Judaism acquired the "one and only one god" theology in the hellenistic era. Before that they were what Max Mueller would call 'henotheistic'. Messianic Judaism is an even later post-hellenic Roman development; It was rooted out by the Romans and replaced by Rabbinic Judaism which is a Concurrent development to the Roman synthesis of Christianity.
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About the Hebrew scriptures themselves, Dever says:
â "All biblical texts in their present written form were produced relatively late in Israelâs history," that is, no earlier than the 8th Century BCE.
â The writers of the Bible were highly selective in the material they allowed in, and were "mostly elites, literati" and male, making up less than 1 percent of the population.
â "<b>...all the biblical literature...constitutes what is essentially âpropaganda....the Bible is ârevisionist historyâ on a grand scale."</b>
(4) The Bible doesnât portray the Israelite religion as it really was, but rather as what the authors wanted it to be, and suppressed and condemned "folk religion"âthat is the religion of at least 99% of the people.
(pp. 69-73, 251)<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
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These scholars have various theories concerning the origins of the Israelites and Israelite religion. Most agree that the people who formed the nation of Israel during the First Temple era had origins in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, although some question whether any or all of their ancestors had been slaves in Egypt. Many suggest that during the First Temple period, the people of Israel were henotheists, that is, they believed that each nation had its own god, but that their god was superior to other gods.[6][7] Some suggest that strict monotheism developed during the Babylonian Exile, perhaps in reaction to Zoroastrian dualism.[8]
<b>In this view, it was only by the Hellenic period that most Jews came to believe that their God was the only God (and thus, the God of everyone), and that the record of His revelation (the Torah) contained within it universal truths.</b> This attitude reflected a growing Gentile interest in Judaism (some Greeks and Romans considered the Jews a most "philosophical" people because of their belief in a God that cannot be represented visually), and growing Jewish interest in Greek philosophy, which sought to establish universal truths, thus leading - potentially - to the idea of monotheism, at least in the sense that "all gods are One." It was also at this time that the notion of a clearly bounded Jewish nation identical with the Jewish religion formed.[9] According to one scholar, the clash between the early Christians and Pharisees that ultimately led to the birth of the Christian religion and Rabbinic Judaism reflected the struggle by Jews to reconcile their claims to national particularism and theological universalism.[10]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->http://medusacoils.blogspot.com/2007/04/re...ut-asherah.html
About the Hebrew scriptures themselves, Dever says:
â "All biblical texts in their present written form were produced relatively late in Israelâs history," that is, no earlier than the 8th Century BCE.
â The writers of the Bible were highly selective in the material they allowed in, and were "mostly elites, literati" and male, making up less than 1 percent of the population.
â "<b>...all the biblical literature...constitutes what is essentially âpropaganda....the Bible is ârevisionist historyâ on a grand scale."</b>
(4) The Bible doesnât portray the Israelite religion as it really was, but rather as what the authors wanted it to be, and suppressed and condemned "folk religion"âthat is the religion of at least 99% of the people.
(pp. 69-73, 251)<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->link
These scholars have various theories concerning the origins of the Israelites and Israelite religion. Most agree that the people who formed the nation of Israel during the First Temple era had origins in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, although some question whether any or all of their ancestors had been slaves in Egypt. Many suggest that during the First Temple period, the people of Israel were henotheists, that is, they believed that each nation had its own god, but that their god was superior to other gods.[6][7] Some suggest that strict monotheism developed during the Babylonian Exile, perhaps in reaction to Zoroastrian dualism.[8]
<b>In this view, it was only by the Hellenic period that most Jews came to believe that their God was the only God (and thus, the God of everyone), and that the record of His revelation (the Torah) contained within it universal truths.</b> This attitude reflected a growing Gentile interest in Judaism (some Greeks and Romans considered the Jews a most "philosophical" people because of their belief in a God that cannot be represented visually), and growing Jewish interest in Greek philosophy, which sought to establish universal truths, thus leading - potentially - to the idea of monotheism, at least in the sense that "all gods are One." It was also at this time that the notion of a clearly bounded Jewish nation identical with the Jewish religion formed.[9] According to one scholar, the clash between the early Christians and Pharisees that ultimately led to the birth of the Christian religion and Rabbinic Judaism reflected the struggle by Jews to reconcile their claims to national particularism and theological universalism.[10]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->