SPENTA MAINYU

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: "Ignorance is an affront. Leave it behind."

YOU ARE IN DARKNESS.

god of islam 3

Zarathustra’s belief system and his supreme creator is very important, because a lot of the fundamental doctrines of this system were borrowed by the Abrahamic-Semitic belief systems. Ezra the priest did it when he was rewriting certain sections of the Old Testament; Paul when did it when he was writing his letters and establishing the basics of Paulinism (Christianity); the authors of Kuran did it when they were transforming the original Hagarene teaching (Sabian faith) into the nationalist Arab ideology called Islam. 

Zarathustra’s teachings are linked to Mithraism. Mithra is the ancient Persian god of light. So a comparison with the closely related Vedic belief system will give us an idea. Vedic Indians have Indo-Iranian origins as well. The first thing we know is that the Indo-Iranian belief system was polytheistic.

• Among the supreme beings called daivas or devas in Sanskrit (‘heavenly ones’) there were those (like Mithra and Varuna) called ‘lords’ or Asuras (Ahuras in Iranian) who had distinct ethical personalities. These supreme beings were established in accordance with the caste system in the society and each one of them was the supreme overseer of a caste.

• Zarathustra has  rejected the cults of all the supreme beings accept Asura (Ahura in Iranian) and Ahura Mazda who is transcendent, immanent and impersonal. In his transcendence he is beyond all creation, yet the Cosmos depends upon him for existence. In his immanence he is within all creation. But he is not identical with that creation. Creation is not his body. He has no spatial position. Muslims will be able to detect their  supreme creator’s basic characteristics in this definition.

• Zaratusthra has thought that the belief in the supreme entity should be an extremely intense personal experience - like his - and should not require priestly interpretations, so he sacked all the priests. This belief shows itself in Islam - exactly as it was formulated by Zarathustra. There is no class of priests in Islam, and the belief system does not allow any intercessor between a person and the supreme creator. But  the potential  benefits a belief system  presents have dramatically changed the actual situation and the heads of the Islamic sects and groups, and the powerful and convincing imams have introduced themselves as  the intercessors between the believer and the supreme being. These intercessors are showing the way to god and are interpreting the divine(!) message. Is Kuran an incomprehensible codebook? Are these intercessors qualified to do that? The driving force behind this situation is the Arab nationalism.

• Zarathustra is said to have had seven revelations or visions from up there. Many of these visions were brought by angels and archangels which later had similar functions(!) in Judaism and Islam. These visions formed the basis of his belief system.

• Zoroastrianism is the belief system of Ahura Mazda who is the one and only source of creation, a creation that has neither a beginning nor an  end.

• Zarathustra has declared that one all-wise lord and sovereign ruler of Universe (Ahura Mazda) is the sole creator and sustainer of creation.

• Ahura Mazda is eternal, not created, wise, good, benevolent, and just. He is  the creator of all the spiritual and material worlds.

• The wise and all-seeing god of Zarathustra could see(!) everyone’s heart(!), and could talk not only to the priests but to everybody. This belief about the heart being all-important and the seat of conscience comes from Sumer. This conversing supreme being has  progressed towards a distant, separate, unreachable etc. metaphysical creator and overseer.

• In him the primal pre-cosmic twin spirits of good or righteousness and evil (Angra Mainyu-Druj-Ahriman) meet in a higher unity.

• The eternal polarism however was not originally cosmic or absolute dualism of good and evil because the twin spirits had no independent existence apart from Ahura Mazda and in the end his righteous will was destined to prevail.

• But in later Avestan (Zend/Zand Avesta) literature Ahura Mazda is considered to be the creator of only that which is good. He is in perpetual conflict with Ahriman, now considered to be the creator of all that is evil. Ahriman is represented by a serpent.

• The existence of evil in Zoroastrianism is formulated by the two sons of Ahura Mazda choosing good or evil at creation. This is the dualism aspect of the belief system. Spenta Mainyu chose the good and was associated with life, truth and justice. Angra Mainyu (lie) chose the evil and was associated with destruction, injustice and death, all of  which are related to evil.

