Monday, 29 October 2012

Monotheism

Why The Monotheist's God Is Too Improbable To Believe, Even On Faith

Pure Monotheism of Islam vs Pagan beliefs and Superstitions-TheDeenshow

The Birth of Monotheism: Great Hymn to the Aten

Monotheism - Luck-One Feat. Braille & Gen.Erik

Time to Talk about Trinity, Monotheism and Panentheism

Clip 3: Monotheism and empire (Templeton Foundation)

Bible Secrets (8/8) - Birth of monotheism, modern Judaism and finalizing the Torah.

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Alberta
Alberta is the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces. It covers nearly the same land area as the state of Texas, and had a population of 3.7 million in 2009. It became a province on September 1, 1905, on the same day as Saskatchewan.
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China
China is seen variously as an ancient civilization extending over a large area in East Asia, a nation and/or a multinational entity.
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Didyma
http://wn.com/Didyma
India
India (), officially the Republic of India ( ; see also official names of India), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.18 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Mainland India is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal on the east; and it is bordered by Pakistan to the west; Bhutan, the People's Republic of China and Nepal to the north; and Bangladesh and Burma to the east. In the Indian Ocean, mainland India and the Lakshadweep Islands are in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, while India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share maritime border with Thailand and the Indonesian island of Sumatra in the Andaman Sea. India has a coastline of .
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Israel
http://wn.com/Israel
Langenhain
Langenhain is a district in the city of Hofheim, Hesse, near Frankfurt, Germany. The district was incorporated into Hofheim in 1972, and it is in the north part of the city. The district currently has a population of around 3,200.
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Larsa
Larsa (also Larag or Larak, modern Tell as-Senkereh also Tell Sankarah, Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq, possibly the Biblical Ellasar), was an important city of ancient Sumer. It lies some 25 km southeast of the ruin mounds of Uruk (possibly biblical Erech), near the east bank of the Shatt-en-Nil canal.
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Nicaea (city)
http://wn.com/Nicaea_(city)
Otwock
Otwock is a town in central Poland, some southeast of Warsaw, with 42,765 inhabitants (2004). It is situated on the right bank of Vistula River below the mouth of Swider River. Otwock is home to a unique architectural style called Swidermajer.
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Qing Dynasty
http://wn.com/Qing_Dynasty
Temple of Heaven
:Tian Tan redirects here. For the Big Buddha statue in Hong Kong, see Tian Tan Buddha
http://wn.com/Temple_of_Heaven
Turkey
Turkey (), known officially as the Republic of Turkey (), is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe. Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between Eastern Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia.
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Ur
Ur (Sumerian:
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Zeus
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Abraham
Abraham(originally known as Abram) (, , ', ', ) is the founding patriarch of the Israelites, Ishmaelites, Edomites, and the Midianites and kindred peoples, according to the book of Genesis.
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Abraham ibn Ezra
http://wn.com/Abraham_ibn_Ezra
Akhenaten
Akhenaten (; often also spelled Echnaton, Akhnaton, or rarely Ikhnaton; meaning Effective spirit of Aten) was known before the fifth year of his reign as Amenhotep IV (sometimes given its Greek form, Amenophis IV, and meaning Amun is Satisfied), a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, ruled for 17 years and died in 1336 BC or 1334 BC. He is especially noted for abandoning traditional Egyptian polytheism and introducing worship centered on the Aten, which is sometimes described as monotheistic or henotheistic. An early inscription likens him to the sun as compared to stars, and later official language avoids calling the Aten a god, giving the solar deity a status above mere gods.
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Alvin Plantinga
Alvin Carl Plantinga (born 1932) is an American analytic philosopher, formerly the John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. He is known for his work in philosophy of religion, epistemology, metaphysics, and Christian apologetics. Plantinga is a Christian and known for applying the methods of analytic philosophy to defend orthodox Christian beliefs. Notably, he has argued that some people can know that God exists as a basic belief, requiring no argument, similar to how people usually claim to know that other minds exist. He has also argued that there is no logical inconsistency between the existence of evil and the existence of an all-powerful, all-knowing, wholly good God.
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Anthony Kenny
Sir Anthony John Patrick Kenny FBA (born 16 March 1931 in Liverpool) is an English philosopher whose interests lie in the philosophy of mind, ancient and scholastic philosophy, the philosophy of Wittgenstein and the philosophy of religion. With Peter Geach, he has made a significant contribution to Analytical Thomism, a movement whose aim is to present the thought of St Thomas Aquinas in the style of modern philosophy by clearing away the trappings and obscurities of traditional Thomism. He is one of the executors of Wittgenstein's literary estate. He is a former President of the British Academy and current President of the Royal Institute of Philosophy.
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Antony Flew
http://wn.com/Antony_Flew
Arius
http://wn.com/Arius
Arjuna
http://wn.com/Arjuna
Augustine of Hippo
: For other uses, see Augustine, Augustinus and Saint Augustine.
http://wn.com/Augustine_of_Hippo
Averroes
http://wn.com/Averroes
Avicenna
http://wn.com/Avicenna
Bahya ibn Paquda
Bahya ben Joseph ibn Paquda (also: Pakuda, Bakuda, Hebrew: ) was a Jewish philosopher and rabbi who lived at Zaragoza, Spain, in the first half of the eleventh century. He is often referred to as Rabbeinu Bachya.
