WHAT IS MONOTHEISM?
Mosaic depicting traditional representation of the Holy Trinity.
Monotheism is not a religion itself, but rather a way of describing or categorizing a religion or a theology. A common definition of monotheism is the belief that there is only one God. It is typically contrasted with polytheism, which is the belief in more than one god. However, more recent work within religious studies has found these definitions lacking. For example, a religion that believes in only one God but also has other heavenly beings more powerful than human beings, such as angels or spirits, is hard to classify neatly as monotheistic or polytheistic. Benjamin D. Sommer offers more robust definitions of monotheism and polytheism in his essay “Monotheism”: “A theology in which no one deity has ultimate power over all aspects of the world is polytheistic. A theology in which all power ultimately resides in one God is monotheistic—even if people pray to various heavenly beings to intercede on their behalf with the one God in whom all power ultimately resides.” (1) The terms monotheism and polytheism are most often used in secular religious studies setting to be descriptive of a religion or theology, not evaluate the truth claims of a religion.
Monolatry is an additional word that is useful in religious studies and in understanding the Bible. It refers “to any religious system in which people worship one deity alone.” (2) A monolatrous religion acknowledges that other gods exist, but devotion is reserved for only one god. The adherent of such a religion could be described as a monolatrous polytheist. Monotheism, polytheism, and monolatry are key terms to understanding an ongoing scholarly debate about the nature of early Israelite religion and the Hebrew Bible. Were the early Israelites predominantly monotheists, polytheists, or monolatrous polytheists? Also, does the Hebrew Bible reflect views best categorized as monotheism, monolatrous polytheism, or something else?
With regards to the Hebrew Bible, we see a development in Israelite religion toward monotheism. For example, the story of God delivering the Hebrew people out of their slavery in Egypt depicts God, who reveals the divine name as YHWH to Moses, as more powerful than Pharaoh, who is also seen as a god in Egypt. The thrust of the story is not that there is only one God, the God of Israel, but rather that the God of Israel is more powerful than Pharaoh as a god of Egypt. When God makes a covenant with the people of Israel at Mount Sinai, God commands them to worship only him, YHWH. From a descriptive point of view, one could say that the early Israelite religion reflected in the book of Exodus is monolatrous polytheism. The Israelites worship only one God, YHWH, while not denying that other gods, such as Pharaoh or Ba’al, exist. This description helps us, as readers of the Bible, to make sense of the prophets of Israel later condemning the worship of other gods. Over time, Israelite belief arrives at monotheism. YHWH is not simply the most powerful god among gods, but the only God. Several centuries after the Exodus, we have an affirmation of monotheism in Isaiah: “I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no god” (Isaiah 45:5, NRSV). Certainly, by the time of Jesus, Judaism would accurately be described as monotheistic; the God of Israel is the only God, in whom all power ultimately resides.
Christianity is monotheistic, which it inherited from first-century Judaism. Central to Jewish daily prayer is the recitation of the Shema, from Deuteronomy 6: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord” (Deuteronomy 6:4, RSV). Jesus quotes the Shema as part of giving the commandments to love God and love one’s neighbor (Mark 12:29). The earliest Christian thinkers were adamant about the Christian belief in only one God in whom all power ultimately resides. This affirmation was important for three reasons. First, it was essential for Christianity’s connection to Judaism, especially Christians’ use of the Old Testament as scripture. Second, monotheism differentiated early Christianity from other religions, especially pagan polytheism. (3) Third, monotheism provided the basis for developing Christian theology, particularly regarding Jesus Christ and the Trinity.
In other words, Christian thought had to wrestle with its growing worship of God the Father, Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit while maintaining its inherited monotheism from Judaism. Early Christians had to clarify how we can call Jesus “God” (such as in John 20:28) in light of scripture such as “I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no god” (Isaiah 45:5, NRSV). Christianity also wanted to avoid even the appearance of the polytheism of paganism; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could not be three gods in a pantheon. Over the Church’s first several centuries, it developed doctrine around Jesus Christ as both fully human and fully divine and doctrine regarding the Trinity is one God in three Persons. Both of these doctrines developed with the base assumption of monotheism. Christianity’s monotheism also allowed it to use categories of theology and philosophy from contemporary monotheistic thinkers in Judaism, Neoplatonism, and Stoicism as it clarified its understanding of the God revealed in Jesus Christ. Even in the Bible, we see Paul quote monotheistic pagan poetry as he preaches (see Acts 17:28).
