At its heart, religion is politics, and politics is power. The central tenet of power is that you don't retain it by giving it away. Once power is consolidated under a single god with a single priesthood it's unlikely to revert. That's why we see an evolution from very personal animism and shamanism through polytheism to henotheism, monolatrism, and finally monotheism. That's also why the evolution of religion frequently parallels the evolution of society. Power of all forms becomes centralized.
We do see examples of monotheism that fails. Akhenaten was simply too far ahead of his times for Egypt. That's simply a matter of bucking the existing power structure too much too fast. If he'd taken his time and built Atenism slowly it would likely have worked.
We do see examples of monotheism that fails. Akhenaten was simply too far ahead of his times for Egypt. That's simply a matter of bucking the existing power structure too much too fast. If he'd taken his time and built Atenism slowly it would likely have worked.
