/r/historicalreligion
This sub is dedicated to uncovering all historical basis for any religion.
If you know of a fact that is in a religious text that is supported by history, bring it on.
If you have a question that others may be able to answer, bring it on.
All religions welcome.
This sub is dedicated to uncovering all historical basis for any religion.
If you know of a fact that is in a religious text that is supported by history, bring it on.
If you have a question that others may be able to answer, bring it on.
All religions welcome.
Good topics of conversation will include non-religious and religious support for religious characters and events, as well as questions pertaining to the historicity of these characters and events.
This sub is not to be used for bashing religion in a historical context. Discussion to the contrary is allowed, but "religion bashing" cannot be the sole purpose of your post or comment. Those found to be violating the spirit of the sub will be warned,and subsequently removed.
This sub's purpose is for discussion, therefore any submission must include your views on the subject matter, and a summary of why you find the submission to be interesting.
/r/historicalreligion
In this presentation Dr. Aren Maeir guides us into the very origins of Ancient Israel, their identity and the very foundations of their religion.
In this presentation the great scholar Dr. Maeir takes us into the origins of the religion of the ancient Israelites.
He will address these points:
Canaanite pagan influences on the Israelite religion such as El and Baal.
Discusses the ideological framework of the Israelite texts and the worship of a singular deity, and points out the big question which is "is this the original form and practice of the Israelite religion or did this monotheistic approach come much later?"
He discusses male and female figurines of the Iron Age that depict their God.
He also discusses the evidence of more than one God and even a Goddess in Israelite society and religion and also he points out that we tend to see not necessarily monotheism in ancient Israel but rather Monolatry.
We also ask a harder question and that is, when does Monotheism take root as a dominant ideology in ancient Israel and whether or not this was influenced by the religious reform of Atenism or Zoroastrianism?
How old is Judaism? How is it different today?
We will also discuss religious violence and ethnic cleansing in ancient Israel and the issues of using modern terms on the past in a world where they did things quite differently.
And finally we arrive to the subject of Human Sacrifice in ancient Canaan and even in Ancient Israel and how we may see a conflict between those who partook in human sacrifice and those who did not like it and who in turn wrote stories like "Abraham and Isaac at the Mount" in an attempt to show that we don't believe in that form of practice.