The Ancient Hebrews Worshipped an Imaginery Volcano God

Please go through your post point by point along with my post so you can match them up as there is not enough space to post both. 1 Kings 19:11-13 If you want to try to debunk this theory then that text was a bad choice. God is on the top of a mountain (only volcano gods are commonly known to reside or stand on the top of mountains), the mountains seem to crumble (which is what happens sometimes during eruptions), there is wind and an earthquake (both common during eruptions) and there is a fire. There is only one thing in that text that might not fit a volcano, the gentle whistling air. However, you I presume are not a geologist or volcanologist and therefore have little idea of what volcanoes do. Did you know that they can make horn sounds, otherwise called 'trumpet blasts', when they erupt due to the pressure and the rising magma in the magma tube leading up to the crater? It's important to learn about volcanoes before dismissing this theory. One man once said he'd dismissed this theory because lightning was mentioned. Little did he know that eruptions can cause huge lightning displays. Besides, to dismiss the idea just because of one part when all the others fit volcano gods perfectly is not logical. Let's take a look at some other verses in 1 Kings 19. 8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God. What kind of god could be said to be a god of mountains? How could a mountain be described as a 'mount of god'? A study of gods of history will tell you very quickly that mountain gods were volcano gods. The term 'volcano god' was not used. The ancients did not know what volcanoes were. They believed a god dwelt at the summit of mountains and worked his magic orchestrating the volcanic show of fire, rivers of fire, smoke, lightning and brimstone. Also, why is it that god should appear on a mountain top? Why is it that his 'mountain of fire' is mentioned so often? Why is he called 'My Rock', 'the stone of Israel', 'the Most High', etc.? Psalms 90:2 The author believed his god was THE god. He believed he created the whole world. You have to realise that they believed he was an all powerful god residing in his mountain of fire and not a lump of rock. They imagined there was a man inside the volcano who maybe came and went, much the same as the Mayans believed their volcano gods could be enticed down upon their manmade pyramids, built to emulate volcanoes. Exodus 25:8 Gods also do not talk as they do not exist. Volcano god worshippers did not just believe the volcanic eruptions were the work of their god but also nearby weird events such as flaming gas leaks and steam vents (angels of the lord), plus earthquakes were 'his outstretched hand'. Lava vents, open lava tubes or lava rivers near to the volcano were viewed as 'his presense' and his glory (brightness) could be harnessed using a well sited sanctuary...tabernacle tent. The ark in some way incorporated lava and that explains why Moses would leave the tent with a flushed face, just as he did when descending Mount Sinai. He would also hide his face with a veil when it was flushed. Worship of Volcanic Activity The activity....fire and brimstone, lightning, smoke, thunder, rain, hail (volcanic hail...google it), loud noise, trumpet blasts, earthquakes, flaming gas leaks, etc. were all considered to be him in action. Whether or not the Hebrews considered the actual lava flowing down to be god or just god in action or 'god's glory is in question. However, the parts were all considered divine, which explains why only Moses could enter the Holy of Holies, and Aran on occassion. Deut 6:4 is, to me, meaningless in this debate. Worship of a Volcano Itself I find this quite staggering as this statement suggests you do not believe in the existence, past of present, of volcano god worship. The Hebrews, it is believed, originated from Mesopotamia, which lies adjacent to a mountain range that contains one of the largest volcanoes in the world...Mount Ararat...where Noah's Ark is said to have landed after the great flood, this flood being mentioned in many other religious texts. So, volcanoes are integral to the Yahweh story from the very beginning. It's just that the faithful today are unable to peel the layers off their eyes and see the obvious. This volcano deification will have been carried on afterwards in other lands and the volcanic lingo will also have been retained to describe Yahweh. For example, Christians still talk about god's fiery wrath despite being millenia away from volcano worship. Whenever anything volcanic happened, such as the ten plagues, or the theophany at Mt Sinai, the Hebrews believed it was their god making his presence felt once again. Genesis, it is rumoured, was written reterospectively after Exodus to fit everything together, but also throwing in more ancient stories such as the great flood. Volcanoes most certainly can create life and land. They are known as creators by other volcano religions. In fact, Hawaii is made up entirely of volcanic material, once spewed out of a volcano. That is land creation. What other nature god could be said to create land? Volcanoes are also said to be destroyers and life givers due to their soil enrichment. Land around volcanoes is usually very fertile due to the minerals and that explains why humans have always congregated around them despite the threats, although some civilisations have been forced to leave due to life becoming unliveable near the volcanoes, for example the Mayans had to migrate away from their volcanoes. You have to also remember that the Hebrews did not worship what they thought was a puny little volcano god. They believed their god was the most amazing god of the entire world, so them believing their god was the creator of the world is not surprising. Don't Hindus also believe their gods created the whole world? Did Yahweh and the Hindu gods create the entire world? No, neither of them did but the faithful thought they did. YOU SAID:'If they thought the volcano was really God, they probably wouldn't have left it, and thus leaving it implies that they didn't actually think it was God.' There are two main reasons why a volcano cult would give up on their physical deity. Firstly the volcano and surrounding volcanoes, rifts, etc, could become so active that life becomes unbearable or impossible, forcing a reluctant escape for life. Secondly, the volcano could cease to erupt and the congregation could lose heart, which is what I suspect happened with the Hebrews. Humans being human will get bored of staring at a dead god and will start to get itchy feet and start thinking about other things such as greener grass. Imaginery gods can be amended and upgraded by priests who want to keep their jobs, and that is precisely what happened to Yahweh...he become omnipresent but the volcanic terminology remained, meaning in time the actual physical deity was forgotten and the connection to volcanoes became something the faithful were oblivious too, which is evident to this day. The lack of the word volcano in the entire Bible, which covers thousands of years of history covering a geologically volatile area of rift zones, volcanoes, etc. in Saudi, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Syria, etc. where two continents (Africa and Asia) are ripping apart.....is a red flag for the Hebrews witnessing volcanic activity but not knowing what it was. They quite clearly did witness volcanic activity because the OT is full of references to it, including the giveaway 'brimstone', which was not only said to be god's wrath but is sulfur, which comes from volcanoes. Volcanoes are still worshipped today with Hindus still trying to appease them by throwing chickens into them, much like the blood letting ritualistic slauhtering of lambs at the foot of the 'mountain of fire', otherwise known as Mount Sinai. For our God is a consuming fire.