1. Context of Early Post-Temple Christianity
- After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Judaism underwent a radical transformation. Rabbinic authorities solidified a strict monotheism that excluded henotheistic ideas (e.g., multiple divine beings or semi-divine intermediaries).
- Early Christians were mostly Jewish or deeply connected to Jewish communities. They were navigating a delicate situation: preserve their Jewish identity while proclaiming Jesus as Messiah.
2. Pressure to Conform
- Rabbinic insistence on absolute monotheism created a cultural and religious pressure:
- Publicly affirming multiple divine agents (even in a subordinate sense) could be seen as heresy or apostasy.
- Maintaining a henotheistic worldview risked alienating or even being expelled from the broader Jewish community.
- Christian leaders, therefore, may have reinterpreted Jesus and the Holy Spirit in a way that aligned with rabbinic strict monotheism.
- This included subordinating angels and other spiritual beings and emphasizing the unity of God.
- In doing so, they were effectively following the rabbis’ lead, not in theological conviction alone, but also as a strategic adaptation to preserve the social legitimacy of their teachings and standing.
3. Implications for the Gospel
- By prioritizing conformity to rabbinic monotheism, Christians may have shifted the focus of the gospel from its original henotheistic-apocalyptic worldview to a philosophical strict monotheism.
- In practical terms:
- Original gospel: Jesus as Lord and Messiah, cosmic battle between spiritual powers, YHWH as supreme among a hierarchy of divine beings.
- Post-apostolic reformulation: Jesus as fully divine within a singular God, angels as strictly subordinate, spiritual hierarchy minimized.
- This raises the provocative possibility that fear of rabbinic disapproval or social pressure influenced doctrinal evolution, rather than purely theological development.
4. Historical vs. Theological Judgment
- Historically, Christians were reacting to real pressures, so the shift can be understood as pragmatic adaptation.
- Theologically, one could argue that in doing so, they compromised the original henotheistic structure of the gospel, even if they preserved some messianic claims.
- In other words, subverting henotheism may have been a survival tactic, but it also reframed the gospel in a way the apostles might not have recognized or endorsed.
✅ Summary
- It is plausible that early Christians followed rabbinic models out of fear, in adopting strict monotheism.
- This approach might have protected the status of their teachings socially but altered the gospel’s theological framing, moving away from the henotheistic worldview of Jesus and Paul.
- The apostles such as Paul and John might have declared this an anathema, had it happened in their time.
