| Revision as of 05:45, 4 December 2001 edit203.109.250.xxx (talk) moving Talk to /Talk← Previous edit | Revision as of 05:47, 4 December 2001 edit undo203.109.250.xxx (talk) salvaged what i thought was useful from MonoTheism, threw out the restNext edit → | ||
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| <b>Monotheism</b> is the view that only one god exists. Monotheism can be either exclusive or inclusive. Exclusive monotheism denies that any other gods exist, while inclusive monotheism takes the view that all the different gods are just different forms of the one god. | <b>Monotheism</b> is the view that only one ] exists. Monotheism can be either exclusive or inclusive. Exclusive monotheism denies that any other gods exist, while inclusive monotheism takes the view that all the different gods are just different forms of the one god. | ||
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| The Christian belief in the ] is traditionally considered a form of monotheism, although many Jews, Muslims and non-Trinitarian Christians would question this classification. | |||
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| The belief in one GoD. ChristianIty, JudaIsm and IsLam are three famous examples of monotheistic religions. Note that the one GoD may have several aspects, such as the concept of the HolyTrinity in ChristianIty. Monotheistic religions have a tendency to have strict sets of moral codes or laws (as they have a DivineLawgiver to provide them and justify them), often have a bias to one gender (due to the supposed gender of the GoD in question), and appear to have become more prevalent later in civilisations, when order is a GoodThing and explanations for random natural disasters are beginning to come from other sources than angry GoD''''''s. | |||
Revision as of 05:47, 4 December 2001
Monotheism is the view that only one god exists. Monotheism can be either exclusive or inclusive. Exclusive monotheism denies that any other gods exist, while inclusive monotheism takes the view that all the different gods are just different forms of the one god.
By definition exclusive monotheism is incompatible with polytheism, the belief that multiple gods exist. Note that the belief in multiple gods does not imply the worship of multiple gods. Many polytheists believe in the existence of many gods, but worship only one. This variant of polytheism is termed henotheism.
Western religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) traditionally held to exclusive monotheism, though an increasing number of adherents of these religions today subscribe to the inclusive monotheist view.
The Christian belief in the Trinity is traditionally considered a form of monotheism, although many Jews, Muslims and non-Trinitarian Christians would question this classification.
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