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74-543: Monotheism —the belief that there is only one deity—is the focus of the Abrahamic religions , which like-mindedly conceive God as the all-powerful and all-knowing deity from whom Abraham received a divine revelation, according to their respective narratives . The most prominent Abrahamic religions are Judaism , Christianity , and Islam . They, alongside Samaritanism , Druzism , the Baháʼí Faith , and Rastafari , all share
148-453: A Sed festival , a sort of royal jubilee intended to reinforce the Pharaoh's divine powers of kingship. Traditionally held in the thirtieth year of the Pharaoh's reign, this possibly was a festival in honour of Amenhotep III , who some Egyptologists think had a coregency with his son Amenhotep IV of two to twelve years. Year 5 is believed to mark the beginning of Amenhotep IV's construction of
222-448: A human prophet and the promised Messiah sent by God, although the Islamic tradition itself is not unanimous on the question of Jesus' death and afterlife . The writings of the Baháʼí Faith describe a monotheistic , personal, inaccessible, omniscient, omnipresent, imperishable, and almighty God who is the creator of all things in the universe. The existence of God and the universe
296-613: A common core foundation in the form of worshipping Abraham's God, who is identified as Yahweh in Hebrew and called Allah in Arabic . Likewise, the Abrahamic religions share similar features distinguishing them from other categories of religions : In the Abrahamic tradition, God is one , eternal , omnipotent , omniscient , and the creator of the universe . God is typically referred to with masculine grammatical articles and pronouns only, and
370-536: A component or opposite force of Ahura Mazda. Post-exilic Judaism, after the late 6th century BCE, was the first religion to conceive the notion of a personal monotheistic God within a monist context. The concept of ethical monotheism , which holds that morality stems from God alone and that its laws are unchanging, first occurred in Judaism , but is now a core tenet of most modern monotheistic religions, including Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, and Baháʼí Faith. Also from
444-592: A distinct characteristic of God. All these names refer to Allah, considered to be the supreme and all-comprehensive divine Arabic name. Among the 99 names of God, the most famous and most frequent of these names are "the Entirely Merciful" ( al-Rahman ) and "the Especially Merciful" ( al-Rahim ). Islam rejects the doctrine of the Incarnation and the notion of a personal God as anthropomorphic , because it
518-561: A monotheistic view. The Naiyanikas have given an argument that such a god can only be one. In the Nyaya Kusumanjali , this is discussed against the proposition of the Mimamsa school that let us assume there were many demigods ( devas ) and sages ( rishis ) in the beginning, who wrote the Vedas and created the world. Nyaya says that: [If they assume such] omniscient beings, those endowed with
592-496: A new capital, Akhetaten ( Horizon of the Aten ), at the site known today as Amarna . Evidence of this appears on three of the boundary stelae used to mark the boundaries of this new capital. At this time, Amenhotep IV officially changed his name to Akhenaten ( Agreeable to Aten ) as evidence of his new worship. The date given for the event has been estimated to fall around January 2 of that year. In Year 7 of his reign (1346/1344 BCE),
666-417: A powerful presentation of what the monotheists denounce as Hindu Polytheism. I had never read anything like it. It was a revelation to me that Monotheism was not a religious concept but an imperialist idea. I must confess that I myself had been inclined towards Monotheism till this time. I had never thought that a multiplicity of Gods was the natural and spontaneous expression of an evolved consciousness. Sikhi
740-450: A unitary God is Plato 's Demiurge (divine Craftsman), followed by Aristotle 's unmoved mover , both of which would profoundly influence Jewish and Christian theology. According to contemporary Jewish, Christian and Islamic tradition, monotheism was the original religion of humanity; this original religion is sometimes referred to as "the Adamic religion", or, in the terms of Andrew Lang ,
814-412: Is One " ( Deuteronomy 6:4 ). God is conceived as unique and perfect, free from all faults, deficiencies, and defects, and further held to be omnipotent , omnipresent , omniscient , and completely infinite in all of his attributes, who has no partner or equal, being the sole creator of everything in existence. In Judaism, God is never portrayed in any image . The idea of God as a duality or trinity
