The Horned Moses in Medieval Art

A curious feature of medieval and renaissance depictions of Moses is that quite a few paintings and sculptures imagine him as horned. Indeed he looks a lot like a Pagan horned god in many of them. Many scholars believe this was due to a mistranslation in the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Hebrew scripturesContinueContinue reading “The Horned Moses in Medieval Art”

The Gemini twins in the Bible

Castor and Pollux were twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioskouroi. They were sons of Leda by two different fathers. Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, the king of Sparta, while Pollux was the divine son of Zeus. When Castor was killed, Pollux asked Zeus to let him shareContinueContinue reading “The Gemini twins in the Bible”

The one God and the many gods

A verse that I find very interesting is Psalm 82:1, which states, “God [elohim] presides in the great assembly; he [singular] renders judgment among the gods [elohim].” I find the verse very interesting because it contains two very different uses of the Hebrew word elohim, using the word to denote both a singular God andContinueContinue reading “The one God and the many gods”

Is YHWH just a Hebrew version of Zeus?

Is YHWH equivalent to other gods? Just a Hebrew version of Zeus for instance? With a wife even? No, YHWH’s domain is not limited to the sky. Nor did YHWH come into being at some point like Zeus did. Granted there is some evidence to suggest early Hebrews had a more limited conception of YHWH,ContinueContinue reading “Is YHWH just a Hebrew version of Zeus?”

Fertility and Divinity

With the grass being so lush and green this Beltane, with all the heat and rain, I’ve been meditating on YHWH as the source of life and fertility. In the process I’ve stumbled across a critique of Karl Barth by Walter Brueggemann, where he suggests Barth overplayed his hand in depicting YHWH as god ofContinueContinue reading “Fertility and Divinity”

Christian Druid Resources

Since this Christian Druid path I’m on sparked some interest for some I thought I’d compile a list of resources I have found useful on my journey so far. It’s strictly a personal take on it and far from comprehensive but hopefully it will give you a taste of it. As you’ll see it involvesContinueContinue reading “Christian Druid Resources”

Christian monotheism and Pagan polytheism: Can they be reconciled?

In case any of you are wondering how I reconcile Christian monotheism with Pagan polytheism, here’s a brief if somewhat incomplete explanation of how I understand deity. In essence, I differentiate between an uncreated One, who is the source of all life, and many created ones, who influence life in all its many aspects. Whether these createdContinueContinue reading “Christian monotheism and Pagan polytheism: Can they be reconciled?”