• Having good and evil at creation opposing each other leads us to dualism, which is the main characteristic of Zoroastrianism. Zarathustra had preached and spread monotheism. But uncertainty and the real debate starts at this point: Was the evil spirit (Angra Mainyu) primordial?  In other words did it exist before time, thus an equal of Ahura Mazda?  Ahura Mazda has existed  before time as the creator of all? Or was Spenta Mainyu the opposite and equal of the evil spirit Angra Mainyu? Both Spenta Mainyu and Angra Mainyu are at a lower level than Ahura Mazda, then if Spenta Mainyu represents the good spirit in mankind, Angra Mainyu must be the evil side of mankind.

• The first notion (Angra Mainyu being primordial) takes us to a pure cosmic dualism, which makes both Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu not created, eternal, and the opposite of each other. Consequently good and evil are primordial powers, which have existed before time. They are in a constant conflict with each other.

• Furthermore, since man was created in the image of the supreme being, and supreme being would not create evil, man cannot be evil by nature. Evil is external and manifests itself in the shape of Angra Mainyu.

• Second notion (Spenta Mainyu and Angra Mainyu being equal and created) leads us to an ethical dualism. It presupposes monotheism. Ahura Mazda is supreme, the highest light. All that is good emanates from Ahura Mazda. Evil is produced by human activity and is called Angra Mainyu. So this is a moral dualism existing in the human mind only.

• Dualism exists in man’s daily life and it is about the choice he must make between two moral directions.  Many people consider this definition and understanding as the real Zoroastrianism. They say that dualism is ethical, and  the only creator is Ahura Mazda, and  those who were created have to decide between the two opposites - good and evil. This dualism manifests itself in the physical and intellectual spheres.

• Zarathustra has rejected all the other Ahuras. Around Ahura Mazda (the father of gods) there were six Amesha Spentas - divine entities who were  also called as the ‘Beneficient (or Holy) Immortal Ones’ or ‘Bounteous Immortals’. These divine entities also appear as archangels and angels in the Old Testament and in Kuran.

• All of these qualities are also present in the world and in the human spirit. The seventh one Ahura Mazda has created is the sacred spirit, Spenta Mainyu, who is in reality the greatest of all powers, the sublime constructive force.

• Spenta Mainyu is the driving force behind constructiveness, creativity and positiveness, and these are shared only with the human spirit. If these qualities are shared only with the human spirit and Spenta Mainyu’s association in nature is man then man becomes a co-creator (Since he was associated with man in nature, here may be the origin of the Islamic belief that man is the pinnacle of creation). In other words, as it is summarized by the priests in every mass, Spenta Mainyu has  represented the god incarnate in man (Can you detect the possible origin of the holy spirit in Christianity and Jesus’ descending to Earth as god incarnate in man?). If mankind is the co-creator and has the free will, then obeying Asha (The set of rules for living a life in line with god’s eternal law) is obligatory. It means that every man and woman has to make a choice between the good and evil.

• Zarathustra has preached that the Earth would be destroyed shortly as a result of a huge conflagration, only those following the ‘good’ would survive and take part in the ‘recreation’.

• Man is the crowning act of creation (Islam upholds this idea as well), the whole cycle of existence is  to enable him  to soar higher and higher and at last enjoy the eternal bliss.

• Those who do good deeds will undoubtedly rise to the sky, and those who chose the evil deeds and evil thoughts will inevitably fall to hell.

• There is agreement in two matters: Man is a co-worker with the supreme being and ultimately the 'good'  will triumph over evil. In daily lives application of dualism boils down to a moral choice.

• Zarathustra has decreed  that the ‘wise lord’ should be worshipped by virtuous acts and not by meaningless ceremonies; by selfless love and not by the spilling of the blood. These points are all shared by Islam except the animal offerings.