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#1732855575188888-611: Is a divine figure with attributed supremacy in Vaishnavism. The Rig Veda discusses monotheistic thought, as do the Atharva Veda and Yajur Veda : "Devas are always looking to the supreme abode of Vishnu" ( tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padaṁ sadā paśyanti sṻrayaḥ Rig Veda 1.22.20) "The One Truth, sages know by many names" ( Rig Veda 1 .164.46) "When at first the unborn sprung into being, He won His own dominion beyond which nothing higher has been in existence" ( Atharva Veda 10.7.31) "There
962-450: Is a monotheistic and a revealed religion . God in Sikhism is called Akal Purakh (which means "The Immortal Being") or Vāhigurū (Wondrous Enlightener). However, other names like Rama , Brahman , Khuda , Allah , etc. are also used to refer to the same God, who is shapeless , timeless , and sightless : niraṅkār , akaal , and alakh . Sikhi presents a unique perspective where God
1036-657: Is a monotheistic faith that arose in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent during the 16th and 17th centuries. Sikhs believe in one, timeless, omnipresent, supreme creator. The opening verse of the Guru Granth Sahib , known as the Mul Mantra , signifies this: The word "ੴ" ("Ik ōaṅkār") has two components. The first is ੧, the digit "1" in Gurmukhi signifying the singularity of
1110-439: Is an impersonal force or ideal rather than a supernatural being concerned with the universe. Christianity originated in 1st-century Judea from a sect of apocalyptic Jewish Christians within the realm of Second Temple Judaism , and thus shares most of its beliefs about God, including his omnipotence , omniscience , his role as creator of all things, his personality, immanence , transcendence and ultimate unity, with
1184-454: Is conceived as anthropomorphic , unique, benevolent, eternal, the creator of the universe, and the ultimate source of morality . Thus, the term God corresponds to an actual ontological reality, and is not merely a projection of the human psyche. Traditional interpretations of Judaism generally emphasize that God is personal yet also transcendent and able to intervene in the world, while some modern interpretations of Judaism emphasize that God
1258-519: Is contended that a belief in an intermediary between man and God or in the multiplicity of persons in the Godhead is against the Noahide laws , and thus not monotheistic . In mainstream Christianity , theology and beliefs about God are enshrined in the doctrine of monotheistic Trinitarianism , which holds that the three persons of the trinity are distinct but all of the same indivisible essence, meaning that
1332-400: Is further held to have the properties of holiness , justice , omnibenevolence , and omnipresence . Adherents of the Abrahamic religions believe that God is also transcendent , meaning that he is outside of both space and time and therefore not subject to anything within his creation , but at the same time a personal God : intimately involved, listening to individual prayer, and reacting to
1406-533: Is heretical in Judaism—it's considered akin to polytheism . The Torah specifically forbade ascribing partners to share his singular sovereignty, as he is considered to be the absolute one without a second, indivisible, and incomparable being, who is similar to nothing and nothing is comparable to him. Thus, God is unlike anything in or of the world as to be beyond all forms of human thought and expression. God in Judaism
1480-566: Is monotheist as well as pantheist. The Great Spirit , called Wakan Tanka among the Sioux , and Gitche Manitou in Algonquian , is a conception of universal spiritual force, or supreme being prevalent among some Native American and First Nation cultures. According to Lakota activist Russell Means a better translation of Wakan Tanka is the Great Mystery. Indeed, "Wanka Tanka" among
1554-420: Is no other way open. In other words, Nyaya says that the polytheist would have to give elaborate proofs for the existence and origin of his several celestial spirits, none of which would be logical, and that it is more logical to assume one eternal, omniscient god. Many other Hindus, however, view polytheism as far preferable to monotheism. The famous Hindu revitalist leader Ram Swarup , for example, points to
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#17328555751881628-602: Is none comparable unto Him" ( 112:4 ). Therefore, Islam strictly rejects all forms of anthropomorphism and anthropopathism of the concept of God , and thus categorically rejects the Christian concept of the Trinity or division of persons in the Godhead . Muslims believe that Allah is the same God worshipped by the members of the Abrahamic religions that preceded Islam, i.e. Judaism and Christianity ( 29:46 ). Creation and ordering of
