This is the big one. Let's fearlessly look at where the "God of the Bible" came from and what that means for those of us who were taught to love, worship, trust and fear that God.
This is such a needed deep dive, Joe. The way you traced the evolution of YHWH—from tribal war god to cosmic Father, and eventually to imperial judge—connects so many dots that never quite made sense in Sunday school. It’s sobering to see how much of what we were taught as “eternal truth” is actually layered human storytelling shaped by power, fear, and survival.
But what I appreciate most is your invitation to hold all of it—judgment and grace, evolution and rupture, love and trauma—with honesty. Deconstruction isn’t destruction. It’s remembering that our questions aren’t a threat to God. If anything, they’re how we inch closer to what’s real.
Thank you for helping us do that with both courage and compassion.
The journey you take us on with each new deep dive never seems surprizing, but still always revealing. I understand polytheism, monolantry and monotheism and their significance in shaping the religious world as a whole. I even accept each of them, if someone's understanding of the spiritual realm fits into one of these three categories. Personally, I would like to land in monolantry. Holding space for someone who believes in more than one God, but I ultimately choose to follow one. (And that One might just have a divine councel to preside over.)
Joe, I just finished reading this and had to check my pulse to make sure I hadn't converted to Ancient Near Eastern Studies. This wasn’t a blog post. This was a graduate seminar with footnotes disguised as storytelling.
And let me just say—this is the most compassionate theological dismantling I’ve ever experienced. You gently walked us through 3,000 years of divine evolution like a tour guide who says, “On your left, you’ll see a storm god stealing Baal’s mixtape, and on your right, Jesus redefining YHWH into a cosmic father with boundary issues.”
You took us from tribal volcano deity to cosmic therapist to eternal micromanager, and somehow made it all make sense. Honestly, I’ve seen less character development in Shakespeare.
What really landed was this: the God we inherited is a mashup of conquest and compassion, empire and exile, wrath and radical grace. No wonder church gives people whiplash. It's like worshipping both Obi-Wan and Darth Vader and trying to make it a coherent creed.
And your ending? Beautiful. Gentle. Like Mr. Rogers, if he’d studied Ugaritic poetry and could explain divine council theory over a cup of tea.
So thank you, Joe. Not just for the scholarship, but for the kindness. You made room for everyone on this journey—even the ones still scared to look behind the theological curtain.
You didn’t just trace the evolution of God. You modeled what it means to evolve with courage.
I enjoyed reading this Joe,I love the historical context which gives insight into how different generations perceive God. I'm very sad that the Queen if Heaven became heretical, I believe the world would have been better if Christianity was less patriarchal. Im thinking, now, of puuting an Asherah pole in our garden just to see what happens
Great article and history of the evolution of the monotheistic religion of Western religion. I appreciate the research you've put into this article. I hope you found the ATM.
Joe, if you have time, read a book by Pascal Boyer called Religion Explained. I read it many years ago. Boyer explores the cognitive (evolutionary) psychology behind why our species is chronically religious. Basically, he says this:
🔹 Our brains look for causes.
🔹 We notice strange things.
🔹 We remember and share fun, surprising stories.
These are inherent and universal structures in our minds, and thus our brains secrete religious ideas (memes)like our pancreas secretes digestive enzymes.
I think I am in the scary part of this journey where I'm letting go of some things that gave me a sense of security. These deep dives are fascinating but each one pulls me a little further away from what I thought I knew to something new. I'm committed to the journey but it's not a fun one right now.
That is part of the process for everyone. Remember, though. There is no rush. And there is no real finish line. You can learn and hold onto what you need to as you go.
Guessing that (my paraphrase), “the brain searching for answers is like the gi tract searching for nutrients to metabolize” is a Burgess creation & not a Boyerism. From a physiologist’s perspective that’s a pretty great analogy! But “Any God who is threatened by that (questioning) is not the Father God of Jesus.”—that was powerful!
This is such a needed deep dive, Joe. The way you traced the evolution of YHWH—from tribal war god to cosmic Father, and eventually to imperial judge—connects so many dots that never quite made sense in Sunday school. It’s sobering to see how much of what we were taught as “eternal truth” is actually layered human storytelling shaped by power, fear, and survival.