• This is what Ahura Mazda thought of Zarathustra, as it is told in the scriptures: “O Zarathustra! I have created no one better than you in the world, and I shall likewise not create one better after you are gone. You are my chosen one and I have made this world apparent on account of you.” Here one can detect the possible origins of the ideas of chosen messengers and chosen peoples, like we see in the Hebrew and Islamic mythologies.

• Zarathustra took care to separate mythology and theology. But he has preserved the presentation of fire, because fire was the symbol of truth, order, and the original light of god. Ahura Mazda  within the ‘light’ and Angra Mainyu down below in ‘darkness’ have ruled in Zurvan Akarana (endless time).

• Ahura Mazda has always created ‘good’ and Angra Mainyu-Ahriman ‘evil.’

• There would be a moral deterioration following the death of Zarathustra. In the end  one of the sons of Zarathustra would come as a saviour. Do you want to know how? Well! Ahura Mazda would impregnate three virgins one at a time, who would bathe in the very same lake where his seeds were preserved. The son of the first virgin would be a messenger and would put things right in a short period of time. A second messenger would come after him and a third and last messenger would follow. The third and the last saviour, Saoshyant-Saoshyans will bring about the final judgment. At his time dead would rise out of their tombs.

• Then the last war between Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu would start. The god of evil would be destroyed and Ahura Mazda would be supreme.

• The greatest opponents of the dualist Mazdaist-doctrine were the Zurvanites who went back to the beginning to explain the dualism, and envisaged an endless supreme entity. This was their great ancestor Zurvan/Zeroan.

• Only Zurvan existed in the beginning (Zurvan -time- seems like a word which was known since the prehistory but had never been in the forefront until the Sassanian period). According to the Zurvanite theology Zurvan who was the personification of the endless time (Zurvan Akarana-Zeroana Akerne) made animal offerings for a 1000 years to have a child who will create the world. But the doubt he had about whether this would bear fruit at the end of this period landed him with an evil son - Ahriman (previously Angra Mainyu). At the same time due to the power of the sacrificial offerings, the ‘shining and perfumed’ Ohrmazd (previously Ahura Mazda) was created.

• These two - Ahriman and Ohrmazd - have shaped the world. Zurvan took no part. But as ‘god of time and fate’ he remotely influences human destinies, appearing under two aspects: As limitless time (eternal lord); and time of long dominion (lord of the existing world).

GOD OF ISRAEL : EL, ELOH, ELOHIM   --    GOD OF JEWS : YHVH

The god of of Israel in the Old Testament orders, threatens, passes judgments and leads the people in a battle. YHVH Sabaoth was a god of armies, a god of war. Later on people transformed this concept of a warring, vicious, bloody god into a symbol of transcendence and compassion in line with the changing times and conditions. The god of the later Semitic-Abrahamic belief systems, Christianity and Islam, also have armies.

We must separate the three concepts of god in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, because no matter who says what, they are different. What the people have spoken and written about their visualisation of their gods make clear that these three concepts of god are different.

Read the Old Testament stories, read the texts which are collected and bound under the name of the New Testament and the stories in Kuran. You will make a travel in time progressing in human cognition from a more irrational state to a lesser one, because the final concept of god is not anthropomorphic, could not be heard, seen or  experienced directly. Thus this  final concept of an omnipotent creator has acquired a place in the heads of the believers and not in the actual physical world of humanity. 

This concept of a multitude supreme entities in the time of Av'ram,  which included his personal god,  will mutate into the tribal god of the Hebrews, then the national god of Israel, the god of nations and the omnipotent and universal  tribal god of Islam in front of your eyes. This story begins with a concept of fighting, bloody, jealous, vicious god; goes on with the concept of a peaceful father-king of the ‘kingdom in heavens’; and ends with the concept of a threatening supreme creator + moral teacher + transcendent supreme overseer trying to make himself remembered and his ordinances accepted by referring to his past struggles.

