Abrahamic history

[Antibush5]

Forgive my ignorance, but I've got many questions that make it somewhat impossible for me to believe in the Abrahamic god.
One of the major things is about how the concept of God developed out of an earlier Hebrew god, how do for lack of a better word "Abrahamics" deal with this idea proposed by historians?

 

[Shiranui117]

Forgive my ignorance, but I've got many questions that make it somewhat impossible for me to believe in the Abrahamic god.
One of the major things is about how the concept of God developed out of an earlier Hebrew god, how do for lack of a better word "Abrahamics" deal with this idea proposed by historians?

The Israelites/Canaanites stumbled upon the true God, Who was worshipped within their pantheon of other, man-made deities. As time went on, God gave them greater understanding, and they began to shed their polytheistic ways, down to henotheism, down to monotheism, worshipping the One True God. Yahweh/Elohim going from being one among many Hebrew/Canaanite gods down to being seen as the only God was a result of God working with the Israelites, slowly revealing more and more of Himself and of the truth to them.

 

[Levite]

Forgive my ignorance, but I've got many questions that make it somewhat impossible for me to believe in the Abrahamic god.
One of the major things is about how the concept of God developed out of an earlier Hebrew god, how do for lack of a better word "Abrahamics" deal with this idea proposed by historians?

I can't speak for "Abrahamics," because in Judaism, we concern ourselves only with Judaism. Other religions that claim the mantle of Abraham have nothing to do with us-- not that we don't wish them well, they just have no connection to Judaism.

For us, theology is intertwined with our understanding of Torah: we believe that the Written Torah is impossible to understand without the Oral Torah, which is an evolving interpretive tradition, the roots of which we believe were given along with the Written Torah-- which, in turn, we believe was designed to be infinitely interpretable, with limitless layers and levels of meaning.

Therefore, we see our theology as an evolving process of thought, ever refining and sharpening our understandings of God and what He wishes from us as the ages pass, as we grow and evolve in comprehension, and reinterpret and re-examine the text as we do so.

So if our earliest ancestors were monolatrous or henotheistic, followed by rudimentary monotheistic worship of YHVH, followed by ever more nuanced and complex understandings of YHVH and worship of Him, to us, that represents nothing but what we expect from a revelatory tradition designed to evolve and grow and deepen over our history.

As for your "impossibility" of believing in "the Abrahamic God" (whatever that might mean): fortunately, Judaism is also a non-proselytizing religion, and non-universalist: we have no interest in recruiting non-Jews to become Jewish, and we presume that non-Jews are perfectly able to have spiritually nourishing relationships with God, and do what pleases Him on their own, according to their own traditions and teachings. So from our point of view, as long as you are a moral person who tries to help make a just society, we don't care if your conception of God resembles ours in any way, and we presume that God doesn't care, either.

 

[Gaura Priya]

Forgive my ignorance, but I've got many questions that make it somewhat impossible for me to believe in the Abrahamic god.
One of the major things is about how the concept of God developed out of an earlier Hebrew god, how do for lack of a better word "Abrahamics" deal with this idea proposed by historians?

Just a disclaimer: I am just a student of Christianity for now, so my opinion may not count as much.

However, if you are referring to the Abrahamic God as the existence of 'monotheism,' then Monotheism has existed long before 'Abraham', to the chagrin of others. Many Aboriginal religions believed in a conception of a Supreme Divinity, from the Canadian First Nations people, to the Philippine people having one Supreme God.

Other philosophies of ancient monotheism include Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Atenism, Zoroastrianism, and perhaps even the Shangdi cult in China. Thus, Abrahamic Monotheism is not new in this way.

If you are referring to the evolution of the Abrahamic understanding of God, then why not? Our understanding of what constitutes Divine Personality evolves as we also evolve, becoming bigger, grander, and more inclusive than ever before.

Paul says (Acts 17:22-23, 26-28, NRSV) "Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, 'To an unknown God.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. From one ancestor [hominins] he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him--though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For 'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we too are his offspring.' "

Since I do not take the Bible but metaphorically applicable, this passage strikes me as this same God that many Christians claim to worship, is the very same Divine Essence existing in all ancient spiritual traditions. People who somehow claim that one conception of Deity is supreme over another are committing idolatry of spiritual imagination.

