The Bible presents a universalistic vision of God and the world. The strength of its universalism has made it the most translated, most widely read book of all time. The main factors in its spread are the Jewish diaspora and the Christian missions around the world. The universalism of the Bible is reflected in the expansion of the Christian Churches, of which it is the founding document. Today there is an interreligious and ecumenical scholarly community that studies and spreads the Bible.
“In the beginning God created heaven and earth,” says Genesis, so the Bible begins with a note of universalism. It states that all humanity has only one God and creator, and that all humanity after the Flood descended from Noah and his family: 70 nations, according to the table of peoples in chapter 10 of Genesis.
The political implications of this concept cannot be overestimated. While the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians and Persians claimed that the protector gods of each nation would fight for their respective empires, the theologians of the Jewish people denied the existence of those gods. Instead, the one God of the universe chose Israel, the smallest of all peoples, as the crown jewel, preferring it to all the great nations (cf. Deut 7:6-8).
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© Union of Catholic Asian News
2023