As the official version of the events tells us in he Old Testament, Ya'kub  becomes the father of the twelve tribes, and the Patriarch of Isra-el. His god enters into a covenant with Ya'kub. This El is the god of the Canaanites. Scholars have proved that this section of the Old Testament was written in the days of the kings of Judah. There is a very strange part of the Ya'kub’s story (Genesis 32:22-32) which shows the primitive origin of the beliefs of Israel and the concept of god they had in the beginning: Ya'kub leaves Laban, and starts off with his two wives and eleven sons, they leave the Jabbok pass behind, he was alone and  he wrestled with ‘someone’ until daybreak, who was unable to defeat Ya'kub so he touched the “hollow of his thigh”, Ya'kub was injured, but he survived, called the place ‘Peni-El’ (‘I have seen El face to face’). In memory of this god called El touching the thighbone muscle, the sons of Israel don’t eat the muscle over the femur. But this god El is the god of the Canaanites. You might ask, what has happened to YHVH. Some scholars try to save the situation by claiming that the word El stands for god in an all-enveloping context and not for the god of the Canaanites. To no avail of course. The Genesis story in the Old Testament is a strange piece of literature which still carries the traces of the ancient myths of Israel’s predecessors - the Semitic tribes. These tribes were far from the concept of a sole god either for themselves or for the world. There were still Elohim (gods). El is the chief of the gods. gods were thought as coming down to Earth, appearing as humans, and conversing with man. Gods are thought to have created mankind in their image because the inventors of this concept had no reference around them except themselves to visualize and shape their gods. They  would descend  from and ascend  to their celestial abodes. One of them wrestled(!) with Ya'kub. They sat down(!) and ate(!) together with mankind. They were thought to be jealous of the mankind since the beginning because  man had intellect. The only thing which separated gods and mankind was (and still is) immortality. But even immortality would be irrelevant if mankind had managed to eat a bit of the ‘tree of life’, which he did according to the Old Testament. This is naivety at the extreme. Naivety not for the people of those days but for us! After all those years and the development of the human intellect, if these stories are still the substance of a belief system what can one say without being impolite: Only naivety!

In the Old Testament one comes across the description, ‘lord of gods’, (which is the god of the Sabians, rabb-el erbab, the New Testament’s god and the rabb-el erbab (god of gods) of Kuran is not different but the same ‘lord of gods’). In other words the authors of these books must still have been of the opinion that there is not a sole god, but a group of gods. This is polytheism. But Moses ben Maimonides (Moses ibn Maimon - Jewish thelogian) has maintained that this description should be understood as the ‘lord of angels’. If we are to adopt this explanation, the description in the Old Testament makes angels gods / deities. But Maimonides asserts that the word ‘god’ used for the angels is a metaphor. Again there are other expressions in the Old and New Testaments literally meaning the ‘god of gods’. Maimonides understands these expressions as the lord of the heavens, lord of the stars, because Maimonides considers layers of heavens and the stars as angels. If angels are there on the same level with the gods, how could one accuse the Sabians of heathenism, whose belief system is the predecessor of the belief systems of the book , and one of the main sources for all the other regional belief systems. Yes, these Sabians were accused of heathenism because they called the stars and planets ‘ilah’, ‘rabb’ (god, lord) with the hope that these might be instrumental in taking them closer to their real(!) god. Angels in Kuran are visualized  to be on par with god or share the same realm with him in a covert fashion. When we have god speaking in the first person singular in Kuran about the things he has done, he says ‘we’ and not ‘I’, When god is made to speak about himself  He uses ‘I’. The implication is there: Angels are partners to the deeds of god. The archangels do co-operate with him, carry his messages, work as warriors, guides, helpers, admonishers, note takers, scribes and killers etc. Don’t they?  Of course they do. Writers of Kuran had written so!

