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Israelites were polytheistic
- Thread starter outhouse
- Start date
PMderry
The Leprechaun
Why? Does it really change the argument that much? I use a modern term because we are modern speakers. If I say that Judaism was henotheist and explain it using modern terms, we all understand it 100%. Using specific deity names is sort of beside the point.
PMderry
The Leprechaun
*sighs* I had a wonderful textbook from my Hebrew Studies class that addressed this stuff. Let me see if I can find my notes on it. The text has since been sold back to the school.
outhouse
Atheistically
because we are talking about a known family of deities
Early Israleites worshipped El as the father, Yahweh as his son the warrior deity of which evolved from a storm deity. As well as Baal and Asherah El and Yahweh's consort at different times who went from deity to more of a cult worship as a fertility deity.
there never was one god until after monotheism took hold
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tumbleweed41
Resident Liberal Hippie
As I pointed out before. Henotheism and monolotry are polytheistic. They are, however, a bit more specialized than generic polytheism
outhouse
Atheistically
^I see what you mean now.
Pet Peeve: I think it's spelled Baal
you correct I type fast here at work
outhouse
Atheistically
yet polytheism is a fact, and atleast I posted a wiki link stating such. we also know this is a fact by the the polytheistic Canaanite origins of Israelites
You do know Mesopotamians migrated there and worshipped El as Primary dont you?
so now if you could answer my question.
So we have a culture that went from polytheism to monotheism
so what I would like to see from anyone at all.
is at what point in time you believe they changed to a monolotry or henotheistic culture, and what evidence points you to said belief???
tumbleweed41
Resident Liberal Hippie
Source?
tumbleweed41
Resident Liberal Hippie
Bahweh as El's son?
outhouse
Atheistically
History of ancient Israel and Judah - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The religion of the Israelites of Iron Age I, like many Ancient Near Eastern religions, was based on the cult of the ancestors and the worship of family gods (the "gods of the fathers").[73] The major deities were not numerous El, Asherah, and Yahweh, with Baal as a fourth god in the early period
outhouse
Atheistically
i cleaned up my spelling you know whats stated lol
but here is a tidbit for you, in your errors
With the emergence of monarchy at the beginning of Iron Age II the king promoted his own family god, Yahweh, as the god of the kingdom, but beyond the royal court religion continued to be both polytheistic and family-centered, as it was also for other societies in the Ancient Near East
tumbleweed41
Resident Liberal Hippie
OK, corrected for spelling.i cleaned up my spelling you know whats stated lol
but here is a tidbit for you, in your errors
With the emergence of monarchy at the beginning of Iron Age II the king promoted his own family god, Yahweh, as the god of the kingdom, but beyond the royal court religion continued to be both polytheistic and family-centered, as it was also for other societies in the Ancient Near East
Yahweh as El's son?
fallingblood
Agnostic Theist
I think you can find it in Karen Armstrong's book, A History of God. Not really a scholarly book, and fails in many regards. Mark Smith has a much better book, An Early History of God, which is a good read if you are interested in the subject.
As I think you said earlier (or at least someone did), El and Yahweh were, from an early time, combined into one deity.
outhouse
Atheistically
yes
if you had studied earlier Canaanite influences such as the 70 sons of El you would know
Yahweh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Israel inherited polytheism from late first-millennium Canaan, and Canaanite religion in turn had its roots in the religion of second-millennium Ugarit.[38] In the 2nd millennium, polytheism was expressed through the concepts of the Divine Council and the divine family, a single entity with four levels: the chief god and his wife (El and Asherah); the seventy divine children or "stars of El" (including Baal, Astarte, Anat, probably Resheph, as well as the sun-goddess Shapshu and the moon-god Yerak); the head helper of the divine household, Kothar wa-Hasis; and the servants of the divine household, including the messenger-gods who would later appear as the "angels" of the Hebrew Bible.[39]
In the earliest stage Yahweh was one of the seventy children of El, each of whom was the patron deity of one of the seventy nations
outhouse
Atheistically
karen didnt invent he "divine council"
and the 70 sons is retold in many differnt cultures and time periods, was it not?
tumbleweed41
Resident Liberal Hippie
That would be the opinion of Mark Smith.yes
if you had studied earlier Canaanite influences such as the 70 sons of El you would know
Yahweh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mark S. Smith The Ugaritic Baal cycle, 1994, The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts (New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000
Not something I should "know", but rather one scholars opinion.
Have you studied Mark Smiths books? Or are you simply relying on Wiki for accurate information?
I will be looking into his work.
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