Peter van Montfoort Click here for Dutch translation
"Philosophy begins with wonderment"
Plato
The idea for the existence of gods probably started falteringly, when the evolution of mankind had progressed to the stage where human brains had developed far enough to allow man to be aware of his own existence, and to be able to judge his surroundings within the limits of his still limited knowledge. Also being curious, unavoidably man began to wonder why this world was the way it was, and especially why it seemed so ultimately fit for precisely his existence.
In 1998, the late best-seller author Douglas Adams (‘A Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy’) presented his thoughts on this subject before an audience of Oxford scientists. In his dissertation, Mr. Adams expressed his thoughts on the possible origin of invisible, but mighty gods in the minds of primitive man.
According to Mr. Adams, it is not entirely illogical to suppose that our earliest ancestors may have been under the impression that there had to exist beings somewhere, who had created all the provisions in nature that they were surrounded with. It would have been a logical conclusion. For primitive man had already discovered for himself that many useful matters such as fire, clothing, food and shelter never came into being just like that, but always necessitated action by man himself, thus making man the creator of such things. So according to the same logic, there also had to be a creator of matters such as sun, moon, rain, the very ground under his feet, and the food that walked around on four legs or swam by in the river, or was just hanging from trees to be replenished annually. In short, there had to be a maker of all these things so very useful to his existence, but which man nevertheless could never have created himself. Moreover, it seemed only reasonable to assume that this mysterious and invisible creator must have made all these things especially for the benefit of his sort, since they all proved so very useful to precisely his existence. The illusion that man is the measure of all things is as old as mankind itself. This idea was then, and to many still is today a very comforting thought, because one can then also delegate responsibility to this clever invisible being that is so splendidly looking after us.
Because it seemed such a logical conclusion, the idea caught on and spread in countless variations among developing societies all over the inhabited world. And almost unavoidably, in time every society came to claim their own particular morals as having been prescribed by the mythical beings of their choice, prompted as their leaders were by the need to legalize rules to establish and maintain an orderly community.
This way, the ancient Greeks for instance, projected onto their gods those characteristics that in their culture were considered to be ideal, such as physical strength, courage, beauty and wisdom. They also decided that those gods had to be able to take on a human guise sometimes, to enable them to contact humans with the aim to advise and protect them. This way, they created imaginary beings that like themselves were also subject to human emotions such as joy, anger, jealousy and revenge. It made these phantoms better recognizable, thus rendering their existence more likely.
Authors from that period have left us a number of magnificent figures of Greek mythology, such as the supreme deity Zeus with his wife Hera, residing on Mount Olympus together with a great number of other gods and goddesses. Countless stories about them are preserved for posterity, with many figures and happenings that still are incorporated into our present-day language. Think of such ideas as ‘tantalizing’ derived from the existence of the god Tantalus, the ‘Augean stables’, a ‘Gordian knot’, etc. In the same vein, Homer left us his immortal epic the ‘Odyssey’, in which the Greek hero Odysseus is suffering many dangers and tribulations on his way back to his kingdom Ithaca, after his contribution to the victory over Troy. Fortunately, the goddess Athene ‘with the shiny eyes’, daughter of Zeus, often came to the rescue of this mortal. It is an epic so much more humane, so much more civilized, so infinitely much more sympathetic than the barbarian acts of the Christian God and his ‘chosen people’, as narrated in the Bible.
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This god had originated among a primitive Semitic tribe, wandering around the Middle-Eastern deserts in the Bronze Age. These uncivilized people had created a deity entirely in being with their own moral standards, thus developing a god with character traits far inferior to those that more civilized minds had created in ancient Greece. Their god was a megalomaniacal mass-murderer, a jealous and insecure maniac afraid of competition. Consequently, their religion became a superstition based on fear, rather than on idealism. Their creed was not aimed at elevating mankind to a higher plan, or to promote peaceful co-existence with fellow humans, but wholly on the total subjection to the fearful ogre they had dreamed up. Needless to say, by inference this also meant subjection to its self-appointed priests, for being its creator only they could stipulate exclusively what their god expected of his subjects.
For lack of a better idea, and with the aid of diligent promotion by self-interested priests, this illusion of invisible creators was to reign supreme among many communities throughout the world for many ages. Each god was created in accordance with local custom and moral standards, each god was immensely powerful and everlasting, each god was unshakably believed in, and each god died ingloriously and unlamented when the community that had created it became extinct. However, the Semitic god and its two spin-offs - the Christian and Muslim gods - were to survive unchallenged right up to the first half of the nineteenth century. It was only then that an original and courageous thinker like Charles Darwin proposed the thesis that it was not Earth, which had been made fit for man, but that man had grown fit for Earth, and only gradually so over the ages, as a consequence of a very long process of evolution and natural selection. This idea of course completely contradicted the delusion that there had to be a god to create all things. Since then, scientists have found so much more additional proof to support this thesis, and are still finding more of it every day, that nowadays this knowledge is universally accepted by almost everybody, because it so elegantly explains the development or extinction of all kinds of animals living on this planet, including the human sort. Moreover, this explanation does not have to be propped up by alleged miracles, but is firmly based on common sense and demonstrable facts.
