Was the Biblical God a Volcano?

[lpetrich]

Was God a Volcano? - YouTube -- Thunderf00t argues that theory there.

OH MY VOLCANO!!!: List of Biblical verses that suggest God was a volcano, OH MY VOLCANO!!!: Mount Sinai was a volcano

However, those descriptions might also fit thunderstorms, and I couldn't find any recently-active volcanoes near the southeastern to eastern Mediterranean shoreline. There are some volcanoes in the Aegean Sea and in Italy, but they may be too distant. Nevertheless, I like the theory that Exodus includes some mangled memories of the big eruption of Thera / Santorini around 1600 BCE. A little before then, the Hyksos had come out of Canaan and had taken over northern Egypt. Some Cretan refugees could have settled among them and told the story of the horrible eruption that had taken place. When the Hyksos were expelled, they took those accounts with them, and later storytellers turned these events into some of the Ten Plagues of Egypt.

They may have had to go through some big marsh along the way, some marsh that seemed like a sea of reeds. The leader of the Egyptian military force that drove them out was pharaoh Ahmose, and in Hebrew, his name sounds like "Brother of Moses". Later storytellers may then have elaborated on who "Moses" must have been. The Egyptians likely quit and returned home after driving the Hyksos that far, and being drowned in the Red Sea / Reed Sea was likely something that someone later invented because it is more dramatic.

 

[Jobar]

We had a poster at SC several years back that was really stuck on volcanoes as the original source of gods. The Fog Horn started threads on Mount Sinai as a volcano, Volcanoes as the unsung heroes of religion, and others along those lines.

I've always thought it most likely that Yahweh was originally a sky/sun god, or perhaps a war god, or both.

 

[lpetrich]

So I think that one ought to use The method of multiple working hypotheses, so one does not feel stuck with one, and in case there is partial truth in several of them.

Storm gods are rather common, and the God of the Bible may originally have been a storm god.  Sacred mountains have been recognized by many people, and some mountain in the Sinai Peninsula was likely such a mountain for some people.

Returning to the  Lists of volcanoes, I looked for the closest volcanoes to Canaan / Palestine / Israel. The closest ones are in Saudi Arabia and Turkey, and most of them are not recently active, as far as I can tell. Many volcanoes are active off-and-on, like the US/Canada Pacific Northwest volcanoes, and like Vesuvius and Thera in the Mediterranean. They sometimes take centuries before doing another eruption, and it can be hard to draw the line between a volcano being dormant and one being extinct.

Thomas Henry Huxley - Wikiquote: "The great tragedy of Science — the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact."

 

[Tom Sawyer]

If God was supposed to be a volcano, it would make that one passage in Exodus where Moses throws a virgin into God's mouth to get his blessing for a good harvest make more sense. That one always seemed a bit weird to me.

 

[lpetrich]

Were Virgins Ever Really Thrown Into Volcanoes?

As with so many popular beliefs, the answer boils down to: (1) this story is mostly Hollywood BS, but (2) not 100 percent. To get a better handle on things, let’s look at different permutations of the concept, starting with the least plausible and working up.

Virgins have been thrown into volcanoes to appease god(s). This is the story in purest form—so pure, in fact, that I haven’t been able to find any actual examples of it. The closest I got was the 1932 film Bird of Paradise, starring Dolores del Rio as native girl Luana. Plotwise it breaks down as: Boy meets girl, boy hooks up with girl, girl is betrothed to someone else, boy steals girl, boy is cursed by volcano goddess Pele, girl sacrifices self to appease Pele and save boy. Long in the public domain, the film is available for free download and worth every penny.

I need to point out a couple things. First, while Luana’s primitive culture is willing to sacrifice her to placate the volcano god, it doesn’t actually do so. She sacrifices herself.

Second, volcanoes suitable for throwing women into for the most part don’t exist. ...

 

[Politesse]

Given that he is frequently compared or identified by them symbolically, I think the weight of textual evidence would tie YHWH to a more local landform such as the presently unidentified "Mount Horeb" / "Mount Sinai", which is not, (or depending on who you ask, neither of which are) known to be an active volcano. I suspect he is loud and powerful because he is a god, not because he is a volcano. No one ever accused Poseidon of being quiet, or Coyote as lacking power, simply because they aren't plutonic in analogical origin.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Were Virgins Ever Really Thrown Into Volcanoes?

As with so many popular beliefs, the answer boils down to: (1) this story is mostly Hollywood BS, but (2) not 100 percent. To get a better handle on things, let’s look at different permutations of the concept, starting with the least plausible and working up.

