A God for Atheists: Three Essays on Religion

We see ourselves as human when we see ourselves as not a god...Gods are simply the specific antithesis that allows us to know ourselves as human...God remained the same from Moses to Muhammad. But his method of communication changed, reflecting the religious practice of the larger surrounding society. With Moses, his communication employed animism, speaking through plants, inanimate objects and natural phenomena. With the prophets that followed Moses, the method of communication was polytheism, through a multiplicity of divine beings called angels, and employing the oracle format of recitation (of a heard message). With Jesus, the method was the direct communication of the divine Caesars of Rome. Muhammad reverted to the oracle format of recitation, mirroring the polytheism of his Arabian society.