Monotheism
Review of the previous post
The previous post, post number 1 of 22, introduced the topic.
Preview of this post
This post, post number 2 of 22, discusses some thoughts on the origins of monotheism.
Origins
- Introduction
Many scholars do not believe that the date of the invention of monotheism can be precisely determined[1] and some believe that monotheism was merely a natural outgrowth and a natural progression[2] (see discussion below, possibly with a stop along the way at monolatry[3]) from polytheism[4] to Yahwism to Monotheism in a completely non-linear path which itself varied from place to place in a non-linear way[5]. It could be anywhere between the thirteenth century B.C.E. to the sixth century B.C.E. There are too many variables and archeological evidence[6] and other means are too imprecise to totally reliably establish the date of the inception of monotheism. It is also nearly impossible to determine when monotheism was first adopted by the Jews based on the Bible itself since the Bible simply assumes monotheism from the very beginning and there seems to be several authors who are attributed with writing the Bible, the so-called, J, E, D and P authors, along with the redactor, R. All of these authors along with the redactor had different influences and different ideas that they wanted to emphasize. However, it should be strongly emphasized that authorship and dates of the Pentateuch are much debated and the source of much disagreement whereby this essay cannot and will not make a definitive conclusion on authorship, editorship and dates for this undertaking. The Bible may have been written and re-written according to the times and political as well as social influences on the authors at the time. Some stories may have been written by one author and rewritten by another and edited by yet another, each slightly changing the story to fit the latter author’s objectives. Therefore, any one story might be written in light of a plurality of objectives. For example, the P author may have wanted to emphasize the importance of the priests; whereas, some other authors may have wanted to emphasize the importance and influence of Moses. The redactor, R, who some believe may have been Ezra[7] who lived during the exile after Babylonia captured Judah and when the people were returning from exile, along with the Babylonian authors, may have wanted to use the stories which first introduced monotheism and were initially written nearly two hundred years previously around the Fall of the Northern Kingdom and redraft them to emphasize the traditions and laws of Judaism and in particular wanted to emphasize the dangers of assimilation, and edited and drafted accordingly. Thus, the story of monotheism in the Bible may be a tangle that nobody can confidently unwind into a uniform and consistent story. It appears that Sarna is correct in that there can be no definitive pattern or time that one can identify with precision and confidence as being the beginning of monotheism[8]. However, by taking an overview of the Bible, that is a view from 30,000 feet above, it may be possible to see through the tangle[9] or at least gain a glimpse of the outlines of a consistent view.
Monotheism was what Yahwism changed into as Yahwism, under pressures of political and social changes, changed from a monolatrous clan-based religion into a belief into One God. The major change may have occurred during the Babylonian Exile in the sixth century B.C.E.
Therefore, it will be helpful to trace the connection between Yahwism and Monotheism, beginning with the emergence of Yahwism.
Preview of the next post
The next post, post number 3 of 22, is post number 1 of 7 posts that discuss Yahwism and introduces the topic.
[1] See “Exploring Exodus” by Nahum M. Sarna, published by Schocken Books, New York in 1996: “The gradual, evolutionary progression from polytheism to true ethical monotheism simply cannot be documented.” See, also, “The Early History of God” by Mark S. Smith, 2nd Edition, published in 2002 by William B. Erdman’s of Grand Rapids, MI:
The development of Israelite monotheism involved complex features in various periods. Convergence and differentiation occurred in conjunction with several societal factors that gave them their formative shape. Some of these factors can be isolated and placed within the context of four general periods: the first period of Judges (1200-1000); the first half of the monarchy (1000-800); the second half of the monarchy (800-587); and the Babylonian exile (587-538). Given the large-scale factors under review, it is difficult to specify their influence during more narrow time periods.
