Random discussion on the monotheistic roots of Judaism

I found that interesting too. I don’t have sources to cite to you, but I could find them if given time. It’s basically drawn from the philosophical discussions of the Greek word theos. I’m not sure which philosophers you would have to read to find specific quotes and provide a formal scholarly argument (that’s actually one of the two remaining courses I need to finish my master’s degree, the other being an elective). I keep putting it off because other stuff gets in the way… like a severe depression from social media companies bullying me that exhausted all motivation for me to spare energy to enjoy schoolwork this last semester.

Sorry for that tangent. Anyway, the Greek foundation of monotheism is commonly understood among the scholarly community, but it is a complex topic to understand with a lot of interchanging disciplines involved. It’s because the development of Christianity was a step away from Judaism and towards that universal concept that it was such a hit with Mediterranean culture and why the original Christian scriptures were written in Greek.

However, the presence of Melchizedek in some of the earliest Hebrew scriptures indicates that there were other cultural groups that maintained similar monotheistic beliefs. Another example of the prevalence of Greek thought influencing Jewish beliefs is the fact that in Jesus’ time most Jews read their scriptures in the Greek language from a collection of their scriptures called the Septuagint.

The Hebrew religious scholars still maintained the original language documents, but the majority of the public used the vernacular for writing at the time, which was Greek. That was because of something called Hellenization, which was a systematic attempt of Alexander the Great to provide the cultural and intellectual goods of Greece to the lands he conquered, which meant public schools, theaters, and other modern civilization staples we retain today. Like today, the people who read and understand ancient Hebrew in the original script were specifically trained to do so primarily to read the scriptures.

There is so much that can be said about our shared history and human nature as a civilized species by exploring these topics in depth with formal study, which is one of the reasons why I love theology so much, despite rejecting the doctrinal beliefs because they are incongruent with what I know to be true from my own culture as a US citizen. That being mainly that all people are equal and share certain sacred rights which are to enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Circumcision violates those three sacred rights. Natural life is forcibly altered without an individual’s choice, so their liberty is violated too. This interferes with their pursuit of happiness because it creates a traumatic hole in their very nature which can’t be experienced because it was cut out with violence. A specific form of happiness, Gentile happiness and uncircumcised spirituality, becomes inaccessible which makes them want it all the more and often in unhealthy ways.

There is a middle ground that can be found, but I’d be lying to everyone if I said circumcised people truly understood what life is like as uncircumcised.

Thus, they tend to take an antagonistic stance to people who do enjoy that natural experience along with everything else and often seek to do us harm. I suppose that’s because they don’t want to believe that they were gravely wronged by being circumcised. I am not sure why that is so hard for people to accept though.

In any case, the higher fruits of happiness have nothing to do with the body, so the state of one’s body is of little importance anyway. The biggest problem in my opinion is that misconceptions surrounding circumcision often prevent people from attaining those higher spiritual goods which provide supreme happiness.

Not truly understanding uncircumcised life is not so different from not being able to truly understand what life as a Russian is like if you didn’t grow up in Russia with generally normal circumstances. So, it’s nothing to be upset over. Or Ethiopia. Or Brazil. Or Planeptune. The point of that fact is that it helps one understand their own identity in relation to something. You could say the same about circumcised life, but the main difference is that decision wasn’t made for me without my consent, so I don’t feel any particular need to justify being the way I am. My parents didn’t choose for me to be uncircumcised either. That choice goes far beyond human understanding and rests somewhere in the divine providence of creation.