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I ran into a new term: Henotheism.

J

John1.12

Free gift
Subduction Zone said:
I was watching a video of the Atheist Experience and in this short clip Matt brings up the concept of Henotheism:


His claim was not that the early Hebrew were monotheistic. They did believe in other gods. But they were not what many people would classify as polytheists, which is usually a belief in multiple gods all with their own specialty. Henotheism is acknowledging that there are other gods but your own god is the best, for . . . um reasons.

He gave an example of Moses showing that the Hebrew god was more powerful than the Egyptian one. There was no claim that the Egyptian god or gods did not exist. Just that they were less powerful. There are other examples in the Old Testament. Any thoughts?
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Jehovah's_Witnesses would probably fall into this category.
 
9-10ths_Penguin

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member
Subduction Zone said:
Henotheism is acknowledging that there are other gods but your own god is the best, for . . . um reasons.
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The "reasons" seem pretty straightforward to me: IIRC, they believed that every nation had its own god.

No need to pray to the god of some other nation, since you aren't part of that god's concern. Also no need to pray to separate wind gods, rain gods, harvest gods, sea gods either, since your nation's god either acts as liaison between you and those other gods or takes care of these issues (for your nation, anyway) personally.
 
SigurdReginson

SigurdReginson

Grēne Mann
Premium Member
epronovost said:
Are you really this naive? Don't you think any other civilization's mythology would have any interest in answering this universal question? Every single religion has its creation myth from Brahma creating the world as he emerged from his egg/lotus flowers to the Egyptians themselves who, depending on the era, had various deity do the job. In one of them, Atum literally masturbated the world into being.
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Why do ancient people always get icky with their mythologies? The world is made from chopped bits of giants... We are all swimming in god's baby batter... People are made from dirt and ribs and their fall is responsible for all bad things such as disease and such... At least in Zoroastrianism, people came from plants. That's not so bad!

Then again, in the Zend Avesta, Jamshid stuck his hand up Ahriman's (pretty much Satan's) butt only to have it rot off... So maybe Zoroastrianism isn't a good example to draw on, either. :D
 
Rival

Rival

Si m'ait Dieus
Staff member
Premium Member
SigurdReginson said:
Why do ancient people always get icky with their mythologies? The world is made from chopped bits of giants... We are all swimming in god's baby batter... People are made from dirt and ribs and their fall is responsible for all bad things such as disease and such... At least in Zoroastrianism, people came from plants. That's not so bad!

Then again, in the Zend Avesta, Jamshid stuck his hand up Ahriman's (pretty much Satan's) butt only to have it rot off... So maybe Zoroastrianism isn't a good example to draw on, either. :D
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Semen was highly regarded in Egypt for its procreative properties. The myth about Atum masturbating the world into being is basically a myth of self-creation - this is notable in Kemeticism, where most things are produced by pairs (e.g., Shu and Tefnut [air and rainwater], Geb and Nut [earth and sky]). Begetting without a partner is therefore a supremely powerful act.
 
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epronovost

epronovost

Well-Known Member
SigurdReginson said:
Why do ancient people always get icky with their mythologies? The world is made from chopped bits of giants... We are all swimming in god's baby batter... People are made from dirt and ribs and their fall is responsible for all bad things such as disease and such... At least in Zoroastrianism, people came from plants. That's not so bad!

Then again, in the Zend Avesta, Jamshid stuck his hand up Ahriman's (pretty much Satan's) butt only to have it rot off... So maybe Zoroastrianism isn't a good example to draw on, either. :D
Click to expand...

Well the world is a bit of a disgusting place when you think about it. I ate the flesh of another living creature yesterday with some "fertilized plant ovules" ground into a paste and baked and another one's raw all of it topped off with aged milk of the same creature's flesh I was eating. If you are to make a story about the creation of the world, you might as well make one that reflect its current state.
 
exchemist

exchemist

Veteran Member
SigurdReginson said:
Thou shalt not have any other gods before me, so it doesn't even say that you can't worship other gods, just that Yahweh comes first. :D
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Quite right. Or, in the Jerusalem bible, "You shall have no other gods to rival me".

Either way, a fairly clear implication that there are other "gods", whether such gods actually exist or are figments of the imagination of those that worship them.
 
McBell

McBell

Resident Sourpuss
Thus far I have not been able to find the article that explains how the Trinity is henotheistic monotheism....
 
Psalm23

Psalm23

Well-Known Member
Subduction Zone said:
I was watching a video of the Atheist Experience and in this short clip Matt brings up the concept of Henotheism:


His claim was not that the early Hebrew were monotheistic. They did believe in other gods. But they were not what many people would classify as polytheists, which is usually a belief in multiple gods all with their own specialty. Henotheism is acknowledging that there are other gods but your own god is the best, for . . . um reasons.

He gave an example of Moses showing that the Hebrew god was more powerful than the Egyptian one. There was no claim that the Egyptian god or gods did not exist. Just that they were less powerful. There are other examples in the Old Testament. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

I think there were those who believed in other gods. There was time and time again in the Old Testament were there was worship of other gods in Israel. It was often spoken against in the Old Testament and Prophetic books such as the book of Isaiah. It is of my understanding that these gods are not true gods. They don’t know the future and didn’t create the world. I believe there may be a spiritual force behind these gods but if so that it is of a malicious nature.
 
Bear Wild

Bear Wild

Well-Known Member
Teritos said:
Give me the name of another god who is invisible and is said to have created the whole world. This concept of a God exists only in the Bible.
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Please name me one god, any god, that you have actually seen. And I am not talking about a person thinking they are god.
 
Bear Wild

Bear Wild

Well-Known Member
Teritos said:
He is only one god of many from Egypt, he does not have the characteristics of an Almighty God who has power over everything. And there is a picture of him, he is like every other god from Egypt.
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Well since the Abrahamic god is not almighty and does not have power over everything, he is just one of the many, no more and no less than the gods of Egypt.
 
Neuropteron

Neuropteron

Active Member
Subduction Zone said:
I was watching a video of the Atheist Experience and in this short clip Matt brings up the concept of Henotheism:


His claim was not that the early Hebrew were monotheistic. They did believe in other gods. But they were not what many people would classify as polytheists, which is usually a belief in multiple gods all with their own specialty. Henotheism is acknowledging that there are other gods but your own god is the best, for . . . um reasons.

He gave an example of Moses showing that the Hebrew god was more powerful than the Egyptian one. There was no claim that the Egyptian god or gods did not exist. Just that they were less powerful. There are other examples in the Old Testament. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Hi,
The bible acknowledges the existence of other God's, not only in the O.T but also in the Greeks scriptures.[1 Cor 8:5].
But it claims that only Jehovah is the creator and almighty God.
 
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