Canaanite Origins of the Bible

The Epic of Baal by Stephen Andrew Missick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thousands of years ago there was a conflict in the Middle East that in many ways changed the course of history. The battle was between a group of people called the Israelites and the Canaanites. More likely a war over a piece of land. The change was religious in nature.

It was Yahweh the god and El god of the Canaanites. Ultimately Yahweh one but did that mean the death of the Canaanite religion? No not all the religion lived on in many ways through the Bible. The early Israelites were practicing paganism along with the Pagans. For years they worshipped Ashera along side Yahweh. Ashera was God’s wife. At other time , like with the Judeans in the Elephantine, they worshiped the goddess Anattu along such de Yahweh. The world El which denotes god is used in many Hebrew name and it means god. The Israelites worshipped Canaanite God’s and practiced much the same customs as the Canaanites.

The book is written by Stephen Andrew Missick who is knowledgeable of the Bible and Middle Eastern cultures and he is a church official. He handles the material with much appreciation and respect. He is a deeply comitted Christian who has much love for the ancient culture of the Middle East.

Much of Canaanite lore was lost over the ages and only recently new discoveries have shed light as to who the Canaanites were. Most of their history was maligned by their neighbors which included the Israelites, Greeks and Romans.

The book consists of a retelling of Genesis infusing it with a Canaanite flavor, sometimes filling in the gap with other Near Eastern mythologies. Then he explains the Canaanite mythology from different perspectives .

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