Notion of God evolves in the Old Testament?

[Julia_Mae]

I am am surprised that many people (not just you) see my question as a matter of differentiating between the evolution of God and the evolution of the notion of God. My question makes it quite clear that I am talking about the evolution of** the notion** of God and I am looking for authoritative sources to support. Only one person has gone to the trouble to give me that source . He/she kindly gave me this source philvaz.com/apologetics/p81.htm. So, I am looking for authoritative sources and not people’s personal opinions, interesting though they maybe - I am aware that some Catholics don’t make it clear that it is just their personal opinion and this can cause confusion.

I think the most authoritative source possible is Scripture and the commentaries of those Scripture scholars who are experts in the languages and culture of the times. Here is a link to a popular article and an exerpt from the first few paragraphs from it:

Whether or not one believes in a singular Divine inspirer, it is established that various hands penned the actual words in the Bible…

The first account is from the Elohist tradition. Elohim is a distant God; He is all-pervasive and omnipresent, and yet He is not notably personal. While maintaining personality and intelligence, Elohim is portrayed as more of a life force of the universe, something transcendent, nothing that one could encounter except in the most abstract of spiritual ways.

The second account is from the Yahwist tradition. This is the portrayal of God that has enjoyed more popularity in the minds of both believers and critics. Yahweh is the God who visits, the God who walked and spoke with Adam. He is a personal and embodied God who shares the spirit of Elohim but is conceptually different.

The four authors theory is pretty controversial amongst some, but in it we see there were, even in 500-600 BC when the OT was finalized during the last Babylonian exile, the various stories and traditions merged into one more or less seamless whole, there were already a variety of perceptions of God.

Wikipedia has a good basic overview: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_hypothesis
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[aragonjohn1]

“…There was an evolution in the Old Testament. There are some awful things there. It developed the notion of God, was purified as it went through the Old Testament.” Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Australia. Quote is from a YouTube video regarding a question and answer session between Richard Dawkins and the Cardinal.

The concept that he notion of God was purified/evolved throughout the Old Testament is new to me. Is this just the Cardinal’s personal opinion? Is it dogma or at least taught by the Magisterium?

Could somebody give an example of the notion of God evolving in the Old Testament?

The Word was made flesh and dwelt amoung us.

Shalom
God bless