Is judaism the oldest main religion?

Answer 1

No. In fact, The Bible indicates that pagan religions were practiced in Abraham's lifetime, before he made the covenant with God.

Aside from that, Hinduism and Jainism in India are older than 6,000 years.

• Answer 2

Archaeology has shown that no ancient society ever existed that did not believe in the supernatural, though some quickly reverted to idolatry. Judaism began later.
Based upon a massive worldwide study of the most ancient inscriptions and the earliest levels of civilization, Dr. Wilhelm Schmidt (in his twelve-volume Der Ursprung Der Gottesidee) concluded that the original belief was monotheistic; a belief in One God (see footnote 1, below). It was a simple belief in the Creator (Dyeus Pater; Sky-Father) with no imagery of any kind. It gave way relatively quickly to polytheism and idolatry, but its traces could still be seen by the careful researcher.

Answer 2

Answer:

Judaism is not the oldest religion in the world, but it is the oldest continuously practiced monotheism in the world.

Hinduism may be considered the oldest religion in the world, though by some interpretations, the older vedic religions were quite different from Hinduism.

Answer:

According to Jewish Tradition, the religion started with Abraham around the year 2000 BCE. The religion didn't depend on structure or a written law at that time. It depended on the belief in One God. The lack of form structure doesn't make it any less of a religion at that time.

The forerunner of Hinduism was already in existence then, for more than a thousand years, but it is a matter of argument as to whether this was actually Hinduism.

Answer:

Following the Bible literally, Judaism does not formally become a religion until after the Babylonian captivity, according to some interpretations, and if you match that date with secular dating, that is 1,000 years AFTER the first Hindu Vedas were written down. Hence, Hinduism was formally organized as a religious system well before Judaism, even following the Biblical view, Jacob, and the 12 patriarchs he fathered, with the exception of Joseph, they were all basically beduin.

If you follow the secular view of history, Judaism does not in fact formally begin until the 400's BCE where Hinduism has religious documents claiming to be copies, of older copies, of older copies, going all the way back to the 2,000's BCE. That is, someone writes and dates something, then later on, that exact same document is copied, and some Vedas have dates on them going so far back they border on being near the stone age. Judaism is pretty old, but its not the oldest religion; again even if you follow the "Bible thumper" view, even the Bible itself does not formally call Judaism a religion until after the Babylonian period when it takes shape as a religion.

True enough, Moses lived well before the period of the Babylonian captivity, however, the laws Moses were given were not so much a religion but a means of maintaining order [Note: By Jewish definition, "a set of laws" IS the definition of a religion].

Answer 3

A:In its narrowest sense, the word 'church' applies only to the Christian religion, in which case Judaism could not be the first church. In a wider sense of 'religion', no Judaism was far from the first religion in the world.

Answer 4

Some claim Zoroastrianism is the oldest monotheism. However, ancient traditions state that the Zoroastrians believed in two gods (Talmud, Sanhedrin 39a), while the first monotheistic religion in history is Judaism. The Ten commandments that state "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me", were written between the times 1513 BCE and 1445 BCE, while Zoroastrianism can only be dated back to the 6th century BCE.