1702-612: Is none to compare with Him. There is no parallel to Him, whose glory, verily, is great." ( Yajur Veda 32.3) The number of auspicious qualities of God are countless, with the following six qualities ( bhaga ) being the most important: In the Shaivite tradition, the Shri Rudram ( Sanskrit श्रि रुद्रम्), to which the Chamakam (चमकम्) is added by scriptural tradition, is a Hindu stotra dedicated to Rudra (an epithet of Shiva ), taken from
1776-571: Is often contrasted with " polytheism ", but many scholars prefer other terms such as monolatry, henotheism, or one-god discourse. Quasi-monotheistic claims of the existence of a universal deity date to the Late Bronze Age , with Akhenaten 's Great Hymn to the Aten from the 14th century BCE. In the Iron-Age South Asian Vedic period , a possible inclination towards monotheism emerged. The Rigveda exhibits notions of monism of
1850-520: Is present ( sarav viāpak ) in all of its creation and does not exist outside of its creation. God must be seen from "the inward eye", or the "heart". Sikhs follow the Aad Guru Granth Sahib and are instructed to meditate on the Naam (Name of God - Vāhigurū ) to progress towards enlightenment, as its rigorous application permits the existence of communication between God and human beings. Sikhism
1924-601: Is seen as demeaning to the transcendence of God . The Quran prescribes the fundamental transcendental criterion in the following verses: "The Lord of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, so serve Him and be patient in His service. Do you know any one equal to Him?" ( 19:65 ); "(He is) the Creator of the heavens and the earth: there is nothing whatever like unto Him, and He is the One that hears and sees (all things)" ( 42:11 ); "And there
1998-416: Is the belief that one god is the only, or at least the dominant deity . A distinction may be made between exclusive monotheism, in which the one God is a singular existence, and both inclusive and pluriform monotheism, in which multiple gods or godly forms are recognized, but each are postulated as extensions of the same God. Monotheism is distinguished from henotheism , a religious system in which
2072-474: Is the supreme being, all-powerful and all-knowing creator, sustainer, ordainer, and judge of the universe. Islam puts a heavy emphasis on the conceptualization of God as strictly singular ( tawhid ). He is considered to be unique ( wahid ) and inherently one ( ahad ), all-merciful and omnipotent. According to the Quran , there are 99 Names of God ( al-asma al-husna , lit. meaning: "The best names") each of which evoke
2146-632: Is thought to be eternal, without a beginning or end. Though transcendent and inaccessible directly, God is nevertheless seen as conscious of the creation, with a will and purpose that is expressed through messengers recognized in the Baháʼí Faith as the Manifestations of God (all the Jewish prophets , Zoroaster , Krishna , Gautama Buddha , Jesus , Muhammad , the Báb , and ultimately Baháʼu'lláh ). The purpose of
2220-514: Is used in mainstream Christianity. This description of God represents the orthodoxy of the LDS Church, established early in the 19th century. A small minority of Christians, largely coming under the heading of Unitarianism , hold Non-trinitarian conceptions of God . In Islam , God ( Allah ) ( Arabic : ٱللَّٰه , romanized : Allāh , IPA: [ɑɫˈɫɑː(h)] , lit. "the God")
2294-402: Is variously classified by religion scholars as either an international socio-religious movement, a distinct Abrahamic religion, or simply a new religious movement . Judaism, the oldest Abrahamic religion, is based on a strict, exclusive monotheism , finding its origins in the sole veneration of Yahweh , the predecessor to the Abrahamic conception of God. The names of God used most often in
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2368-504: The 18th dynasty of the New Kingdom . He raised Aten , once a relatively obscure Egyptian solar deity representing the disk of the sun, to the status of Supreme God in the Egyptian pantheon. To emphasise the change, Aten's name was written in the cartouche form normally reserved for Pharaohs, an innovation of Atenism. This religious reformation appears to coincide with the proclamation of