[2] Surprisingly, Maimonides believed the exact opposite: according to the Maimonides, in the beginning, humanity was monotheistic and polytheism sprouted out of monotheism due to an error made by the people in the time of Enosh who thought the way to worship an abstract god was to bow down to the stars, then to actually worshiping the stars. According to Maimonides, the error began as a ceremonial error, not a theological one and grew from there. See, MT, Hilkhot Avodat Kokhavim, 1:1-2.
[3] That the monotheism of the Bible is more than a mere outgrowth of monolarty follows from Maimonides’s reasoning that God is not part of our world. God created our world and thus is not subject to natural laws of this world. God is more than merely “one,” God is entirely different from anything we can imagine. This differs from the gods of pagans, even if these pagan gods were worshipped exclusively.
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[4] But see, “The Religion of Israel,” by Yehezkel Kaufmann trans. Moshe Greenberg (New York: Shocken Books, 1972) where this view is challenged.
[5] Based on the archeological evidence, such as the Amarna Letters as well as the texts excavated at Ugarit, it appears that Yahwism did not appear everywhere at the same time. It probably appeared a little before 1200 B.C.E. in the central region, the territory of Ephraim, and only about the year 1000 B.C.E. in the mountains of Judah.
Thus, it appears that the broad outlines of pre-Yahwistic religion in Palestine seem to be clear: High Canaanite society, in more urban areas and in areas with direct contact with Egypt, practiced polytheism, complete with temples of gods and divine images; whereas, on the other hand, clans or tribes in more rural areas practiced a religion based on the worship of the “god of the fathers” in various local sanctuaries dedicated to forms of the overall god “El”.
The earliest West Semitic inscriptions referring to YHWH date to the second half of the ninth century B.C.E. (the Mesha Stela and the Tel Dan Stela) and shows him clearly associated with the Hebrew kingdoms. This suggests that YHWH appeared in the land what would become Israel sometime between the mid-14th century B.C.E and the end of the ninth century B.C.E. and he has become a significant figure to the Hebrew population by that time. As discussed in the essay “Thoughts on Exodus,” the time of Exodus seems to be dated around 1285 B.C.E., which would correspond with this conclusion with Moses and his group bringing the YHWH cult to Canaan.
[6] Some Egyptian letters have been interpreted as referring to Israel.
[7] See Who Wrote The Bible by Richard Elliott Friedman, published by Harper One in 1989, see pages 223-225. See, also Surpassing Wonder by Donald Harman Akensom. See, also, Back to the Sources edited by Barry M. Holtz and published by Simon and Schuster in 1984 (see page 36).
[8] See, Exploring Exodus by Sarana. The cut and pasting and editing and redrafting was done with the aim in mind to educate both from a historical perspective and from a moral perspective. Ezra was very interested in bringing the people back to the ways of their god. P wanted to change and shape people’s views of the Priesthood; R wanted to reconcile the various stories into one unity. For example, J and E have God manifest to man, P has God transcendent. The redactor mixed the two views of God. Sometimes this works, sometimes it does not. The religions of today still struggle with this mix of a cosmic as well as a personal deity. This tension spills over into God’s justice versus God’s mercy. Justice – you get what you deserve, there is no appeal; Mercy – forgiveness is available. Justice can be associated with a transcendent deity; mercy can be associated with a manifest deity. P does not use the word mercy thereby seeming to imply that the deity is transcendent which would be consistent with an author who emphasizes the priesthood and its role of being an intermediary; J and E emphasize the word mercy thereby seeming to imply a manifest Deity who is personally involved in the affairs of humankind. The tension between justice and mercy might be balanced by viewing the idea of learning from one’s mistakes. This balance must be made with the understanding that sometimes one escapes the consequences of one’s actions purely by chance (luck?) rather than through mercy. This issue can even spill over into a question of whether the universe has meaning. A transcendent God may imply that the universe has no meaning whereas a manifest God may imply that the universe has meaning.
[9] As was noted above, however, that finding a smooth progression from polytheism to monolatry to monotheism is not possible. Thus, this discussion should not be interpreted as concluding that there is such a smooth progression.