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[Beach Boy]

Does the Bible declare anywhere the origin of religion? Was it monotheism?

[jimwalton]

Anthro-paleontologists have found that the expression of religion is one of the oldest identifiable human practices. The temple complex is Turkey at Gobekli Teki, built in around 9500 BC predates villages, pottery, domesticated animals, and even agriculture. Archaeologist Klaus Schmidt's thesis is that is was urge to worship that brought humans together in the verst first urban conglomerations. The need to build and maintain this temple, he says, drove the builders to seek stable food sources (agriculture) and the domestication of animals, and then to gather in constructed villages to guard their new way of life.

Patrick Symmes, in Newsweek (3/1/2010) wrote, "Religion now appears so early in civilized life—earlier than civilized life, if Schmidt is correct—that some think it may be less a product of culture than a cause of it. Archaeologist Jacques Cauvin once posited that 'the beginning of the gods was the beginning of agriculture,' and Gobekli may prove his case.

"The temples offer unexpected proof that humankind emerged from the 140,000-year reign of hunter-gatherers with a ready vocabulary of spiritual images and capable of huge logistical, economic, and political efforts."

All of this conforms well to the biblical story.

Now, I would say that the biblical story from the beginning is that of monotheism, though I know some scholars disagree with that observation and conclusion. It's not a point that can be proved one way or the other. According to the Bible, YHWH and Elohim were the same God (Gn. 2.4). We can talk more if you wish.

[Beach Boy]

So we’re Adam and Eve monotheistic? Or did they just hand a relationship with YHWH? Was it a religion to them? Does the Bible talk about when religion was actually formed? What about Genesis 4:26?

I’d love to continue this with you

[jimwalton]

> I’d love to continue this with you

I'd like that as well.

> So we’re Adam and Eve monotheistic?

There is every reason to believe so, yes, though we know very little. Adam and Eve are implied to have known God (Gn. 3.8-9ff.), and there is no indication that they knew any God other than YHWH-Elohim, or ever mentioned any other god. In Genesis 4.1 Eve mentions YHWH. That's all we ever hear from them. The impression the text gives is that YHWH is the only God they knew, and the only God, period.

> Was it a religion to them?

It was a relationship to them. We have no record of either of them performing any religious rituals.

> Does the Bible talk about when religion was actually formed?

The Bible generally abhors the concept of religion. In the Bible, a person's relationship with deity is always a relationship, not a cultic ritual. God explicitly condemns cultic ritual not grounded in relationship (Isa. 1.11-20, for instance)

> What about Genesis 4:26?

"At that time men began to call on the name of the LORD." They are seeking and invoking God's presence. In return they are pledging faithfulness to Him. Eventually humans sought to procure the presence of God through establishing cultic places and performing rituals there, but in Gen. 4.26 there is no indication of these trappings.

The ancients were concerned with order, disorder, and non-order as a paradigm of their worldview. In Genesis 1-2, God orders creation. In Gn. 3, the humans strive to make themselves the center of order and the source of wisdom, and grasp it for themselves. It's a disastrous move, and introduces disorder. Genesis 4 and following show how utterly incapable humans are of being the center of order and the source of wisdom, and things rapidly descend into chaos (disorder).

In contrast to the disorder of Cain (his murder of Abel) and the disorder of Cain's city, Gn. 4.26 shows that some people are pursuing order in a legitimate way by desiring a return to acknowledging God as the center of order and the source of wisdom. By calling on the name of the Lord, they are striving to reestablish the presence of God in their midst (He had withdrawn His presence at the end of Genesis 3 when A & E were cast from His presence) and thereby acknowledge God as the center of order and source of wisdom, reestablishing order with their acts of faithfulness and service.

[Beach Boy]

How does Deuteronomy 32:8 fall into this?

And I agree that Adam and Eve didn’t know any other God but was that religion to them? Or relationship? Obviously they somehow knew to sacrifice to him - but was that religion to them? Or something else? Because there was no law at the time, just what was written on their hearts at the time.

[jimwalton]

> How does Deuteronomy 32:8

There is disagreement among the manuscripts about the reading of Dt. 32.8. The Septuagint and the Dead Sea Scrolls read "according to the number of the sons of God," but the Masoretic Text reads "...the sons of Israel." It's unresolvable at this point, so we can't just assume it reads "the sons of God" and make a case there. A case has been made for both alternatives. It is true, however, that one of the key concepts in Deuteronomy is unity: one God, one people, one sanctuary, and one Law. It is my perspective that it's out of character with the author to be speaking of a plurality of gods.

> Adam and Eve didn’t know any other God but was that religion to them?

I think part of the problem here is trying to use our categories (how we define and understand the term "religion") to digest Adam and Eve. The thrust of the text is that they had personal, intimate contact with and relationship with YHWH Elohim. Would they have called that "religion"? It may be that such a term and concept would be totally foreign to them. If we were able to talk to them, they just might look at us with a confused expression. "We know God," they would say. "What is it you're asking?"

> Obviously they somehow knew to sacrifice to him

Sacrifice first appears in the narrative of Cain and Abel (Gn. 4.3). The term used is minhah (offering). There is no notion of sacrifice to deal with sin (atonement), but instead an offering the invokes God's favor. It's like a gift. It seems to be a relationship-building activity as they express gratitude to God for His blessings (of flocks and produce) and seek God's presence. Genesis doesn't preserve any record of God requesting such offerings, though it's obvious He approved of them as a means of expressing thanks. Gratitude is not expressed, however, when the gift is grudgingly given, as is likely the case with Cain. In any case, we don't know where they got this idea of coming to God with a thanksgiving offering. It's not explained.