Discussion Thread: Ancient Religion
The two-readings used are the Egyptian Book of the Dead: Hymns of Praise to Ra and Psalm 8.
There are clear colorations and differences between both.
The main differences are easy to see, the
Egyptian Book of the Dead: Hymns of Praise to Ra, references many gods and is clearly polytheistic with
Ra being the supreme god.
Psalm 8 references the one true God and has no mention of any other gods or
deities, this is a clear indication of a monotheistic religion.
Another major difference is the Egyptian
Book of the Dead: Hymns of Praise to Ra sings about assistance from Ra given to the dead so they may
reach the afterlife.
1
Psalm 8, gives praise to God for making humans below him but above all other
creatures created.
2
The Egyptian Book of the Dead appears to be more focused on the afterlife where as
Psalm 8 is focused on the glory of what God has created and the order of his creations.
The similarities are also interesting, both texts focus on one God or god, placing them above all
others.
They also place a large emphasis on the glory of God or Ra and his name amongst all other beings
and both mention the glory of the heavens created by God and Ra.
Beyond the glorification of God’s
name in Psalm 8 and the glorification of Ra’s name, I don’t see much other similarities.
The idea of the textbook conclusion that the Hebrew people were originally polytheistic until
Moses, is misplaced.
The lack of acknowledgment or mention of monotheism does not mean it didn’t
exist.
Many scholars agree that Genesis was not authored by Moses as originally believed.
This means
that the Book of Genesis would have been verbally passed down as it predates writing.
This is the proof
that God is the one true God and that His chosen people have always been monotheistic.
1 “Egyptian Book of the Dead: Hymns of Prais to Ra.”
Daily Life Through History,
ABC-CLIO, 2022.
2“Holy Bible, ESV Edition: 2016.” Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good
News Publishers.
