Agora - Who is God anyway?

Just watched the film Agora about Alexandria and Hypatia. Hard to take sides in this film because while Cyril (terrible name for the baddy) is clearly crazy for power I seem to have taken sides against natural science over the years and see Hypatia's philosophical musings as interesting but no longer of fundamental importance. They cannot explain themselves, they do not deal with the SRH, and so are only relative. Shame that the good name of God got so rubbished in this film. Good film tho, like the dialogue (rare these days), and enough attention to ancient detail to make it believable + it was intelligently made.

So it got me thinking about the problem with Christians (and Moslems) and Pagans: all three of which had their hand over the centuries destroying the knowledge in the library...

and also my story "Alexandria" which is supposed to be a suggestion that behind the scenes this "random" destruction was not no random after all and the books that were saved were "chosen" very carefully (like Plato) because they supported a fixed world view like that of our modern world with fixed rules and truths, and the pre-socratic texts like Heraclitus were deliberately ignored because they argue for flux and eternal change which would challenge the building of a unified dogma (tho Heraclitus didn't challenge the state). I mean really why was Socrates killed? I can't see Hypatia rescuing Plato. Why did so much of his stuff survive and why is it almost opposite to Socrates teaching? There were about 3 major ancient libraries why do we experience the same loss of ancient texts from these to? But I'm wondering more and more whether this is ever a feasible plot line, even if it is just a genealogical device.

Anyway problem with Christians...

Exodus 20 gives us everything we need to know about Yahweh

Yahwey clearly says that "You shall have no other gods before me."[3] It's obvious not that there are no other gods, but rather that there are and He ain't gonna tolerate them being put before Him.

And he beats that point home by describing Himself as a "jealous God" [4]. I learned all that as a child but never really thought about what jealous meant until I had a jealous girlfriend. Yahweh had a lot of problems with the Jews because they had a few gods going around and he was stamping his supreme authority on them at the time... he don't tolerate competition. But that says there are other gods.

Jews and Christians know there are other gods, Mammon being one that both Christians and Jews do worship alongside Yahweh even today.

So when Christians go evangelising it is not to say that there are not other gods, but that their God is better. This is accurately how the bible and history books seem to go. Herodotus describes the meeting of Caesar with a Germanic tribe and as soon as they saw how powerful Yahweh was they kicked over the wooded stump they worshipped and converted over night. The Ephesians converted equally quickly after St Paul etc etc.

But what of someone who is not persuaded by the power of God? Who decides that their god is more powerful. Well what Yahweh says only applies to those who take Yahweh as their God. It makes no sense for Yahweh to say put me first above other gods if you don't already do this. Its a reminder to the faithful but falls on deaf ears to the non faithful.

The observation I made a while ago was that ALL gods (without exception) call upon their faithful to worship only them. Such a situation doesn't however mean that there is only one god (which is clear from the text above) and doesn't mean that everyone has to worship the same god (which is less clear).

This is the established view in the Indian region. People are free to chose their god, but once they have chosen they understand to devote their lives to their god. Without 110% devotion it is universally recognised that your worship means nothing. It is the 110% devotion that is the key point, the point I believe that Yahweh is talking about, not the fact that it is Yahweh saying it! The Christ says the same thing.

This is the main problem with Christian (and Muslim) thinking - it is subtle but a catastrophic mistake to make and so much energy gets wasted worrying about making God the only one rather than just getting on worshipping Him. I mean if you really think that people will be helped by believing in your god rather than theirs then help them by persuading them - but if they remain unmoved then just forget about them and let them be damned rather than do something that will damn you... and wipe the sand from your shoes as you leave town as Jesus said. If people really want a fight then go to the football stands on a Saturday night and try to persuade the opposition team to support your team - its equally pointless - and if religion descends to this level the you know its not about God any more anyway and everyone is going to Hell.

Another obvious problem is that as we develop our faith who we worship changes! It might have been a fluffy bearded man when we were a kid and now it's a sophisticated silent presence but as I try to point out daily in this blog God is beyond anything we can begin to think (even that description I just gave). So quite what we have faith in, and who our god is is actually a mystery to anyone who is really faithful always. If we ever think we know God then we are being tricked by the devil! To criticise some people for worshipping statues is like kicking a child over as they pray at their bed side because they don't have a sophisticated enough view of God - it is hypocritical in the extreme. To kick someone because their god has 6 arms, or is not allowed a statue, or hangs on a cross, or is a pile of mud, or a penis, or a tree is just missing the point. It is after all about 110% devotion and the tree worshipper can do that just as well as the most learned and pious Muslim.