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[Ulysses]

I'm a lifelong Baptist but have always been a sort of skeptic in all areas of life. I really started to question my faith a couple years ago and the final nail in the coffin as it were was consuming media talking about how God in judaism, Yahweh, is evidenced to be a descendant of the pantheons in that area like the sumerian or akkadian ones, that eventually the semetic people took their favorite of the gods and followed him primarily, then eventually changed to him (yahweh) being the ONLY god. Theres a lot of info on this online and it apparently seems to have archaeological backing. So wouldn't that make Judaism and by extension all the abrahamic faiths hold just as much water as the akkadian pantheons they descended from? In other words Yahweh, this thing asserted, is just as real of an entity as Ra of Egypt or Zeus of Greece?

I swear I'm not concern trolling-- i used to be an extremely devout christian and believed in God with conviction in my heart and I still attend church and church activities but do it with no passion or belief behind it. I figured before I really give up the faith that has defined my life up to this point I really should try and get the perspective of Christendom in this regard. Thanks to anyone who cares enough to talk with me about this for a bit.

[jimwalton]

> Yahweh, is evidenced to be a descendant of the pantheons in that area like the sumerian or akkadian ones

There's really no evidence of this. Monotheism is unique in the ancient world. Some scholars used to claim that there was an Egyptian pharaoh who was monotheist, but more information has come to light that has debunked that theory. There is no evidence that YHWH is a descendant of the Sumerian or Akkadian pantheons. Sometimes similarities have been invoked with Ba'al of the Canaanites, but even those don't hold up.

I know there are also theories about monolatry and YHWH, that originally YHWH was perceived by the Hebrews to be the greatest of all gods, and later he evolved to being the only God. My investigation of monolatry leads me to a different conclusion: that YHWH was always the only God in Israelite theology.

In other words, Yahwism is not a descendant of Akkadian pantheons. But if you have more information, I'd be glad to discuss it more. I think, frankly, you've come across some unsubstantiated scholarly writings and have taken them as true, when in fact they are possibly scholarly opinions. And therefore, Yahweh doesn't have anything in common with Ra of Egypt or Zeus of Greece. He is a unique kind of deity in the ancient theography.

So let's talk about it more. Maybe you are doubting the Christian faith for the wrong reasons and misinformation.