more from this thinker | more from this text
Full Idea
I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
Gist of Idea
Beside me there is no God
Source
Isaiah (23: Book of Isaiah [c.680 BCE], 44.06)
Book Ref
'The Bible', ed/tr. the Church [Collins 1950], p.350
A Reaction
This seems to be the first clear statement (c. 680 BCE) of monotheism, certainly preceding any Greek views on the subject (cf. Idea 2629,Idea 7347). It is not just an arrogant assertion by the jews, but a humble sacrifice, donating their god to humanity.
Related Ideas
Idea 2629 Anaxagoras was the first to say that the universe is directed by an intelligence [Anaxagoras, by Cicero]
Idea 7347 Zoroastrians believed in one eternal beneficent being, Creator through the holy spirit [Johnson,P]
| 8148 | Brahma, supreme god and protector of the universe, arose from the ocean of existence [Anon (Upan)] |
| 7343 | Beside me there is no God [Isaiah] |
| 7994 | Everything, including the gods, comes from me, says Krishna [Anon (Bhag)] |
| 22726 | When things were unified, Mind set them in order [Anaxagoras] |
| 2629 | Anaxagoras was the first to say that the universe is directed by an intelligence [Anaxagoras, by Cicero] |
| 6011 | There is a remote first god (the Good), and a second god who organises the material world [Numenius, by O'Meara] |
| 7835 | The key question for Spinoza is: is his God really a God? [Stewart,M on Spinoza] |
| 23031 | God is the ideal end of the mature mind's final development [Green,TH] |
| 4497 | The concept of 'God' represents a turning away from life, and a critique of life [Nietzsche] |