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Gilgamesh And Henotheism

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As narrated through one of the most significant books in history, humankind is inherently flawed and needs a single ruler, the Lord God, to sublimate their culture. If people remain obedient and devoted to God by following the rules He lays out for them, the society will have order and harmony. Through human nature, patriarchy, and the transition from henotheism to monotheism, the purpose of the Bible is for a single God to issue rules to humans, giving them a set of laws and a hierarchy. Human nature is to be evil and therefore they need the rules presented in the Bible in order to live a prosperous religious life. God only makes laws for humans, because unlike angels, they are born evil. The men of Sodom and Gomorrah prove that humans are …show more content…

In the time period, the world was full of polytheistic religions, like the Ancient Egyptian religion, and therefore the transition from henotheism to monotheism was extremely significant in history. The start of this transition can be seen in the story of Noah’s ark, especially in comparison to the flood from the Epic of Gilgamesh. These two stories are undeniably linked and share many similarities. An important difference between the two is that the Mesopotamian story contains many gods and the Biblical story only contains one God. Creation myths are essential to a religion because they give an explanation for the origins of the world, and usually revolve around certain deities. In the Genesis creation myths, there is only one God who is the sole creator of the universe and everything in it. A crucial step on the path to monotheism was the naming of God “I am” because it identifies one single God. During the exodus of the Israelites from Egyptian oppression, God makes the ten plagues to show the people that the other “gods” are nothing in comparison to Him. The Egyptian magicians were able to imitate the first two marvels, however, they were unable to perform the third marvel. This proved to the Israelites and the people of Egypt that the LORD God is more powerful than all other gods, including the pharaoh. The first commandment identifies God as the one who brought the Israelites out of Egypt and slavery. God says, “You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3), firmly establishing that the religion is

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