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Atenist monotheism or henotheism?
Topic Started: Nov 30 2012, 02:50 PM (743 Views)
AmarnaGirl
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I'm curious to know how many Atenists here would say they subscribe to the earlier form of henotheism that Akhenaten started out with,compared to the more specific monotheism that came about later in his reign. Atenism was really a work in progress for Akhenaten his entire life,I think. Consider that Aten was worshiped by his father,grandfather,and others before him,(albeit as a "lesser" deity) but Akhenaten was really the one who gave the Aten a notable place. He became Pharaoh while still a teenager,(scholar's estimates are that he was around 16-17 years old)so his ideas were pretty much continually developing throughout his rule,as evidenced by the many theological changes he made.

Most of the Atenists I've come across (and admittedly,that's very few people,unfortunately) seem to be of the later form of monotheism persuasion,but I think Akhenaten's early henotheism is worth noting also. I am finding it difficult to locate concrete information on Atenist theology as Akhneaten had it, I think primarily because so little is actually known. Though I have found bits and pieces,hence I'm now finding sort of blending old and modern beliefs together. Perhaps a "Reform Atenism",rather than a more Orthodox outlook? (I seem to be leaning somewhat on the henotheistic side at the moment,probably as a result of my many years belonging to Egyptian pagan religions to begin with,LOL.)
Edited by AmarnaGirl, Nov 30 2012, 04:27 PM.
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Maaritaten
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I would describe both myself and 'later standard' atenism and monotheistic.

I, however, would not necessarily look down of heno/poly/whatevertheists - it all comes down to how you define the divine. I would argue that to me the Aten is the sole deity - there are no gods that are ontologically different beings. However, if you were do define gods as individually deified facets and aspects of one divine essence, then I don't see a problem.

I think one of the main reasons for Akhenatens growing aversion to the older gods were the fact that the people treated the gods like individuals deities - whereas Akhenaten had used both the names of Ra and Shu rather as two of several 'forms' of the Aten. Seeing that the people were having none of it, he had no choice but to impose a stricter implementation of his religion to get his message across.
'Let me be satisfied seeing You, Oh Living Aten!'
- adapted from the Hymn of Tutu, Chamberlain of the Two Lands
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