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[Bedroom Boy]

I saw a video about how the God of the bible is just really made from a lot of other different Ancient Israeli Gods, and how it has pagan roots. Is this true and is there any evidence for this?

The video is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZECezMYug8c, you can watch it to see what you think about it i think its 22min and 30 secs long, and it talks about how the god of the bible, is from pagan roots or something.

[jimwalton]

The video is not accurate, but is the opinion of a scholar. There is no widespread support of what this scholar is claiming about the Bible. He assumes that Israelite religion evolved from Canaanite religion, which is the scholarly opinion of some, but cannot be proved. I have heard this kind of opinion before, but such evolutionary concepts are only theories with little material support. The Bible tells a different perspective. So it depends whether you want to believe those who speculate about the evolution of Judaism, or what the Bible claims about Judaism's uniqueness. In my research I have found that the evidence is lacking for what this scholar is claiming. There is no shortage of people who work hard to discredit the Bible.

[Yunch]

> In my research I have found that the evidence is lacking for what this scholar is claiming.

Mark S. Smith's work represents the scholarly consensus, and he's the foremost expert on this topic. What, specifically, are your counterarguments to the theories put forward in The Origins of Biblical Monotheism and elsewhere? To claim that these scholars just "assume" their well-researched theories is dishonest at best.

And textual analysis of true Bible and the Ugaritic library lends much credence to this view, as does archaeology (at Kuntillet Ajrud, Ebla, and elsewhere).

[jimwalton]

Mark Smith's work represents one arm of a scholarly perspective. Because he agrees with other minimalists and biblical detractors doesn't mean that there is a scholarly consensus on these issues. There is deep debate about such matters. Part of the problem is that much of the alleged evolution is speculation. It's quite impossible to claim with any certainty, for instance, that the ancient Israelites derived their concept of El from the Canaanite concept of El. While both religious groups used the moniker El for their deity, proving not only association but also derivation is quite impossible. Similarity does not guarantee derivation.

My sources of information include the Bible as well as ancient cultures. I know well about the accusation of monolatry, and that is one way of looking at the biblical text, but it is not the only way nor even the most plausible way. Part of the analysis rests on the origins of the ancient Israelites, and there is broad debate whether they were of Aramean origin, as the Bible contends, of Canaanite origin as some archaeologists contend, whether they spent 400 yrs in Egypt away from Canaanite influence as they developed their theology, as the Bible asserts, or if the Exodus is fictional, as some scholars conclude. These things are hotly debated and not at all resolved. The video makes it sound as if it's all settled and a done deal, which it is not. I don't accuse the speaker of being intellectually dishonest; instead, he is using his scholarship to convince others to espouse his view. I get that, but I'm not being dishonest to subscribe to a different view based on my scholarship and research.

> And textual analysis of true Bible and the Ugaritic library lends much credence to this view, as does archaeology (at Kuntillet Ajrud, Ebla, and elsewhere).

I agree that there are researched speculations from scholars and archaeologists about the derivation of the Israelite religion from Canaanite roots, but their research doesn't make it so. There is even some possible credence to the view, but there is credence to other views as well that I find more plausible. The OP was asking if it's true. Though the speaker concludes that it is, I conclude that it is not, on the basis of my research in scholars with just as much academic clout as Smith.