Concepts of Scripture in Yehezkel Kaufmann 237in his view, from the implicit recognition that none of the gods is truly
omnipotent and that they are frequently occupied with matters outside the
human sphere, so that humans must, for the most part, fend for themselves
and resort to other means to assume a measure of control over their own
fortunes. Th is tendency is refl ected, he argues, in the sophisticated sys-
tems of magic, divination, and cult, each of which, for the ancients, is a
form of science processed and practiced according to causal reasoning and
empirical observation. What lies behind these systems is the belief in the
redeeming power of the intellect — that humans can thereby manipulate
the supreme order on which both the gods and the world depend or, at
least, can comprehend the workings of the universe for their own benefi t.
Consequently, the polytheistic mind develops a belief in the competence of
human reason. In a monotheistic system, by contrast, any attempt to ma-
nipulate the world order is considered as a cardinal sin, for it signifi es a
challenge against the supreme deity who designs and establishes that very
order. In this system, self-reliance is viewed as potentially detrimental, for
it can overshadow — and thus diminish the reliance on — the supreme de-
ity. In this respect, self-assurance is a sign of human arrogance, an act of
self-deifi cation. Kaufmann notes, “Th e [biblical] war against polytheistic
idolatry was at the same time a war against the intellectual deifi cation of
reason, against the belief that intellectual knowledge could redeem human-
kind.”28 No wonder, then, if the monotheistic mind discredits the reliance
on human reason (e.g., Jer. 9:22 – 23 [23 – 24 in many English tranlslations];
Ezek. 28; Prov. 3:5 – 7; 26:12) and insists, instead, on the undivided faith in
the redeeming power of the absolute deity.
Accordingly, Kaufmann maintains that the polytheistic and monothe-
istic worldviews are categorically incompatible, requiring a mental break-
through to move from one perception to the other, and this shift cannot be
explained by a theory of gradual progression, such as Wellhausen’s. Put dif-
ferently, the conception of biblical monotheism is revolutionary, not evo-
lutionary — it has no antecedents, as Kaufmann sees it, in human history.
Because biblical monotheism posits that there is only one creator and
ruler of the universe, Kaufmann regards it as universalistic from the outset
in terms of both self- and empirical understanding of ancient Israel. Bibli-
cal tradition portrays humankind as originally monotheistic — “that Adam,
Cain, Abel, and the succeeding generations were worshippers of the one
God” — and that idolatry was introduced only aft er the dispersal of human-
kind and the confusion of tongues, while the faith and worship of the one
God was maintained by Abraham and his descendants.29 Th is means, for