Jews have always worshiped the One God. God wrecked the Egyptian idols (Exodus 12:12) and warned against idolatry (Exodus 22:19). Abraham, 3800 years ago, worshiped "the Lord God of Heaven and Earth" (Genesis 14:22 and 24:3) and complained about the Philistines' lack of fear of God (Genesis 20:11). Jacob confiscated the idolatrous images taken from Shechem (Genesis 35:2) and got rid of them (Genesis 35:4); and refrained from invoking the gods of Nahor (Genesis 31:53). Rachel pilfered Laban's statue-images (Genesis 31:19) in order to prevent him from idolatry (Rashi commentary, ibid.). Joseph placed his hope in the God of the Forefathers (Genesis 50:24). Moses characterized the Golden Calf as "a great sin" (Exodus 32:21, 30) and punished the worshipers (Exodus ch.32). During the rest of his lifetime and that of Joshua (Judges 2:7), no incidents of Jewish idolatry were reported.
Shortly before he died, Moses warned the people that he suspected that they would eventually succumb to the lure of the idols (Deuteronomy 29:17). Joshua gave a similar warning (Joshua ch. 24).
These warnings came true. Many of the Israelites went astray after the foreign gods (Judges 2:11). However, the Jews never invented their own idol. It was always the baneful influence of other peoples. And there were times when the entire Jewish nation repented (Judges 2:1-4) and prayed to God (Judges 3:9, 3:15, 6:6, 10:10).
Because of the idol-worship that did happen, images of idols have been found in Israel too. Images of God aren't found because it is forbidden to represent Him through imagery (Deuteronomy 4:15-16).
It should be noted that idolatry was never universal among the Jews. The tradition of the One God was handed down in every generation, whether by the few or the many; and it is those who handed down the tradition whose beliefs we Jews continue today. Deborah ascribed victory to God (Judges 4:14), Gideon tore down the idolatrous altar (Judges 6:25-27); Samson prayed to God (Judges 16:28), as did Hannah (1 Samuel 1:11) and Samuel (ibid. 12:18); Eli blessed in the name of God (1 Samuel 2:20), Saul built an altar to God (1 Samuel 14:35); Jonathan ascribed victory to God (1 Samuel 14:12), as did David (1 Samuel 17:46); and Solomon built the Temple for God (1 Kings 8:20). A number of the kings "did what was right in God's eyes": David (1 Kings 15:5), Solomon (see 1 Kings 3:3), Asa (1 Kings 15:11), Yehoshaphat (1 Kings 22:43), Yehu (2 Kings 10:30), Yehoash (2 Kings 12:3), Amatziah (2 Kings 14:3), Azariah (2 Kings 15:3), Yotam (2 Kings 15:34), Hizkiah (2 Kings 18:3), and Josiah (2 Kings 22:2). Even at the height of the unfortunate spread of idolatry among the less-loyal Ten Tribes, there were thousands who remained loyal to God (1 Kings 19:18).
And, of course, the Prophets, who spoke in the name of God and warned against idolatry: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea and so on.
The sages of the Talmud, who ridiculed idolatry (Megillah 25b), were simply continuing in the tradition of the Prophets whose verses are quoted in that context (ibid.).

Answer 2:

Zoroastrianism espouses that there is a supreme deity as well as a major demonic figure and that they battle one another. Which is very much the same paradigm found in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity - all considered to be monotheistic and all influenced by that earlier faith.

Originally, the Jewish religion was not monotheistic but polytheistic. Judaism, as it is conceived of today, began in 722 BCE. In contrast, Zoroastrianism, founded by Zoroaster or Zarathustra, is now generally placed between 1200 and 1000 BCE. Thus, Zoroastrianism is the oldest religion on record that is monotheistic.

Answer 5

No, it wasn't. Abraham, who founded Judaism 3800 years ago, was born into a polytheistic society.

Archaeology has shown that no ancient society ever existed that did not believe in the supernatural. (See:Can you show me that God exists?)
Based upon a massive worldwide study of the most ancient inscriptions and the earliest levels of civilization, Dr. Wilhelm Schmidt (in his twelve-volume Der Ursprung Der Gottesidee) concluded that the original belief was monotheistic (see footnote 1, below). It was a simple belief in the Creator (Dyeus Pater; Sky-Father) with no imagery of any kind. It gave way relatively quickly to polytheism and idolatry, but its traces could still be seen by the careful researcher, just as (for example) Proto-Indo European has left indelible marks within the later languages. Other traditions also are traceable worldwide, such as the religious significance of the number seven, and the immortality of the soul.

The process by which the awareness of One God gave way to a belief in many gods, has been described by Scandinavian researchers (see note 2) as splitting ("Gottespaltung"): the people gradually viewed God's attributes of truth, righteousness, fertility etc., as separate from Him, and afterwards personified and worshiped the attributes themselves, until God was largely forgotten.

Maimonides (see note 3) describes a comparable process (which probably happened alongside the aforementioned one), as follows: A couple of centuries after the Creation, mankind made a great mistake. They said that since God had created the stars and spheres and placed them on high, accordingly it is fitting for people to praise and glorify them and to treat them with honor. They perceived this to be the will of God, that people should magnify and honor the stars. They began to praise and glorify them with words, and prostrate themselves before them, because by doing so, they would (according to their false conception) be indirectly honoring God too.