Now let us go back to the faith of the sons of Israel:

• Joshua says Israel were polytheists in Egypt.
• They had the images of the golden calf before them when they danced naked on the slopes of the mount Sinai.
• Moses made a graven image of a serpent (Numbers 21:9, 2 Kings 18:4).
• Before entering Israel Joshua felt the need to ask his followers to put away their gods (Joshua 24:2, 24:20).

• Period of the Judges was a period of wide spread polytheism (Judges 6:25, 11:24, 13:1, 17:5), so was the period of Kings).

• Temple of Solomon had two pillars which represented the fertility cult of Asherah, who was the lady of the sea - a goddess - of the Baal cult and was considered the wife of YHVH.
• Until Hezekiah (Hiskia) destroyed them YHVH’s ark in the temple stood amongst  others, side by side with Moses’ brazen serpent Nehustan (II Kings 18:4).

• YHVH had to share his temple with Baal, Asherah and the heavenly bodies like the Sun (II Kings 23:4-7).

• Jeroboam has set up cultic bulls.
• Manasseh has built altars to Sun, Moon, and stars in the temple (Kings 21:3-5).
• Ahab has worshipped cows 100 years after Solomon (Josephus 8:13).
• Ahab’s wife Jezebel was a devotee of Melkaart (a Canaanite god).

Talmudic Judaism believes that this god has a continuous effect via his creative force and calls Him ‘ever living’ (hayy) god. This god has shown his power to the world and mankind by uttering the word ‘be’ and they ‘became.’ Judaism stays away from the philosophical thoughts like whether god has created the world ex nihilo or via a material transformation. Judaism believed that good and evil came from god (Remember the dualism in Zoroastrianism?). The Christian idea of evil emanating from satan did not exist in Judaism. Everything becomes and develops according to the purpose of god. Another doctrine which appears beside the soleness of god is his omnipotence. One of the conditions of the Jewish confession of faith says that god is ever-present and all-seeing. This never means that god is one with the world and bound by it. Talmud says, ‘god is the abode of the world but the world is not his abode.’ One of the attributes of god is that ‘he knows everything.’ he knows even the most secret acts and thoughts. Another attribute: ‘God is ever-living and has no beginning or end.’ Judaism also has the idea of the ‘kingdom of god’ which could be established by the work of mankind under the leadership of god. In this kingdom all personal and social injustices will be eradicated. This is the key to the existence of and the mystery surrounding the Jewish nation. Jews deriving on their historical traditions have believed that the founders of this ideal state would be god and themselves. The heavenly kingdom will be founded by the coming of the messiah.

• Deutero-Isaiah was the first one to have a statement on the ‘universal’ sole god. Here the concept of the false gods is introduced also for the first time. Declaring all the other gods as ‘false’ is fundamental for monotheism (Remember Akh-en-aten who had  said that the other gods were all lies, and deception?).

At this point I would like to point out again that Judaism has always experienced a tension between the Jewish nationalism and monotheism, which could not co-exist. Because Hebrews were polytheists, and Israel were polytheists. They had their own local gods, and the implant of monotheism has resulted in a contradiction between these local gods of a chosen people  and their omnipotent god who excludes all the other gods. It took them 800-900 years to accept monotheism. The pre-exilic god was a bloodthirsty, vengeful, jealous, anthropomorphic tribal god, spreading fear. The last sections of the Old Testament were written after the Babylonian exile. Perhaps the most important effect the exile had was about their understanding of god. Post-exilic god is completely different. This god is so far away, so high-up, so removed from this world that, he needs interfaces (go-betweens, messengers) to communicate. This is not the tribal god YHVH anymore, He is the perfect universal supreme creator, the Zarathustran god, Ahura Mazda.

Following is YHVH’s progress, with the few turning points of the encounter between YHVH and his predecessors - the local gods;

• In Hosea 13:2 we are told that Israel has gone back to their old gods: “And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it is the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, let the man that sacrifice kiss the calves”

• In Hosea 13:4 Israel’s god addresses his people: “Yet I am the Lord thy god from the land of Egypt and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.”

