Thanks again to Shaun for creating this video. Part 2 is soon to follow.
New Motion Graphic Video: The Gods of the Bible, Part 1
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Thanks again to Shaun for creating this video. Part 2 is soon to follow.
I’m an atheist fan of your work. I really like your analytic approach to early judeo-christian topics. Thank you.
you’re welcome; thanks!
Great video!
Hey there Dr. Mike! I love this! If I could add a little bit of my two cents I think it would help a little bit if there was slight background music to add to the “atmosphere” of the video. I notice how when that tool is utilized it greatly increases the sense engagement of the viewer ex. Sermon jams and other educational videos.
Really love your work and content, you’ve been a huge blessing
Hey, since I know you’re so busy and you have a who creates these motion graphics (GREAT JOB btw) I thought I’d at least share some of the music I had in mind just to ballpark the idea. Of course I hope it’s useful!
I thought of the the artist tycho:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6ih1aKeETk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSrR3__MEz0
Just an idea to help out whoever it may be of use to!
The biblical writers believed in an animate, populated spirit world. They considered it real with real entities. The names of entities are human creations (usually associated with perceived attributes and geography). Regardless of what one called entities, biblical writers believed they were real. So if you assign credibility to the Bible for “spirit world talk” (theology of the unseen world), then yes, you need to believe that or reject what the biblical writers believed. Paul quotes Deut 32:17 (“they sacrificed to demons [shedim] who were not God [eloah – a singular form], to gods [elohim] they had never known”) to justify warning the Corinthians not to fellowship with demons (1 Cor 10:21-22; see Deut 32:8-9 [reading with LXX and the Dead Sea Scrolls, as the ESV does] as an associated text. So do you disagree with Paul’s theology of the spiritual world — which assigned reality to these gods — or not? I’m with Paul.
The biblical writers believed in an animate, populated spirit world. They considered it real with real entities. The names of entities are human creations (usually associated with perceived attributes and geography). Regardless of what one called entities, biblical writers believed they were real. So if you assign credibility to the Bible for “spirit world talk” (theology of the unseen world), then yes, you need to believe that or reject what the biblical writers believed. Paul quotes Deut 32:17 (“they sacrificed to demons [shedim] who were not God [eloah – a singular form], to gods [elohim] they had never known”) to justify warning the Corinthians not to fellowship with demons (1 Cor 10:21-22; see Deut 32:8-9 [reading with LXX and the Dead Sea Scrolls, as the ESV does] as an associated text. So do you disagree with Paul’s theology of the spiritual world — which assigned reality to these gods — or not? I’m with Paul.
I wake up glad Baal and any other power has no legal/spiritual/theological claim to my soul (not to mention the fact that he lacks the power and sovereignty to overturn God’s plans). The best the hostile powers can do is stall.
This is far more than henotheism, too. Incomparability denies the sort of thing henotheism assumes — that the deity on top might be displaced. So, no, being part of the family of the incomparable God doesn’t trouble me at all. He cannot be displaced or defeated.
A demiurge? Hardly. I don’t see a single item of this aligning with a gnostic demiurge. The only thing perceptibly in common is creating the earth, but the God of the Bible wasn’t answerable to other aeons or an impersonal “true god”, and his creation isn’t limited to earth. I see no relationship at all.
Mike,
Thank you for your reply.
I would like to double down if you don’t mind on your comment, your second video and your response to Tom.
Your second video began with images of Zeus, Horus, and some Mesopotamian diety. Your reply to Tom was:
“I wake up glad Baal and any other power has no legal/spiritual/theological claim to my soul….”
My question to you was whether we have to believe in the thousands of dieties that people believed back then. The question wasn’t whether they believed in a general animated realm, but whether they believed in particular elohim existing. The names people called them are absolutely critical because if you are telling us that they believed Horus was real, well Horus has a particular definition. Horus is defined by his attributes. Horus is defined by his origin. The same is true if you believe in Baal. Do you? Was your comment to Tom just sarcasm? Saying you believe in a spiritually animated heaven is quite different then saying you believe in Baal. Baal is defined by his attributes and his origin.