And yet, even today many mentally retarded fundamentalists find it hard to believe. Probably, the major reason why the ancient belief in the Semitic desert-god could survive for as long as it did is because from early times onward, self-appointed priests started adding all kinds of beneficial characteristics to this imaginary being. The fact that it is entirely imaginary of course considerably facilitated this deception. To the absolute nothing, one can ascribe just about anything opportune to one’s purpose. And since the clergy had attributed omnipotence and omniscience to their creation, people naturally began to turn to it for comfort and protection. For these priests not only told the gullible that this Supreme Being provided all the earthly goods necessary for their present life, but they also hit on a stroke of pure genius. They invented afterlife, no less! It was really brilliant! The only certainty in life is that it will end, definitely, and that no-one ever returns after death. So this fraud would not, could not ever be exposed. They created two kinds of afterlifes, both lasting eternally. The one to be preferred was to be spent in heaven in everlasting bliss, and could be earned only by complete submission to them and their creation. The only alternative was endless torture in fiery hell for those who did not. For those who prefer to think independently, fortunately there will be no afterlife at all. Fortunately, because an eternity soon gets boring.
Now, it is one thing to dream up and say all these terrible things and get away with it, but what really matters is to find a way to make them stick. This of course could only be achieved by convincing people that the god the clergy had created had made its will be known to man. However, to be able to do this, this figment of their imagination had to be taught to talk, or at least to express its thoughts in writing and somehow send a letter to humanity, but you can see the problem there.
Unexpectedly, a very unlikely helper indirectly came to the rescue, when the emperor Constantin - who believed in all sorts of gods - in the year 313 decided to grant the newly arising Christian sects equal rights with all the other religions in his Roman Empire. Being a competent organizer, and frowning on the way the various Jesus cults kept squabbling on details with each other, he recognized the need for a written statement on the principles of this new religion. So in the year 331 he commissioned bishop Eusebius of Caesarea to prepare 50 copies of a Bible for the Church of Constantinople. That must have been a tall order, considering that over the previous 1600 years 66 separate books had been written on the subject by at least 40 different authors, almost all of them contradicting each other. However, being fully aware of the detrimental effects to health failure to comply with the emperor’s wishes would cause, by hook or by crook, the Bible was born. From then on, the clergy greedily decreed every word in it to be God’s own, since ‘God had revealed his divine thoughts and wishes to the authors’. And so - despite the complete absence of any logic in it - this last hindrance was neatly cleared. Now they had something tangible to fall back on.
Also, to lend substance to this otherwise rather shabby Semitic god, great parts of earlier religions were ‘borrowed’ and incorporated into this Bible, such as the Creation myth, Paradise and the Great Flood. Archeological discoveries of clay tablets with allegorical pictures in that area have now demonstrated this fact convincingly. Nevertheless, from then on this delusion could be fully exploited to increase the power of the priesthood, to keep the masses ignorant and for the great questions in life dependent on the clergy. Moreover, to instill the fear of God into the minds of the gullible, much emphasis is laid upon the blind jealousy of this God and his threats of unbridled violence against the apostate, as laid down in the Bible. And to maximize the effect, children are exposed to this verbal violence from a young age, while they still fully trust the grown-ups who are teaching them.
To allow some insight into the mentality and ethics which his primitive creators projected onto this desert-god, we have chosen a few illuminating texts on some topics from ‘God’s Word’. However, we must stress that these texts fortunately do not reflect the mentality or ethics of most present-day Christians. Why not? Because most Christians do not know their Bible....
