not sticking up for it
but why would a religion give away it's dirty secrets to a novice? Could this be a load, invented on all those quiet days in just to sell a book or two. This theory has at least as much provenance as religion.
(Discreditor wants the dream to come true, Wed 25 Mar 2009, 9:52, 1 reply)

It was after she left the nunnery that she started to research God
They don't encourage people to ask questions like that in religious institutions.

Wikipedia has a potted version of it (not as colourful as mine, but it also namechecks Armstrong) here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God#History_of_monotheism

It seems fairly obvious that the Hebrews moved from polytheistic to monotheistic over time - the OT is crammed with records of the people going off and worshipping other gods. Why would they do that in a monotheistic society? Most religious people I know just stick to the one god.

Appropriate username, btw :)
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Thu 26 Mar 2009, 1:16, closed)