On the origin and formation of Biblical monotheism

TIAN Haihua

Studies in World Religions,2019,No. 06

The appearance of monotheism in the Hebrew Bible can be traced back to the sixth century B.C. The origin and development of Biblical monotheism is a complex and dynamic cultural process. Through the analysis of Biblical texts, archaeological discoveries and the Ugaritic literature, this article shows the process of how Yahweh inherited and integrated the characteristics of El. After the period of the monarchy and Josiah’s religious reform, worship of Yahweh developed into the Israelites’ monolatry. The Babylonian Exile incident caused worship of Yahweh to fall into a deep crisis. With the advocacy of Second Isaiah, Yahwistic monolatry evolved into monotheism. With absolute aniconism, the disappearance of the pronunciation of the four holy letters, and the destruction of the Second Temple in A.D. 70, cosmological monotheism in the strict sense was formed. The whole process has experienced a historical evolution of over a thousand years.