• Israel's god is still fighting to become the only god of his people. In Hosea 14:3-4 Israel is addressed: “Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy”

• In Amos 3:2 Israel’s god warns His people: “I have known you only of all the families of the Earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” This also shows us that YHVH still considers himself a tribal god.

• In the third section from the end (Zephaniah 1:2-4) god says: “..I will cut off man from off the land, saith the Lord..I will also stretch mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Yerushalim; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests.”

• In the penultimate section, in Zechariah 14:9 (In the second year of Darius' reign) the fundamental change in the Jewish thinking about their god is evident:   “And the Lord shall be king over all the Earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.”

Israel’s god is on the way to becoming the god for all.

• In Malachi 1:10-11 the writer of the section signs and seals the fundamental change in their understanding of god: “..I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand... my name shall be great amongst  the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great amongst the heathen..”

This is the final word: Israel’s god has won his battle against the other gods; those other gods must be abandoned (they are not, yet); Israel’s god will become the sole god. Again, this description, 'sole',  should not be understood as the only god, there are other gods, but this particular god is the god of  Israel. The author or the authors of this section, in other words  mankind, has decided so!

The Babylonian exile for the Jews was the beginning of new hopes for a new heaven and a new Earth. Jews were separated for the first time from their god during the exile. They had a covenant with their god; they were the chosen people  of their god; their god had promised them a promised land; their god had identified himself with them; their god had fought for them and with them against their adversaries. Now it is unthinkable to suggest that this god, their god, had abandoned them. But here they are in exile.. There is no temple, no offerings.. They are able to keep only the sabbath. So Jews had no choice but to start thinking about their god in different terms. A more universal god seemed more reasonable. This god could not be confined to a single  geographical area. His exclusive identification with one ethnic group is doubtful. This god is the god of all mankind but Jews were the ones who were picked  out .

At that point, “about half a century after Ezekiel, there lived in Babylonia the anonymous prophet of consolation and Israel’s national restoration, usually referred to as deutero-Isaiah (second Isaiah).”  Scholars assign chapters 40-65 of the Book of Isaiah to him (Check the pages on the OLD TESTAMENT in this site).

• This unknown master ideologue , the ‘second-Isaiah’ elevated YHVH, for the first time, to the seat of the creator of the Universe and everything in it. Here is Isaiah 45:5-8: “I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no god beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me... I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil. I the Lord do all these things... Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it.”

Zarathustra/Zoroaster had celebrated Ahura Mazda in Yasna 31:8 in a remarkably similar fashion: “Yes, although Thou are the First One, I realized Thee to be (ever) young in mind, Wise One, when I grasped Thee in a vision to be the Father of good thinking, the real Creator of truth, (and) the Lord of existence in Thy actions.”

The section of Isaiah which includes the verse above was written after the exile. Before Isaiah Jews seldom thought of YHVH as the god of all the tribes, let alone all of the Hebrews. Beelzebub/ Baalzebub was the god of Ekron. Ammon had Milcom as their god. Moabites believed in Chemosh. I know that some people out there will read what I have written here  and say that there is nothing strange, because these names represented the sole creator himself, and only the names differ from community to community. No way! What about the attributes of each of them? What about all those different stories about different gods dealing with their believers? No way! These are all concepts invented by the mankind in accordance with their needs.

A supreme being showing itself to human beings was normal in the beginning. They were only superior to mankind, therefore more powerful. That was all. They have created the mankind as their servants, and shared their environment with them. Abraham even sat down for a meal with his god(!) in ancient Mamre, Hebron. Could any one of you imagine anything like this? A god sharing a meal with a human being? This is ridiculous. Later this concept of god revealing himself to mankind became an anathema for Israel. Following the Babylonian exile the concept of god of the Mosaic belief system was amended: God became an entity “the divine presence of whom could only be seen as an afterglow.”  This divine presence is called by the writer as ‘the glory (kavod) of YHVH’. The Priestly Tradition  was not very happy with an anthropomorphic god, so instead of YHVH accompanying Israel during the Exodus they have amended the story and had  the ‘glory’ of YHVH filling the tent where he met Moses. This Priestly Tradition (Check the pages on the OLD TESTAMENT in this site),  ‘P’ had his most important contribution to the Old Testament in the form of the account of creation  in the first chapter of Genesis.

