In Moses and Monotheism, Sigmund Freud presents one of his most provocative theories: that Moses, the foundational figure of Judaism, was not Hebrew but an Egyptian noble who followed the monotheistic reforms of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Freud argues that the strict, abstract monotheism Moses taught—centered on a single, invisible God—bears closer resemblance to Egyptian Aten worship than to the surrounding Semitic religions of the time. According to Freud, Moses selected a Semitic group, led them out of Egypt, and imposed this austere religious system on them.

Freud then advances a controversial psychohistorical claim: the Israelites eventually rebelled against Moses’ authoritarian leadership and killed him. This collective act of violence, he argues, was repressed and buried within the group’s cultural memory, much like traumatic events are repressed within individuals. Over generations, however, the memory of Moses and his strict monotheism returned in symbolic form, resurfacing through prophetic traditions and later religious reforms. For Freud, the eventual triumph of monotheism was a delayed reawakening of Moses’ original message.
 

Drawing on psychoanalytic concepts, Freud interprets religious development as a process shaped by repression, guilt, and the longing for a powerful father figure. He argues that God functions psychologically as an internalized father, and that Judaism’s moral demands reflect an inherited sense of obligation rooted in the repressed trauma of killing Moses. This dynamic, he claims, also influenced the emergence of Christianity, which further transformed the relationship between guilt, redemption, and the father figure.

Ultimately, Freud positions monotheism not simply as a religious evolution but as a psychological one. He suggests that the origins of Judaism—and by extension Western religious thought—can be understood through the mechanisms of cultural memory and collective trauma. Although heavily speculative, Moses and Monotheism remains significant for its attempt to merge psychoanalysis with religious history, challenging traditional narratives and proposing a radical reinterpretation of one of the world’s most influential faith traditions.
 

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