by David Warmflash

Created on: July 13, 2009   Last Updated: July 22, 2009

For his pantheistic beliefs, the 17th century Spanish Jewish Philosopher, Baruch Spinoza, was excommunicated by Dutch rabbis, not because it conflicted with Jewish teachings. Rather, it was for the same reason that an earlier Spanish Jewish scholar, Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra, warned those who "understood" to be silent. Ibn Ezra, who lived in 12th century Spain, was referring to his observation that the Torah was written many centuries after Moses' death. Ibn Ezra's concern seems to be that discussing origins of biblical texts might anger Moslems and Christians, bringing trouble to the Jews. Similarly, the Dutch rabbis who excommunicated Spinoza worried that Spinoza's pantheism would be offensive to Christians.

Of course, it proved to be just that. For centuries, rabbis shunned discussions of alternatives to mono-theism, fearing the Christian pogroms against the Jews. Contrary to common misconception and historical myth, Jews have disagreed with one another over theology for centuries. The most well-known disagreement is that which occurred between the Sadducees and the Pharisees, the latter who, like the Christians, believed in an immortal soul and all such ideas, which stem from the ancient Egyptians.

The Sadducees disbelieved in an afterlife. This was the essence of ancient Judaism, the major reason why it differed from religions of Israel's neighbors, particularly the religion of the ancient Egyptians. Several centuries before the conflict between Sadducees and Pharisees, during the period when the biblical tale of the Garden of Eden is thought to have been composed by an upper class Jerusalemite in the Kingdom of Judah, it seems that Judah was being overwhelmed by Egyptian afterlife culture. Prior to and during the reign of King Hezekiah, son of Jehoahaz, Judeans were building tombs for themselves in caves. King Hezekiah himself appears to have been memorialized in a tomb with Egyptian iconography.

Why have I mentioned the Garden of Eden? Preserved in inscriptions known as the Egyptian Coffin texts is a creation story of the cultic center of Heliopolis (biblical On), involving the god, Atum, and his children, Shu and Tefnut. Does the name Atum remind you of the name Adam? In the Egyptian language the T and D sound were interchangeable, and so, this is an important thing to notice. In the Garden of Eden story, the male human is known both as ish and adam. Keep it in mind for later.

Now, while Atum's son, Shu, is associated with life, Atum's daughter, Tefnut, is

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>