 

[Zardoz]

Forgive my ignorance, but I've got many questions that make it somewhat impossible for me to believe in the Abrahamic god.
One of the major things is about how the concept of God developed out of an earlier Hebrew god, how do for lack of a better word "Abrahamics" deal with this idea proposed by historians?

Initially, G-d made a covenant with Abraham. These religions we see now, the 'Abrahamic' faiths, are G-d's relationship with the three main descendant lines of Abraham... Judaism for the children of Jacob; Christianity for the children of Esau, and Islam for the children of Ishmael.

All are to fulfill G-d's promise to Abraham, and suited to the nature of the descendants, and part of G-d's plan.

JMHO

 

[Pegg]

Forgive my ignorance, but I've got many questions that make it somewhat impossible for me to believe in the Abrahamic god.
One of the major things is about how the concept of God developed out of an earlier Hebrew god, how do for lack of a better word "Abrahamics" deal with this idea proposed by historians?

after the flood of Noahs day, the knowledge of the one true God became obscure. The offspring of Noah's sons spread out over the earth and took some of the ideas of Noahs God with them. So we do see similarities in those early religions. But people were cut off from the true God, so they began to develop their own gods....even Abrahams father had his own collection of gods.

But there was always a line of descendents from Noah who held to their belief in Yahweh...Abraham was one such man and the true God made a friend of Abraham. The covenant God made with Abraham was to bring a nation to birth through his decendents. So the Isrealites were made into a nation, and given a land (the promised land) by the power of the true God of heaven.

the Isrealites were not always 100% committed to the true God, and the bible explains how they would turn back to the false gods of the nations time and time again... so i have no issue with the idea that there were other gods besides Abrahams God (who's name was Jehovah btw) because that is exactly what there were...many many false deities were being worshiped by many different people.

 

[arthra]

Forgive my ignorance, but I've got many questions that make it somewhat impossible for me to believe in the Abrahamic god.
One of the major things is about how the concept of God developed out of an earlier Hebrew god, how do for lack of a better word "Abrahamics" deal with this idea proposed by historians?

Abraham is credited with revealing the oneness of God and being the source of future Prophets and Messengers in the West.. both through Isaac and Ishmael .. Also the covenant of God with Abraham is foundational but it doesn't mean that God is or was restricted in any way to Abraham.

In one era he is called Abraham, at another time Moses, again he is called Buddha, another time Jesus, and yet another time Mohammad. All turned to the divine reality for their strength. Those who followed Moses accepted him as their mediator; those who followed Zoroaster accepted him as their mediator; but all the Israelites deny Zoroaster, and the Zoroastrians deny Moses. They fail to see in both the one light. Had the Zoroastrians comprehended the reality of Zoroaster, they would have understood Moses and Jesus. Alas! the majority of men attach themselves to the name of the mediator and lose sight of the real purport.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 32

 

[seeking4truth]

There is only one God, known by different names in different cultures and languages.

God has spoken to men since the earliest times when they had evolved enough to begin to understand.(eg Adam) As humans developed into different societies God spoke to them addressing each group separately. Repeatedly over the long periods of time the message became distorted, corrupted or just forgotten so God spoke to men again and again. Each time repeating the same basic truths but then extending the details to help man develop.

Non-believers claim that Muslims or Jews or others chose one local pagan deity to make into their own tribal god but this is not true. God spoke to them and called them back to the right path.

Every religion began from a basic truth - that God exists and communicates with man.

 

[Dinner123]

Forgive my ignorance, but I've got many questions that make it somewhat impossible for me to believe in the Abrahamic god.
One of the major things is about how the concept of God developed out of an earlier Hebrew god, how do for lack of a better word "Abrahamics" deal with this idea proposed by historians?

So certain people claim that God was invented over time by the Hebrews? What is their proof? Really that is impossible to prove.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Forgive my ignorance, but I've got many questions that make it somewhat impossible for me to believe in the Abrahamic god.

Frankly, I'm perfectly OK with that.

One of the major things is about how the concept of God developed out of an earlier Hebrew god, ...

Specifically?

..., how do for lack of a better word "Abrahamics" deal with this idea proposed by historians?

I, for one, applaud the development.