MONO-, PAN-, AND COSMOTHEISM

Abstract

That we may speak of Egyptian 'theology' is everything but self-evident.Theology is not something to be expected in every religion, not even in the Old Testament.In Germany and perhaps also elsewhere, there is a heated debate going on in OT studies about whether the subject of the discipline should be defined in the traditional way as "theology of OT" or rather, "history of Israelite religion".(1)The concern with questions of theology, some people argue, is typical only of Early Christianity when self-definitions and clear-cut concepts were needed in order to keep clear of Judaism, Gnosticism and all kinds of sects and heresies in between.Theology is a historical and rather exceptional phenomenon that must not be generalized and thoughtlessly projected onto other religions.(2)If theology is a contested notion even with respect to the OT, how much more so should this term be avoided with regard to ancient Egypt!The aim of my lecture is to show that this is not to be regarded as the last word about ancient Egyptian religion but that, on the contrary, we are perfectly justified in speaking of Egyptian theology.This seemingly paradoxical fact is due to one

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