So when I asked whether the Israelites believed in the ACTUAL Elohim of the other nations, that isn’t a question of whether they believed in an animated spiritual realm. If they believed in Horus (like you seem to imply in your second video intro), then you are making a very important and shocking statement. You are saying that the Israelites believed in the attributes and origins of Horus. That’s after all, what defines Horus. If you are saying the Israelites believed in Ra, Marduk, or Aten, you are saying the Israelites believed in the attributes and origins of those Gods. If they did not believe in the specific origins and attributes of these national gods you cannot say they believed in them. Would it make any sense if I said, I believe in Yahweh but I don’t believe he is the sole creator, that he is not powerful nor merciful, but I DO believe in Yahweh. You would tell me that is insane because Yahweh is defined by those attributes.
So then lets go back to a biblical example: When Exodus says that God will pass judgement against the elohim of Egypt, how are the Israelites processing that? Do they think the Elohim in that verse are referring to:
A) The actual Egyptian dieties (in which case you suffer a theological issue)
B) The general ranks of the Bnei Elohim that represented Egypt in God’s divine council
These two choices are very different.
Thank you.
I don’t believe in any culture’s system of deities (ranks, names, etc.). Those are contrived. I do believe that the deities the biblical writers thought were real, are real. Those deities are behind ancient systems, but ancient systems are just guesses and artificial ways of understanding them. Deities get named and described based on geography, perceived attributes, roles in myths, etc. I see no reason to take all those details as true.
I don’t see the choices as very different. There can be actual deities holding Egypt under dominion — deities that are the rebellious sons of God being judged in the council for their crimes. But that doesn’t mean Egyptians’ understanding of those deities (how they thought about them) is something I need to assign reality to.
Excellent video Mike….can’t wait for the others. Are you aware of any adult Bible study groups or churches (other than your own) which intend to use these and other materials you have created?
I’ve gotten emails (and some comments) to that effect. That’s all I know.
wow – great to hear the content is being used so intentionally. Thanks!
Thank you sir! I wish I had another word to use besides obsession since that usually has a negative connotation, but I’m happy to say that is what all of this has become. Outside my 9-5 this is all I do and people truly love the material. We get comments all the time from people in the Bible study about how amazing the material is. That is thanks in no small part to your material.
Respectfully,
Nathan
They would see Ra as a real entity/god. Yahweh defeated somebody when he claimed to have victory over the gods of Egypt (Exod 12:12). Yahweh wasn’t winking there, or claiming victory over beings that don’t exist. Moses wasn’t comparing Yahweh to unreal beings (Exod 15:11).
I agree with everything starting with your second sentence. Yahweh defeating a “somebody.” That is correct. I believe the point of the elohim being nameless is that to Yahweh, it is just another one of his elohim. It works as a polemic against the Egyptian conceptions of gods. And I believe the Israelites understood it as being just another nameless set of elohim, and not, Ra. Because like I said, in order for us to say the Israelites believed the elohim under judgement to be Ra and his cohorts, one has to believe in the atributes and origins of Ra. That is what defines Ra as Ra. If the Israelites did not believe that, than one cannot say the Israelites saw Ra as a real entity. This is philosophy of how to define things.
All this better works with Psalms 82. God judges nameless elohim that are supposed to act justly with the other nations. He isn’t judging Ra or Baal in his council. Deut 32 doesn’t have God setting Baal or Ra as elohim of other nations, but nameless spirits.
Thank you.
Excellent work and excellent information!! Our church is using your books (Spiritual Realm, Unseen Realm and Reversing Mt Hermon) to re-study the Bible. I thank the Holy Spirit for leading me to this TRUTH! Now, it’s being taught to so many others….PRAISE THE LORD, ours spiritual eyes are being opened!! Thanks Dr. Michael Heiser!!
Very interesting video Michael.
I think it’s clear in the bible there is one God / Creator.
It is also clear that the nations serve many gods.
As you pointed out, many believers don’t like calling them gods.
We know they are demons, but they function for pagans as God does for us.
I have been thinking about the meaning of being created in God’s image.
You say there are spirits behind/connected to the idols of the pagans.
When Scripture says mankind was created in God’s image, do you think God was saying that we were created to be indwelt by / connected to Him in the same way that graven images are connected to ruling spirits?