What you just posted converges with a suspicion that I have formed, @metis .
I think that the modern insistence of adherents to Abrahamic creeds that they are supposed to believe in the literal existence of their deities is a new, perhaps very new development.
It makes sense to me that for most of the story of religions and pseudo-religions their focus would be in storytelling as opposed to claims of literal truth and particularly literal monotheism of a creator god.
For one thing, most communities would be all too aware that there are competing claims. In practice that had limited significance; those communities would not have even the opportunity to compare beliefs very frequently, due to pratical considerations such as geographical distance, language barriers and political rivalry. The demand that existed was largely for the establishment of symbolic language and identity-forming narratives, as opposed to some accademic need for establishing the constracting merits of competing narratives. At the end of the day very few people would consider switching tribes out of abstract theological concerns.
I think that the modern insistence of adherents to Abrahamic creeds that they are supposed to believe in the literal existence of their deities is a new, perhaps very new development.
It makes sense to me that for most of the story of religions and pseudo-religions their focus would be in storytelling as opposed to claims of literal truth and particularly literal monotheism of a creator god.
For one thing, most communities would be all too aware that there are competing claims. In practice that had limited significance; those communities would not have even the opportunity to compare beliefs very frequently, due to pratical considerations such as geographical distance, language barriers and political rivalry. The demand that existed was largely for the establishment of symbolic language and identity-forming narratives, as opposed to some accademic need for establishing the constracting merits of competing narratives. At the end of the day very few people would consider switching tribes out of abstract theological concerns.