Jehovah-Yehovah-YHVH was most probably a volcano god. This superior entity has entered the scene with the famous stories of Exodus and the ‘Law giving.’ Egyptians could not have worshipped him, because there are no volcanoes in Egypt, active or inactive, young or ancient. The authors imagining the people in front of the mount Sinai (Horeb) did not know YHVH before, or they had forgotten him long time ago. The two names used in the Old Testament for god, Elohim and YHVH, may be taken as an evidence supporting this assumption. Elohim has appeared in the beginning, later on YHVH replaced Elohim. According to a widespread opinion YHVH was the god of the Kenites (A Semitic tribe). He might have been or not. What counts is the concept, and the concept was there. It was impossible to see this supreme entity, and the making of his effigy was forbidden. Our hero, the greatest of the prophets - Moses - is seemingly imagined as adopting this god as his, and trying to impose him as the sole god on the nomadic tribes that  had set out  towards the Jordan Valley to settle there. YHVH might  well have been brought over by Moses, or might have been the god of a small community and made the sole  god of the new community by Moses.

Now the attributes of this god of the sons of Israel:

• He did not take part in his act (the creation).
• He is endless, not like his creation.
• He is not created therefore he must have a time and place particular to him.

• He made himself known under the names like Elohim (EL), Eloah, EL Shadday, YHVH, YHVH Sabaoth, Adonay, and Shekinah (in the Cabbalistic context).

• He is a jealous and dreadful god.
• He is a wholly divisive and differentiating god.

• Differing from the other gods, he did not express himself in a cosmic, but in a historical time scale with an absolute beginning and end.

• He was the only designer and organiser of the daily life, history and politics of the Jews.

All kinds of  humanly decisions and judgments could inevitably contradict him, even if they do not violate the law of the god; nothing could be added to or subtracted from god’s creation; man’s duty in this world is summarized in Ecclesiastes 12:13: “..Fear god, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”

• Jews are required only ‘to know what god has done, not to intepret it’ (Do remember the Sumerian belief about Enki’s creative effect. The judgment was ‘Enki did it’ or ‘Enki did it and organized it so.’)

• Since word is god’s, exegesis is god’s prerogative as it is written in Genesis 40:8; but in Genesis 40:12 Joseph interprets the dream anyway.

• Interpretation of god’s actions is considered sedition. One should remember here, that Islam has also prohibited the interpretation of the law - Kuran - and branded this action as equating oneself with god. But nevertheless there are numerous interpreters of both the Old Testament and Kuran, who consider themselves guides showing(!) or leading(!) the way to god. These actions should be considered sedition as well.

• These seditious acts would create discord between  god and the Jews. Since these seditious acts could be considered sins, they exactly fall into the description in Isaiah 59:2:  “..your iniquities have separated between you and your god, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.”

• The gods of the pagans,  the man made effigies and idols were branded as the ‘symbols of evil’ by the Jews (Muslims now know where the ban on images in Islam comes from).

• Jews were acquiring their names and their communal identity within their alliance with the god.

• A Jew is the servant of his god. He is like a worker on contract on the Promised Land, because according to the Law the land belongs to the god. The original concept belongs to the Sumerians. They thought that the supreme beings have created mankind to serve them (supreme beings). In Sumer land belonged to their gods and they looked after these lands on behalf of their gods.

• Israel’s god was also ‘good’ and involved with his people. A dialogue has been going on between god and the mankind since the time of Abraham, the Jews believed.

• He was the ‘god of armies’  because Israel had to fight their way towards a new homeland. god of Islam has armies as well.

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