# Where did this "Moon god" nonsense come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 15, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111 "2015-05-15T15:30:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/81 "2015-05-17T01:47:17Z")
Japanese mythology gives us Tsuki-Yomi, known to classic AD&Ders as the god priests could worship for the usual armor-plated-healbot-plus-turn-undead package deal, except (a) bladed weapons were just jake, (b) free infravision, and © _stop time_ 1/day. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/82 "2015-05-17T02:42:44Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > There is only one god > He is the sun god > Ra, Ra, RA!!! And His followers chant that till they are Horus. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/83 "2015-05-17T03:23:49Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Um… I surrender, and immediately apply for post-war rebuilding funds. _Raising glass_ Well played, sir. Now, each of your domains has to file separately, let me give you the list of contacts. (You know those “my daddy will kick your daddy’s ass” conversations? I’ve never encountered that specific variant outside a movie, but my brothers used to start with “I will give you nasty looks!” and end with “I throw an atomic bomb at you!” - I figured we’d leave those out) ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/84 "2015-05-17T04:34:14Z")
Gnostics say that Jews worship a demiurge, the creator of a lower world associated with matter, the flesh and imperfection. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/85 "2015-05-17T08:43:44Z")
> [@Shin\_Ji](#): > > Everyone here is aware that Christians who worship in Arabic have been calling their God “Allah” since always, yes? And muslims in non Arabic speaking countries (which means most of them on Earth), will (outside of formal prayer, where Arabic must be used), employ their own langauges term for diety. S Asians will use words like ["Khuda](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khuda)". They would be rather upset to learn that they are not muslims. [QUOTE=Trinopus] You’re very likely right… A quick Googling supports Ishmael in the Koran, Isaac in the Bible. My error; it’s been too long since I read the Koran. [/QUOTE] You need to improve your reading and googling. The Quran is silent on who the son was… its Ishmael per tradition not scripture. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/86 "2015-05-17T10:27:07Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Other way around. All other churches are not real churches. It is, or has been, a Baptist thing; as I understand it, at various points in the past, it has been a Baptist doctrine has been that they have a clear, direct line of succession all the way back to the very first apostolic church. In some homeopathic way, they took this to mean that they _were_ that church, and all other churches were false. I think you’re missing the point. There’s a distinction between _“We’re the only church that’s worshiping God correctly”_ and _“We’re the only church that’s worshiping the correct God.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/87 "2015-05-17T10:38:11Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I think you’re missing the point. There’s a distinction between _“We’re the only church that’s worshiping God correctly”_ and _“We’re the only church that’s worshiping the correct God.”_ Context. Not “worshiping God correctly” means–to believers in this sort of doctrine–that the other church is not a “true” church. They are therefore a “false” church, at best deceived by Satan and at worst in league with him. No matter who the “false” church _thinks_ they’re worshiping, it’s really the devil. This is a pretty extreme viewpoint even among fundamentalist/evangelical groups, and support for it has dropped greatly over the years. (My cynical side suggests that this is less due to enlightenment than increased access to other Others to fear.) It really has existed, however, and still does in places. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/88 "2015-05-17T21:03:03Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > . . . You need to improve your reading and googling. The Quran is silent on who the son was… its Ishmael per tradition not scripture. I’m working on a challenge to **adaher** for the largest number of errors made by a 'doper. (Thank you for the correction. Ignorance always fought, yet never slain.) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/89 "2015-05-17T23:33:22Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > You need to improve your reading and googling. The Quran is silent on who the son was… its Ishmael per tradition not scripture. Although, it’s a pretty strong tradition, because the Surah has Abraham attempt to sacrifice his son, and then Isaac being born after as a reward for his faithfulness, which suggests that it’s Ishmael… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/90 "2015-05-18T01:26:43Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Context. Not “worshiping God correctly” means–to believers in this sort of doctrine–that the other church is not a “true” church. They are therefore a “false” church, at best deceived by Satan and at worst in league with him. No matter who the “false” church _thinks_ they’re worshiping, it’s really the devil. This is a pretty extreme viewpoint even among fundamentalist/evangelical groups, and support for it has dropped greatly over the years. (My cynical side suggests that this is less due to enlightenment than increased access to other Others to fear.) It really has existed, however, and still does in places. I agree that many believers feel that other people are following a false religion and belong to a false church. But I don’t see how anybody can say that those people are worshiping a false Jesus. Is there really anyone who says that there were two (or more) people called Jesus in first century Jerusalem? One of whom was the true son of God and the other of whom was Satan in disguise? And that most people mistakenly worship the fake Jesus and only one church in the modern world is worshiping the real Jesus? It’s certainly an interesting theology but it’s not one I’ve ever heard of. (Unless you count that Monty Python sketch about Michelangelo.) You’d sort of expect the Gospels would have mentioned these dueling Jesi. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/91 "2015-05-18T02:00:38Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Or if you want to ask someone who you’ll only need a time machine, instead of **Skald** ’s space-time continuum buggy, ask [the ancient Greeks.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_%28mythology%29) I’d worship that! Wait, I’m sorta Catholic with Marian tendencies. I think I already do. