I have to thank the Minimalist for his recommendation of Philip R Davies book In Search of Ancient Israel. The book so far has convinced me that the "Israel" portrayed in the bible is a literary fiction and that it has no relation to any historical "Israels". Also that I believe now the biblical minimalists (the Copenhagen School) are right in their arguments.
While I have been reading all this stuff, I remembered what I read in Robert Wright's The Evolution of God where he argued that the Yahweh cult of Judah was not monotheistic, rather it was henotheistic that while Yahweh was worshiped alone, the existence of other gods was recognized. I would agree with Wright and must also argue that this cult originated with the priestly hierarchy, which they would have struggled with the lower classes who still worshiped the Canaanite religion. Indeed the "Israelites" before the exile could be considered Canaanites with a culture which was identical to that of their neighbors.
Wright sees the development of Israelite monotheism and the writing of the Pentateuch occurring during the exile. However there is little reason why both the development of Israelite monotheism and the writing of the Pentateuch could have not occurred later when the "Judean exiles" were allowed to "return" to Judea by the Persians between 450-350BCE!. If the Pentateuch was written that late. We have to ask how late could the writing of other books of the Old Testament could be. For example; Daniel can be clearly dated to 150BCE.
While I have been reading all this stuff, I remembered what I read in Robert Wright's The Evolution of God where he argued that the Yahweh cult of Judah was not monotheistic, rather it was henotheistic that while Yahweh was worshiped alone, the existence of other gods was recognized. I would agree with Wright and must also argue that this cult originated with the priestly hierarchy, which they would have struggled with the lower classes who still worshiped the Canaanite religion. Indeed the "Israelites" before the exile could be considered Canaanites with a culture which was identical to that of their neighbors.
Wright sees the development of Israelite monotheism and the writing of the Pentateuch occurring during the exile. However there is little reason why both the development of Israelite monotheism and the writing of the Pentateuch could have not occurred later when the "Judean exiles" were allowed to "return" to Judea by the Persians between 450-350BCE!. If the Pentateuch was written that late. We have to ask how late could the writing of other books of the Old Testament could be. For example; Daniel can be clearly dated to 150BCE.
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