Category: religion

Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau

Introducing Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau

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In the autumn of 1989, I was a student. I left a dormitory because I did not fit in the group. Most notably, I could not get along with a particular Lady. I returned to my parental home to gather courage before trying out another dormitory.

There was not much to laugh about in those days, except for a few episodes of Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau aired on German television. My parents lived near the German border so that I could watch them.

Clouseau was inept, but he always managed to solve the mystery. Guided by a few hunches and vague clues that only made sense to him, he ignored the apparent explanations of the facts and uncovered the truth by accident.

How could a bumbling clown like Clouseau be correct while the competent fail? The answer is that he is a fictional character in a story. The plot is always that Clouseau is right in the end, much to the chagrin of his superior officer.

And what about my claims about this universe and the identity of God? The world we live in could be fiction, and we could be characters in a story, just like an episode of Chief Inspector Clouseau. And so, I could be right after all.

Feature image: Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau. Petersellers.com. [copyright info]

Sepphoris Mosaic

Sarah, mother of the Jews

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Inventing one tale inside another

The Hebrew Bible features tales about the Jewish patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land. Archaeological evidence does not support these stories. The Hebrew Bible offers an account of history. You might find these stories hard to believe, but you usually do not think of how the Hebrew Bible gradually emerged in a process that took over a thousand years. In other words, they didn’t write the Book of Genesis first. They wrote Genesis a thousand years after it supposedly transpired. But that is how historians look at the Hebrew Bible.

And so, we can be nearly sure Genesis never happened like that. The same goes for the other books that account for the early history of the Jewish people. The historical account begins with the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. These kingdoms did exist. It does not mean the Bible accurately describes what happened, but many of the names and events mentioned relate to history. It also does not mean that the account in the Bible from before that time is entirely fictional. There only is little or no evidence to substantiate it.

The kingdom of David is in the twilight zone between myth and history. David probably was king, perhaps of Judah alone, so there may be some truth to the account of his reign. Before that, there was tribal leadership. The Book of Judges is about this era. So can possible avatars of God appear in stories that never happened? Why not? You can write a story about someone making up a story you make up yourself. And indeed, strong women, who might be avatars of God, appear in the Hebrew Bible.

Hiding it behind human motivations

So how can these strong women enter these stories? After all, many of these stories might be fiction. The explanation does not require God. Professor Jacob Wright argues that the Jews were too weak to hold on to territory. They had to survive as a minority in the lands of others. Military adventurism could have been fatal. The biblical authors, therefore, may have reinvented the hero. Rather than warriors, biblical heroes were often virtuous people like Boaz1 and people with weaknesses like David. That makes some of these stories appear so realistic that they might have happened.

The biblical authors also refashioned the role of men and women. Men played a significant role in family life. By depicting the contributions of women to military victory, they undermined male authority in war. In several cases, women achieved triumph on the battlefield and decided the fate of men.1

For instance, Jacob defrauded Esau of his birthright by deceiving his father, Isaac. Only it was his mother, Rebecca, who planned it. Esther saved the Jewish people from a plot in the Persian court. The Hebrew Bible does not depict events indicating that Rebecca or Esther might be God. In the Hebrew Bible, Jewish history begins with Sarah and Abraham. There was something special about Sarah.

Sarah and Abraham

The Hebrew Bible claims that Sarah became pregnant at the age of ninety. God wanted Her to become the mother of the Jews. There is no historical evidence that Sarah and Abraham have lived, but Sarah is the mythical mother of the Jews. You are born a Jew when your mother is one. And for that reason, the Jews are not primarily children of Abraham but children of Sarah in the way Christians are children of God.

Abraham was not a hero and feared for his life. So when the Egyptians asked if Sarah was his wife, he said Sarah was his sister (Genesis 12:11-18). Egypt faced plagues after the Pharaoh made Sarah his wife (Genesis 12:17). Then Abraham did the same in Abimelech’s kingdom (Genesis 20:2). King Abimelech then received threats from God when he planned to marry Sarah (Genesis 20:3).

