Two major types of Judaism could be found during the Second Temple Period: common Judaism and diversified Judaism. Each group followed its own set of theological tenants, with common Judaic groups following Monotheism or Henotheism, and more diversified Judaic groups following Apocalypticism and Messianism. From a distance, both types of Judaism and their tenants appear to be incompatible with each other; however, upon closer review, it becomes evident that they are actually harmonious with one another. The core theological thought in common Judaism stems from two different beliefs in the number of divine beings: monotheism and henotheism. Monotheism refers to the belief and worship of one single God. In the Jewish faith, the evidence for …show more content…
At first glance, these four concepts seem rather incompatible with each other; however, if looked at from a certain angle, they actually fit together well. The most seemingly incompatible parts of these theological ideas are the belief in monotheism and the idea of a messiah. A concept of the messiah could cause some concern for those who strictly follow a monotheistic religion. That is, it appears that a new god is being added to the religion, and is causing a shift towards polytheism, which said monotheistic religion strictly warns against. This issue could easily be reconciled with the concept of a combination of the two concepts; the messiah could also be considered to be the same being as God. By making them one in the same being, it would not conflict with monotheism (or perhaps cause less of a conflict) and would not lead to the worship of more than one god. As mentioned above, the only other discrepancy between monotheism and henotheism, which are simply fixed by seeing the biblical verses based in monotheism as an extension to the ambiguous verses that some see as supporting