Mad about Monotheism

Being the hack theologian that I am, I have no intention of proceeding in logical order. So now, four blogs in, I'm going back to the first verses and first chapters, putting "In the Beginning" somewhere in the early middle.

I love the first chapter of Genesis, the great liturgy of creation, light and shape and living things springing into being through the means of poetry. I grow quickly weary and frustrated with modern people trying to read their literalistic, historical, scientific biases into this magnificent material. What arrogance to think that the ancient people sat around their campfires saying, "Now, we've got to get this creation stuff 100% scientifically and historically accurate, because thousands of years from now, that's how people will define truth." Bah, humbug on that.

Ironically, like us, the ancients had little care for folks outside their time and philosophical frame of reference. They had their hands full with the conflicting thoughts and philosophies of their own day and time.

The creation story is radical liturature, not because stands up against modern scientific thought, but because it stands bravely up against the religious thought of its own time.

To read this poem of God speaking stars and sky and sun and moon and waters and living creatures and humans all into being...that's cheeky stuff in a world where people generally only gave their gods domain over small neighborhoods of influence.

The creation poetry of Genesis 1:16 thumbs its nose at the Egyptian sun god. The lines about creation of earth and plants and creatures stick out a proverbial tongue at the fertility gods of the early middle east. One God. One God creating, one God over all.

Even the ancient people portrayed in the writings of the Bible don't quite buy it. They themselves are more comfortable with the traditional understanding of a whole vast company of gods, battling for influence, skirmishing for power. Monotheism doesn't catch on in a big way within the Jewish community until much later in history and much later in the Bible.

We're still not terribly good monotheists. We worship our little imaginary god who lives locked in the church, coming for visiting hours once or twice a week and then locking the little dude (or dudette) back up. We worship the god of the national religion, the god of material wealth, the god of comfort, the god of security, and the god of pleasure. We give them each a portion of our time and energy, hoping that they will give back to us generously in return. If anything, the god locked in the church building is one of the lower deities on our list.

What would it mean to really focus...to see all of our lives and all of our purpose and all of creation as cut of one great cloth? What would it mean to hear the poetry of one God who speaks us into being and carries us through all of each day?

What would it mean to become monotheistic?