Seth Payne

Please see my earlier posts (here and here).

Also, To provide context for the brief discussion that follows, please keep in mind the question posed by CARM’s Theo1689 to Mormons who may make the dire mistake of visiting CARM’s discussion forums:

1) Why do you believe in “plural gods”, when the Bible teaches monotheism (Deut. 4:35,39, 1 Kings 8:60, Isa. 43:10, 44:6,8, 45:5,21,22, 46:9, John 17:3, 1 Cor. 8:4-6, etc.)?

That early Israelite religion was henotheistic is nearly beyond dispute. Henotheism, of course, is the position that reverence is paid to one god while still acknowledging the existence of other gods or divine beings. This is distinctly different from polytheism where reverence is paid to multiple gods simultaneously. Clear examples of polytheism can be found in the pantheons of both Greece and Rome. Early Israelite religion was not polytheistic. The highest reverence was given YHWH (rendered the LORD) while the existence of other divine beings was clearly acknowledged.

Most scholars refer to this collection of divine beings as the “Divine Council.” The Divine Council appears in many places throughout the Old Testament. Consider these verses from the creation story:

Gen. 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

Notice the use of plural pronouns “us” and “our.” According to the creation story of Genesis, God did not act alone. Further allusion to God’s divine council is found in Genesis 6.

Gen. 6:1 When people began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that they were fair; and they took wives for themselves of all that they chose.

In these verses we see that the sons of God (ben Elohim) took a liking to human women and married them. The offspring of these unions were known as the Nephilim, a hybrid race of both divine and human origin:

4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went in to the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes that were of old, warriors of renown.

The story of the Tower of Babel provides additional evidence for the Divine Council:

6 And the LORD said, “Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore it was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Again, take note of the use of plural pronouns. Just as in the creation of humankind, YHWH did not act alone in confounding the language of the people.

It is also important to note that while the Patriarchs of Genesis always pay homage to YHWH, they do not explicitly deny the existence of the gods of other peoples. Such denunciation of the existence of other gods comes much later in the Biblical text and is the product of exilic and post-exilic theological movements towards strict monotheism where YHWH is not only the most powerful god and the god that Israel must worship, but that he is indeed the ONLY god in existence.

We can even find evidence of a divine council in Psalm 82:

Psa. 82:0 A Psalm of Asaph.
1 God has taken his place in the divine council;
in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 Give justice to the weak and the orphan;
maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

Psa. 82:5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
they walk around in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

Psa. 82:6 I say, “You are gods,
children of the Most High, all of you;
7 nevertheless, you shall die like mortals,
and fall like any prince.”

Psa. 82:8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth;
for all the nations belong to you!

Textual analysis of this verse can be very difficult in Hebrew partially because at least two names are used to describe God: Elyon (the Most High) and Elohim (God or gods). Suffice it to say that this Psalm indicates that God is “in the midst of the gods” and holds a superior position as he “holds judgment” over them. Again, these verses are not describing the strict monotheism that Theo would have us believe is taught so clearly throughout the entire Bible.

Perhaps the most compelling (and controversial) OT text that provides evidence for Israelite henotheism can be found in the “Song of Moses” in Deuteronomy 32. This is ironic, of course because, as discussed briefly in a previous post, the Deuteronomist seems to be the driving force behind strict monotheism found within Deuteronomy texts. However, the “Song of Moses” is most likely much older than the rest of the text of Deuteronomy. It is not uncommon to find hymns or songs woven into narratives. We see this in both Exodus and Judges.

In any case, here are the pertinent verses from the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32:

7 Remember the days of old,
consider the years long past;
ask your father, and he will inform you;
your elders, and they will tell you.
8 When the Most High apportioned the nations,
when he divided humankind,
he fixed the boundaries of the peoples
according to the number of the gods;
9 the LORD’S own portion was his people,
Jacob his allotted share.

Again, we see two different words to describe God: Elyon (the Most High) and YHWH (the LORD). In the context of these verses it appears that Elyon and YHWH are separate. According to verse 8, Elyon divided the nations based on the number of gods. Verse 9 indicates that the nation of Israel was given to YHWH as his portion of this division. Some scholars read these verses with Elyon and YHWH as the same being but regardless of how one interprets the use of the names Elyon and YHWH, it is clear from verse 8 that nations were formed based on the number of gods.

Now, consider these same verses as rendered in the King James Version:

Deut. 32:7 Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee. 8 When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. 9 For the LORD’S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

The key difference, of course, is that Elyon divides the nations not based on the number of gods but rather, on the number of the sons of Israel. Why such a significant textual and theological difference between the NRSV and the KJV?

This is a case where the translators of the NRSV relied on the text of the Septuagint while the translators of the KJV relied on the Masoretic Text. The Septuagint is a Greek version of the Old Testament and was in wide use during the time of Jesus. The Septuagint translates verse 8 as gods. We don’t know what Hebrew sources were used to make the Septuagint, but what we do know is that they are much older than the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible. The Masoretic Text clearly states the sons of Israel. So, in this case Biblical Scholars must make a judgment call by choosing which source is more reliable. There are quality arguments on both sides of the issue. Personally, I lean towards using the text of the Septuagint simply because it was translated from very old Hebrew Texts.

I hope that from what has been presented above, that it is quite clear that Theo’s claim that the Bible teaches strict monotheism throughout is completely bogus.

More to come on the Mormon theology of a “plurality of gods” and how it relates to these biblical texts.