Today in the world there is a huge number of different religions, traditions, mystical and philosophical schools, teachings, cults, organizations. And even a person far from all this somehow heard the term "monotheism". Interestingly, the direct synonym for this word is "monotheism." But how to understand this term? What does he contain? What is monotheism?
Definition
It should be noted that monotheism is a philosophical, theological (theological) and religious study concept. What is monotheism? This is a belief in one single God-Creator and a fundamental exclusion of faith in any other gods. Also, worship is possible only to one God, but if a person prays two or more - he already becomes a polytheist (pagan).
Monotheism in the religious understanding
What is monotheism? As already mentioned, this is a synonym for the word "monotheism". There are multiple forms of religion in the world. The most vivid faith in one single God-Creator is represented in Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), you can clearly find similar notes in Iranian Zoroastrianism. What is curious, in some areas of Hinduism there are also monotheistic moments. Religions that recognize only one God always have their founding fathers. For such traditions, the fundamental belief is that they are based on a divine and sacred revelation given above.
History of Monotheism
What is monotheism and when did it appear? For the first time, certain elements were discovered when studying the history of Ancient China (the cult of Shang-di - the supreme god), India (the doctrine of the one Creator God Brahma), Ancient Egypt (especially after the reform of King Akhenaten Amenhotep, who introduced the veneration of a single god - the Sun), Ancient Babylon (many gods were considered only as manifestations of the supreme deity Marduk). The ancient Jews also had their national tribal god - the Sabaoth (Yahweh), who was initially revered along with others, but ultimately turned into One. Christianity, having adopted and accepted the cult of God the Father (the supreme and one Creator), supplemented it with faith in the “God-man” of Jesus Christ, God the Son. It can be confidently said that the Christian faith is a religion of monotheism, however, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity must be taken into account . Jewish monotheism at the end of the sixth - beginning of the seventh centuries was perceived by some Arabs from the sect of the so-called Haniphites, where Islam was born. Its founder is considered the prophet Muhammad. Monotheism in Islam is manifested more distinctly than in all other religions. Many theories relied on the thesis that monotheism (as faith in a single supreme God-Creator) is the original form of religion, as well as an unambiguous source of all other traditions and teachings. This concept is called pramonotheism. Some other theories called monotheism the completion of the evolution of the philosophical and religious thought of mankind, believing that monotheistic teachings eventually supersede completely all other forms of religion.
Monotheism as a philosophical and theological (theological) concept
In philosophy and theology, this term is close to the word "theism." For the first time it can be found at Platonist Mora of Cambridge. Theism meant something equivalent to the term "deism" and the opposite of the concept of "atheism." Only gradually, in many respects thanks to the efforts and works of Immanuel Kant, did conceptual differences between deism and theism take shape. Hegel expressed an innovative point of view, who opposed pantheism to monotheism rather than polytheism. In a concept such as theism, the term "God" means "an absolute, transcendental spiritual reality in relation to the physical physical world, which acts as a creative single source, while maintaining its presence in the world and has an unlimited degree of influence and influence on it."
Arguments for Monotheism
What is monotheism and why is it so common? There are many arguments in favor of this teaching.
- If there would be more than one God, then there would be a mess in the Universe due to the many authorities and creative workers. Since there is no disorder, it means that God is one.
- Since the Creator is a perfect person with absolute consciousness, there can be no other God, since he would, by definition, be less perfect.
- Since the Lord is infinite in his existence, this means that he cannot have any parts. If a second infinite personality exists, then it will be different from the first, and the only complete difference from infinity is absence. Therefore, the second God would not exist at all.
- The theory of evolution cannot know the real state of things, since the type of development described by it does not occur in nature. In fact, one can observe historically progress towards monotheism.