Virgins have been thrown into volcanoes to appease god(s). This is the story in purest form—so pure, in fact, that I haven’t been able to find any actual examples of it. The closest I got was the 1932 film Bird of Paradise, starring Dolores del Rio as native girl Luana. Plotwise it breaks down as: Boy meets girl, boy hooks up with girl, girl is betrothed to someone else, boy steals girl, boy is cursed by volcano goddess Pele, girl sacrifices self to appease Pele and save boy. Long in the public domain, the film is available for free download and worth every penny.

I need to point out a couple things. First, while Luana’s primitive culture is willing to sacrifice her to placate the volcano god, it doesn’t actually do so. She sacrifices herself.

Second, volcanoes suitable for throwing women into for the most part don’t exist. ...

It shocks me how annoyed I am to discover that this wasn't actually a thing.

On the one hand, I guess it's good that innocent young women haven't been thrown into volcanos. On the other hand, it made for a good storyline and finding out it's not true is almost as sad as realizing that Superman is never going to rescue me.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I thought god had multiple origins. You have the three Patriarchs, each with their own El *fill name here* that ends with Joseph and then JJ Abrams reboots the franchise with Moses.

 

[Elixir]

If God was supposed to be a volcano, it would make that one passage in Exodus where Moses throws a virgin into God's mouth to get his blessing for a good harvest make more sense.

Hawaiians agree! Pele is one mean beotch!

 

[bilby]

If God was supposed to be a volcano, it would make that one passage in Exodus where Moses throws a virgin into God's mouth to get his blessing for a good harvest make more sense.

Hawaiians agree! Pele is one mean beotch!

But he was a fantastic football player in his day.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Considering Biblegod's standard of behavior, if he is a volcano, I assume he erupts like the volcano in Jackass 3D. Ahem.

 

[ideologyhunter]

BTW, to Tom Sawyer: what is the Exodus passage in question? I tried googling it several ways & no luck.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

BTW, to Tom Sawyer: what is the Exodus passage in question? I tried googling it several ways & no luck.

It's in the middle somewhere.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

If God was supposed to be a volcano, it would make that one passage in Exodus where Moses throws a virgin into God's mouth to get his blessing for a good harvest make more sense. That one always seemed a bit weird to me.

Weirder than the bit of God sending Moses on a mission and that night nearly killing him for not being circumcised, but Zipporah last second circumcised the son and said ‘it is all good’ and god was all like ‘cool’?

 

[Learner]

But if a god is a volcano who made it in the first place? Then if another volcano-god made that volcano-god then another volcano-god made that and and.... where will it ever begin? "sigh"

 

[Keith&Co.]

But if a god is a volcano who made it in the first place?

The worshipers, just like every other god.

Not even really a chicken/egg puzzle, there.

 

[ideologyhunter]

There is no Exodus passage where a virgin is thrown into God's mouth to get a harvest blessing. The monkeys need to get back in the barrel.

 

[whollygoats]

But if a god is a volcano who made it in the first place?

The worshipers, just like every other god.

Not even really a chicken/egg puzzle, there.

The chicken/egg thing ain't even a puzzle. It seems quite obvious to me.

 

[steve_bank]

Was God a Volcano? - YouTube -- Thunderf00t argues that theory there.

OH MY VOLCANO!!!: List of Biblical verses that suggest God was a volcano, OH MY VOLCANO!!!: Mount Sinai was a volcano

However, those descriptions might also fit thunderstorms, and I couldn't find any recently-active volcanoes near the southeastern to eastern Mediterranean shoreline. There are some volcanoes in the Aegean Sea and in Italy, but they may be too distant. Nevertheless, I like the theory that Exodus includes some mangled memories of the big eruption of Thera / Santorini around 1600 BCE. A little before then, the Hyksos had come out of Canaan and had taken over northern Egypt. Some Cretan refugees could have settled among them and told the story of the horrible eruption that had taken place. When the Hyksos were expelled, they took those accounts with them, and later storytellers turned these events into some of the Ten Plagues of Egypt.

They may have had to go through some big marsh along the way, some marsh that seemed like a sea of reeds. The leader of the Egyptian military force that drove them out was pharaoh Ahmose, and in Hebrew, his name sounds like "Brother of Moses". Later storytellers may then have elaborated on who "Moses" must have been. The Egyptians likely quit and returned home after driving the Hyksos that far, and being drowned in the Red Sea / Reed Sea was likely something that someone later invented because it is more dramatic.

I've heard the marsh explanation before. Something like Egyptian chariots getting bogged down. There may be archeological evidence of a marsh.

There was a show on the flood. Mostly hypothetical, but plausible. A trader or noble was swept out to sea from a river on a 100 year flood, ended up somewhere else and resettled with family. Livestock was on the boat or raft.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

There is no Exodus passage where a virgin is thrown into God's mouth to get a harvest blessing. The monkeys need to get back in the barrel.

You need to read it in the original Aramaic.