2442-525: The Brahman , particularly in the comparatively late tenth book , which is dated to the early Iron Age , e.g. in the Nasadiya Sukta . Later, ancient Hindu theology was monist , but was not strictly monotheistic in worship because it still maintained the existence of many gods, who were envisioned as aspects of one supreme God, Brahman. In China, the orthodox faith system held by most dynasties since at least
2516-461: The Enlightenment and Christian views. Many definitions of monotheism are too modern, western, and Christian-centered to account for the diversity and complexity of the ancient sources, which include not only the biblical texts, but also other writings, inscriptions, and material remains that help reconstruct the ancient beliefs and practices of the people of Judah and Israel. The term "monotheism"
2590-708: The Hebrew Bible are the Tetragrammaton ( Hebrew : יהוה , romanized : YHWH ) and Elohim . Jews traditionally do not pronounce it, and instead refer to God as HaShem , literally "the Name". In prayer, the Tetragrammaton is substituted with the pronunciation Adonai , meaning "My Lord". This is referred to primarily in the Torah: " Hear O Israel: the LORD is our God, the LORD
2664-580: The Holy Ghost , in a Non-trinitarian conception of the Godhead . The Father and Son have perfected, material bodies, while the Holy Ghost is a spirit and does not have a body. This differs significantly from mainstream Christian Trinitarianism; in Mormonism, the three persons are considered to be physically separate beings, or personages, but united in will and purpose. As such, the term Godhead differs from how it
2738-506: The Shang dynasty (1766 BCE) until the modern period centered on the worship of Shangdi (literally "Above Sovereign", generally translated as "God") or Heaven as an omnipotent force. However, this faith system was not truly monotheistic since other lesser gods and spirits, which varied with locality, were also worshipped along with Shangdi . Still, later variants such as Mohism (470 BCE–c.391 BCE) approached true monotheism, teaching that
2812-455: The Vedas as being specifically polytheistic, and states that, "only some form of polytheism alone can do justice to this variety and richness." Sita Ram Goel , another 20th-century Hindu historian, wrote: I had an occasion to read the typescript of a book [Ram Swarup] had finished writing in 1973. It was a profound study of Monotheism, the central dogma of both Islam and Christianity, as well as
2886-581: The Yajurveda (TS 4.5, 4.7). Shri Rudram is also known as Sri Rudraprasna , Śatarudrīya , and Rudradhyaya . The text is important in Vedanta where Shiva is equated to the Universal supreme God. The hymn is an early example of enumerating the names of a deity , a tradition developed extensively in the sahasranama literature of Hinduism . The Nyaya school of Hinduism has made several arguments regarding
2960-479: The exclusive monotheism of the other Abrahamic religions: Judaism , Samaritanism , the Baháʼí Faith , and Islam . Although personal salvation is implicitly stated in Judaism, personal salvation by grace and a recurring emphasis in orthodox theological beliefs is particularly emphasized in Christianity, often contrasting this with a perceived over-emphasis in law observance as stated in Jewish law , where it
3034-678: The hypostatic union . In the belief system held by the Christian churches that adhere to the Latter Day Saint movement and most Mormon denominations , including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the term God refers to Elohim ( God the Father ), whereas Godhead means a council of three distinct gods: Elohim (the Eternal Father), Jehovah ( God the Son , Jesus Christ), and
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3108-534: The " Urreligion ". Scholars of religion largely abandoned that view in the 19th and 20th centuries in favour of an evolutionary progression from animism via polytheism to monotheism. Austrian anthropologist Wilhelm Schmidt had postulated an Urmonotheismus , "original" or "primitive monotheism" in the 1910s. It was objected that Judaism , Christianity , and Islam had grown up in opposition to polytheism as had Greek philosophical monotheism. More recently, Karen Armstrong and other authors have returned to
3182-436: The 6th century BCE, Thales (followed by other Monists, such as Anaximander , Anaximenes , Heraclitus , Parmenides ) proposed that nature can be explained by reference to a single unitary principle that pervades everything. Numerous ancient Greek philosophers, including Xenophanes of Colophon and Antisthenes , believed in a similar polytheistic monism that bore some similarities to monotheism. The first known reference to
