One god or one lord deuteronomy and the meaning ofmonotheism. A distinction may be made between exclusive monotheism, and both inclusive monotheism and pluriform panentheistic monotheism which, while recognising various distinct gods, postulate some. Archaeologys new vision of ancient israel and the origin of sacred texts. Emergent monotheism in israel the library of hebrew bibleold testament studies. One god or one lord deuteronomy and the meaning of. Monotheism is often understood as one god with a denial of the existence of other deities.
Robert karl gnuses thesis in this book is that, given the new archaeological models that describe the emergence of nascent israel out of canaan in ca. Our new paradigms stress the ongoing and unfinished nature of the monotheistic revolution, which is indeed still in process today. Bringing the highest level of technical expertise to bear on the canon, cognate literature, and the historical matrix of the bible, jbl has stood at the center of communication among biblical scholars in north america for the past 125 years. As niehr 2010 shows, in the crisis of an imposition by ahab of tyrean baal probably melkart, and probably with his consort. Emergent monotheism in israel the library of hebrew bibleold testament studies gnuse, robert karl, mein, andrew, camp, claudia v. The time of the establishment of biblical monotheism international. How did ancient israel go from polytheism to monotheism. Archaeologys new vision of ancient israel and the origin of its sacred texts. If we adopt the common definition of monotheism as the belief that no deities exist other than the one god, then the hebrew bible is not a monotheistic work. A reexamination of the origins of monotheism atlanta, 2002. About no other gods this is the first fullscale assessment of the theological, social and ideational implications of our new understandings of ancient israel s social and religious development. This is the first fullscale assessment of the theological, social and ideat. Search for library items search for lists search for contacts search for a library. Introduction the title of my paper today raises a question that is quite current, though that might sound strange to evangelicals who specialize in fields other than the ancient near east and hebrew bible.
Monotheism is distinguished from henotheism, a religious system in which the believer worships one god without denying that others may worship different gods with equal validity, and monolatrism, the recognition of the existence of many gods but with the consistent worship of only one deity. And its a contrast word to atheism, the belief that there is no god, and to polytheism, the belief that there are many gods. The journal of biblical literature jbl is a quarterly periodical that promotes critical and academic biblical scholarship. First, it must be said that the development of monotheism in israel is not as easy to understand as some christians believe. Scholars now stress the gradual emergence of israel out of the culture of ancient palestine and the surrounding ancient near east rather than contrast. Another new set of the emergent properties of god can be discerned when yhwh became the national deity and yahwism spread to other sections of the population. In recent years, scholars have sought a better understanding of this early polytheistic milieu and its relation to yahweh, the god of israel. Robert karl gnuse this is the first fullscale assessment of the theological, social and ideational implications of our new understandings of ancient israels social and religious development. Monotheism has been defined as the belief in the existence of only one god that created the world, is allpowerful and intervenes in the world. Thompson, the historicity of patriarchal narratives, berlin 1974. No other gods emergent monotheism in israel, robert karl gnuse, may 1, 1997, religion, 392 pages. In rare instances, a publisher has elected to have a zero moving wall, so their current issues are available. Emergent monotheism in israel jsot supplement series.
Groben ancient near east religions and israelite monotheism p. This is the first fullscale assessment of the theological, social and ideational implications of our new understandings of ancient israels social and religious development. It is for this reason that i decided to write a post explaining my view on monotheism and the faith of israel. Understanding israelite monotheism old testament affirmations such as deut 6. Gnuse, royal policies and the origins of aniconism. Robert karl gnuse this is the first fullscale assessment of the theological, social and ideational implications of our new understandings of ancient israel s social and religious development. Mar, 2015 rollston does a great job explaining the history of monotheism in ancient israel. The emergent is unlike its components insofar as these are. The israelites, however, continued to retain various cultural commonalities with other canaanites, including use of one of the canaanite dialects, hebrew, which is today the only living descendant of that language group. It really depends upon your definition of monotheism.
Bible is considered by many westerners as a paradigm of monotheistic religion. Does divine plurality in the hebrew bible demonstrate an. Israel s polytheistic background and the ugaritic texts smith, mark s. He uses various evidences to help the readers understand how this society gradually went from polytheism to monotheism.
Gnuse seeks to survey the recent views of the question of israels origins and especially the place of religion in the history of israel from c. We examine this point in some detail and argue that monotheism, as a concept, finds no support in the bible. In this remarkable history of the development of monotheism, mark s. Sep 23, 20 one reader asked about my view whether asherah was gods wife. Alternatively, read several of finkelsteins articles about the iron i and iron ii periods. Thus the complex history of the people of ancient israel marked by success. This book discusses pagan monotheism in its philosophical and intellectual context, traces the evolution of new religious ideas in the time of the roman empire, and evaluates the usefulness of the term monotheism as a way of understanding these developments in later antiquity outside the context of judaism and christianity. Gnuse takes a further bold step in setting the emergence of monotheism in a wider intellectual context. During ancient israel, monotheism with its denial of the. The divine plurality in the book of deuteronomy 1 for discussion of recent scholarship on the development of monotheism see r. Susan ackerman darmouth college hanover, nh 03755 robert karl gnuses thesis in this book is that, given the new archaeological models that describe the emergence of nascent israel out of canaan in c. Unfortunately there is no verb in hebrew with the root hwh, with the result that the meaning of yhwh is unclear.
A narrower definition of monotheism is the belief in the existence of only one god that created the world, is allpowerful and intervenes in the world. A broader definition of monotheism is the belief in one god. Emergent monotheism in israel the library of hebrew bibleold testament studies robert karl gnuse, andrew mein, claudia v. Yahwehalone theology society for research and academic. Ancient near east religions and israelite monotheism. This is the first fullscale assessment of the theological, social and ideational implications of our new understandings of ancient israel s social and religious development. Emergent monotheism in israel was published in 1997 and has begun to receive scholarly appraisal. After all, the socalled monotheistic religions of judaism, christianity, and islam exhibit belief in angelsbeings who reside in. The kingdom of israel emerged as an important local power by the 10th century bce before falling to the neoassyrian empire in 722 bce. Smith explains for the first time how israel s religion evolved from a cult of yahweh as a primary deity among many to a fully defined religion with yahweh as sole god. According to the bible, ancient israel s neighbors worshipped a wide variety of gods. In the hebrew bible the term israelites is used interchangeably with the term twelve tribes of israel. Two studies emphasizing that the development of monotheism in israel was a long and complex process are stanley rosenbaum, understanding biblical israel. Does divine plurality in the hebrew bible demonstrate an evolution from polytheism to monotheism in israelite religion.