Is our God a tribal god?

[Mike_from_NJ]

I doubt it. G.K. Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man was published in 1925, when Joseph Campbell (looking from Wikipedia; I have to admit this is the first time I’ve heard of him) was just finishing his studies. It might be that Joseph Campbell got some of his ideas from this work.

Sorry, I wasn’t trying to insinuate that Chesterton derived any of his ideas of Campbell (or vice versa). When I said that the items quoted seem rooted in the findings of Campbell, I just meant that Campbell’s explanation for such similarities (that the Israeli mythology is like all other mythologies in how they’re derived from human nature) than Chesterton’s explanation (that non-Israeli mythologies might be remnants or shadows of long forgotten Israeli truth).

nuntym:

You might be surprised what G.K. Chesterton actually was trying to say That’s why it’s best if you read it, it is available online for free.

I will definitely check him out and let you know what I think. Thank you for the recommendation!

 

[504Katrin]

No, the Bible doesn’t say that! It doesn’t say “God created rainbows and said, ‘I set my bow in the sky’”…!

It simply says:

There’s nothing here that suggests that this was the first rainbow ever; instead, this is the first time that God has used a rainbow as a sign of his covenant. Notice, too, that the “I am making” refers to the covenant, not the rainbow, so you can’t say that this is the proof that it’s the “first rainbow”.

Just because it’s the first time we see a rainbow mentioned in Genesis, doesn’t mean that it was the first rainbow ever…

I know what you mean, and I understand that. I do have arguments though that support my statement, but don’t want to derail this thread.