Sommer’s definition of monotheism above also helps us make sense of saints, angels, demons, and Satan. That heaven has other beings beside God who also have powers and to whom some people may pray, such as saints, does not mean these beings are gods or that Christians are polytheistic. Any power that saints, angels, demons, or Satan have is granted to them by God, in whom all power ultimately resides. In the book of Job, Satan has to ask God for permission to test Job (Job 1:6–12). Angels use their power in service to God, from whom that power derives. Some Christians pray to saints, not because those saints have power in and of themselves, but rather the holiness of their life means they are attuned to the power of God. Classically, Christians have understood the power of Satan and demons was first granted to them as angels in service to God. Though they rebelled against God, Satan and the demons still retain their power that God granted them. Paul did not deny the reality of the deities that pagans worshiped; rather, they were not God or gods, but demons (1 Corinthians 10:20). However, all power still ultimately resides with God, as we see God demonstrate in Jesus Christ through exorcisms.
Religions in addition to Judaism and Christianity can also be described as monotheistic. For example, Islam and Sikhism are both monotheistic. Monotheism as a descriptive category can describe commonalities across different religions. In this descriptive work, the word monotheism can be clarifying about belief or religion. For example, Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs might find common ground in their beliefs and lived experiences because of their shared monotheism. Or a student of these religions might find illuminating commonalities in patterns and categories of thought across different monotheistic religions.
However, the word monotheism can also obscure differences. Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Sikhs would each affirm, “I believe in one God.” Yet when asked to describe God, they would not each describe “God” in the same way. Each has its own unique history of development, set of scriptures, and theology of God. Attempts to describe a generic monotheism or, harder still, a generic theism, with which adherents of these four religions could agree, typically produce vague and platitudinal theology. Such a vague monotheism might be an easy target for critique, particularly among New Atheists such as Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris, but it does not represent well the actual developed theologies of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Sikhism.
To use a metaphor, monotheism as a descriptive tool applied to a religion is a bit like calling a tomato a fruit. From a horticultural point of view, it is true that a tomato is a fruit, as it meets the definition of a fruit. It is a useful descriptor in so far as it clarifies aspects of the biology, genetics, and growth of a tomato plant. However, from a cultural and culinary point of view, calling a tomato a fruit obscures its use and place in cooking. I imagine most of us would be surprised if we were asked by a friend, “Would you like a piece of fruit?” and then handed a tomato. Much like the word “fruit” is shaped by cultural and culinary expectations, the word “God” and belief in “one God” are deeply shaped by one’s cultural and religious expectations. The label of “monotheism” can erase real differences between religions and may even come as a surprise to the adherents of those religions themselves.
It is also worth noting that, while belief in only one God has existed for thousands of years, the English word “monotheism” has not. Its first known usage was by Henry More in 1660. The word has roots in Western colonialism and religious studies. With this history, the descriptor “monotheism” also does the work of arranging non-Christian religions in proximity to Christianity. In other words, “monotheistic” religions are seen as closer to the truth than non-monotheistic religions. Peoples and cultures whose religious beliefs were polytheistic, such as indigenous people of Australia, Africa, and the Americas, were deemed primitive, farther from the truth, and living in darkness. This evaluation of people was used as justification for colonization, enslavement, and genocide. So while monotheism can be a useful category for studying a religion or philosophy, we should acknowledge the painful and harmful history it has. As Christians, we can hold fast to our belief in one God, revealed in Jesus Christ and the Bible, while resisting the urge to array peoples and cultures based on our sense of their proximity to monotheism.
