Request for Clarification

Submitted by A [Keen] Student of Islam (India), Jul 8, 2005 at 01:52

Would someone clarify, confirm, rectify or refute a few impressions concerning Jehovah and Judaism?

"Synagogue"is a Greek word, literally meaning 'place of meeting' (of the Jews, in the sense it was originally used) especially relevant to the Diaspora. It is not a place of prayer or Jehovah's worship, which may strictly be only done in Jerusalem at the spot traditionally believed to have been the site of three (now destroyed) temples - the first built by Solomon, the second by Zerubbabel and the third by Herod. This implies a sort of ‘localized' divinity of Jehovah – he is deity of a certain clearly demarcated and limited geographical area. Is this bolstered to any extent by the fact that during their captivity, Jews had felt no religious qualms in praying also to local Gods in Babylonian towns? Also, it is seen that the Jews ‘turned to other gods' rather frequently, and had to be forcibly driven back to faith in Jehovah by his prophets!

If this is correct, when and how did appellations of universality and omnipotence accrue to such a specific localized deity? Was it as a consequence of territorial expansion and the attendant need of ‘one-upmanship' over the vanquished, who also most probably had no concept of a ‘universal god' either?

I feel a clarification would help immensely in our understanding of the Biblical god and the extreme intolerance he has undeniably spawned.

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