Which God Is God?
Scripture: Psalm 8 / Genesis 1:1-8, 26-31
Lectionary, Year A, Trinity Sunday
Author: Chris Harbin
We open the Bible with certain assumptions. Perhaps the primary assumption we make is that there is only one being we can reference as God. The Muslim world makes a similar assumption in its traditional declaration, "There is no God but Allah!" Allah is no personal name for a deity any more than the term God is in English. Hebrew had several terms for God and gods. They used personal names for various deities. They spoke of El, and Eloah, in reference to the God of Israel or as the deities of other nations. They spoke of benei Elohim (children of God/the gods). They used Elohim both for Yahweh, as well as for a group of deities. The only difference is the form of the verb, the singular pointing to Yahweh as "the God of all gods," and the plural referring to those other, lesser deities as a group. Who or which is this God to whom we refer?
Genesis' first creation narrative begins setting out the identity and character of this God of Israel, Yahweh. The account does not use Yahweh's personal name. It uses a more generic term, but it applies the attached verbs in the singular. We are not given an account of what others will call creatio ex nihilo (creation out of nothing). Instead, Genesis starts off with "In a beginning," as though to say, "At our starting point, Elohim created the heavens and the earth." This is sort of like the old adage about how to tell a story. First, you tell people what you are going to tell them. Then you tell them. Then you tell them what you've told them. So here, this first line is simply a summary of where the text will lead us. "We begin at a moment when God created all there is."
When the Ancient Egyptians spoke of creation, they spoke of it as the action of their pantheon of gods. Amid the primal sea of chaos, Ra, the sun god, emerges. Ra brings forth Shu (god of air) and Tefnut ( ...
Scripture: Psalm 8 / Genesis 1:1-8, 26-31
Lectionary, Year A, Trinity Sunday
Author: Chris Harbin
We open the Bible with certain assumptions. Perhaps the primary assumption we make is that there is only one being we can reference as God. The Muslim world makes a similar assumption in its traditional declaration, "There is no God but Allah!" Allah is no personal name for a deity any more than the term God is in English. Hebrew had several terms for God and gods. They used personal names for various deities. They spoke of El, and Eloah, in reference to the God of Israel or as the deities of other nations. They spoke of benei Elohim (children of God/the gods). They used Elohim both for Yahweh, as well as for a group of deities. The only difference is the form of the verb, the singular pointing to Yahweh as "the God of all gods," and the plural referring to those other, lesser deities as a group. Who or which is this God to whom we refer?
Genesis' first creation narrative begins setting out the identity and character of this God of Israel, Yahweh. The account does not use Yahweh's personal name. It uses a more generic term, but it applies the attached verbs in the singular. We are not given an account of what others will call creatio ex nihilo (creation out of nothing). Instead, Genesis starts off with "In a beginning," as though to say, "At our starting point, Elohim created the heavens and the earth." This is sort of like the old adage about how to tell a story. First, you tell people what you are going to tell them. Then you tell them. Then you tell them what you've told them. So here, this first line is simply a summary of where the text will lead us. "We begin at a moment when God created all there is."
When the Ancient Egyptians spoke of creation, they spoke of it as the action of their pantheon of gods. Amid the primal sea of chaos, Ra, the sun god, emerges. Ra brings forth Shu (god of air) and Tefnut ( ...
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