Biblical Hebrew Forum

[a.c.smith AT juno.com (Andrew C Smith)]

What happens if we take texts which are clearly polytheistic (Greco-Roman
mythologies, Homer, Vergil, Norse myths, Enuma Elish, etc.) and compare
them to texts which are clearly monotheistic (the New Testament, the
Koran, Buyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress", Luther's Catechism, etc.)? From
this comparison, we could derive a list of the hallmarks of polytheistic
writing and monotheistic writing. Then we could compare these
characteristics to the Tanakh.

I suspect that the identifiers of polytheistic writing would be (a)
emotional relationships between gods, e.g., love or hate (b) physical
encounters between gods, e.g. fist-fights or sexual activities (c)
accounts of the births and deaths of gods (d) gods working out their
rivalries with one another through human proxies. [note: "gods" here is
gender inclusive, to include "goddesses"!]

If indeed those are the indentifying traits of polytheistic literature,
then we can identify the Tanakh as at least non-polytheistic, and from
there it is but a short leap to monotheism.

a.c.smith AT juno.com
http://www.lcms.org
http://www.lcms.com
http://www.geocities.com/athens/acropolis/5680

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