The anthropomorphic dieties of ancient peoples

The Greeks are probably the most famous for their anthropomorphic deities. Take Zeus as an example, he he was prone to jealousy and rage and would frequently come to earth to have his way with beautiful women. The only thing that set him apart from the people who worshipped him was a little power to create things and he was immortal.

What about the god of the Bible? Just looking at the first couple of chapters of Genesis, you have God speaking (all throughout chapter 1), making “man in his own image” (1:27), resting (2:2-3), breathing (2:7), making noise while walking (3:8), all very human things.

The real clincher here is 3:22-23

 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.

If gaining the knowledge of good and evil together with eternal life would make humans godlike, then the god of Genesis is no less anthropomorphic than Zeus.

If you think the anthropomorphism ends with the opening chapters of Genesis, just take a look at the number times God is petty or changes his mind. A few good examples are God hardening Pharaohs heart throughout the beginning of Exodus and God inciting David to sin in 2 Samuel 24, just so he has an excuse to lash out on the people of Israel and kill 70,000 people.

Comparing the stories of that particular god to the many gods that people have all but forgotten about, the differences aren’t very significant.