Abraham’s actions fit the supposed aim of the authors of the Hebrew Bible, which was to undermine male authority. God’s will coincided with the wishes of Sarah in important family matters. God summoned Hagar to return to her mistress Sarah (Genesis 16:9). God told Abraham to send Hagar away when Sarah wanted this (Genesis 21:12). Sarah’s will thus was God’s will. Sarah might have been God if it had happened.

Joseph and Asenath

Joseph was a handsome man. When he was the Viceroy of Egypt, he married Asenath, the daughter of an Egyptian high priest. The Hebrew Bible tells us very little about Her, but there is a story about their marriage dating from the first century BC. Perhaps it is written to explain how Joseph came to marry a pagan priestess. According to this tale, Asenath was proud and despised men, but She became impressed by Joseph’s looks.

Joseph first did not want to marry Her because She bowed before idols and did not worship the God of the Jews. Asenath showed repentance, and an angel from heaven came to Her chamber to bless the marriage. When She told Joseph of the angel, he changed his mind and decided to marry Her. Asenath’s repentance and change of faith appear insincere and the result of Her desire to marry Joseph. Nevertheless, God approved the marriage.

The Quran dedicates an entire chapter of 111 verses to Joseph. It expands on his good looks. The Qural also tells about the desire women had for him. Hence, his appearance was worth mentioning. The highly desired prize ended up in the arms of Asenath. She might have been God if it had happened. The story of Asenath and Joseph likely is fiction.

Zipporah and Moses

Moses’ wife, Tzipora, saved his life by circumcising her son and touching Moses’ feet with the foreskin, saying he was her bridegroom of blood (Exodus 4:24-26). Tzipora saving Moses’ life in this way fits the agenda of the authors of the Hebrew Bible, which was to undermine male authority. Tzipora knew what God was about to do. And so, Tzipora might have been God if this had happened.

Bathsheba and David

Bathsheba broke David and his kingdom. She was bathing on a rooftop near the royal palace, where he could see her naked. She may have planned to seduce him. David then ordered Bathsheba to come to his place. She became pregnant after sleeping with him. David then commanded Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, to go home, hoping he would sleep with his wife so the scandal would go unnoticed. Uriah did not comply. David then asked his general to place Uriah on the frontline of the battle so that he would die. After Uriah died, David married Bathsheba.

Bathsheba turned out to be a fate changer. The prophet Natan foretold David that his act cursed his house. David’s eldest son Amnon was murdered by his half-brother Absalom after he had raped Absalom’s sister Tamar. Later Absalom was killed after he had declared himself king and raised a revolt against David. That eliminated two potential heirs to the throne. In David’s old age, Bathsheba secured the succession to the throne of Her son Solomon. The marriage was a grave sin, but God nevertheless loved Bathsheba’s son Solomon who was to become king. Bathsheba could have been God.

David probably is a historical figure, so there could be some truth to the story, and Bathsheba may have lived. The story fits the agenda of the authors of the Hebrew Bible. Israel’s greatest king, David, was not so great, and a woman determined his destiny. The name Bathsheba consists of two parts, Bath and Sheba. Bathsheba seduced David by bathing naked on a rooftop near the palace. The Queen of Sheba later visited Solomon. That is a bit odd. Hence, the Queen of Sheba may also have been God. And so, the pun may be intended.

Deborah, the founder of the Jewish nation

So where did the Hebrew Bible begin? The Jewish nation began to form after Egypt retreated from Canaan around 1150 BC and left a power vacuum. It corresponds with the tribal era of the judges in the Bible. The oldest part of the Hebrew Bible probably is the Song of Deborah (Judges 5). It may date from that time. Deborah was a tribal leader during this age. She took part in a battle (Judges 4:8-9). It further tells us that Deborah was the fourth judge, but that may not be correct. After all, the Song of Deborah probably is the oldest part of the Hebrew Bible. The early Jewish tribespeople could have composed the song to celebrate victory and their heroine, Deborah.

