Archaeology And Yahweh's Wife

[halconero]

A very interesting find from several digs in Israel. There is increasing evidence that Israelites worshiped a pantheon of gods, including Ashera, the consort of Yahweh (commonly known as Jehovah in English):

 

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/finds-in-israel-add-weight-to-theory-god-%E2%80%9Chad-wife%E2%80%9D-145026393.html#O617XLW

[Ron Beron]

Wow...this is a new subject here! 

[Robert F. Smith]

Wow...this is a new subject here! 

Surely you jest.  We've been over this many times before on this board.

However, the guy who wrote the book on the subject, Bill Dever, will be speaking on this very subject (along with a bevvy of other scholars) at USU, Logan, on Oct 23, if you want to come and take it all in.

http://www.templestudies.org/home/ 

[volgadon]

Surely you jest.  We've been over this many times before on this board.

However, the guy who wrote the book on the subject, Bill Dever, will be speaking on this very subject (along with a bevvy of other scholars) at USU, Logan, on Oct 23, if you want to come and take it all in.

http://www.templestudies.org/home/

 

I'll see you there.

[Ron Beron]

Surely you jest.  We've been over this many times before on this board.

However, the guy who wrote the book on the subject, Bill Dever, will be speaking on this very subject (along with a bevvy of other scholars) at USU, Logan, on Oct 23, if you want to come and take it all in.

http://www.templestudies.org/home/

BIG jest, yes.  And why does everything have to be in Utah.  I can content myself with the social scene here in SoCal.  Hip hop anyone??

[Ron Beron]

I'll see you there.

I thought you lived in Zion...the other one.

[boblloyd91]

The thing that still confuses me is how do we relate this to LDS apologetics when this could simply be considered "straying from the One True God"?

[Damien the Leper]

The thing that still confuses me is how do we relate this to LDS apologetics when this could simply be considered "straying from the One True God"?

 

Not everything concerning a Jewish pantheon or Yahweh's wife should be part of LDS apologetics.

[thesometimesaint]

Surely you jest.  We've been over this many times before on this board.

However, the guy who wrote the book on the subject, Bill Dever, will be speaking on this very subject (along with a bevvy of other scholars) at USU, Logan, on Oct 23, if you want to come and take it all in.

http://www.templestudies.org/home/

 

Any chance of it being recorded for us that can't go?

[halconero]

It's a fairly recent article, and while the topic has been discussed before it doesn't mean that it shouldn't be talked about in the light of new findings. 

 

Furthermore, while this doesn't necessarily link to apologetics, it's still fun to know and talk about.

[EllenMaksoud]

Gone over it many times before? I am new comer so this is pleasant to hear of.

 

In my opinion, over the years, man has remade God and his nature to fit an image that we can cope with many times. I find it interesting that we seldom hear of the wife of God and my experience in Middle Eastern thought and Islam helps to put that in context. I would like Storm Rider to help me with this. Over the years in Arab Muslim culture, I have seen many pictures of a man and his wife to be together and often the woman is dressed Western. When they marry, she just sort of seems to disappear.

 

Not being a trained Anthropologist, Sociologist or any other kind of gist, my experiences seem to tell me that the fact that the wife just seems to disappear from the public eye is just one of those cultural things. One girl I knew here in Portland, went from very Western uncovered Muslim girl to full Niqabi (Full covering, including face) over the period of about a Month. Would I cover up for the man that loved me? You bet.

 

So, to me, the fact that the wife of God disappearing from public view is not surprising at all. The only question I have is did God disappear his wife, or is this simply another machination of humans remaking God?  My position is that generally we can not see God, but we see the evidence of his existence. It is possible that God's wife is right there in plain sight, had we the ability to see her.

[volgadon]

I thought you lived in Zion...the other one.

 

I'm temporarily residing in the opensource ripoff Zion.

[volgadon]

Not everything concerning a Jewish pantheon or Yahweh's wife should be part of LDS apologetics.

 

Val, I certainly agree, but it is worth exploring.

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

A very interesting find from several digs in Israel. There is increasing evidence that Israelites worshiped a pantheon of gods, including Ashera, the consort of Yahweh (commonly known as Jehovah in English):

 

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/finds-in-israel-add-weight-to-theory-god-“had-wife”-145026393.html#O617XLW

Nothing they find would confirm theology.

[Robert F. Smith]

BIG jest, yes.  And why does everything have to be in Utah.  I can content myself with the social scene here in SoCal.  Hip hop anyone??

Bill Dever seems to get down to SoCal regularly.  I've attended lectures there by him in the past (when he was lecturing for the Biblical Archaeology Society, and at the old University of Judaism in Bel-Air, which is now the American Jewish University).  Keep your eyes open and track the academic scene and the good stuff is bound to come to you.

However, this symposium in Logan will undoubtedly be available on video and in print.  Just be patient.

[Robert F. Smith]

Any chance of it being recorded for us that can't go?

The organization has been making the symposia available in pdf thus far.

[Robert F. Smith]

The thing that still confuses me is how do we relate this to LDS apologetics when this could simply be considered "straying from the One True God"?

Not everything is apologetics.  In many cases it is more important to know what the archeological facts are.  Once we know that, it will be soon enough to discuss potential apologetics.  As the late William F. Albright pointed out in his book Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan: A Historical Analysis of two contrasting faiths (1968), the prophets of Israel spent centuries inveighing against the false Canaanite gods.  The problem is that some of those Canaanite gods have the same names as the Israelite gods.  These are people who spoke the same language and had much the same culture.  They were next door neighbors.  Naturally there is going to be syncretism.  The hard question is always, which is legitimate worship and which is not?

 

On top of all that, we have the Deuteronomistic Historian rewriting Israelite history to suite a particular ideology.  Some schoars are busy trying to distinguish the pre-Deuteronomic version of Israelite theology from the DH version.  A tough assignment by any measure.

[Damien the Leper]

Val, I certainly agree, but it is worth exploring.

 

Absolutely. The Divine Mother, in whatever religious avenue, deserves much more attention than has been given. She is not to be simply dismissed in favor of Trinitarian ideology.

[Ron Beron]

Bill Dever seems to get down to SoCal regularly.  I've attended lectures there by him in the past (when he was lecturing for the Biblical Archaeology Society, and at the old University of Judaism in Bel-Air, which is now the American Jewish University).  Keep your eyes open and track the academic scene and the good stuff is bound to come to you.

However, this symposium in Logan will undoubtedly be available on video and in print.  Just be patient.

I worked with a fairly wealthy patron of his work and know that he has many connections down here in OC.  I was patiently await the good stuff.