For the second question, anthropologists and historians of religion will most commonly point to Atenism–a worship of a single sun-god which was promoted by Pharaoh Akhenaten in the 15th century AD.  Whether Pharaoh Akhenaten was a true monotheist can be debated, but the cult he oversaw can be described as monotheistic.  Christians and Jews may cry foul that Judaism is not accepted as the earliest monotheism, but if we are looking for hard evidence, including actual artifacts, of monotheism, we only have actual physical “proof” of monotheism in Israel from the late second century BC–a couple hundred of years after Atenism.

To me, personally, it is the first question which is the most important, but it requires speculation and indirect evidence.  When did humans first begin to worship a single Creator/God.  It is my belief that humans have worshiped a single God–practicing monotheism from the earliest times.  Monotheism is an obvious choice, and surely people chose this view from the very earliest times.  In addition, we have indirect evidence of a Jewish form of monotheism from as far back as 2000 BC.  Abraham was born around 2000 BC or even slightly earlier.  Abraham was a monotheist, as were some of his relatives.  In addition, Job was a monotheist, and Job very likely preceded Abraham.  Also, Melchizedek was a monotheist, and he was a contemporary of Abraham.  Speaking for myself, I am absolutely convinced of the inspiration of the Bible.  Besides, the evidence for the historical reliability of the Old Testament is extremely strong.  Given this evidence, I believe that it is almost certain that Moses and Abraham are real people and that they were monotheists.  Yet, neither dwelled in large cities, and neither left behind physical evidence of their worship.  This will be true of any early monotheists who did not participate in a religion which was accepted by an important city-dwelling culture.  Here is the bottom line:  We do not have solid physical evidence left behind by the earliest monotheists.  It is not unreasonable for archaeologists and for the anthropologists of religion to only acknowledge religions for which there is physical evidence.  However, I wish that these folks would qualify their statements.  They should NOT say that Atenis was the first monotheism, but only that it is the earliest well-documented monotheistic religion for which we have physical evidence.

In conclusion, I can say with great confidence that Judaism preceded Atenism, and that monotheism predated the Egyptian religion, but will acknowledge that the evidence for this is indirect and that the historians of religion are not likely to accept this conclusion.

John Oakes