Monotheism vs. Polytheism

1
Monotheism vs. Polytheism

• Dates and Terms from the Textbook
• Akhenaton (New Kingdom, 14th century B.C.)
• syncretism
• Zoroastrianism
• Yahweh
• Henotheism
• Northern kingdom Israel southern kingdom Judea
  
• Prophets
• Textbook Questions
• What theological problem is more difficult for
  monotheists than polytheists?
• What were the three attempts at monotheism in the
  ancient Near East? How successful were they?
• Questions to Ponder
• Can the Bible serve as an historical source?  Why
  and/or why not? 

2
Akhenaton Hymn to the Aton

• Akhenaton and Nefertiti, playing with their
  little children and worshipping Aton. Note the
  hands at the ends of the suns rays.

3
Questions

• How accessible to human understanding does Aton
  seem to have been?
• What relationship does Akhenaton have with Aton? 
  What are the political implications of this
  relationship?
• Can this source help you account for the reversal
  of Akhenaton's religious policy after his death? 
  How did the religion promoted by Akhenaton
  contrast with traditional religion? 

4
Enuma Elish

• Tiamat primordial mother as sea monster

• Mesopotamian Fertility goddess

5
Questions

• For those acquainted with Genesis how does the
  Enuma Elish compare and contrast with the Hebrew
  story of the creation of the universe?  Which
  came first?  In what order are things like night
  and day, the heavenly bodies, and human beings
  created? 
• What are the gods like?  How do they compare or
  contrast with monotheistic gods such as that of
  the Hebrews?  Are they all-powerful or just very
  powerful?  Do they have bodies?  Do any of them
  embody a moral standard?
• Did Mesopotamians think that human beings and the
  gods interact?  Why, according to the Enuma
  Elish, do human beings exist? 
• What roles do male and female characters play in
  creation in the Enuma Elish?  Archaeologists have
  recovered many female statues and statuettes with
  accentuated breasts and hips from Neolithic times
  in Mesopotamia.  What might such figures have
  represented?  There is also some early written
  evidence, dating to a time before the Enuma
  Elish, that Mesopotamians believed that a
  fertility goddess created the world.  Does this
  evidence suggest a contrast with the Enuma
  Elish?  If so, how might you explain it? 
• Why is one of Marduk's weapons a flood?

6
I Kings

• Did the Hebrews as a people have a relationship
  with their god?  How did the Hebrews explain
  suffering and disaster?  How did other peoples?
• Did Hebrew kings rule by divine right?  Were
  there limits to their authority?  Can you explain
  the role of the prophets?
• Which seems to have been more religiously
  tolerant monotheism or polytheism?  Why?