What was the origin of Judaism?

Answer

Judaism developed historically in the Near East over many centuries. Under the Roman Empire, Jewish communities were established outside the Near East, but in 70 A.D. the Romans destroyed the temple in Jerusalem, and the Jews scattered in the Diaspora.

Answer

Traditional Scholarly Perspectives

Biblical tradition says that Abraham was the first in his line to worship God. A midrash of the common era says that Abraham realised that the idols of the gods of his father had no power and so sought the real God. To some, this is the origin of Judaism.

Judaism is largely defined by the first five books of the Bible, which Moses is often credited with having written, presumably with divine guidance. Moses is also credited with leading the Israelites out of Egypt and with receiving the commandments from God. To some, this is the origin of Judaism.

Skeptical Scholarly Perspectives

Liberal scholars tell us that the Torah could not have been written by Moses, but are composed from input from several sources, usually known as J, E, D and P. The sources known as J and E seem to date back to early in the first millenium BCE. D dates from before 600 BCE and P probably lived during the Babylonian exile. We use designations such as J, E, D and P because we do not know their real name.

Other scholars tell us that the Exodus did not happen in the way it is described in the Bible, but must have been created by the biblical authors, many centuries after the supposed events. If so, Judaism as we know it evolved during the middle of the first century BCE and reached recognisable form during the Babylonian exile.

Answer

The roots of Judaism date back to around 1800 B.C., when Abraham refused to worship the idols which were common during that period. He is considered by most jews to be the first to believe in a single god. Judaism in its more organized form has began with Moses, who is believed to have received the Ten Commandments from God on Mt. Sinai after the Israelites' Exodus from Egypt, around 1500 B.C.

Answer

In the Bible, Abraham was called the first Hebrew.

Answer

In 1943�B.C.E.God chose Abram to be his special servant and later made a solemn oath to him. Nearly 4,000 years ago, Abram emigrated from the thriving metropolis of Ur of the Chaldeans in Sumeria to the land of Canaan, of which God had stated: �I will assign this land to your offspring.� (Genesis 11:31�12:7) He is spoken of as �Abram the Hebrew� at Genesis 14:13, although his name was later changed to Abraham. (Genesis 17:4-6) From him the Jews draw a line of descent that begins with his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. (Genesis 32:27-29) Israel had 12 sons, who became the founders of 12 tribes. One of those was Judah, from which name the word �Jew� was eventually derived.�2�Kings 16:6.

In time the term �Jew� was applied to all Israelites, not just to a descendant of Judah. (Esther 3:6; 9:20) Because the Jewish genealogical records were destroyed in 70�C.E. when the Romans razed Jerusalem, no Jew today can accurately determine from which tribe he himself is descended. Nevertheless, over the millenniums, the ancient Jewish religion has developed and changed. Today Judaism is practiced by millions of Jews in the Republic of Israel and the Diaspora (dispersion around the world).

Answer

Judaism is perhaps the oldest religion on the earth tracing its beginnings back to Abraham.

Traditional Dates

Biblical tradition says that Abraham was the first in his line to worship God. This would place the starting date of Judaism at around 2000 BCE. A midrash (non-binding Jewish tradition) says that Abraham realised that the idols of the gods of his father had no power and so sought the real God.

Judaism is also sometimes regarded as starting with Moses because God gave him the ten commandments, and because he is often credited with writing the first 5 books of the Bible - the Pentateuch or Torah - which largely define Judaism. this would place the starting date of Judaism around 1400 BCE, based on the traditional date for the death of Moses.

Scholarly dates

Perhaps it is not possible to arrive at a better answer than either of the traditional dates. However, within the constraints of a short answer, I will try to indicate the date that some scholars accept. This is not to claim, by any means, that all scholars are in agreement on this sensitive issue.

We now know that the first five books are composed from input from several sources, usually known as J, E, D and P. The sources known as J and E seem to date back to early in the first millenium BCE. D dates from before 600 BCE and P probably lived during the Babylonian exile. In order to establish when Judaism really began, we need to go backwards from this date to find the earliest reliable evidence of Judaism.