3256-483: The Absolute has been used to interpret the early texts of the Indian religions such as those attributed to Yajnavalkya , Nagarjuna and Adi Shankara . According to Glyn Richards, the early texts of Hinduism state that the Brahman or the nondual Brahman– Atman is the Absolute. According to Takeshi Umehara, some ancient texts of Buddhism state that the "truly Absolute and the truly Free must be nothingness",
3330-640: The Aztec. As an old religion, Hinduism inherits religious concepts spanning monotheism, polytheism , panentheism , pantheism , monism , and atheism among others; and its concept of God is complex and depends upon each individual and the tradition and philosophy followed. Hindu views are broad and range from monism, through pantheism and panentheism (alternatively called monistic theism by some scholars) to monotheism and even atheism. Hinduism cannot be said to be purely polytheistic. Hindu religious leaders have repeatedly stressed that while God's forms are many and
3404-427: The Egyptian people. Key features of Atenism included a ban on idols and other images of the Aten, with the exception of a rayed solar disc, in which the rays (commonly depicted ending in hands) appear to represent the unseen spirit of Aten. Akhenaten made it however clear that the image of the Aten only represented the god, but that the god transcended creation and so could not be fully understood or represented. Aten
3478-568: The Father is God, the Holy Spirit is God, and the Son is God, yet there is one God as there is one indivisible essence. These mainstream Christian doctrines were largely formulated at the Council of Nicaea and are enshrined in the Nicene Creed . The Trinitarian view emphasizes that God has a will , and that God the Son has two natures, divine and human, though these are never in conflict but joined in
3552-645: The Lakota was considered a "council of gods" in pre-columbian times, and their religion is not monotheistic. Some researchers have interpreted Aztec philosophy as fundamentally monotheistic or panentheistic. While the populace at large believed in a polytheistic pantheon, Aztec priests and nobles might have come to an interpretation of Teotl as a single universal force with many facets. There has been criticism to this idea, however, most notably that many assertions of this supposed monotheism might actually come from post-Conquistador bias, imposing an Antiquity pagan model onto
3626-470: The absolute 'in itself'; the philosophy of nature studies the absolute 'for itself'; and the philosophy of spirit studies the absolute 'in and for itself'." In British philosophy, self-identified neo-Hegelian F. H. Bradley distinguishes the concept of absolute from God , whereas Josiah Royce , another neo-Hegelian and founder of the American idealism school of philosophy, has equated them. The concept of
3700-456: The actions of his creatures. With regard to Christianity, religion scholars have differed on whether Mormonism belongs with mainstream Christian tradition as a whole (i.e., Nicene Christianity ), with some asserting that it amounts to a distinct Abrahamic religion in itself due to noteworthy theological differences . Rastafari, the heterogenous movement that originated in Jamaica in the 1930s,
3774-733: The believer worships one god without denying that others may worship different gods with equal validity, and monolatrism , the recognition of the existence of many gods but with the consistent worship of only one deity. The term monolatry was perhaps first used by Julius Wellhausen . Monotheism characterizes the traditions of Atenism , Bábism , the Baháʼí Faith , Christianity , Deism , Druzism , Eckankar , Islam , Judaism , Mandaeism , Manichaeism , Rastafari , Samaritanism , Seicho-no-Ie , Sikhism , Tenrikyo , Yazidism , and Zoroastrianism . Elements of monotheistic thought are found in early religions such as ancient Chinese religion , Tengrism , and Yahwism . The word monotheism
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#17328555751883848-401: The capital was moved from Thebes to Akhetaten (near modern Amarna), though construction of the city seems to have continued for two more years. In shifting his court from the traditional ceremonial centres Akhenaten was signalling a dramatic transformation in the focus of religious and political power. The move separated the Pharaoh and his court from the influence of the priesthood and from
3922-408: The construction of some of the most massive temple complexes in ancient Egypt, including one at Karnak and one at Thebes, close to the old temple of Amun . In Year 9 (1344/1342 BCE), Akhenaten declared a more radical version of his new religion, declaring Aten not merely the supreme god of the Egyptian pantheon, but the only God of Egypt, with himself as the sole intermediary between the Aten and
