Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 80.116.222.134 (talk) at 20:20, 11 December 2002. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Monotheism is the belief in a single, universal, all-encompassing deity. Various forms of monotheism exist, including:

• Theism

• Deism is a form of monotheism in which it is believed that one god exists, but that God does not intervene in the world, beyond what was necessary for him to create it (no answering prayers or causing miracles).

• Pantheism holds that the Universe is God. Depending on how this is understood, such a view may be tantamount to atheism, deism or theism.

• Panentheism is a form of theism that holds that God contains, but is not identical to, the Universe. This is also the view of Process theology.

In contrast, see Polytheism, which holds that there are many gods, Tri-theism which teaches that there are three gods -- that is, that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are, specifically, three distinct Gods; Dualism which teaches that there are two independent divine beings or eternal principles, the one good, and the other evil, as set forth especially in Gnostic systems, such as Parseeism.

Henotheism and Monolatrism are theological variants of polytheism which have recently been termed inclusive monotheism (i.e. the belief in many gods, but the worship of just one of them.) Most monotheists would say that, by definition, monotheism is incompatible with polytheism. This is because a belief in multiple gods does not imply the worship of multiple gods. Historically, many polytheists believe in the existence of many gods, but worshipped only one.

The Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) have traditionally subscribed to exclusive monotheism, although some biblical scholars argue that the phrasing of certain passages such as the commandment not to have other gods before God, are remnants of an earlier inclusive monotheism.

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.