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/92 "2015-05-18T02:51:57Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I agree that many believers feel that other people are following a false religion and belong to a false church. But I don’t see how anybody can say that those people are worshiping a false Jesus. > > Is there really anyone who says that there were two (or more) people called Jesus in first century Jerusalem? One of whom was the true son of God and the other of whom was Satan in disguise? And that most people mistakenly worship the fake Jesus and only one church in the modern world is worshiping the real Jesus No one is saying that, including **Amateur Barbarian** (if I’m not misunderstanding his post myself). You introduced that idea. We’re saying that some sects believe that other churches are invalid, and because they’re either Doing It Wrong or not in some direct-line apostolic succession, they don’t really have a line to Jesus. The more charitable version of this is that members of those other churches are wasting their time; the extreme end is the belief that they’re actually worshiping Satan, who is masquerading as Jesus to deceive them. Not some other ancient, competing Jesus, but the devil posing as the–as **AB** put it–“one true godbeingperson”. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/93 "2015-05-18T03:16:27Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You may not like this but it is the case. Jews, Christians, and Muslims are all worshiping the same God. Their disputes are over the exact nature of this God and what are the requirements of worship. This is absurdly, stupidly wrong. I don’t know enough about the Muslim faith to comment on it, but the Jews (from the Jewish POV) do not and cannot be worshiping the same God as Christians. Judaism rejects any and all forms of trinitarianism. Period. The holiest prayer to Jews is “Hear, O Israel, the Lord, our God is one (God)”. Judaism doesn’t allow for “shell/white/yolk” or “three faces/one God” or “unfathomable mystery” that allows Christians to believe that they’re still monotheists: if they do/can, and it works for them, great. I’m not saying Jews or Christians are right or wrong. Simply that their God simply won’t or can’t do what the Christian God does. To most Jews, the term “Triune God” is as oxymoronic as “Capitalist Communist” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/94 "2015-05-18T03:32:32Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > To most Jews, the term “Triune God” is as oxymoronic as “Capitalist Communist” So Jews don’t believe in China? ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/95 "2015-05-18T04:08:48Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > So Jews don’t believe in China? Hey, look! You made a post without telling us that you were from Spain. And you wasted it being a pedantic twit. I’m willing to bet that most other people here understood the point regardless of your ability to find a nit to pick:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/96 "2015-05-18T04:23:39Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > “Moon god” ? > > I would worship the FUCK out of the Moon. I think it would be “goddess,” though. Everyone knows the Sun is a guy, **the Moon is a chick**. Waitaminnit. The Prophet Chick (PBUH) is elevated to a celestial god now? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/97 "2015-05-18T04:35:18Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > This is absurdly, stupidly wrong. I don’t know enough about the Muslim faith to comment on it, but the Jews (from the Jewish POV) do not and cannot be worshiping the same God as Christians. . . . You’re quite wrong. The Christians took over the Jewish God, lock, stock, and Old Testament. They scraped off some of his attributes and added others, but he’s still the same guy who created Adam and Eve, flooded out everyone but Noah, etc. He’s the same figure, the same person. Yes, the two versions of the entity have incompatible characteristics attributed to him. The Trinity is incompatible with the unity of the Jewish God. But that just means that at least one of the two dogmas is wrong. It doesn’t mean that the two Gods are separate entities. That’s dumb: how many Adams and Eves, how many Noahs, how many Moseses, how many Abrahams do you think there were? It’s as if you tried to argue that modern-day Republicans don’t revere the same Ronald Reagan as Democrats remember with disdain. He was saintly…no, he was a beast. He saved the country…no, he destroyed the middle class. Would you seriously conclude that we have to be talking about two different men? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/98 "2015-05-18T04:51:53Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > You’re quite wrong. The Christians took over the Jewish God, lock, stock, and Old Testament. They scraped off some of his attributes and added others, but he’s still the same guy who created Adam and Eve, flooded out everyone but Noah, etc. He’s the same figure, the same person. > > Yes, the two versions of the entity have incompatible characteristics attributed to him. The Trinity is incompatible with the unity of the Jewish God. But that just means that at least one of the two dogmas is wrong. It doesn’t mean that the two Gods are separate entities. That’s dumb: how many Adams and Eves, how many Noahs, how many Moseses, how many Abrahams do you think there were? > > It’s as if you tried to argue that modern-day Republicans don’t revere the same Ronald Reagan as Democrats remember with disdain. He was saintly…no, he was a beast. He saved the country…no, he destroyed the middle class. Would you seriously conclude that we have to be talking about two different men? I’m glad somebody understands what I’m saying. ---
**Author:** ![fridolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/85f322/32.png) [@fridolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fridolph)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/99 "2015-05-18T05:04:43Z")
I thought that the word “Allah” cognates in Hebrew and Aramaic word. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111/100 "2015-05-18T06:27:31Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Although, it’s a pretty strong tradition, because the Surah has Abraham attempt to sacrifice his son, and then Isaac being born after as a reward for his faithfulness, which suggests that it’s Ishmael… The chapter in question however states examples of how Abraham’s faith did not waver despite trials and then speaks of the rewards he was given. It does not state that Isaac was born due to sacrifice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-this-moon-god-nonsense-come-from/720111.md?page=6)