The emergence of monotheism in ancient Israel: A survey of recent scholarship

Contemporary biblical scholars envision the emergence of monotheism in ancient Israel to be a later, mor gradual phenomenon than heretofore has been assumed. This new view has emerged as a result of recent archaeological discoveries and a reassessment of the testimony of the biblical text. Only a small minority of pre-exilic Israelites were developing monotheistic ideas, and they probably went through several stages of evolution until they became consistent monotheists in the Babylonian Exile. Some critical scholars suspect that this evolution may have been a totally post-exilic phenomenon. This essay attempts to review the positions of various scholars in this debate.