So it appears God (Yahweh) had a wife. (Mormons, church, prophets)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
You should go to the Bible instead of MSNBC for your information on this topic. In Deuteronomy 16 it says:
Quote:
Worshiping Other Gods
21 Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build to the LORD your God, and do not erect a sacred stone, for these the LORD your God hates.
Also, if you check out wikipedia you'll see an in-depth explanation of what Asherah really is...and it's not his wife!
Asherah's connection to Yahweh, according to Stavrakopoulou, is spelled out in both the Bible and an 8th-century B.C. inscription on pottery found in the Sinai desert at a site called Kuntillet Ajrud.
"The inscription is a petition for a blessing," she shares. "Crucially, the inscription asks for a blessing from 'Yahweh and his Asherah.'
I could see how that inscription can make people rethink the meaning of Asherah. With scribes throughout the ages rewording biblical passages to suit the culture of their day, it's more than plausible that the Bible we know today has strayed from its earliest roots.
Of course the only wife, it the bride of Christ, and that is the church.
From the article
"we are never told exactly what it was", observes John Day.[4] The role of the Asherah reflected in the texts was likely rewritten and reinterpreted by the followers of Ezra, upon the return of the Jews from captivity and the writing of the Priestly text.[5] Though there was certainly a movement against goddess-worship at the Jerusalem Temple in the time of king Josiah, it did not long survive his reign, as the following four kings "did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh" (2 Kings 23:32, 37; 24:9, 19). Further exhortations came from Jeremiah. The traditional interpretation of the Biblical text is that the Israelites imported pagan elements such as the Asherah poles from the surrounding Canaanites; the modern scholarly interpretations suggests instead that the Israelite folk religion was always polytheistic, and it was the prophets and priests who denounced the Asherah poles who were the innovators.[6]
It pretty much makes the case for us heathen that the entire bible was written and rewritten by men to suit their agendas. The whole thing is revisionist.
"the modern scholarly interpretations suggests instead that the Israelite folk religion was always polytheistic, and it was the prophets and priests who denounced the Asherah poles who were the innovators.["
the guy who wrote The Tribes of Yahweh suggested, IIUC, based on both the bible text and other sources, that the kings (and other elites) were reimposing a polytheism that the folk had moved away from in pre-monarchical times, and the prophets were taking the peoples side.
I know some folks today say the opposite, but I have a hard time reconciling that with the the social-economic stands of the prophets, and their attacks on many of the monarchs and nobles.
IIUC the claim (based on that archaelogical find) that Yahweh's "asherah" was a wife/goddess (in preIsraelite canaanite religion) is consensus today. Not sure about claims that the bible was edited specifically to exclude references to her.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