3996-403: The creation is for the created to have the capacity to know and love its creator, through such methods as prayer , reflection , and being of service to humankind . God communicates his will and purpose to humanity through his intermediaries, the prophets and messengers who have founded various world religions from the beginning of humankind up to the present day, and will continue to do so in
4070-452: The creator. Together the word means: "One Universal creator God". Absolute (philosophy) In philosophy (often specifically metaphysics ), the absolute , in most common usage, is a perfect, self-sufficient reality that depends upon nothing external to itself. In theology , the term is also used to designate the supreme being. Hegel used the term das Absolute in his German literary works. Contrary to some popular accounts,
4144-438: The eminence of Aten as the renewal of the kingship of Ra. Under Akhenaten's successors, Egypt reverted to its traditional religion, and Akhenaten himself came to be reviled as a heretic. Some Egyptian ethical text authors believed in only a single god ruling over the universe. Native American religions may be monotheistic, polytheistic, henotheistic, animistic, or some combination thereof. Cherokee religion , for example,
4218-481: The famous statement of the Bhagavatam" (1.3.28). A viewpoint differing from this theological concept is the concept of Krishna as an avatar of Narayana or Vishnu . It should be however noted that although it is usual to speak of Vishnu as the source of the avataras, this is only one of the names of the God of Vaishnavism , who is also known as Narayana, Vasudeva and Krishna and behind each of those names there
4292-401: The first monotheistic religion in history sometime as early as the middle of the second millennium BCE, leaving a lasting influence on other belief systems such as Second Temple Judaism and, through it, on later monotheistic religions. Scholars are conflicted whether Zoroastrianism is best characterized as monotheistic, polytheistic, or henotheistic religion due to the centrality of Ahriman as
4366-411: The function of lesser gods and ancestral spirits is merely to carry out the will of Shangdi , akin to the angels in Abrahamic religions which in turn counts as only one god. Since the sixth century BCE, Zoroastrians have believed in the supremacy of one God above all: Ahura Mazda as the "Maker of All" and the first being before all others. The prophet Zoroaster is credited with the founding of
4440-517: The future. The Manifestations of God reflect divine attributes, which are creations of God made for the purpose of spiritual enlightenment, onto the physical plane of existence. In the Baháʼí view, all physical beings reflect at least one of these attributes, and the human soul can potentially reflect all of them. The Baháʼí conception of God rejects all pantheistic , anthropomorphic , and incarnationist beliefs about God. Monotheism Monotheism
4514-527: The god Mukuru . The deceased ancestors of the Himba and Herero are subservient to him, acting as intermediaries. The Igbo people practice a form of monotheism called Odinani . Odinani has monotheistic and panentheistic attributes, having a single God as the source of all things. Although a pantheon of spirits exists, these are lesser spirits prevalent in Odinani expressly serving as elements of Chineke (or Chukwu ),
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#17328555751884588-418: The idea of an evolutionary progression beginning with animism , which developed into polytheism , which developed into henotheism , which developed into monolatry , which developed into true monotheism. The Tikar people of Cameroon have a traditional spirituality that emphasizes the worship of a single god, Nyuy. The Himba people of Namibia practice a form of monotheistic panentheism , and worship
4662-579: The innovation that Jesus of Nazareth is considered to be, in one way or another, the fulfillment of the ancient biblical prophecies about the Jewish Messiah , the completion of the Law of the prophets of Israel , the Son of God , and/or the incarnation of God himself as a human being . Most Christian denominations believe Jesus to be the incarnated Son of God, which is the main theological divergence with respect to
4736-531: The same as Narayana . As such, he is therefore regarded as Svayam Bhagavan . When Krishna is recognized to be Svayam Bhagavan , it can be understood that this is the belief of Gaudiya Vaishnavism , the Vallabha Sampradaya , and the Nimbarka Sampradaya , where Krishna is accepted to be the source of all other avatars, and the source of Vishnu himself. This belief is drawn primarily "from
