the pharoah, the Lord “hardens the pharoah’s heart” (a phrase repeated numerous times throughout the plagues) to show the Egyptians that there polytheistic Gods do not exist, and cannot match the awesome power of the Hebrew God. Within the Bible, it is also interesting to note that God himself refers to the Egyptian Gods as “Gods”, but also acknowledges them as fiction.
Yahweh is referring to the practice of idol worship by the canaanites. He is referring to the worship of deities like Molech and Baal and Chemosh and the like. His commandment is not a concession that those other gods are entities similar to Himself that he is superior to. Instead, the crux of the commandment is not to ascribe divinity to anyone but Yahweh. God is asserting his uniqueness and difference from the deitites worshipped by the people of Canaan.
The commandment is not proof of Christian polytheism.