Wednesday, May 27, 2020

J.R. Dummelow on Exodus 20:3: Strict Ontological Monotheism Was a Gradual Development in the Old Testament

Commenting on Exodus 20:3, J.R. Dummelow, himself a Trinitarian and advocate of strict ontological monotheism wrote:

 

Before me] RM ‘beside me.’ Monotheism is implied rather than expressly enunciated here. It was only gradually that Israel rose to the truth that there is but one God. Israel was led to this truth along the way of practice. (J.R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible [London: Macmillan and Co., 1909], 67)

 

In other words, according to Dummelow, strict ontological monotheism, which is an essential doctrine (and an essential “building block” of Trinitarian dogma) was a slow, gradual development in Old Testament times(!)

 

In reality, however, the text assumes the ontological existence of other deities. For more, see, for e.g.: