The belief that only one God exists. It developed within the Jewish faith, and remains a feature of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It is opposed to both polytheism and pantheism. Christian belief in the Trinity is thought by Muslims and Jews to deny monotheism.
In theology, monotheism (in Greek μόνος = single and θεός = God) is the belief in the existence of one deity or God, or in the oneness of God. In Western context, the concept of "monotheism" tends to be dominated by the concept of the God of the Abrahamic religions and the Platonic concept of God as put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite.
The concept of monotheism has largely been defined in contrast with earlier polytheistic religions, and monotheism tends to overlap with other Unitary concepts, such as monism.
Ostensibly monotheistic religions may still include concepts of a plurality of the divine, for example the Christian Trinity, or the veneration of Saints, as well as the belief in "lesser spirits" such as angels or demons.
Historically, monotheism emerges in the Late Bronze Age in a gradual process comprising henotheistic and panentheistic notions.
Ancient religions
Ancient Middle-Eastern religions may have worshipped a single god within a pantheon and the abolition of all others, as in the case of the Aten cult in the reign of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten, under the chiefly influence of the Eastern-originating Nefertiti. Iconoclasm during this pharaoh's rule is considered a chief origin for the subsequent destruction by some groups of idols, holding that no other God before the preferred deity (dually and subtly acknowledging the existence of the other gods, but only as foes to be destroyed for their drawing of attention away from the primary deity). The massive tombs in the Egyptian pyramids which aligned with astronomical observations, exemplify this relationship between the pharaoh and the heavens and was subsequently adopted by Christian royalty by claiming a direct lease on ruling by the grace of God.
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is considered to be one of the earliest monotheistic beliefs, though some derivatives of it are not fully so, as the chief god in derivatives such as Zurvanism is not the sole creator.
Abrahamic religions
Source of Abrahamic religions
Although the major source of both Christianity and Judaism is the Hebrew Bible, Judaism and Christianity may have received influences from various non-biblical religions present in Egypt and Syria.
In traditional Jewish, Christian, and Islamic thought, monotheism was regarded as their most basic belief.
Jewish view
Judaism is one of the oldest known monotheistic faiths. The best-known Jewish statements of monotheism occur in the Shema prayer, the Ten Commandments and Maimonides' 13 Principles of faith, Second Principle:
"[God], the Cause of all, is one. Rather, God is a unity unlike any other possible unity. This is referred to in the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:4): "Hear Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one."
There has historically been disagreement between the understanding of monotheism among Hasidic Jews and the original perspective of the Mitnagdim Jews on this issue.
Christian view
Christians claim to profess belief in one God. Historically, most Christian churches have taught that the nature of God is something of a mystery: while being a unity, God also manifests as three entities: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (collectively called the Trinity), the classic Christian "three becomes one" formula.
However, some critics consider that Christianity is a form of Tritheism, while this might be true in some instances, Christianity is properly understood as Tripartite monotheism. For Jews and Muslims, the idea of God as a trinity is heretical - it is considered akin to polytheism.
Christians overwhelmingly assert that monotheism is central to the Christian faith; "I believe in one God" is a key statement in the most widely used Christian creeds. For example, the Rastafarians, like many Christians, hold that God is both a unity and a trinity, in their case God being Haile Selassie. However, Roman Catholic teaching regards veneration of saints and prayers to saints as no different from petitioning a living person to pray to God on behalf of the petitioner.
Islamic view
Islam means "submission to God". Islam accepts as its fundamental tenet the oneness and uniqueness of God, the Arabic word for monotheism is Tawhīd which means 'being one', i.e.
The Shahadah (الشهادة) (meaning testimony, declaration), or the Islamic creed, is the declaration of belief in the oneness of God (Allah in Arabic) and the prophethood of Muhammad. It goes as follows (Transliteration): "Ash-hadu an la-ilaha illa Allah, Wa Ashhadu Anna Muhammad Rasoolu Allah", Its translation: I testify that there is no deity worthy of worship (in truth) but God, and I testify that Muhammad is God's messenger.
According to Islam the "oneness of God" is the primary teaching of all prophets and messengers of God (including Jesus and Moses) sent to humanity for guidance. Furthermore, Islam considers Christianity's Trinity polytheism and a distortion of Jesus's original message of oneness of God.
Bahá'í view
The Oneness of God is one of the core teachings of the Bahá'í Faith. Bahá'ís believe that there is one supernatural being, God, who has created all the creatures and forces in the universe. God is described as "a personal God, unknowable, inaccessible, the source of all Revelation, eternal, omniscient, omnipresent and almighty." Bahá'ís believe that although people have different concepts of God and His nature, and call Him by different names, everyone is speaking of the same one Being. God is taught to be a personal God in that God is conscious of His creation, has a mind, will and purpose. At the same time the Bahá'í teachings state that God is too great for humans to fully understand Him or to create a complete and accurate image of Him. Bahá'u'lláh attributed titles to God such as the All-Powerful, and the All-Loving, which are derived from the limited human experiences of power, love, or justice. Bahá'u'lláh teaches that human knowledge of God is limited to those attributes and qualities which are perceptible to us, and thus direct knowledge about the essence of God is not possible. Bahá'ís believe, thus, that through daily prayer, meditation and study they can grow closer to God.
Furthermore Bahá'u'lláh states that the knowledge of the attributes of God is revealed to humanity through the messengers he sends to humanity. Given Bahá'í beliefs in the unity of religion and that revelation is progressive, some non-Abrahamanic religions are accepted and seen as providing an earlier or partial understanding of the unity of God.
Dharmic religions
Hinduism
The Vedas are the most sacred texts (śruti) in Hinduism. English: One Universal Creator God. Although the Sikhs have many names for God, they all refer to the same supreme being.
The Sikh holy scriptures refer to the One God who pervades the whole of Space and is the creator of all beings in the whole Universe. The following quotation from the SGGS highlights this point:
"Chant, and meditate on the One God, who permeates and pervades the many beings of the whole Universe. God created it, and God spreads through it everywhere. Everywhere I look, I see God. there is no place without Him."SGGS Page 782
The Sikhs believe that Allah - The name of God used by Muslim is a valid name to use. Similarly, the name Hari, Raam, Paarbrahm, Krishan which are names of God used by Hindus are frequently mentioned in the Sikh holy scriptures. The same God of the Christians, Muslims, Hindus, etc is the Akal Purakh, the primal being of the Sikhs.
The development of monotheism
Early monotheism
The religions that are monotheistic today are often thought of as having been of relatively recent historical origin — although efforts at comparison are usually beset by claims of most religions to being very ancient or eternal.
The earliest example of emerging monotheism is the cult of Aten introduced by Akhenaten in ca. 1200 BC) has two hymns to a panentheistic creator God (10.129,130).
In the Ancient Orient, many cities had their own local god, though this henotheistic worship of a single god did not imply denial of the existence of other gods. The Hebrew Ark of the Covenant is supposed (by some scholars) to have adapted this practice to a nomadic lifestyle, paving their way for a singular God.
The iconoclastic cult of the Egyptian solar god Aten was promoted by the pharaoh Akhenaten (Amenophis IV), who ruled between 1358 and 1340 BC. the worship of other gods beside Aten never ceased outside his court, and the older polytheistic cults soon regained precedence.
The worship of polytheistic gods, on the other hand, predates monotheism, likely reaching back as far as the Paleolithic (although no clear separation of theistic cults from animism and ancestor worship is possible).
History in Abrahamic religions
The word "monotheism" is Greek, “mon” meaning alone, and “theos” meaning God. The belief in the existence of one God, or in the oneness of God. In Genesis chapter one, God is put in the singular context. According to the book of Judith, the Patriarchs (starting with Abraham), left the gods of their fathers. (Jdt 5:7) God is later to reveal Himself not as the only God, but rather as the god whom Abraham knows. (Gen 15:17) In such a respect, God is not God alone, but the god who was worshipped by Abraham’s clan. In such a context, it is a type of tribal deity, that although was worshipped alone, did not explicitly exclude the existence of other gods, who were not relevant to them.
In the early Mosaic era, the possibility of other gods is left an open question, although by this stage Israel claims that their God is greater. (Ex 18:11) This same subtle shift is reverberated in 2 Chr 2:5, and could indicate that Israel understood that the God they recognised was God alone, and other gods were therefore false. It is therefore likely that Gen 1:1 was redacted later than the other examples supplied, and so, the development of Monotheism comes firstly on a tribal level, and gradually advances to recognition that the God of Israel is the only God. (John 1:1) Likewise, Islam claims Abrahamic origins, and is also instructed there is one God in the Koran: “And your God is one God! There is no god but He; The LORD is our God!