It is here where the history of the Jews as Yahweh’s people might have started. The remainder of the Book of Judges and the Hebrew Bible are from a later date. Deborah may well have been a historical figure and the founder of the Jewish nation. She sent for Barak, the commander of the troops, and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor. I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.'” (Judges 4:6-7) It was Deborah who commanded Barak. And so Deborah might have been the God of Israel.

Latest revision: 11 March 2023

Featured image: Sepphoris Mosaic. Pbs.org. [copyright info]

1. Wright, Jacob L. (2014). The Bible’s Prehistory, Purpose, and Political Future. Coursera.

Khadijah, mother of the believers

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Mother of the Believers is the title given to the wives of Muhammad, but it best suits his first wife, Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. According to Islamic sources, Khadijah was a wealthy widow and Muhammad’s employer. Muhammad was twenty-five, and Khadijah was forty when She proposed to him. The marriage between Khadijah and Muhammad was both happy and monogamous. When he was on his journeys without Her, Muhammad never felt any desire for other women. They had six children, of which four daughters survived. Only after Khadijah had died did Muhammad marry other women.

According to Islamic accounts, Muhammad returned home to Khadijah in a state of terror after receiving his first revelation from the Archangel Gabriel. He told Her what had happened. She comforted him and supported him from then on. Khadijah’s moral support made Muhammad believe in his mission, and Her financial support was indispensable. Apart from a wife, Khadijah was like a mother to Muhammad, in the likeness of Eve and Adam. She was Muhammad’s boss in more than one way.

Unlike the Bride of Christ, the Bride of Muhammad is still in the records and hard to ignore. One can imagine no plausible political or religious agenda for misrepresenting the facts in this way. Women were hardly ever boss over their husbands in seventh-century Arabia, so the odds of the founder of Islam finding himself in this position by accident appears low because it fits the pattern of God being the wife of the prophets.

Muslims claim that the Quran was revealed to Muhammad by God, with the Archangel Gabriel being the intermediary. Historical analysis suggests that much of the Quran comes from Zoroastrian, Jewish and Christian sources. Nevertheless, some parts may be Muhammad’s revelations. The Quran itself provides no evidence for God being a woman but claims that God is the greatest schemer (Quran 3:54, 7:99, 8:30, 10:21, 13:42) and capable of deception (Quran 4:88, 5:41, 11:34, 14:4). The existence of different religions and theological disputes are part of the plan, the Quran claims.

The Quran corroborates the virgin birth of Jesus. The virgin birth is the miracle of the mother goddess. Jesus is consistently called Son of Mary (Quran 2:87, 4:171, 61:6) while Christians call him Son of God. The repeating of the phrase Son of Mary suggests importance. It stresses that God is not Jesus’ father but it may also indicate that God’s name was Mary. Chapter 74 of the Quran is named The Hidden Secret or The Cloaked One. The Arabic name for this chapter can both be translated to a hidden secret as well as a man wearing a cloak. The man wearing a cloak is Muhammad. This chapter further mentions that 19 angels are guarding hell (Quran 74:31).

In 1974, Rashad Khalifa claimed to have discovered a mathematical code hidden in the Quran based on the number 19. He used Chapter 74 to demonstrate the significance of the number as it says: “We have made their [the angels’] number only as a test for the disbelievers so that the People of the Book [Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians] will be certain, and the believers [Muslims] will increase in faith, and neither the People of the Book nor the believers will have any doubts, and so that those hypocrites with sickness in their hearts and the disbelievers will argue, ‘What does God mean by such a number?’ In this way, God leaves whoever He wills to stray and guides whoever He wills. And none knows the forces of your Lord except He. And this description of Hell is only a reminder to humanity.’ (Quran 74:31)

