Is judaism the first monotheistic religion?

Answer 1

YES. Judaism was the first monotheistic religion, with at least 2,500 years of being monotheistic and clearly came out of the Babylonian Exile as a monotheistic faith. Jewish sources debate these secular numbers and argue that Judaism has been monotheistic for 3,800 years.

There is some debate as to whether the Ancient Egyptians or Zoroastrians preceded the Jews to be the first monotheistic religion. In both cases, these are/were monolatrous henotheistic faiths. This means that there are multiple divinities with powers not completely constrained by other divinities, but only one of these many gods is worshiped.

In the case of Atenism, also known as Ancient Egyptian monotheism, although all of the heavenly gods were reduced to Amun-Re, the Pharaoh was himself still a god, simply one that was not worshiped.

Probably the clearest distinction is that Judaism is a monotheistic religion whereas Zoroastrianism is a monolatrous henotheistic faith. Angra Mainyu, also called Ahriman, is the Zoroastrian equivalent to the Devil and has enough power to create (usually used for evil) and to challenge (although not defeat) the primary god Ahura Mazda, also called Ormuzd. Conversely, in Judaism, the Satan is an angel who serves as God's loyal opposition and lacks any serious creative or punitive powers without God's permission.