Two Problems for the Abrahamics and Paganism as Default Original Position

Art by Samson J. Goetze

“In the beginning God…” didn’t exist. (Genesis 1:1, sort of).

In the opening chapter of the Old Testament, one reads that God created the heavens and the earth and all that in them dwell and this ex nihilo. Jews and Christians have always taken this as prima facie fact. However, outside of special revelation (the Bible), there is little to no reason to accept this foundational assumption of the Abrahamic faiths, i.e., the proposition that a singular deity created the universe and all that it contains. In fact, this is quite readily refuted.

There are a number of problems with respect to the monotheistic deity of the Abrahamics. Below, we will briefly survey but a few.

Problem #1 - The earliest possible dating of the Pentateuch (which includes Genesis and its account of creation) is ~1450 BCE but, the earliest mention of the god of Israel, Yahweh, as a distinct deity is late Bronze Age ~1390–1352 BCE. For our intents and purposes, we will assume that the creation account was penned around this time (though it must be noted that most modern, secular scholars argue for a more recent dating which poses additional problems or the Abrahamics though space does not permit that particular discussion herein).

A key problem for the monotheism of the Jews and Christians is that Yahwism, the religion of the ancient Israelites, began somewhere between the 12th to 9th century BCE and, we have it on historical record that Yahweh was the tribal deity of the Shasu nomads from Southern Levant. Yahweh has also been associated with the Edomites as a storm god local to the lands of southern Canaan and Edom. In neither case, however, was Yahweh originally conceived of as a monotheistic, universalist, or omnipotent deity.

It is clear and indisputable from the historical record that the ancestors of the people who would become the Israelites (and later, Christians as the “spiritual” Israelites) were polytheists (pagans).

Interestingly enough, in Exodus 20:3, Yahweh himself recognizes other gods - “You shall have no other gods before me.” The word used for gods is interesting in that it does not refer to idols but actual deities (the same word is used for Yahweh himself) and is in the plural.

Abrahamic monotheism developed over many centuries and what is recorded in the opening verse of Genesis and in subsequent books of the Old Testament neglects this historical development rather choosing to focus on a contrived version of human history and god’s interaction with the universe and man. If this is true, this essential piece of scaffolding for the Abrahamic religions is shaky at best. The main takeaway here is that Yahweh was but one god among many tribal gods.

Paganism, and for my purposes, particularly Germanic paganism, predates the Old Testament Abrahamic religion by at least 500 years (on a very conservative estimate) and Christianity by several thousand. While this does not prove the validity of paganism (no genetic fallacy committed) over Abrahamic religion, it does demonstrate that paganism is more deeply rooted in history and is closer to a “default position” than a contrived monotheism (e.g., as would be later developed within Christian dogma with doctrines such as the hypostatic union and the Trinity). In other words, paganism is the more natural and, thus, more tenable position (more on this below).

Problem #2 - A second problem, following closely on the heels of the above, is that of special revelation. Abrahamic religion stands or falls on the epistemic validity of special revelation, e.g., god speaking directly to individuals as in the Old Testament via the prophets and/or god inspiring the New Testament authors of the gospels and epistles.

The key question here is, What do we know about god and how do we know it?

For the Abrahamic, the answer is simple - “The Bible says so.” Abrahamic epistemology is predicated upon special revelation.

How does one know that god exists? “The Bible says so.”

How does one know that the Bible is true? “God cannot lie.” Or, on Christian terms, “The Holy Spirit testifies to its truth in the heart of the believer.”

The reasoning in the case of special revelation is clearly circular. Circular reasoning is a logical fallacy that, rather than prove a given conclusion, includes the conclusion as an assumed premise and simply initiates an infinite loop and, as such, is not a real argument at all.

Fallacy aside, there are other problems with special revelation. Below, some key issues will be delineated.

Special revelation is not universally accessible and, thus, not open to verification by the masses, experientially or otherwise. It is said to be revealed, most often, to to a single individual. But how does one validate the truth claims of such an individual, particularly, without falling into the trap of circular reasoning or additional fallacies, e.g., appeal to authority? How can one know that another speaks for god?

Why would a god who is said to have created the universe and all therein need to recourse to special revelation in the first place? Would the universe itself not speak to his existence? In fact, a number of Bible verses state this very thing (e.g., Psalm 19:1, Romans 1:20). But, it is, in fact, less than clear that nature testifies to the existence of god, at least to the singular god Yahweh. Nature might just as readily testify to any number of gods and, in fact, this is exactly what we see when we study the history of religion as we look back over time and place. Many different pantheons and deities have been inferred, if not deduced, from nature. No other group outside of the Israelites (and their spiritual descendants) has ever come to the conclusion that the god of the Bible (Yahweh) is the only true god, however.

What of human experience? If Yahweh created man, and this in his own image, shouldn’t his existence be, at least on some level, experientially verifiable? Yet this doesn’t seem to be the case. There is no grounds on which to base an individual’s religious experience of Yahweh as being any more valid than another’s of Vishnu for example.

Special revelation is, effectively, an appeal to authority. Since so few are limited to the special revelation, one must trust implicitly the one to whom the revelation is made. If not, special revelation is rendered meaningless.

Another issue for special revelation is that of interpretation. How does one know that he is interpreting the special revelation accurately? This becomes even more problematic when reading texts that are thousands of years old and originally penned in another language. This very fact alone accounts for the innumerable sects of Judaism and Christian denominations.

Given all of the problems above for special revelation, a final, but perhaps more serious problem for the Abrahamics is that special revelation is required for salvation. Take the crucifixion of Christ, for example. Nowhere could it be deduced from nature that man is a sinner in need of salvation and that God would become man and die for the sins of man. This is entirely predicated upon special revelation. That one’s eternal soul should hang in the balance given the numerous issues with special revelation seems, especially for a loving god who desires that all be saved (1 Timothy 2:4), contrary to the alleged nature of god.

The origins of the Hebrew god, Yahweh, and special revelation pose serious problems for Abrahamic monotheism. Yahweh was but one tribal god among many who, allegedly and via special revelation, called out the Hebrews and became their sole god and, eventually, the only true god per the Judeo-Christian view. This contra history and depending solely upon special revelation.

Before this, the Hebrews were polytheists worshipping local gods as were most of the ancient peoples.

Though not a conclusive “knockout” proof, what we do have here is evidence that monotheism is less likely to be inferred from nature when compared with polytheism which does accord better with nature and doesn’t require the contrivance of special revelation as does Abrahamic monotheism.

In conclusion, a review of the origins of the Hebrew god Yahweh demonstrates that polytheism predates Abrahamic monotheism and gives credence to the notion of paganism as a valid default religio-spiritual position. The Abrahamics themselves had their start as polytheistic pagans after all.