I dislike long posts so this is as abridged as possible.
A long, long time ago when semi feral human beings were roaming the forests and the planes, they were still unaware and uninterested in the logistics
of the process of reproduction.
Man, ignorant and confused by the nine months invisible gestation period in the womb, had not yet made the connection between the sexual act and birth
of the baby.
They believed pregnancy was the work of an external agent like the wind that literally puffed up, impregnated women like a cloth/sail. In other words,
women were “masters” of their own fertility. Female were mysterious and magic; goddesses were worshipped in great numbers.
It wasn’t until men began to keep and herd large animals that they observed, over a period of time, the cause and effect of horse, ram and bull
mounting their respective partners.
Finally, they twigged and the penny dropped: the first Ram-god, Bull-god, and Antelope-god were born. The Patriarchy originates from then. Heroes,
kings and chieftains could wage war in the knowledge that the gain would be for the benefit of their own heirs.
To have horns was good, here’s a fine example of Moses:
www.cptryon.org...
The very first gods were images celebrating the potency of animals; early Mesopotamia is a fine example.
These new Gods and old Goddesses lived side by side until the arrival of a new set of godheads; witnessing what the Sky did when making love to Mother
Earth: thunder, lightning and the rain that fertilized and made the crop grow was a much more impressive performance than any bull or ram could
organize. The Sky/Thunder-god was born.
Jehovah, Zeus, Thor, Haddad etc, were such gods. Their worshippers vilified and banished previous deities.
Jehovah, for instance, replaced an earlier goddess Sheol (means: womb, hell); she was banished to the underworld and this is why to this day we
somehow believe that Hell is a big cavern underground and it is also why God has no jurisdiction in hell.
The next generation of Gods was the so called “dying gods” or solar/priapic gods: Osiris, Tammuz, Mithras, Jesus; These younger gods do what the
sun does: dies and resurrects.
The Bible has become so important because, after the chaos caused by the fall of the Roman Empire. people needed desperately some order and continuity
to get on with their lives. The waves of barbarian hordes were very unsettling; they still looked to Rome for a return to peace and order.
Unfortunately, by then, the only thing of any stability was the Church of Rome who was very quick and very unscrupulous in exploiting these demands
for order.
We are still told what God’s desire is by priests; one cannot get rid of them that easily.