Footnotes:

1) Albright, "From the Stone Age," p.170; and J.A. Wilson, "The Culture of ancient Egypt," p.129. Also Baron, "A Social and Religious History," vol. I, p.44 and 311. Also James Meek, "Hebrew Origins," p.188, quoting Langdon, Lagrange and John Ross. Also Martin Nilsson, Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaften, 2nd ed., p.61, 141, 220 and 394.

2) G. W. Anderson, in "The Old Testament and Modern Study," p.287. Also Friedrich Baethgen, in Beitraege zur Semitischen Religionsgeschichte, p.288. Also Pallotino, "The Etruscans," p. 158 and 167.

3) See the quote from Maimonides, in: "How did polytheism start?"

Answer 6

No, as we know that Abraham's father and grandfather were idolaters.

What about if we go much further back?

The entire ancient world possessed the original traditions of the Creation, the existence of the human soul and the afterlife, the special status of the number seven, the dignity of the dead, etc.

One thing that researchers agree upon is that mankind has always believed in a Higher Power. Archaeology has shown that no ancient society ever existed that did not believe in the supernatural.

• Link: Can you show me that God exists?
  

Based upon a massive worldwide study of the most ancient inscriptions and the earliest levels of civilization, Dr. Wilhelm Schmidt (in his twelve-volume Der Ursprung Der Gottesidee) concluded that the original belief was monotheistic; a belief in One God (see footnote 1, below). It was a simple belief in the Creator (Dyeus Pater; Sky-Father) with no imagery of any kind. It gave way relatively quickly to polytheism and idolatry, but its traces could still be seen by the careful researcher, just as (for example) Proto-Indo European has left indelible marks within the later languages. Other traditions also are traceable worldwide, such as the religious significance of the number seven, and the immortality of the soul.

The process by which the awareness of One God gave way to a belief in many gods, has been described by Scandinavian researchers (see footnote 2) as splitting ("Gottespaltung"): the people gradually viewed God's attributes of truth, righteousness, fertility etc., as separate from Him, and afterwards personified and worshiped the attributes themselves, until God was largely forgotten.

According to Jewish tradition also, (Rashi commentary, Genesis 4:26), monotheism is more ancient than polytheism. Maimonides describes the process by which polytheism began: "A couple of centuries after the Creation, mankind made a great mistake. They said that since God had created the stars and spheres and placed them on high, accordingly it is fitting for people to praise and glorify them and to treat them with honor. They perceived this to be the will of God, that people should exalt and honor the stars. They began to praise and glorify them with words, and prostrate themselves before them, because by doing so, they would (according to their false conception) be indirectly honoring God too."

• Link: The full quote from Maimonides
  

This descent into polytheism contributed to the gradual weakening of any sense of religious belief and was also used as justification for excessive and licentious behavior, since the caprices which were narrated concerning the idols were adopted as an excuse to imitate their putative actions.

The original belief is what Abraham reinstated through his teaching of ethical monotheism.

See also the other Related Link.

• Link: Abraham's monotheism
  

Footnotes

1) Albright, "From the Stone Age," p.170; and J.A. Wilson, "The Culture of Ancient Egypt," p.129. Also Baron, "A Social and Religious History," vol. I, p.44 and 311. Also James Meek, "Hebrew Origins," p.188, quoting Langdon, Lagrange and John Ross. Also Martin Nilsson, Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaften, 2nd ed., p.61, 141, 220 and 394.

2) G. W. Anderson, in "The Old Testament and Modern Study," p.287. Also Friedrich Baethgen, in Beitraege zur Semitischen Religionsgeschichte, p.288. Also Pallotino, "The Etruscans," p. 158 and 167.

Answer 7

Yes. According to our traditions it was founded 3800 years ago.

Answer 8

No. Christianity stemmed from Judaism, but it did not become an actual religion until after the ascension of Jesus around 34 AD, and there were many other religious beliefs before that point.

Answer 9

Judaism existed for many centuries before Christianity, and Christianity borrowed heavily from it.

Answer 10

It is if you are talking about the three world wide main religions which are Judaism, Islam and Christianity!