Monotheism

=====Judaism=====
{{Main|God in Judaism|Yahwism|Elohim|Baal}}
[[File:Tetragrammaton scripts.svg|frame|The tetragrammaton in [[Paleo-Hebrew alphabet|Paleo-Hebrew]] (10th century BCE to 135&nbsp;CE), old [[Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic]] (10th century BCE to 4th century CE), and square [[Hebrew alphabet|Hebrew]] (3rd century BCE to present) scripts]]
Judaism is traditionally considered one of the oldest monotheistic religions in the world,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/|title= Religion: Judaism|website=BBC |access-date=2022-08-05|archive-date=2022-08-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805174338/https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/|url-status=live}}</ref> although in the 8th century BCE the Israelites were [[polytheistic]], with their worship including the gods [[El (deity)|El]], [[Baal]], [[Asherah]], and [[Astarte]].<ref name=Albertz>{{cite book|last = Albertz|first = Rainer|title = A History of Israelite Religion, Volume I: From the Beginnings to the End of the Monarchy|publisher = Westminster John Knox|year = 1994|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yvZUWbTftSgC&q=%22the+real+centre+of+the+main+cult%22%22three+great+annual+festivals%22&pg=PA89|isbn = 9780664227197|page=61}}</ref><ref name="Israel Drazin">{{cite web |title=Ancient Jews believed in the existence of many gods |author=Israel Drazin |url=http://booksnthoughts.com/ancient-jews-believed-in-the-existence-of-many-gods |access-date=2014-09-18 |archive-date=2014-10-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021045233/http://booksnthoughts.com/ancient-jews-believed-in-the-existence-of-many-gods/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Yahweh was originally the [[national god]] of the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]] and the [[Kingdom of Judah]].<ref>[https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/monotheism/ Monotheism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412164007/https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/monotheism/ |date=2022-04-12 }}, ''My Jewish Learning'', "Many critical scholars think that the interval between the Exodus and the proclamation of monotheism was much longer. Outside of Deuteronomy the earliest passages to state that there are no gods but the Lord are in poems and prayers attributed to Hannah and David, one and a half to two and a half centuries after the Exodus at the earliest. Such statements do not become common until the seventh century B.C.E., the period to which Deuteronomy is dated by the critical view."</ref> During the 8th century BCE, the worship of [[Yahweh]] in Israel was in competition with many other cults, described by the Yahwist faction collectively as [[Baal]]s. The oldest books of the [[Hebrew Bible]] reflect this competition, as in the books of [[Book of Hosea|Hosea]] and [[Book of Nahum|Nahum]], whose authors lament the "[[apostasy]]" of the people of Israel, threatening them with the wrath of God if they do not give up their polytheistic cults.<ref>1 Kings 18, Jeremiah 2; Othmar Keel, Christoph Uehlinger, Gods, Goddesses, and Images of God in Ancient Israel, Fortress Press (1998); Mark S. Smith, The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts, Oxford University Press (2001)</ref><ref>Othmar Keel, Christoph Uehlinger, Gods, Goddesses, and Images of God in Ancient Israel, Fortress Press (1998); Mark S. Smith, The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts, Oxford University Press (2001)</ref>

As time progressed, the [[henotheistic]] cult of Yahweh grew increasingly militant in its opposition to the worship of other gods.<ref name=Albertz/> Later, the reforms of [[King Josiah]] imposed a form of strict [[Monolatrism#In ancient Israel|monolatrism]]. After the fall of Judah and the beginning of the [[Babylonian captivity]], a small circle of priests and scribes gathered around the exiled royal court, where they first developed the concept of Yahweh as the sole God of the world.<ref name="auto"/>

[[Second Temple Judaism]] and later [[Rabbinic Judaism]] became strictly monotheistic.<ref>[[Maimonides]], [[13 Principles of Faith|13 principles of faith]], Second Principle</ref> The [[Babylonian Talmud]] references other, "foreign gods" as non-existent entities to whom humans mistakenly ascribe reality and power.<ref>e. g., Babylonian Talmud, Megilla 7b-17a.</ref> One of the best-known statements of Rabbinic Judaism on monotheism is the Second of [[Maimonides]]' [[13 principles of faith|13 Principles of faith]]:

{{blockquote|God, the Cause of all, is one. This does not mean one as in one of a pair, nor one like a species (which encompasses many individuals), nor one as in an object that is made up of many elements, nor as a single simple object that is infinitely divisible. Rather, God is a unity, unlike any other possible unity.<ref>''Yesode Ha-Torah'' 1:7</ref>}}

Some in Judaism and Islam reject the Christian idea of monotheism.<ref name=RebShmuleyKosherJoshkel>{{cite book|last=Boteach|first=Shmuley|title=[[Kosher Jesus]]|year=2012|orig-year=5772|publisher=Gefen Books|location=Springfield, NJ|isbn=9789652295781|pages=47ff, 111ff, 152ff}}</ref> Modern Judaism uses the term ''[[shituf]]'' to refer to the worship of God in a manner which Judaism deems to be neither purely monotheistic (though still permissible for non-Jews) nor polytheistic (which would be prohibited).<ref name="Oxford University Press">{{cite book|url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/jewish-views-on-christianity/|title=The Jewish Religion: A Companion 1st Edition|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1995|isbn=978-0198264637|editor1-last=Jacobs|editor1-first=Louis|pages=79–80|access-date=2018-04-13|archive-date=2020-05-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200521064902/https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/jewish-views-on-christianity/|url-status=live}}</ref>