But what I appreciate most is your invitation to hold all of it—judgment and grace, evolution and rupture, love and trauma—with honesty. Deconstruction isn’t destruction. It’s remembering that our questions aren’t a threat to God. If anything, they’re how we inch closer to what’s real.
Thank you for helping us do that with both courage and compassion.
🙏🏼
The journey you take us on with each new deep dive never seems surprizing, but still always revealing. I understand polytheism, monolantry and monotheism and their significance in shaping the religious world as a whole. I even accept each of them, if someone's understanding of the spiritual realm fits into one of these three categories. Personally, I would like to land in monolantry. Holding space for someone who believes in more than one God, but I ultimately choose to follow one. (And that One might just have a divine councel to preside over.)
Joe, I just finished reading this and had to check my pulse to make sure I hadn't converted to Ancient Near Eastern Studies. This wasn’t a blog post. This was a graduate seminar with footnotes disguised as storytelling.
And let me just say—this is the most compassionate theological dismantling I’ve ever experienced. You gently walked us through 3,000 years of divine evolution like a tour guide who says, “On your left, you’ll see a storm god stealing Baal’s mixtape, and on your right, Jesus redefining YHWH into a cosmic father with boundary issues.”
You took us from tribal volcano deity to cosmic therapist to eternal micromanager, and somehow made it all make sense. Honestly, I’ve seen less character development in Shakespeare.
What really landed was this: the God we inherited is a mashup of conquest and compassion, empire and exile, wrath and radical grace. No wonder church gives people whiplash. It's like worshipping both Obi-Wan and Darth Vader and trying to make it a coherent creed.
And your ending? Beautiful. Gentle. Like Mr. Rogers, if he’d studied Ugaritic poetry and could explain divine council theory over a cup of tea.
So thank you, Joe. Not just for the scholarship, but for the kindness. You made room for everyone on this journey—even the ones still scared to look behind the theological curtain.
You didn’t just trace the evolution of God. You modeled what it means to evolve with courage.
Thanks again Joe. I'm learning to live with uncertainty as I step away from evangelicalism. It takes courage and compassion.
And to learn that the Queen of heaven was cancelled so early on !! No wonder the evangelicals I grew up with hated Roman Catholicism!
Ha ! Yeah Mary is like the new stepmom 😂
Haha, now it's starting to sound like a Greek God saga 🤣 😂
yep
I enjoyed reading this Joe,I love the historical context which gives insight into how different generations perceive God. I'm very sad that the Queen if Heaven became heretical, I believe the world would have been better if Christianity was less patriarchal. Im thinking, now, of puuting an Asherah pole in our garden just to see what happens
Great article and history of the evolution of the monotheistic religion of Western religion. I appreciate the research you've put into this article. I hope you found the ATM.
Joe, if you have time, read a book by Pascal Boyer called Religion Explained. I read it many years ago. Boyer explores the cognitive (evolutionary) psychology behind why our species is chronically religious. Basically, he says this:
🔹 Our brains look for causes.
🔹 We notice strange things.
🔹 We remember and share fun, surprising stories.
These are inherent and universal structures in our minds, and thus our brains secrete religious ideas (memes)like our pancreas secretes digestive enzymes.
Amen!! Thank you for this helpful commentary, Joe. Deeper, for sure. Perspective really does make a difference.
I think I am in the scary part of this journey where I'm letting go of some things that gave me a sense of security. These deep dives are fascinating but each one pulls me a little further away from what I thought I knew to something new. I'm committed to the journey but it's not a fun one right now.
That is part of the process for everyone. Remember, though. There is no rush. And there is no real finish line. You can learn and hold onto what you need to as you go.
Guessing that (my paraphrase), “the brain searching for answers is like the gi tract searching for nutrients to metabolize” is a Burgess creation & not a Boyerism. From a physiologist’s perspective that’s a pretty great analogy! But “Any God who is threatened by that (questioning) is not the Father God of Jesus.”—that was powerful!