Before God Was God

The speaker then delves into the Baal Cycle, a Canaanite mythological story, outlining the key characters: El (the creator god), Yam (the deification of the sea), Baal (the storm god and protagonist), Anat (Baal's violent sister), and Mot (death). The narrative describes Baal's rise to supremacy, first by defeating Yam and then by conquering Mot, thereby establishing order over chaos. The lecture highlights parallels between the Baal Cycle and stories in the Hebrew Bible, such as the defeat of Leviathan by Yahweh, and the Mesopotamian story of Marduk defeating Tiamat, suggesting common mythological motifs across the ancient world.

A significant portion of the lecture focuses on three common assumptions about ancient Israel:

1. Monotheism: The assumption that Israelites were monotheistic while others were polytheistic, or that any worship of other gods was due to foreign influence (e.g., Jezebel). The speaker argues against this, pointing out that Jezebel's name itself is theophoric, containing the name of a god (Baal), and that the Bible describes Israelites living among and intermarrying with Canaanites and serving their gods.
2. Canaanite and Israelite as distinct peoples: The lecture presents historical and archaeological evidence to show that "Canaanite" was an endonym for people in the region later called Phoenicia by the Greeks, and that the Bible frequently mentions Canaanites. It discusses the conflicting biblical accounts in Joshua and Judges regarding the Israelites' entry into Canaan, suggesting cohabitation rather than total conquest.
3. Uniqueness of Israelite religion: The speaker argues that the process of associating titles, epithets, and powers with a national god was not unique to Israel, drawing parallels with the rise of Marduk in Mesopotamia.

The lecture then explores the historical context of the Bronze Age collapse, the rise of city-states in the Iron Age, and the emergence of national gods in the region. It specifically examines the origin of the name Yahweh, discussing various hypotheses, including its potential association with wind and storms and the Kenite hypothesis, which suggests Israel adopted the cult of Yahweh from nomadic herders in northwest Arabia.

A key point of the lecture is the assimilation of attributes and titles from older gods, particularly El and Baal, into Yahweh. It is suggested that Yahweh absorbed El's attributes early on without conflict, but the association with Baal, occurring during the period of the monarchy, led to condemnation in biblical texts. The speaker emphasizes that this process of "unification of practice" was only completed well into the Christian era, with Baal eventually demoted to a demon (e.g., Beelzebub).

Finally, the speaker addresses the academic and historical approach of the lecture, viewing myths as manifestations of psychological or societal truth rather than literal historical accounts. They suggest that the "Protestant bias" can lead to a misunderstanding of ancient beliefs, illustrating with examples of different portrayals of Mary in Catholicism that, while intellectually understood as the same figure, are treated differently in practice. The lecture concludes by encouraging attendees to consider how cultures understand the divine and how that influences behavior and worship, leaving the question of whether God changes up to the audience.