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How/why did monotheism evolve?

Minoosh

Penultimate Amazing
Minoosh
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Jul 15, 2011
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From what I know, many early religions involved multiple deities. But then it seems that in what we now call the West and the Middle East, a very definite change toward monotheism occurred. What brought that on? Was there some functional reason? Did someone decide it worked better? What was the impetus to discredit polytheism?

I know a little bit about how it came to dominate Roman thought, but the changes I'm thinking of occurred earlier than that.
 
It evolved when people realised that omnipotence made their gods narratively stronger. In short, it makes your god have a bigger dick.
 
Minoosh said:
From what I know, many early religions involved multiple deities. But then it seems that in what we now call the West and the Middle East, a very definite change toward monotheism occurred. What brought that on? Was there some functional reason? Did someone decide it worked better? What was the impetus to discredit polytheism?
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I guess the question to ask is... are there any large religions that are truly monotheistic?

Technically, Christianity has a belief in "one god", but certain individuals (such as the virgin Mary, various saints, etc.) have been elevated above that of "joe average people". They may not be gods, but they are often given special status a person might consider as "near god". (The whole "jebus/son of god who is actually god" further muddies the water.)

Judaism has people like Moses, and Islam has Mohammed, who are also venerated.

Perhaps its not so much that religions have turned monotheistic, but that they've changed their facade.
 
Belz... said:
It evolved when people realised that omnipotence made their gods narratively stronger. In short, it makes your god have a bigger dick.
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I think that's probably pretty close. My other thought, entirely speculative, is that most pantheistic beliefs rely on a very loose interpretation of science and causes. As people figured out natural causes for things that had once been attributed to gods, pantheism began to wear out. If one presumes also that most religions are man made constructs, designed to keep a population in line, it is unhealthy for the base units of that religion to be subject to detailed debunking and to require constant adjustment and apology. But there is always a mystery in the origin of the universe itself, and a single all-purpose God is more resistant to debunking. You can fudge the rules and the details without losing the whole god. So the narrative is stronger not only for the omnipotence, but for the vagueness and the resistance to easy answers.
 
Belz... said:
It evolved when people realised that omnipotence made their gods narratively stronger.
Click to expand...

Essentially. It began with henotheism, and going from "our God is stronger than your God" to "our God is stronger than your God because your God doesn't even exist!" is a fairly logical step.
 
In an earlier thread here which talked about the origins of Yawheh/Jehovah, it was pointed out by one of our more scholarly members that the ancient Hebrews had a panoply of gods... And that they decided to throw "all in" with their war god as they lived in a tough neighborhood with lots of enemies.
Over time, this guy became that "jealous god who will have no other gods before me!" Note the "other gods" reference....
 
Silliness.

There is X times less evidence for multiple gods than there is for a single god.
Therefore belief in multiple gods is X god-units sillier than belief in a single god.
 
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Belief in a spirits and deities who influence everyday things such as the weather, the sky, the sunrise and set etc, was a natural consequence of an emerging intelligence that lacked the understanding to comprehend the complexity of the world it lived in. Religions are a common thread found throughout humanity as far back as records go. I cannot think of a single civilisation, race or people, either past or present, who have no religion of any kind.

Segnosaur said:
Islam has Mohammed, who are also venerated.
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I understand that the Virgin Mary is also venerated in Islam, was considered the most righteous of all women, and in fact gets mentioned more often in the Qur'an than in the Old testament.

bruto said:
Maybe just simple competition. My god's better than your god. Inevitably, you end up with a supergod that outgods everything else imaginable.
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THIS!
 
Minoosh said:
From what I know, many early religions involved multiple deities. But then it seems that in what we now call the West and the Middle East, a very definite change toward monotheism occurred. What brought that on? Was there some functional reason? Did someone decide it worked better? What was the impetus to discredit polytheism?

I know a little bit about how it came to dominate Roman thought, but the changes I'm thinking of occurred earlier than that.
Click to expand...

It was a Jewish invention. Tithing once is more efficient than tithing many times. :)
 
smartcooky said:
I understand that the Virgin Mary is also venerated in Islam, was considered the most righteous of all women, and in fact gets mentioned more often in the Qur'an than in the Old testament.
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New Testament, not Old. :)

Mary is the only woman talked about by name in the Qur'an, and is such an idealized and venerated figure that in al-Tabari's description of 'A'isha bint Abi Bakr's recounting of the unique attributes that made her the most important of not just Muhammad's wives but all the women of the Muslim community, 'A'isha asserts that those attributes have been shared by no other women besides herself and Mary the mother of Jesus.
 
:(
smartcooky said:
I understand that the Virgin Mary is also venerated in Islam, was considered the most righteous of all women, and in fact gets mentioned more often in the Qur'an than in the Old testament.
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She is mentioned not at all in the Old Testament which was composed centuries before she existed, if she ever did. The Quran confuses her with the similarly-named sister of Moses.
 
Craig B said:
:( She is mentioned not at all in the Old Testament which was composed centuries before she existed, if she ever did.
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Um...I'm pretty sure smartcooky meant New Testament and just mistyped.

The Quran confuses her with the similarly-named sister of Moses.
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"Mughira b. Shu'ba reported:
When I came to Najran, they (the Christians of Najran) asked me: You read 'O sister of Harun' (i. e. Hadrat Maryam) in the Qur'an, whereas Moses was born much before Jesus. When I came back to Allah's Messenger I asked him about that, whereupon he said: The (people of the old age) used to give names (to their persons) after the names of Apostles and pious persons who had gone before them." - Sahih Muslim 2135/25:5326

EDIT: That is, Muslims have been aware of that particular accusation, per at least mainstream Sunni tradition, since the time of Muhammad, and believe that Muhammad himself addressed it.
 
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The problem with multiple gods is that those very same gods can and do disagree, and fight, according to their myths.

Monotheism removes this issue and centralises power in an ordained priesthood. It's simply power politics.
 
abaddon said:
The problem with multiple gods is that those very same gods can and do disagree, and fight, according to their myths.

Monotheism removes this issue and centralises power in an ordained priesthood. It's simply power politics.
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Essentially this - except it was not the non-existent gods that disagreed/fought, it was the human sponsers of those gods and the funds and treats that came to the most important, so the same politics people use in town councils, lawyers backroom infighting/ government offices same, etc. may well have started with the pushing of "our fruits god is way more important than your big rocks god" followed by a thrashing or so as it got sorted out. And eventually most places were left with just one "all-powerful" god - the one whose followers defenestrated best the followers of those lesser gods. It is all a farkle and a tumescence on the human race and none of it more important than a daily crap. BUT, we have the religious yet with us and still trying to fight over whose god is the biggest, meanest most helpful of devines..
 
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