Elohim is morphologically plural in form in Hebrew, but generally takes singular agreement when it refers to the God of Israel (so the verb meaning "said" in this verse is vayyomer ויאמר with singular inflection, and not vayyomru ויאמרו with plural inflection), and yet in this case the "our" and "us" seems to create a presumption of plurality, though it may just be God talking to angels and not another god.
Monotheistic interpretations
In the west, the Hebrew Bible has been the primary source describing how and when Monotheism was introduced into the Middle East and the west. As believed by followers of some of the Abrahamic religions, it teaches that when Abraham discovered God (Genesis 12:1-9 ; According to these, until then, in ancient history all cultures believed in a variety of multiple deities such as in idolatry, forces and creatures of nature as in animism, or in celestial bodies as in astrology, but did not know the one and only true God.
However, the Hebrew Bible teaches that, at Creation, Adam and Eve knew God (and so did their descendants) but that over the ages, God and his name were forgotten. This is how one of the most important Jewish sages, Maimonides describes the process in his work the Mishneh Torah:
Judaism claims to have an important advantage over all other religions because its earliest history, beliefs, laws, and practices are preserved and taught in the Torah (the Hebrew Bible) which provides the clearest textual source for the rise and development of what is named Judaism's ethical monotheism which means that:
God is supernatural. God is personal. God is good. God is holy. The first stated that "you shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). Furthermore, Israelites recite the Shema Yisrael ("Hear O' Israel") which partly says, "Hear, O' Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one."Other types of monotheism
Some argue that there are various forms of monotheism, including:
Theism a term that refers to the belief in the existence of a God or divine being. Deism is a form of monotheism in which it is believed that one God exists. However, a deist rejects the idea that this God intervenes in the world. Hence any notion of special revelation is impossible, and the nature of God can only be known through reason and observation from nature. The long time Monistic interpretation of Hindu scriptures is different from the interpretation of Semitic scriptures which claim exclusive monotheism as it encompasses pantheism, monism, and at the same time includes the concept of a personal God as an universal, omnipotent supreme being. The other types of monotheism are qualified monism, the school of Ramanuja or Vishishtadvaita, which admits that the universe is part of God, or Narayana, a type of panentheism, but there is a plurality of souls within this supreme Being and Dvaita, which differs in that it is dualistic, as God is separate and not panentheistic. Pantheism holds that the Universe itself is God. Panentheism, or Monistic Monotheism, is a form of theism that holds that God contains, but is not identical to, the Universe. The One God is omnipotent and all-pervading, the universe is part of God, and God is both Immanent and Transcendent. According to this school, from Ramanuja, the universe is part of God but God is not equal to the universe but in fact transcends it as well. However, unlike Process theology, God in Vishistadvaita Vedanta Hinduism is omnipotent. Panentheism is thought of as "God is within the universe as the soul is within the body". Substance monotheism, found in some indigenous African religions, holds that the many gods are different forms of a single underlying substance, and that this underlying substance is God. Henotheism involves devotion to a single God while accepting the existence of other gods. For instance, Inclusive monotheism claims that all deities are just different names/forms for the single monotheistic God; Smartism, a major denomination of Hinduism, adheres to this belief in the oneness of God (Brahman/Ishwar) who can be envisioned with different aspects and can be called by different names. Exclusive monotheism, on the other hand, claims that worship of divinities such as angels and gods that are other than the one God is incorrect or demonic, though they may believe in their existence.Dualism, from a western religion's perspective, teaches that there are two independent divine beings or eternal principles, the one good, and the other evil, as set forth especially in early Zoroastrianism (modern Zoroastrianism is strictly monotheistic), but more fully in its later offshoots in Gnostic systems, such as Manichaeism. From the perspective of Hinduism, Dualism (Dvaita) is a monotheistic philosophy that teaches that a personal God is separate from his creation, there are therefore two ultimate realities and contrasts with monism that teaches a transcendent unity and that the material world is an illusion, there is therefore only one reality. ISBN 3-7003-0339-4 (Google Print)
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