The Monotheizing Process: Its Origins and Development

Judaism Christianity and Islam claim to be monotheistic but none of them actually is; none of the three has yet arrived at the true monotheism the Bible and the Quran mandate: that is belief in there being but One God of All. Each often claims its concept of God is the One God despite the fact that the Bible and the Quran insist that the true God is indefinable and incomprehensible. Many passages of the Bible are polytheistic and yet the Judaism that emerged out of the exile claimed to believe in One God. Critically moving from the older passages through to the later careful readers are able to trace a process that is best called monotheizing. In effect the first commandment of the Decalogue the first of Jesuss two great commandments and the Qurans clear mandate fashion an imperative to continue the monotheizing process that is not yet complete but that enjoins adherents of each to live life in the belief that there is but One God of All. Sanders has zeroed in on the greatest contribution of Hebrew thought to the world its insistent monotheizing which overcomes every we-they distinction through including the they within the sphere of divine concern and grace. He fully appreciates the constant failure of the Hebrews themselves and the Christian and Islamic communities to actualize this fundamental principle of their faith relapsing into exclusivism. The need to monotheize has never been greater or more deeply threatened than today. Hence the importance of this book. --John Cobb Claremont School of Theology Claremont CA The Monotheizing Process is much more than a work of impeccable scholarship by a learned and mature scholar. In describing the evolution and significance of genuine monotheistic faith in the Jewish and Christian canon the book addresses itself to modern-day Christians Jews and Muslims and calls upon them to apply the universal and humanistic strictures of that faith to their lives and the lives of their peoples. It is a work worthy of serious discussion. --David Ellenson Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Jerusalem No one has thought as well and as long as imaginatively and helpfully about canon as has Jim Sanders. His recognition that canon is a dynamic process permits him to continue to open new vistas of interpretive possibility now even an opening toward the other great religions of the book. This book is a significant advance on his previous study and will be taken with great seriousness by those who care about biblical authority and the normative claims of the tradition. This is a most welcome gift of wisdom among us! --Walter Brueggemann Columbia Theological Seminary Decatur GA James A. Sanders is professor emeritus of biblical studies at the Claremont School of Theology and the Claremont Graduate University as well as president emeritus of the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center. Among his many publications are Torah and Canon 2nd ed. (Cascade 2005) Canon and Community and God Has a Story Too.