Abstract
We cannot write a rounded account of the history or of the religion of the patriarchs. We can only point to certain elements which the biblical texts preserve. When we remove the proper name, YHWH, and all characteristics of Yahwism, we are left with a personal God who is the God of the father of the clan (the extended family) and of the clan itself; he has no name; he is just El, God, the high God, the eternal one, the God of this father of this group, the God who appeared at this place. The father worships this God; he prays and presides at the worship; there is no mediator at the place of worship. This God preserves the group through a son, and guides the group “on the way”. It is a simple, uncomplicated religion where God comes directly to the person, and the person goes directly to God.
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