It has long been recognized that men make gods in their own image. Greek philosopher, Xenophenes, noted, “The Ethiops say that their gods are flat-nosed and black while the Thracians say that theirs have blue eyes and red hair. Yet if cattle or horses or lions had hands and could draw and could sculpture like men, then horses would draw their gods like horses, and cattle like cattle, and each would then shape bodies of gods in the likeness, each kind of its own.”
The Israelites, just like the Ethiopians and Thracians, created their god in their own image. Yahweh was an exalted father and they were his children. Like other parents, he took strolls in the garden and like most men, he savored the smell of cooking meat. He was also the tribal leader, who took up residence in a tent and gave the orders of when to make and break camp. He was a tailor, who made clothes out of animal skins; a ship builder, who designed the very first boat; an architect, who provided plans for buildings; an interior designer who specified fabric colors, lamp styles, artwork and placement of furnishings; a judge, who sought justice and resolved conflicts the same way his people did—with violence; an assassin, who waited at a camping place to kill Moses and a “man of war” who directed the Israeli army to commit genocide.
Though he wore many hats, in the final analysis, Yahweh was the “father” of Israel. As a father figure, he was a firm disciplinarian and sadly, like many fathers, he was physically abusive, punishing his children by hurting or killing them in myriad ways.
By recognizing our innate tendency to anthropomorphize we can purposefully dismiss these absurd thoughts and any notions that even hint of a super-human deity as being the product of our very human imagination.
Thanks for the art goes to my uber talented friend, Willie Baronet.
williebaronet.blogspot.com
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