During part of the tenth century BCE, the Hebrew people are said to have lived in a United Kingdom, ruled from the wealthy city of Jerusalem, in what was to become Judah, by kings who worshiped the God of Judaism. King David conquered the well-fortified city of Jerusalem early in his reign. Because of swingeing taxes imposed by Solomon and his successor, the northern kingdom, Israel, broke away and asserted its independence. However, archaeologists tell us that there was no city of Jerusalem for David to conquer. Finkelstein goes as far as to say that the population of the whole of Judah during the relevant period was only about 40,000 - a fairly small crowd for a major football match today, and surely too small to subjugate the much larger and more prosperous northern state of Israel. Without further evidence, we can not rely on Judaism having existed during the time of Saul, David and Solomon.

We know from the Bible that the northern kingdom, Israel, was at all times polytheistic. The biblical references to the kings of Israel show every one of them as polytheistic in their beliefs. Biblical references that tell us about popular religion in Israel - what the people themselves believed - show that the nation was polytheistic from its inception until its destruction by the Assyrians.

Judaism must have begun in the southern Hebrew state of Judah. We also know from the Bible that Judah was polytheistic until the reign of Hezekiah, who made a failed attempt to impose monotheism in the 7th century BCE. Arguably, if a recognizable forerunner of Judaism existed before this time, it was only a small sect, constantly at odds with the powerful kings of Judah. Hezekiah's son, Manasseh, allowed polytheism to flourish once again, evidence that monotheism had not taken root among the ordinary people.

Almost a century after Hezekiah, King Josiah reinstituted the reforms of his ancestor. During this period, the "book of law", believed to be Deuteronomy was 'found' in the Temple during renovations. Scholars say that the D source (the Deuteronomist) lived during the reign of Josiah and not only completed much of the Pentateuch, but also wrote the Deuteronomic history - the Books of Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings. These reforms, the largely successful permanent reintroduction of monotheism and the substantial completion of major works of the Bible, could be regarded as the origin of Judaism - late in the seventh century BCE.

We can identify changes to the theology of the Bible, starting during the Babylonian exile of the sixth century BCE. If we regard the new ideas absorbed during this period as essential to the definition of Judaism, then the start date of Judaism could be 500 BCE or later.

Non-Skeptical Academic View

Judaism itself, according to the Biblical record, had its origins at the time of Moses when God firstly revealed the divine name to Moses, then gave the Law at Sinai. Judaism, although having a historical development, does not trace its origins to Judah, either before or after the exile, but ultimately to God Himself. Moses was the chief human agent. Judah maintained the monotheistic religion of Israel to a greater extent than did the totally apostate Northern Kingdom and continued and expanded it post-exile.

The Deuteronomic history is a term first used in the 19th century by the founders of the Documentary Hypothesis and those who followed them. People such as Graf, Wellhausen, Kuenen, and others developed an elaborate Literary Theory based on subjective and anti-biblical presuppositions. They took no notice whatsoever of discoveries in the field of archaeology in developing their theory. It has been correctly stated by some in scholarly circles that had they done so, their theory would have been markedly different or that they would not have developed it at all. The fact that little or no notice whatever was taken of archaeology is evidenced by a large number of discoveries in this field which explicitly contradict the theory. Some of these discoveries were beginning to be made around the time when Wellhausen first developed his theory. No changes were made to the essential fabric of the theory despite the solid refutation of it by facts.

In connection with the above the Old Testament scholar R.K. Harrison pointed out:

"Wellhausen took almost no note whatever of the progress in the field of oriental scholarship, and once having arrived at his conclusions, he never troubled to revise his opinion in the light of subsequent research in the general field."

Harrison, Ronald Keith B.D., M.Th., Ph.D. in Introduction to the Old Testament, p 509.

The above post explains some of the details of the theory. As a theory, with no evidence outside of the circular reasoning it contains and decontextualized Bible verses it does not state the matter accurately to use the words 'we know' in connection with it. Even more than this, is has much solid evidence against it.
What needs to be clearly understood is that some scholars from all sides of the discussion (those in favor and those against) on the Documentary Hypothesis acknowledge that archaeological and other literary studies of the documents themselves thoroughly refute the original pillars on which the theorists built the structure of their theory.

It must also be understood also, that outside of the Biblical text itself not one single shred of evidence exists for any of the alleged authors of this history. Not one single shred of textual evidence exists outside of the Bible either. Use of differing literary styles which is done even today has been well understood as a simple explanation for differences of style within the text.