On Education
‘Blows and wounds cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being.’ Proverbs 20:30
‘Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.‘ Proverbs 22:15
‘Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die. Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death.‘ Proverbs 23:13-14
‘If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. They shall say to the elders, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard." Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.‘ Deuteronomy 21:18-21
On the Sanctity of Life
‘That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!‘ 2 Kings 19:35
‘When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the desert where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. Twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai.‘ Joshua 8:25-25
‘However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the LORD your God has commanded you.‘ Deuteronomy 20:16-17
‘That day Joshua took Makkedah. He put the city and its king to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it. He left no survivors. And he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of Jericho. Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and attacked it. The LORD also gave that city and its king into Israel's hand. The city and everyone in it Joshua put to the sword. He left no survivors there. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho. Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Libnah to Lachish; he took up positions against it and attacked it. The LORD handed Lachish over to Israel, and Joshua took it on the second day. The city and everyone in it he put to the sword, just as he had done to Libnah. Meanwhile, Horam king of Gezer had come up to help Lachish, but Joshua defeated him and his army—until no survivors were left. Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Lachish to Eglon; they took up positions against it and attacked it. They captured it that same day and put it to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it, just as they had done to Lachish. Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron and attacked it. They took the city and put it to the sword, together with its king, its villages and everyone in it. They left no survivors. Just as at Eglon, they totally destroyed it and everyone in it. Then Joshua and all Israel with him turned around and attacked Debir. They took the city, its king and its villages, and put them to the sword. Everyone in it they totally destroyed. They left no survivors. They did to Debir and its king as they had done to Libnah and its king and to Hebron. So Joshua subdued the whole region, including the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills and the mountain slopes, together with all their kings. He left no survivors. He totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded. Joshua subdued them from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza and from the whole region of Goshen to Gibeon. All these kings and their lands Joshua conquered in one campaign, because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.‘ Joshua 10:28-42
On Forgiving
‘This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.‘ Matthew 13:49-50
‘But God struck down some of the men of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to death because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the LORD had dealt them, ....‘ 1 Samuel 6:19
‘David said to Gad, "I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men." So the LORD sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.‘ 2 Samuel 24:14-15
‘Then the LORD called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side and said to him, "Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it." As I listened, he said to the others, "Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary." So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple. Then he said to them, "Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!" So they went out and began killing throughout the city.‘ Ezechiel 9:4-7
On the Dignity of Women
‘Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.‘ Proverbs 11:22
‘The owner of the house went outside and said to them, "No, my friends, don't be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don't do this disgraceful thing. Look, here is my virgin daughter, and her concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But to this man, don't do such a disgraceful thing." Judges 19:23-24
‘As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.‘ 1 Corinthians 14:34-35
‘A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve.‘ 1 Timothy 2:11-13
"This is what the LORD says: 'Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight.‘ 2 Samuel 12:11
‘Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners.’ Jeremiah 8:10
‘If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the girl's virginity can be found, she shall be brought to the door of her father's house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done a disgraceful thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father's house. You must purge the evil from among you.‘ Deuteronomy 22:20-21
‘Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."‘ Genesis 19:8
On Slavery
‘If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct result, he must be punished, 21 but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property.‘ Exodus 21:20-21
'Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. You can will them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.‘ Leviticus 25:44-46
‘ "If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as menservants do.‘ Exodus 21:7
On Human Sacrifice
‘And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD : "If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering." [....] When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, "Oh! My daughter! You have made me miserable and wretched, because I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break." [....] After the two months, she returned to her father and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.‘ Judges 11:30, 31, 34-35
‘Then he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him as a sacrifice on the city wall. The fury against Israel was great; they withdrew and returned to their own land.‘ 2 Kings 3:27
‘"Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats. "You must give me the firstborn of your sons.‘ Exodus 22:29
On the Love for Children
‘From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!" He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.‘ 2 Kings 2:23-24
‘O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you
for what you have done to us-he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.‘ Psalms 137:8-9
‘Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives ravished.‘ Isaiah 13:16
On Cannibalism
‘ So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, 'Give up your son so we may eat him,' but she had hidden him."‘ 2 Kings 6:29
'If in spite of this you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me, then in my anger I will be hostile toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over. You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.‘ Leviticus 26:27-29
‘I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another's flesh during the stress of the siege imposed on them by the enemies who seek their lives.' Jeremiah 19:9
‘Because of the suffering that your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the LORD your God has given you. Even the most gentle and sensitive man among you will have no compassion on his own brother or the wife he loves or his surviving children, and he will not give to one of them any of the flesh of his children that he is eating. It will be all he has left because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege of all your cities.‘ Deuteronomy 28:53-55
On compassionate Indulgence
‘However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish.
The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. The sights you see will drive you mad. The LORD will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head. All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the LORD your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you.‘ Deuteronomy 28:15,21-22,27-28,34-35,45
‘However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish. The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. At midday you will grope about like a blind man in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you. Leviticus 26:15-16,18,22,27-29
Amen!
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More by this author:
➤ 'A Blasphemer's Prayer'
➤ 'The Glorification of an Instrument of Torture'
➤ 'The negative effect of church on society'
See also:
➤ Albert Einstein: 'Religion and Science'
➤ Marshall J. Gauvin: 'Is there a real God?'
➤ Robert G. Ingersoll: 'The Gods'