The Elohim and the Mighty Council
To Roy Bhaskar, 1944–2014, suffered with Charcot neuroarthropathy but died of heart failure
Roy, O beloved soul, this is my prayer: In the infinite worlds beyond this world, may peace be with you (Arabic, السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُم [MP3], ʾal•ssalāmu ʿalay°kum; Hebrew, שָּׁלוֹם עֲלֵיְכֶם [MP3], ššālôm ʿălēyəḵẹm; or Sanskrit, ॐ शान्तिः or ओम् शान्तिः [MP3], Ōṁ śāntiḥ). You beheld the interior transcendent realms of Nonduality and Phenomenological Copresence.
I shall meet you soon, my brother, in, I hope, the Mighty Council of the Almighty and His Mighty Ones (Hebrew, הַבַּעֲדַת־אֵל וְשֶׁלוֹ אֱלֹהִים [MP3], hạ•Bạʿăḏạṯ–ʾĒl wə•Šẹlô ʾĔlōhiym; Yiddish, דֵּער מעֶכְטִיקְער ראַט פֿוּן דֵּער אַלְמעֶכְטִיקְער אַוְן זײַן מעֶכְטִיקְער אָנְעס [MP3], dēʿr Mẹḵəṭiyqəʿr Rʾạṭ p̄ūn dēʿr ʾẠləmẹḵəṭiyqəʿr ʾạwən Zạ͡yn Mẹḵəṭiyqəʿr ʾOnəʿs; German, Der mächtige Rat des Allmächtigen und seiner Mächtigen [MP3]; or Arabic, مَجْلِس الإِلٰهِيّ مِن الله وَخَاصَّتُه آلِهَة [MP3], Maǧ°lis ʾal•⫰Ɪlꞌahiyy min ʾAl•Llꞌah wa•H̱āṣṣatuh ʾÂlihaẗ).
In passing, ʾĔlōhiym is rarely found in Yiddish. It, like English, is a Germanic language. Many Yiddishers instead use Gʾoṭ (גּאָט [MP3]), a cognate of the German–language Gott (MP3) and the English–language God. Prior to the emergence of Ancient Judæism (circā 12ᵗʰ–11ᵗʰ century BCE), the plural hạ•ʾĔlōhiym (in Arabic, الآلِهَة, ʾal•ʾÂlihaẗ) was the Celestial Concourse, the Mighty Council, or a Pantheon (originally Ancient Greek, Πᾰ́νθειον [MP3], Pắntheion; Hebrew, פַּנְתֵּאוֹן [MP3], Pạnətēʾôn; Yiddish, פּאַנְטְהעֵאָן [MP3], Pʾạnəṭəhʿēʾon; or Arabic, بَانْثِيُون [MP3], Bān°ṯiyūn) of mighty Gods. My translation of hạ•ʾĔlōhiym (Hebrew, הַאֱלֹהִים), which also preserves the term’s precedence in Yahwism, is the Almighty of mighty ones, i.e., the Mighty or divine Council.
The late Herbert W. Armstrong (1892–1986) insightfully described that Mighty The late Herbert W. Armstrong (1892–1986) insightfully described that Mighty Council of the Almighty and His mighty ones as a God family. I might quibble over Armstrong’s arguably anthropomorphic terminology. In the present context, conceptualizing ʾĔlōhiym and the mighty council as the family of the Almighty would be preferred.
In place of a Trinity, Armstrong proposes what might, I suggest, following the mathematician Georg Cantor (1845–1918), be referred to as a Transfinity. In my opinion, and perhaps Armstrong would agree, a Transfinity is more rigorous than a Trinity.
It is too bad, in my opinion, that the church Armstrong founded, The Worldwide Church of God, has, under its new name, Grace Communion International, since rejected much of Armstrong’s unconventional theology and become a mainline evangelical Protestant church. His theology is, however, maintained by various denominational successors.
It is too bad, in my opinion, that the church Armstrong founded, The Worldwide Church of God, has, under its new name, Grace Communion International, since rejected much of Armstrong’s unconventional theology and become a mainline evangelical church. His theology is, however, maintained by various denominational successors.
In the end, however, a radically reimagined monotheistic Yạhəwẹh (Hebrew, יַהְוֶה [MP3], “Self–Subsistent One”), with the alphabetic structure of a Tetragrámmaton (Ancient Greek, Τετραγράμματον [MP3]), was circumambulated by a grand council of mighty ones. Yahwism transitioned into Ancient Judæism. As different threads of tradition were woven together, hierarchical models of reality, presented in some biblical texts, became Revelatory recontextualizations of existing Mediterranean mythologies.
The geographical territory, for the commonly termed Abrahamic faiths or religions, incorporated Ancient Mesopotamia. It roughly covered the same land area as present–day Iraq (Arabic, عِرَاق [MP3], ʿꞮrāq). A culturally framed familiarity with scriptural folklore facilitated diverse demographic formations of lived religion. As most religions scholars, absent the religious fundamentalists, now affirm, the various Old and New Testaments canons were, in some measure, the linguistic products of a shared or common tradition within the Fertile Crescent:
Arabic, هِلَالٌ الخَصِيب (MP3), Hilāluṇ ʾal•H̱aṣīb
Hebrew, סַּהַר הַפּוֹרֶה (MP3), Ssạhạr hạ•Pôrẹh
Yiddish, פְֿרוּכְטְבאַרעְר האַלְבְמאָן (MP3), P̄ərūḵəṭəbʾạrʿər Hʾạləbəmʾon
German, Fruchtbarer Halbmond (MP3)
Persian, هِلَالِ حَاصِلْخِیز (MP3), Hilāl•i Ḥāṣil°ẖíz
Tajik, Ҳилоли Ҳосилхез (MP3), Hilol•i Hosilẖez
Turkish, Bereketli Hilâl (MP3)
Turkish, Verimli Hilâl (MP3)
Sindhi, زَرْخَيْزَ هِلَالَ (MP3), Zar°ẖay°za Hilāla
Urdu or Western Hindustani, هِلَالِ زَرْخَیزَ (MP3), Hilāl•i Zar°ẖēza
Hindi or Eastern Hindustani, उपजाऊ हिलाल (MP3), Upajāū Hilāla
Shahmukhi Punjabi, زَرْخَیزَ هِلَالَ (MP3), Zar°ẖēza Hilāla
Gurmukhi Punjabi, ਜ਼ਰ੍ਖੇਜ਼ ਹਿਲਾਲ (MP3), Zarkhēza Hilāla
Pashto, دَ حَاصِلْخِیزَه هِلَال (MP3), da Ḥāṣil°ẖízah Hilāl