quote: Someone came up w/ the idea that when people worshipped other gods, they were really worshipping Yahweh
That sounds a lot like what the Aryans did with native Indian local worship. They basically told the locals to keep doing what they were doing before, but now the god/dess they were worshipping is actually a manifestation of Indra, or Agni, or some other higher level Vedic/Hindu god, and they are all really just one god in Brahman (though that's mostly lip service).
Another interesting parallel of Judeo-Christian behavior is this Buddhist sect from 13th century Japan called Nichiren, who: --declared the Japanese as special people chosen by the Buddha. --declared every other sect false charlatans and Nichiren as the one true religion --practiced aggressive conversion, often at the point of a sword --made dire, disastrous prophecies of what would happen if people didn't listen to them, some of which was "confirmed" by the Mongol invasion
Registered: Mar 1999
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I'll add a teeny bit to TSN's YHWH commentary (because it's the only name I know anything about). The Hebrew word that's translated Jehova or Jehovah in English means "causes to become". So, like some of the other descriptive titles associated to other gods mentioned earlier, YHWH actually has a descriptive meaning as well.
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