Comparing what a deist and a Christian affirm about “God” is illustrative of monotheism’s possible obscuring potential. Originating with the Enlightenment in the seventeenth century, deism is a system of belief in one God. Like Christianity, it is monotheistic, and affirms that God created all things and ultimately all power rests with God. However, these superficial similarities obscure the deep differences between a deist’s conception of God and a Christian’s conception of God. For a deist, God created all things and sets them in motion. God does not intervene or act supernaturally within creation afterwards. The common image of this God is that of a watchmaker. The watchmaker creates the watch, balances all of its components, and sets it in motion. But the watchmaker does not intervene in the motions of the watch afterwards. Such a God does not perform miracles, provide revelation (such as scripture), and does not take on human flesh to dwell among us. As Christians, we believe that God does act in the world and human history, especially in Jesus Christ. God is not a distant watchmaker, but intimately involved in our ongoing creation, redemption, and preservation.
Christianity’s long-standing monotheism is still relevant today, particularly in public sphere debates. Monotheism and theism are targets of secular and atheist critique, particularly from New Atheists such as Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris. For example, Sam Harris uses the following quote from Stephen Henry Roberts: “I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.” (4) In other words, just as a Christian does not believe in Aphrodite or Hermes, so too an atheist does not believe in the God of Jesus Christ.
This quote does help us understand why Roberts and Harris might dismiss the Christian understanding of God: they have a poor grasp of Christian theology and are dismissing what they do not understand. Recalling the above definitions of polytheism and monotheism, a god of polytheism is categorically different from the one God of monotheism. A god like Hermes is part of the created order. He is a being within the universe, like you or I, simply possessing more powers. As David Bently Hart observes, the God of monotheistic religions such as Christianity “is not one more object in the inventory of things that are. He is the infinite wellspring of all that is, in whom all things live and move and have their being.” (5) Or, in the terms of our definition of monotheism, God is the one in whom all power ultimately resides. While Roberts quote about atheism is pithy, it is in the final analysis incoherent and betrays his ignorance of theology. Articulating how monotheism’s understanding of God is different from polytheism is essential in articulating the Christian faith in the public sphere and parsing statements about God or gods.
Monolatry is also relevant for Christianity today as we assess ourselves in relation to God. There is a temptation to believe that idolatry, which is worshiping something or someone that is not God, is a thing of the past. While few of us find it tempting to add Ba’al or Apollo to our worship life, God’s absolute requirement that we worship God alone still challenges us today. Paul acknowledged that people could make gods of all sorts of things, such as their own bellies (Philippians 3:19). We can conceive of devotion to God broadly as directing our time, resources, thoughts, and affections solely toward God. If we then examine where we actually direct our time, resources, thoughts, and affections, we may find that we are not, in fact, monolatrous. Every day, in ways big and small, all sorts of things try to lay claim to our lives. They promise that they can make us whole, give us power, and bring us eternal joy without God. Ideologies and warped human enterprises can commingle with or co-opt the gospel of Jesus Christ, as has happened through the church’s history.
Monotheism and monolatry are descriptors of Christianity, but we as Christians should not view them as our achievements. In a world marred by sin and death, the temptation to believe that something or someone other than God can save us is ubiquitous. Our tendency to project our human projects onto God remains. We do not and cannot reason our way God to whom the scriptures bear witness. We know who God truly is because God has revealed God’s self to us through God’s relationship with Israel, God’s incarnation in Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit’s continued presence. Our faith and worship of this one and only God, in whom all power ultimately resides, comes as grace. So we continuously look to God for the grace that we need to both believe in and worship God.
Benjamin D. Sommer, “Monotheism,” in The Hebrew Bible: A Critical Companion, edited by John Barton (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2016), 241.
Sommer, 242.
I am indebted to J. N. D. Kelly for this observation. “The doctrine of one God, the Father and creator, formed the background and indisputable premise of the Church’s faith. Inherited from Judaism, it was her bulwark against pagan polytheism, Gnostic emanationism and Marcionite dualism.” J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines: Revised Edition (New York: Harper One, 1978), 87.
Quoted in Sam Harris, “10 Myths— and 10 Truths— about Atheism,” Los Angeles Times, December 24, 2006. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-dec-24-op-harris24-story.html. Accessed 12 October 2022.
David Bentley Hart, “God, Gods, and Faeries,” First Things, June 2013, https://www.firstthings.com/article/2013/06/god-gods-and-fairies (accessed 12 October 2022).
