Monotheism with a difference

Assmann points out that monotheisms of various sorts arose in the ancient world along various paths. Gods might be translated from one religion to another, from one nation to another. Gods might take on an ever-expanding list of hyphenated names. Gods might eb re-imagined as the soul of the cosmos. Gods might be organized into a hierarchy – there’s one chief god in the pantheon.

Assmann insists, however, that “there is no evolutionary line that leads from polytheism to biblical monotheism” through monotheisms of this type. Scripture does not say “All Gods are One” but that there is One God, and that men owe Him exclusive devotion. The “Mosaic distinction is utterly unprecedented: Not “God is one,” but “no other gods.”