Or if you are a monotheist did God as the one and only god make Himself known only to the Israelites three millenia ago?
So … the idea has fallen out of copyright then?
Not to mention all the Sumerian deities.
In fact much of the OT appears (so some say) to be copied from older myths and adjusted over time to reflect a monotheistic view.
The Isrealites, afaik, invented Monotheism, but not the concept of God.
Harumph. I daresay that Jehovah invented the Israelites, thank you very much.
Sentient Meat:
Aton was closer to monotheism than prior Egyptian religious worship, but he was still a Sun-based diety, allowing for dieties over other spheres of influence.
Zoroastrianism posits two co-equal supreme powers, one good and one evil.
The Israelite diety (originally worshipped by their ancestor Abraham, who pre-dated the “monotheism” of Akhnaton…in fact, if Biblical history/chronology is to be believed at all, it’s entirely possible that Akhnaton grew up with young Moses in the house, and the latter might have been an influence on the former) is believed to be the only being wielding any power or influence over the world…anything else that has power or influence only exist as his agents, and only by his command. This definition of G-d did originate with them/Abraham.
I’m not totally sure what Grienspace is asking here. But that has never stopped me from giving an opinion before! 
Obviously, your view on whether or not they “invented” Him depends on whether or not you believe in the existence of a God who has some connection to what is presented in the Bible as His doing. (That’s carefully worded to give some latitude: if you think that He did certain things alleged in Scripture to be His work, but not others, you’re included.)
What we do have is a picture of Him painted to correspond to Israelite cultural mores. This is remodeled slightly after the Exile to match the Jewish (note the distinction) mores and metaphysics which were fairly evidently influenced by Zoroastrianism during the Exile.
Additional modifications come with the influence of Greek philosophy, both on Jewish thought through Philo and the Septuagint translators and on Christianity through the heavy influence of culturally-Greek leaders in the first few centuries of the Church.
The similar-but-variant philosophical bent of the Romans and their penchant for careful attention to detail, and the worthiness/criminality underlying attitudes of the Germanic peoples, then shaped the Western Church further. The humanism of the Enlightenment then reshaped that image yet further for many people, giving rise to one of the largest current sites of disputation about Him.
Notice that all this is addressing people’s perceptions of God – what they saw Him as. The underlying reality, assuming Him to be present, has never changed, but what He was perceived as, the nature He was conceived as having, has changed repeatedly.
Zoroaster’s date, according to Wikipedia, is about 1000 BC. It’s worth noting that according to Jewish accountings, the Israelites recieved the Torah in 1212 BC. Moreover, Abraham, the first Jewish monotheist, was born 500 years before that in 1712 BC.
I can’t answer for whether they were the first to worship one god, though I can’t agree that Aton was truly the subject of a monotheistic religion if he was a sun god, which would seem to indicate limited power and room for the existence of other powers. Still, Wikipedia put Amtenism at 14th century BC, after Abraham, but somewhat before Moses and the giving of the Torah (which codified but didn’t introduce the Israelite’s monotheistic worship).
That should read “Atenism,” not “Amtenism.” Sorry.
Nitpick: It’s possible to invent something after someone else has already invented it, assuming you have no knowledge of the previous invention. So the question becomes “Were the Israelites the **first **to invent God?” (assuming, of course, that God was “invented” at all)
It is also unclear if the God of the Hebrews was a monotheistic concept … “I am the Lord your God and you shall have no other gods before me” doesn’t exactly state that no other gods exist. Just that I am your God and keep those other gods outa my face.
Not really co-equal. Zoroastrianism can be considered monotheistic as the good power is considered the creator and supreme and is the only one worshipped. The force of evil is a powerful influence, but isn’t really a God and is destined to fail. Pretty analogous to the modern fundamentalist Protestant view of the Christian deity and his antagonist Satan actually.
- Tamerlane
A decent review of various early monotheistic religions can be foundhere. Worshiping only one god while not disbeleiving that others can or do exist is included in henotheism.
Gee, I wonder why? :dubious:
As a believer, I wonder why it took God so long (at least a hundred thousand years or so) ago to make himself known to man. It appears that a sense of having a relationship with an omniscient, omnipresent, all powerful God was given to the Israelites. Or invented if you are an unbeliever. But if you are a believer in a loving God of all humanity, you have to wonder why God limits man’s knowledge of him. I’m speculating that He chose the Israelites to spawn this connection with humanity.
I wanted to settle in my mind that historically the concept of Abrahamic monotheism shared by Judaism, Christianity, Islam and possibly Zoroastrianism arose uniquely among the Israelites to be shared in due time to the rest of the world. The worship of Aten could challenge that proposition except I would suggest that this is worship of an object of God’s creation and does not qualify as the origin of the Abrahamic concept of God.
I would challenge Polycarp’s opinion that Zoroastrianism influenced Judaism. For two millenia of historical record, I see no evidence of Christian or Islamic influence on the beliefs of the Jews. I would suggest however that it is entirely possible that Zoroaster himself was influenced by the Israelites, and thus an example of the first outbreak from the Israelites of man’s knowledge of who God is.
Of course this is all speculation on my part. I’m inviting evidence that the Abrahamic concept of God predates Moses and existed in prior cultures.
I’m not totally sure what Polycarp is suggesting in his latest comment. Thus I will refrain from giving an opinion
Note that throughout that period humans were burying their dead and indulging in various forms of ancestor worship: a single head-honcho is not that big a step.
Although stories in Judaism refer back to a long time in the past that does not mean the religion was monotheistic from the start or during that period.
From lingering memory I seem to recall that it Israelite monotheism started around 7th or 6th century BC(?)
Before that it was a polytheistic religion Well at least ‘pluritheistic’, God having a wife and all. Plus you can wonder where all those angels came from, if not maybe older ‘lesser’ gods. Perfectly analogous to Ahura-Mazda becoming supreme and the older gods his say… little helpers. Except for that one evil one…
Oh and all this denigrating ‘Oh well Aten was just a sun-god so he doesn’t really count’ What load of crap is that? Was he the only god yes or no? Yes, so the Echnaton period was a spell of monotheism. No way round it
I don’t think that is just **Polycarp’s’/b] opinion. There are evidences that the Babylonian religion was an influence on Judaism in the differences betwee pre and post-Exilic writings and ideas. Satan, the evil influence, does not appear in any pre-Exilic writing except as what are identified as post-Exilic modifications.
For example in I Chronicles 21:1 there is "And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
The pre-Exilic version of the story exists and reads: Samuel, 24:1 " … the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah."
Wouldn’t that mean that there was a transition from polytheistic to monotheistic to dualistic?
Which seems rather odd.
One would rather expect polytheistic (pre-Babylonian) to dualistic (Persian influence) to monotheistic.
Let me try to recall what I know of jewish teaching, just off the top of my head.
Judaism had a kind of “Devil’s Advocate” named Satan. He was a servant of God. The the Zoroastrians had a concept of an evil god, who opposed the good god. The jews combined both idea, into the theologically shaky concept (When combined with Omnipotence) that most people think of as The Devil.
P.S. This is not to say Jews were monotheistic… As I recall, the ancient Jews praised, “El, and his Asterah.”