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The First Monotheisms

The First Monotheisms. Pharoah Amenhotep IV in Egypt (1375 BC) Aton. 1. Zoroaster in Persia (Iran) . Babylonian captivity. Israel’s monotheism. 2. Israel’s henotheism.  Jews read back monotheism into Torah. 3. Greek logos. Christianity : a Greek/Jewish synthesis. Islam.

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The First Monotheisms

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  1. The First Monotheisms • PharoahAmenhotep IV in Egypt (1375 BC) Aton 1. Zoroaster in Persia (Iran) Babylonian captivity Israel’s monotheism 2. Israel’s henotheism •  Jews read back monotheism into Torah 3. Greek logos Christianity: a Greek/Jewish synthesis Islam Spreads through the Levant and the Mediterranean as part of the Roman Empire (Europe, Western Civilization)

  2. Theophany: an appearance of God to Abraham • to Moses The Jews develop new type of monotheism where a personal God has a special relationship to a particular people (covenant). Nomadic desert people develop a God that is not associated with one place, but is a God that follows them where the go. Better, a God that leads them to find pastures or toward a promised land. • Jews: God appears (personally reveals Himself) in the desert and on Mt. Sinai

  3. The Greeks (Hellenes) • Greek philosophy was the most developed of its time. • The Greek language became the language of learning in the Mediterranean world and the near east” (the Levant). • Both Greek language and philosophy was absorbed by the Jews and the Christians. The degree to which Jews were willing to helenize was a source of debate and tension.

  4. Greek stoic philosophers move from polytheism to more elevated gods Logos = spark of divine reason that dwells in each person (seeking a unifying principle in religion) Greeks eventually personified the logos as Zeus; sang hymns of praise to him and prayed to him. The Greeks never created a monotheism of their own, but instead Greek-speaking Jews adopted Christianity and it spread to non-Jews (gentiles) in the Mediterranean and Levant.

  5. pre-Socratic philosophers Described reality as being crafted from a single uncreated material: Thales: all is water. Anaximenes: all is air. How did this happen? Empedocles posited 2 opposing forces shaping the 4 basic elements of the universe. Love (or Harmony) tend to bring them together to create new things. Hate (or Strife) tend to separate and dissolve things. Cycle: unity & dissolution

  6. North American Indians Creation by Craftsmanship Egypt Greeks • Anaxagoras’ “nous” Nous is “mind”. It is infinite and separate from matter. It is what set matter in motion and allows it to change and take forms. Plato’s “Demiurge” The Demiurge is divine, creative reason that shapes matter in space (the receptacle). It shapes matter to make it resemble perfect “ideals” or “forms”, but matter is stubborn and resists (hence, evil exists). The Demiurge is a principle, not a personified god.

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