Question

From the perspective of biblical authors, what was the central religious crisis facing ancient israel, and how did this crisis affect the development of monotheism?

Answer 1

The central crisis was attraction to foreign cultures and prcatices as well as gods known as Idolatry.

after sever years of warning to the people of Israel through Prophets such as Elijah,Isaiah, and Jeremiah, the people were carried over into captivity. the suffering they went through in their captivity in babylon made them to look again to Yahweh for deliverance. God kept his promise and delivered them from Babylon after the Seventy years he had promised through Jeremiah,ushering in the second Jewish era of strict monotheism.

Answer 2

If we take into account biblical authors, the central religious crisis of ancient Israel was to keep the chosen people in monotheism. It is known that pre- Israeli Jews were prone to polytheism or idolatry. This was one of the main challenges of Moses who travelled with people through the desert for 40 years until they fully accepted one God. However, even after the founding of the Jewish state, there were many external influences and the acceptance of idols as additional gods alongside the existing one almighty. This was the case at the time of King Solomon, who raised statues of idols upon the address of some of his thousands of women. Not only then, there were times when the history of the ancient Jewish state had been a "departure" from one God and bowing to idols. These centuries-old crises have shaped monotheism, various new interpretations, and the addition of new explanations of the existing books. Thus exist before the Babylonian and Babylonian Talmuds, various rabbinic interpretations, etc. It can be said that the religion of the Jews remained monotheistic because they warship one God, with many adjustments, historically conditioned changes and additions, and so on.