John Brodix Merryman Jr.
1 min readFeb 26, 2023

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I think that would qualify as pantheism, as opposed to polytheism.

For instance the Trinity came from the old fertility rites that gave rise to Greek pantheism. The young god, born in the spring, of the old sky god and earth mother. It was just that by the classical period, the principle and imperative of renewal had given way to the power of tradition and Zeus didn't pass the power onto Dionysus. The story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus proved to be a powerful metaphor for the idea of renewal and rose to fill a need.

Of course, Martin Luther tried pushing the reset button, as well.

Remember the Ancients were no more into deep abstract thinking than we are today, so the idea of a god had to have some clear aim. The formative experience of Judaism was the forty years wandering in the desert, so group solidarity was the core driving principle, giving us the Ten Commandments. Even today, Jewish monotheism is distinctly tribal and not universally evangelical, as Christianity and Islam have been. Both of which have served as original forms of globalism. One people, one rule, one god. As opposed to regional multiculturalism.

Religions serve social bonding functions, more so than spiritual enlightenment.

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John Brodix Merryman Jr.
John Brodix Merryman Jr.

Written by John Brodix Merryman Jr.

Having an affair with life. It's complicated.

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