THE BIBLE COMPARED TO ITS ANCIENT NEIGHBORS

I. COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ANCIENT CREATION ACCOUNTS:

The Greeks--Gaia (earth goddess) was firstborn of Chaos. She mated with her brother Uranus and so conceived the Titans who in turn gave birth to the gods like Zeus, Apollo, Poseidon.
The Babylonians--The gods sprang into life from Apsu (god of fresh water) and Tiamat (goddess of ocean water). Tiamat is frequently portrayed as a dragon; she is the mother of the gods. One of her sons, Marduk, slew her because she was evil. Out of her hide he fashioned the earth. From her spittle he made the clouds and rain. He used her udder to fashion the mountains.
The Egyptians--The gods sprang from an island of mud in the Nile. Atum then spat and vomited to create the god of air and the goddess of moisture. They mated and gave birth to the sky goddess and earth god who in turn mated and gave birth to the remainder of the gods.
Ancient China--There was born from a cosmic egg a dwarf named P'an-ku. From the egg he made the heaven and earth. As the distance between heaven and earth grew, so did P'an-ku until his body filled the gap. Eventually he died and his various body parts became the stars and the elements. From his fleas arose the human race.

    It should be noted that there are typically several different creation myths within each of the above systems. Yet they share striking characteristics. Most begin with when the gods were born or made and then speak of either a sexual liaison or physical conflict that gave rise to creation. By comparison, isn't the Bible's account refreshingly simple and straight forward: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." {Genesis 1:1}. He spoke them into existence. He himself had no beginning {Psalms 102:12,25-27}.

II. ANCIENT JUDAISM COMPARED WITH ANCIENT RELIGIOUS PRACTICES:

The contemporaries of the Hebrews were Idol worshipers:
    Egyptians--ATUM RE--sun god; OSIRIS--vegetation, ruler of underworld; THOTH--learning. It is said that Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians {Acts 7:22}. He knew these gods and how the Egyptians worshiped them.
    Babylonians--ANU--heaven; SIN--moon god; INNANA-ISHTAR--goddess of love, war. Sin and Innana had temples to their honor at Ur, home of Abraham {Genesis 11:31}. He knew of these gods.
    Canaanites--ASHTEROTH--goddess of fertility, love, war {Judges 2:13}; BAAL--storm god {Judges 8:33}. The Scriptures show that the Israelites knew of and often worshiped these gods in violation of the Bible commands.
    Philistines--DAGON--grain god {Judges 16:21-23}. Again, reference to the god in the Bible shows that the idol was known to Israel.

    These are but a sampling of the gods of these nations. Each god was portrayed with idols that often took animal form or combined human features with animal features. For example, Thoth had the head of an Ibis; bulls and calves were popular idol motifs. The mythologies of the above nations also had accounts describing the origins of their gods. Frequently they were conceived by previous gods in some type of illicit union. In such a socio-religious context, the Hebrew religion is quite startling!

The Hebrews were commanded not to be idol worshipers:

1. Prohibition against idol manufacture AND worship of heavenly bodies {Deuteronomy 4:15-20}.
   
2. Hebrew God (Yahweh/Jehovah) contrasted with idols {Psalms 115:1-8}.
   
3. Hebrews mocked idols/idol worshipers {Isaiah 44:9-20}.

    Why is there such a notable difference between the way the Hebrews were commanded to worshiped Yahweh and the way their neighbors worshiped their gods? Why did the Hebrew Scriptures forbid them from worshipping the sun, moon, and stars as every other ancient culture did? Which is more rational? The simple truth is, the history and behavior of the Israelites makes no sense if Yahweh was a god that they invented. They were forbidden to make idols of Him. They continually abandoned worship of Yahweh for the idols of their neighbors--Asherah poles; baals; golden calves. When the Hebrews abandoned worship of Yahweh {e.g. 1Kings 11:7}, their prophets called them prostitutes for going after the idols of the nations {Hosea 1:2}. After a period of chastisement, they would return to Yahweh and purge the land of idols {2Kings 23:4-11}. The only reasonable explanation for this unique behavior among these ancient peoples is that the Hebrews' Yahweh was different than Dagon, or Baal, or Thoth--they didn't make Him up, He made them. Yahweh was and is real!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cavendish, Richard ed. MYTHOLOGY: AN ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA. New York: Rizzoli International Pub. Inc., 1980.

Pritchard, James ed. THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST VOLUME 1: AN ANTHOLOGY OF TEXTS AND PICTURES. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1958.

Van Over, Raymond ed. SUN SONGS: CREATION MYTHS FROM AROUND THE WORLD. New York: Mentor, 1980.