The verse implies that the number 19 has significance beyond the number of angels guarding hell. It gave rise to a numerological cult within Islam, based on Khalifa’s claim that the number 19 comes with mathematical properties with regard to various counts of verses, words, letters, and names of God in the Quran, such as:

  • The Quranic opening formula, Basmala, consists of 19 letters.
  • The first word of the Basmala, Ism (name) without contraction, occurs 19 times in the Quran.
  • The second word of the Basmala, Allah (God), occurs 2698 times (19×142).
  • The third word of the Basmala, Rahman (Gracious), occurs 57 times (19×3).
  • The fourth word of the Basmala, Rahim (Merciful), occurs 114 times (19×6).
  • The multiplication factors of the words of the Basmala (1+142+3+6) give 152 (19×8).
  • The Quran consists of 114 chapters (19×6).
  • The total number of verses in the Quran, including all unnumbered Basmalas, is 6346 (19×334). The cross sum of 6346 is 19.
  • The Basmala appears 114 times (19×6). It is absent in chapter 9 but appears twice in chapter 27.
  • From the missing Basmala in chapter 9 to the additional Basmala in chapter 27, there are 19 chapters.
  • The occurrence of the additional Basmala is in chapter 27, verse 30. Adding this chapter number and the verse number gives 57 (19×3).

Khalifa did some manipulations on the data to make them fit his theory. For instance, he claimed that two verses in the Quran (chapter 9, verses 128 and 129) were added later and are not part of the original message from God to Muhammad. When the Quran was written down after decades of oral reciting, only one witness could corroborate the validity of these verses. Thus, Khalifa claimed that the Quran has only 6346 verses instead of the traditional count of 6348. Including those two verses, the Quran has 2699 occurrences of the word ’Allah’ and 115 occurrences of the word ‘Rahim’, neither of which are multiples of 19. Because decades of oral reciting preceded the codification of the Quran, more verses are doubtful. And the codifiers of the Quran apparently believed that these verses were genuine as they included them. Hence, claiming that verses 128 and 129 from chapter 9 are not genuine, seems arbitrary.

Numbers usually are meaningless, but the number 19 appears in a chapter named Hidden Secret. Hence, the number 19 may have significance and refer to a hidden secret that proves that the Quran comes from God. And so, the rise of the cult may not be an accident. But what could the hidden secret be? Chapter 19 is named Mary, and it is about the Virgin Mary. The hidden secret may be that God’s name was Mary, something only God could know. The cloak may refer to God appearing to be a man while being a woman or the Virgin Mary being the cloak hiding the identity of God.

Featured image: top small written Arab phrase “Umm ul Muminin”(Mother of the believers) then in centre Big written “Khadijah” and bottom small written Arab honour phrase ‘Radhi allahu anha.’

Book: God is a Woman

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Who is God? Until now, this question has remained unresolved. We may live in a simulation, and God could use us for personal entertainment. And God might use an avatar to appear as an ordinary human in this world. Many people that changed history could have been God in disguise.

All gods are imaginary, including the Jewish deity Yahweh. But the worship of Yahweh spread via Christianity and Islam. Half the people in the world now believe that Yahweh, also known as the Father or Allah, is the all-powerful owner of this universe. In a simulation, this is not a mere accident, and this deity may be the veil behind which God is hiding.

Mary Magdalene could have been God. She may have made Jesus believe that She was Eve reincarnated while Jesus was Adam reincarnated and that Eve did not come from Adam’s rib but that Adam was Eve’s son, so Adam, and therefore, Jesus were the Son of God. God also married Muhammad, but he did not know that.

The Hebrew Bible is a collection of myths and events that happened. The stories about Creation, the Fall, Noah, Abraham and Moses are most likely fictional. The history of the Jews began in the era of the Judges. Deborah may have been the first person in the Bible who did exist. She may have founded the Jewish nation and could have been God in disguise.