4810-619: The supreme being or high god. Waaq is the name of a singular God in the traditional religion of many Cushitic people in the Horn of Africa , denoting an early monotheistic religion. However this religion was mostly replaced with the Abrahamic religions . Some (approximately 3%) of Oromo still follow this traditional monotheistic religion called Waaqeffanna in Oromo . Amenhotep IV initially introduced Atenism in Year 5 of his reign (1348/1346 BCE) during
4884-503: The term is not specific to Hegel. It first occurs in the work of Nicholas of Cusa , and Hegel's own usage was developed in response to that of his contemporary Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling . Hegel's use of "absolute" is easily misunderstood. Michael Inwood , however, clarifies: derived from the Latin absolutus , it means "not dependent on, conditional on, relative to or restricted by anything else; self-contained, perfect, complete." In
4958-411: The traditional centres of worship, but his decree had deeper religious significance too—taken in conjunction with his name change, it is possible that the move to Amarna was also meant as a signal of Akhenaten's symbolic death and rebirth. It may also have coincided with the death of his father and the end of the coregency. In addition to constructing a new capital in honor of Aten, Akhenaten also oversaw
5032-495: The universe is seen as an act of prime mercy for which all creatures sing his glories and bear witness to his unity and lordship. According to the Quran: "No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision. He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things" ( 6:103 ). Similarly to Jews, Muslims explicitly reject the divinity of Jesus and don't believe in him as the incarnated God or Son of God, but instead consider him
5106-462: The various superhuman faculties of assuming infinitesimal size, and so on, and capable of creating everything, then we reply that the law of parsimony bids us assume only one such, namely Him, the adorable Lord. There can be no confidence in a non-eternal and non-omniscient being, and hence it follows that according to the system which rejects God, the tradition of the Veda is simultaneously overthrown; there
5180-427: The ways to communicate with him are many, God is one. The puja of the murti is a way to communicate with the abstract one god ( Brahman ) which creates, sustains and dissolves creation. Rig Veda 1.164.46, Traditions of Gaudiya Vaishnavas, the Nimbarka Sampradaya and followers of Swaminarayan and Vallabha consider Krishna to be the source of all avatars , and the source of Vishnu himself, or to be
5254-505: The words of scholar Allegra de Laurentiis , this means that absolute knowing can only denote "an 'absolute relation' in which the ground of experience and the experiencing agent are one and the same: the object known is explicitly the subject who knows." That is, the only "thing" (which is really an activity) that is truly absolute is that which is entirely self-conditioned, and according to Hegel, this only occurs when spirit takes itself up as its own object. In some respects, this view of Hegel
5328-574: Was addressed by Akhenaten in prayers, such as the Great Hymn to the Aten : "O Sole God beside whom there is none". The details of Atenist theology are still unclear. The exclusion of all but one god and the prohibition of idols was a radical departure from Egyptian tradition, but scholars see Akhenaten as a practitioner of monolatry rather than monotheism, as he did not actively deny the existence of other gods; he simply refrained from worshiping any but Aten. Akhenaten associated Aten with Ra and put forward
5402-483: Was anticipated by Johann Gottlieb Fichte 's theory of the absolute self. The final section of Hegel's Philosophy of Spirit presents the three modes of such absolute knowing: art, religion, and philosophy. For Hegel, as understood by Martin Heidegger , the absolute is "spirit, that which is present to itself in the certainty of unconditional self-knowing". As Hegel is understood by Frederick Copleston , "[l]ogic studies
5476-462: Was coined from the Greek μόνος ( monos ) meaning "single" and θεός ( theos ) meaning " god ". The term was coined by Henry More (1614–1687). Monotheism is a complex and nuanced concept. The biblical authors had various ways of understanding God and the divine, shaped by their historical and cultural contexts. The notion of monotheism that is used today was developed much later, influenced by
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