Stuart A. West Bücher

This work explores the evolution of religious belief, tracing its origins from polytheism to monotheism and the development of Judaism, which gave rise to Christianity and Islam. It highlights ancient civilizations in the Middle East, particularly Mesopotamia and Egypt, as centers of polytheistic worship. The comparison of the Babylonian creation epic with the Genesis account illustrates the Mesopotamian roots of the Abrahamic faiths. Furthermore, parallels are drawn between the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi and laws in the Pentateuch. The religious reforms of Pharaoh Akhenaten in Egypt, which emphasized the worship of the sun disc Aton, also hint at early monotheistic trends. The emergence of Yahwism among the Israelites is suggested to have roots in Canaanite rebellion against Egyptian dominance. The canonization of the Pentateuch post-Babylonian exile laid the groundwork for a theocratic society, leading to a period of religious fundamentalism that persisted until the publication of Darwin’s Origin of Species in 1859. This shift challenged traditional beliefs about creation, emphasizing evolution over divine creation. The text discusses the implications of the Big Bang theory and questions the compatibility of biblical creation narratives with empirical evidence. It also examines the nature of God—whether an enigma or a construct of human thought. The author, a retired English lawyer living in Israel, has a background in bot