This book addresses the following topics:

  • Why are humans religious, and how did their religions develop?
  • Why could this universe be virtual?
  • Why are our faiths incorrect while God could exist?
  • How did the Jewish religion emerge and evolve?
  • Who was the historical Jesus?
  • What was the relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus?
  • Was Eve the mother of Adam?
  • What is the role of the Virgin Mary in the greater scheme?
  • Why is Jesus called the Last Adam?
  • Did Jewish patriarchs, prophets, and kings marry God?
  • Did Muhammad marry God?
  • What could be the hidden message in the Quran regarding the number 19?
  • Why are Christians born of God?
  • What is the meaning of God’s love?
  • What was Paul’s role in defining Christianity?
  • How did Christians turn Jesus into God?
  • Why is the Gospel of John so different from the other Gospels?
  • Which historical persons could have been God in disguise?
  • Has Jesus already returned, and what lessons can we learn from it?
  • Do we live in the end times?

By reading this book, you will discover that it is plausible that God is a post-human woman who uses this world to entertain Herself and that She can appear as an ordinary woman.

The book is freely available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. You can download your free PDF here:

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Alternatively, you can buy a Kindle or paperback on Amazon:

Virgin Mary

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The veneration of the Virgin Mary existed in early Christianity. She is the New Eve. God announced that there would be enmity between the seed of the serpent and that of the woman (Genesis 3:15). Christians read this as a prophecy predicting the coming of Jesus as the seed of the woman could represent the virgin birth of Jesus. Early Christians may have invented the birth story of Jesus to replace the birth of Adam from Eve. Later developments turned the Virgin Mary into a surrogate mother goddess.

Isis with Horus
Isis with Horus. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Church named the Virgin Mary the Mother of God, thus implying that Jesus was God. Christians later began to make statues and icons of the Virgin with the child Jesus similar to those of the Egyptian mother goddess Isis with her child Horus. And so, the Mother Goddess Mary, eliminated from the Gospels, may have re-entered the Church via a back door. As Christians prayed to the Virgin, she became a proxy for God.

Saint Mary Bolnichka Icon
Saint Mary Bolnichka Icon.

The Protestant Reformation aimed to return to the scriptural basis of Christianity. The Protestants ended with church traditions without biblical grounds, including saints and the Virgin Mary veneration. For Protestants, the scriptures are the only source. In this way, they may have eliminated a link to the essence of original Christianity. The Mary-with-child imagery could refer to Jesus as the Son of God the Mother. It is noteworthy that the Virgin Mary appeared far more often than Jesus. And she has performed more miracles than the other saints, suggesting she is a central figure. Many Roman Catholics pray to the Virgin Mary rather than God or Jesus.

The Quran dedicates chapter 19 to her. Some Muslims indulge in arcane numerological explanations why the number 19 is significant. The Quran refers to this number in the chapter named Hidden Secret. And so, the Quran may hold a hidden secret related to this number. Perhaps, the Virgin Mary plays a central role in the greater scheme.

The star and crescent became the symbol of Islam. This symbol has a long history predating Islam, as it was associated with a Moon goddess. In the Bible, the moon refers to the woman and the star to the child (Genesis 37:9). Hence, the Islamic symbol may represent the Madonna with the child Jesus or the relationship between Khadijah bint Khuwaylid and Muhammad. She was fifteen years older, so She could have been his mother.

The St. Mary of Zion Church in Ethiopia is said to contain the Ark of the Covenant. Legend has it that the Ark came to Ethiopia with King Menelik after he visited his father, King Solomon. The Ark of the Covenant symbolises Mary of Zion. The Ark is supposed to be the residence of Yahweh, the God of Israel.1 That might be more than accidental as God’s name could have been Mary.

Latest revision: 11 March 2023

Featured image: Madonna and Child, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien. Public Domain.

Other images: Isis with Horus. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain; Saint Mary Bolnichka Icon. Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.

1. Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion. Wikipedia.