Some scholars have also pointed out numerous methodological weaknesses in the whole theory such as circular reasoning where the result was pre-determined. Alleged redactors (editors) are proposed to explain the numerous places where the documents do not fit the theory. These scholars have noted that this is tantamount to admitting at every point where a redactor is deemed to be necessary that the theory breaks down at that point. Over time this was found to be necessary on numerous occasions, thus demonstrating amply the holes in the theory.

Some scholars have also pointed out numerous other details in the text itself which point to a unified author, as well as details which do not fit well at all into the time of Josiah, when the alleged Deuteronomic document was both authored and discovered.

Archaeological discoveries continue to be made which support the view which the Bible itself presents. None have been found to be unequivocally supportive of the view of skeptical scholarship. The comparatively recent discovery of the Creation Tablet from Ebla demonstrates the antiquity of the knowledge of an almighty creator, and has a number of parallels with the Genesis account. The Ebla discoveries are part of a number of other similar discoveries which some believe thoroughly refute the idea that the religion of Israel evolved from primitive polytheism to henotheism and then to monotheism. They also refute the fallacy of writing not being in use in the time of Moses, thus supposedly making it impossible for him to be the author.

Detailed interpretations of scripture, including subjective interpretation based on a flawed presuppositions, were made in line with the circular reasoning inherent in the theory. The evidence was found to fit the preconstructed criteria, and all contrary evidence was either re-interpreted or discarded. The polytheism which certainly existed in the history of Israel was interpreted in line with the theory. The flaws in the theory in relation to the development of the religion of Israel are reflected in the way in which the Biblical evidence is selectively interpreted, with the great mass of contrary evidence ignored - evidence which clearly demonstrates the centrality of monotheism.

Thus there is no need to develop explanations with no basis in fact to account for a theoretical historical evolution of religion which never happened. It is clear that Judah did not create Judaism, both from the Bible itself and from the external evidence as well.

The Bible In Context

The one and only religion of Israel was distinctly monotheistic in nature. Numerous passages, in context, support this claim. The imposing of meanings foreign to the text, due to out of context quotation, produces meanings not intended by the original authors and are out of keeping with the consistent message of the scriptures as a whole.

The scriptures attest that the religion of Israel was wholly monotheistic from its inception through Moses as well as back into the patriarchal period.

1. The God of Israel was the only God of the patriarchs:

Exodus 3:15 (King James Version)

15And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

On fifteen other occasions the God of Israel is referred to as the "God of Abraham", twelve of them in Genesis. On thirteen other occasions He is referred to as the "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

2. The God of Israel was the only God revealed to Moses:

Since Moses is the central founding figure of the religion of Israel (Abraham being the genetic father of the Jewish nation) it is important to know what was revealed to him about God. There is not one single reference which demonstrates that Moses was polytheistic in either practice or in his teaching.

The God who revealed himself to Moses in Exodus 3, was the one God that Moses worshiped and the one and only God of Israel. This God Moses worshiped and served all his days.

3. Departure from the one true God (Monotheism) was warned against prior to the entry into Canaan:

This occurs primarily in Canaan and demonstrates that in the wandering in the desert, the Israelites worshiped the one true God. The glaring exception of course being the making of the idol at Sinai. This exception does not demonstrate that they were polytheistic, since this was a departure and an aberration, a grievous departure from the one God who led them out of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 18:9 (King James Version)

9When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations...

12For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee...

14For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.

If polytheism and not the monotheistic worship of one God was indeed the religion of Israel, then these commands would be utterly meaningless - they would just be continuing as they left off if they were already polytheists.

4. Oppression by foreign powers during the time of the Judges was explicitly linked to departure from the one true God of Israel.

5. Every King of Israel and Judah under both the united and divided kingdoms were judged under monotheistic criteria.

6. The Assyrian and Babylonian captivities were specifically linked to departure from the one true God of Israel.

7. Future blessings and curses were always conditional upon obedience to the one God of Israel:

8. Worship of deities other than the God of Israel was never seen as anything other than sin:

9. In order for Israel to depart from the one true God they must first have served Him:

10. Israel was a nation separated unto Yahweh alone, never unto any other:

11. The above contentions are supported archaeologically:

First answer by ID3451679945. Last edit by PeteNco. Contributor trust: 231 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 117 [recommend question]