/lit/ - Literature

>>15146279
>>The Israelites originally worshipped Yahweh alongside a variety of Canaanite gods and goddesses, including El, Asherah and Baa but in time El and Yahweh became conflated.
>>A number of scholars have drawn the conclusion that infant sacrifice, whether to the underworld deity Molech or to Yahweh himself, was a part of Israelite/Judahite religion until the reforms of King Josiah in the late 7th century BCE. Prayer played little role in official worship.
>>Asherah, formerly the wife of El, was worshipped as Yahweh's consort or mother; potsherds discovered at Khirbet el-Kôm and Kuntillet Ajrûd make reference to "Yahweh and his Asherah", and various biblical passages indicate that her statues were kept in his temples.
>>The worship of Yahweh alone began at the earliest in the 9th century BCE, but even then it remained the concern of a small party before gaining ascendancy in the Babylonian exile and early post-exilic period.The early supporters of this faction did not believe Yahweh was the only god in existence, but instead believed he was the only god the people of Israel should worship.
>>Tacitus, John the Lydian, and Cornelius Labeo all identify Yahweh with the Greek god Dionysus. Jews themselves frequently used symbols that were also associated with Dionysus such as kylixes, amphorae, leaves of ivy, and clusters of grapes
>How do Christians rationalise the fact that Yahweh was originally just another obscure god whose pantheon role, powers and dominion developed over time like any other man-made religion?