Jewish Invention Myths: Monotheism

One of the most common ‘jewish invention’ claims is that ‘jews invented monotheism’ or the worship of one not many gods, which is exemplified by ‘Israel Hayom’s’ claim that:

‘Monotheism, the belief in a single God, has profoundly influenced religious thought throughout history. Judaism is credited with introducing this radical idea, which challenged the polytheistic beliefs prevalent in ancient cultures. This foundational concept has shaped the beliefs of billions today as over half the world's population practices monotheistic religions.

Monotheism has encouraged moral frameworks that guide ethical behavior and community values. The implications of this belief system extend beyond religious practice, influencing art, culture, and philosophy.’ (1)

Claims like this are routinely repeated by jews (2) but typically it is ill-researched nonsense given that the first known form of monotheism emerged in ancient Egypt with the ‘Heretic Pharaoh’ Akhenaten circa 1,400 B.C.

To quote Redford:

‘Akhenaten was clearly a monotheist. All the well-known ingredients are present: the revelation-cum-teaching, the belligerent iconoclasm, the denial of the plurality of the Supernatural, the anathematization of other “gods,” the purging of forms of religious expression. He believed in a single, universal god, Aten, who had created the world and who continued to affect the world through His active presence.’ (3)

Indeed, it has been long-argued that the emergent religion of Zoroastrianism in Babylonia/Mesopotamia – modern day Iran and Iraq – was also monotheistic (4) although this is not without significant opposition. (5)

This would make a certain amount of sense given that most attempts to claim ‘jews invented monotheism’ are – to quote Smith – ‘evidently driven by post-Biblical concerns’. (6)

It is also noteworthy to point out that at the Greeks – notably the pre-Socratic philosophers Thales of Miletus and his student Anaximander of Miletus – created and adhered to as well as advocated a philosophic monotheism in the early-mid sixth century B.C. (7) several decades before we find the first expressions of monotheism in Biblical texts (i.e., Second Isaiah which dates from the mid-late sixth century B.C.).

Now given this we can clearly see that jews certainly didn’t invent monotheism and given the Exodus story and the Babylonian captivity right around the time they first begin to properly ‘develop’ monotheism in their religious faith: it is reasonable to suggest that only did the jews not invent monotheism but likely simply adapted the already extant monotheistic belief systems of those around them to form what we call Second Temple Judaism which subsequently became rabbinic Judaism.

References

(1) https://www.israelhayom.com/2024/08/01/did-you-know-these-inventions-were-made-by-jews/

(2) For example: https://boulderjewishnews.org/2009/an-informal-list-of-jewish-inventions-innovations-and-radical-ideas/

(3) Donald Redford, 1997, ‘The Monotheism of Akhenaten’, p. 26 in Hershel Shanks, Jack Meinhardt (Eds.), 1997, ‘Aspects of Monotheism: How God is One’, 1st Edition, Biblical Archaeology Society: Washington D.C.

(4) For example: Almut Hintze, 2014, ‘Monotheism the Zoroastrian Way’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vo. 24, No. 2, pp. 225–249 and Mike Ferrero, 2021, ‘From Polytheism to Monotheism: Zoroaster and Some Economic Theory’, Homo Oeconomicus, Vol. 38, pp. 77-108

(5) For example: Mark Smith, 2001, ‘The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic texts’, 1st Edition, Oxford University Press: New York, pp. 165-166

(6) Ibid., p. 103

(7) M. L. West, 1999, ‘Towards Monotheism’, pp. 32-3 in Polymnia Athanassiadi, Michael Frede (Eds.), 1999, ‘Pagan Monotheism in Late Antiquity’, 1st Edition, Clarendon Press: Oxford; Michael Frede, 1999, ‘Monotheism and Pagan Philosophy’, pp. 47-48 in Athanassiadi, Frede, Op. Cit.