{"id":4056,"date":"2015-10-27T14:39:31","date_gmt":"2015-10-27T20:39:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/?p=4056"},"modified":"2016-04-27T16:38:45","modified_gmt":"2016-04-27T22:38:45","slug":"why-focus-on-egypts-religion-insight-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/27\/why-focus-on-egypts-religion-insight-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Why focus on Egyptian religion? \u2014 Insight #2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"book-of-dead\"<\/a>This series gives an inside view on the structure of\u00a0By This Name<\/em>\u00a0and how it breaks through confusion in our diverse society, bringing clarity to the message of the gospel.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the distinctive features of By This Name<\/em> is the repeated reference to unique characteristics of ancient Egyptian culture, circa 1500 BC. In a book that is intended to provide a clear understanding of the gospel, that raises the natural question \u201cWhy?\u201d Consider the following rationale.<\/p>\n

Our target audience includes many in our current generation who conceive of God as an impersonal, abstract force that permeates all of nature. It includes those who believe in a multiplicity of gods and goddesses and those who hold to the idea that every person possesses a certain \u201cgod-ness.\u201d It is common to find people creating a custom-designed spirituality that best suits their own interests and needs. Still others reject the concept of God in its entirety or, at least, believe that it is impossible to know for certain whether God exists or not.<\/p>\n

For those who hold to any of the above views, the Bible presents some major obstacles. Beginning with the very first verse in Genesis, \u201cIn the beginning God\u2026\u201d the reader is confronted with the assumption that God exists and this God is seen \u201cin action\u201d in the succeeding pages.<\/p>\n

Rather than tackling a myriad of non-biblical belief systems head-on, By This Name<\/em> begins by taking the reader to ancient Egypt. This is because we find that many people today hold to worldviews that have some similarities to what the Egyptians believed about life, death and life after death. Instead of directly challenging\u00a0the reader\u2019s worldview, By This Name<\/em>\u00a0compares what the Bible says with what the Egyptians believed. This disarms the reader as we are not seen as attacking their form of spirituality, thus making\u00a0the book non-confrontational.<\/p>\n

In the course of the book\u2019s narrative, the reader may identify with aspects of the Egyptian worldview and realize the Bible has a different view. This method of contrasting Egyptian thinking with biblical thinking has helped many readers separate\u2014and not mix together\u2014their worldview and the biblical worldview.<\/p>\n

How does By This Name<\/em> accomplish this? <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

The book begins in ancient Egypt\u2014a culture noted for its polytheism. Though not everyone agrees as to how many gods and goddesses were worshipped (some say more than 2,000), everyone affirms that it was a very religious society.<\/p>\n

It was into this world that Moses\u2014writer of the first five books of the Bible\u2014was born. Though his Hebrew ancestors knew \u201cthe God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” by the time of Moses\u2019 birth, it is probable that this earlier knowledge of the one true God had been obscured by their immersion into a thoroughly polytheistic society for over 400 years.<\/p>\n

Then God called Moses to deliver his people out of Egyptian slavery. This sets the stage for God to identify himself to Moses in such a way that forever distinguished him as the one, true living God from all other gods. He did so by declaring that his personal name was Yahweh<\/span>\u2014the great I AM (Exodus 3:13-15).<\/p>\n

By establishing early in its pages that Yahweh<\/span> is totally unique and distinct from every other god, By This Name<\/em>\u00a0reveals foundational truths from the Old Testament that are vital for having a clear understanding of the gospel. In doing so, it continues to draw on other worldview characteristics that many in our society hold in common with the Egyptians.<\/p>\n

Example 1: Book of the Dead<\/span><\/h3>\n

Egyptians frequently commissioned the preparation of a \u201cBook of the Dead\u201d to serve as a guide into the afterlife. Central to the purpose of this papyrus was the depiction of a weigh scale. If one failed to measure up in an appropriate way, the outcome was disastrous.<\/p>\n

Today, many hold to a similar belief, hoping that one\u2019s good will outweigh one\u2019s bad. Drawing upon the illustration of this faulty Egyptian belief provides By This Name<\/em> a natural opportunity to underscore what the Bible has to say about the failure of man to measure up to God\u2019s righteous standard.<\/p>\n

Example 2: Tritheism<\/span><\/h3>\n

Another example is the concept of tritheism<\/em>\u2014the belief in three, distinct gods. In ancient Egypt, this took the form of three deities\u2014Osiris, Isis and Horus\u2014grouped in a cluster. Similarly, this is mirrored in Hinduism in which three primary gods\u2014Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva\u2014are viewed as a Trimurti<\/em>. Though this may seem to be an unnecessary diversion in our explanation of the gospel, it is important to keep in mind our intended audience, ensuring that there is no confusion regarding this aspect of God\u2019s nature. By This Name<\/em> does this by making sure the reader understands what the Bible does not<\/em> teach.<\/p>\n

For those who come from a background influenced by such worldviews, it is important they don\u2019t blend some form of tritheism with what the Bible has to say, resulting in a distorted understanding of the Trinity. Though difficult for our human minds to comprehend, the meaning and significance of the Trinity must not be compromised or watered down in any way. The three-in-one God must not be mistaken for a family of three individual gods.<\/p>\n

These are just two examples of how By This Name<\/em> takes a look at the religion of the ancient Egyptians in order to gently but clearly contrast the biblical worldview with other worldviews without mixing or confusing them.<\/p>\n

By taking the time to do this, the book works to\u00a0eliminate confusion and syncretism (the mixing of biblical truth with other worldviews). But the book not only compares Egypt with the Bible. It also takes a look at other false gods mentioned in the Bible, like Baal and Dagon. Again, these errant beliefs are held up in comparison to what the Bible says about Yahweh<\/span>, and in doing so, helps to separate in the reader\u2019s mind truth from error. And all of this is done gently, so a reader can understand who Yahweh<\/span> is in a non-confrontational manner. Ultimately, the goal is to provide the clearest explanation of the gospel message for the person who has his or her own concept of who or what \u201cGod\u201d is.<\/p>\n

By This Name<\/em> Insight Series<\/h6>\n

#1:\u00a0Why use the name Yahweh<\/span>?<\/a>
\n#2: Why focus on Egyptian religion?<\/a>
\n#3: Using tables to contrast God’s way and man’s way<\/a>
\n#4: Why talk about other “gods”?<\/a>
\n#5: How to identify the Promised Deliverer?<\/a>
\n#6: Why deal with syncretism when sharing the gospel?<\/a>
\n#7: Why talk about prophecy when sharing the gospel?<\/a>
\n#8:\u00a0Why use the concept of a global classroom?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This series gives an inside view on the structure of\u00a0By This Name\u00a0and how it breaks through confusion in our diverse society, bringing clarity to the message of the gospel. One of the distinctive features of By This Name is the repeated reference to unique characteristics of ancient Egyptian culture, circa 1500 BC. In a book … Continue reading “Why focus on Egyptian religion? \u2014 Insight #2”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-this-name","category-insights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4056"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4056\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5225,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4056\/revisions\/5225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodseed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}