This is the video version of a post whose original audio only version is here.
It was stimulated by an article in The Daily Mail (a UK tabloid newspaper) “Why the BBC’s new face of religion believes God had a WIFE” It caused a flurry among the Twittering classes, and on Facebook, and even among the biblioblogs (though in the latter group most dismissed the article saying: What can you expect from a British Tabloid?) but it was written by Dr Francesca Stavrakopoulou an established biblical scholar. In the podcast I suggest that clear thinking is needed to avoid confusion on such topics. In follow up podcasts I’ll return to some of the issues.
[…] Why do you read? Or: Was God married? […]
[…] Why do you read? Or: Was God married? […]
[…] The word ‘idol’ (pesel in Hebrew) refers to a carved object which is used to represent a god. Both the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and later Jewish people have tried to keep this commandment strictly. It allows not only no statues of Yahweh, but also no drawings or other pictures. The archaeological record is striking. In a region and time when divine images were common, there is only one object claimed by some scholars to present an image of Yahweh, though there are many female images which seem to represent the goddess Asherah. […]