I started re-reading a book from 1976 called “The Greatest Thinkers” by Edward de Bono.  It’s amazing the perspective of the writer at the time for some of his choices.  Marx and Nietzsche but no proponents of Democracy or Republicanism.  Keynes but not Hayek. No mention of Jefferson, Monroe or even Thomas Paine.

The first thinker in the book is Moses.  The author sees him as a “loudspeaker who broadcast G*d’s will”.  He points out the difference of Y*hw*h manifesting as a personal god, always present and watchful.  This would have been very strange in a world wheretghe gods were remote and indifferent even if they had familiar shapes (hawk or jackal).

The idea of a god that won’t even give his name but instead answers with: “I Am That I Am” must have been perplexing to those people at the time.  Is it any wonder then that Pharoah initially perceives Moses as a joke or madman?  In that context it could even be seen as understandable that so many “plagues” are required to bring about the release of the Hebrews.  And yet, it isn’t until the destruction of the Egyptian army at the Red Sea that Pharoah finally relents.  A fascinating example of stubbornness by a man born to rule.

Then we have Moses as Lawgiver.  Not only the Ten Commandments but also the ritual observances that close Exodus and lead into the body of laws known as Leviticus.

This influence, as well as the code of laws set down by Hammurabi, even affects our speech as in something being “written in stone” as fixed and unchanging.

A key difference of the Hebrew god is the lack of a physical manifestation.  Other peoples lament the forcible seizure of their gods after being conquered.  They didn’t speak symbols of their gods but that the symbols were in fact actually the gods themselves.

The concept of an invisible being that had no physical form had to have been mind-blowing.  Viewed from that perspective, we can see why the newly freed Hebrews molded a golden calf.  They were merely reaching back to what they were accustomed to seeing with Egyptian rulers and others.   

As this body of law develops and grows, we get to the point where the letter of the law becomes almost a fetish for some over the spirit of the law.  This is famously shown in the exasperation Jesus with those intent on trying to trip him up.

Moses, while not the first lawgiver, has influenced Christianity and Islam and in turn our modern civilization.

Next time, I will delve into how the author looks at Confucius and his influence on Eastern civilization.