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Baron d'Holbach
http://wn.com/Baron_d'Holbach
Baruch Spinoza
http://wn.com/Baruch_Spinoza
Bertrand Russell
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Blaise Pascal
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Boethius
http://wn.com/Boethius
Buddhism
http://wn.com/Buddhism
China
China is seen variously as an ancient civilization extending over a large area in East Asia, a nation and/or a multinational entity.
http://wn.com/China
Christ Jesus
http://wn.com/Christ_Jesus
Confucius
http://wn.com/Confucius
David Hume
http://wn.com/David_Hume
Desiderius Erasmus
http://wn.com/Desiderius_Erasmus
Emil Brunner
Heinrich Emil Brunner (December 23, 1889 – April 6, 1966) was a Swiss Protestant (Reformed) theologian. Along with Karl Barth (see Relationship with Karl Barth), he is commonly associated with neo-orthodoxy or the dialectical theology movement.
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Ernst Haeckel
http://wn.com/Ernst_Haeckel
Ernst Troeltsch
http://wn.com/Ernst_Troeltsch
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; in English , ) (October 15, 1844 August 25, 1900) was a 19th-century German philosopher and classical philologist. He wrote critical texts on religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy and science, displaying a fondness for metaphor, irony and aphorism.
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Gavin Flood
Gavin Flood is a scholar of comparative religion with specialization in Shaivism and phenomenology with research interests that span South Asian traditions.
http://wn.com/Gavin_Flood
Guru Granth Sahib
The Guru Granth Sahib (, ' with honorifics), or Adi Granth''', is the holy scripture of Sikhism. The book itself is also officially regarded as the final and eternal Guru of the Sikhs. It is a voluminous text of 1430 angs, compiled and composed during the period of Sikh Gurus, from 1469 to 1708. It is a collection of hymns or shabad or "Baani", which describe the qualities of God and why one should meditate on God's name.
http://wn.com/Guru_Granth_Sahib
Hans Köchler
http://wn.com/Hans_Köchler
Henry More
Henry More (October 12, 1614 – September 1, 1687) was an English philosopher of the Cambridge Platonist school.
http://wn.com/Henry_More
Heraclitus
Heraclitus of Ephesus (Ancient Greek: — ; c. 535–c. 475 BCE) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, a native of the Greek city Ephesus, Ionia, on the coast of Asia Minor. He was of distinguished parentage. Little is known about his early life and education, but he regarded himself as self-taught and a pioneer of wisdom. From the lonely life he led, and still more from the riddling nature of his philosophy and his contempt for humankind in general, he was called "The Obscure," and the "Weeping Philosopher."
http://wn.com/Heraclitus
Immanuel Kant
http://wn.com/Immanuel_Kant
Isaac
Isaac (; , "he will laugh"; , ; , ; ; or ) as described in the Hebrew Bible, was the only son Abraham had with his wife Sarah, and was the father of Jacob and Esau. Isaac is one of the three patriarchs of the Jewish people. According to the Book of Genesis, Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born, and Sarah was beyond childbearing years.
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Isaac the Blind
http://wn.com/Isaac_the_Blind
Israelites
The Israelites were a people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Israel. They are the ancestors of modern-day Jews. The term "Israelites" (or the Twelve Tribes or Children of Israel) means both a people, the descendants of the patriarch Jacob/Israel, and those who worship the god of the people Israel, regardless of ethnic origin. In the biblical history an Israelite can be:
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J. L. Mackie
John Leslie Mackie (25 August 1917–12 December 1981) was an Australian philosopher, originally from Sydney. He made significant contributions to the philosophy of religion, metaphysics, and the philosophy of language, and is perhaps best known for his views on meta-ethics, especially his defence of moral skepticism.
http://wn.com/J_L_Mackie
Jacob
Jacob (; , Standard ', Tiberian '; Septuagint '; '; "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel (, Standard ', Tiberian '; Septuagint '; '; "persevere with God"), as described in the Hebrew Bible, was the third patriarch of the Jewish people whom God made a covenant with, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, named after his descendants.
http://wn.com/Jacob
Jean-Luc Marion
Jean-Luc Marion (born 3 July 1946) is among the best-known living philosophers in France, former student of Jacques Derrida and one of the leading Catholic thinkers of modern times. Marion's take on the postmodern is richly enhanced by his expertise in patristic and mystical theology, phenomenology, and modern philosophy. Although much of his academic work has dealt with Descartes and phenomenologists like Martin Heidegger and Edmund Husserl, it is rather his explicitly religious works that have garnered much recent attention. God Without Being, for example, is concerned predominantly with an analysis of idolatry, a theme strongly linked in Marion's work with love and the gift, which is a concept also explored at length by Derrida. To a certain extent, Marion also takes up the mantle of Emmanuel Levinas in directing our thought beyond being. There is a widespread but possibly dubious designation of Jean-Luc Marion as a leading contributor to postmodern theology.
http://wn.com/Jean-Luc_Marion
Jesus
http://wn.com/Jesus
Karen Armstrong
Karen Armstrong FRSL (born 14 November 1944 in Wildmoor, Worcestershire) is a British author of numerous works on comparative religion, who first rose to prominence in 1993 with her highly successful A History of God. A former Roman Catholic nun, she asserts that, "All the great traditions are saying the same thing in much the same way, despite their surface differences." They each have in common, she says, an emphasis on the transcendent importance of compassion, as epitomized in the so-called Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
http://wn.com/Karen_Armstrong
Karl Barth
Karl Barth ( – ) (pronounced "Bart") was a Swiss Reformed theologian whom critics hold to be among the most important Christian thinkers of the 20th century; Pope Pius XII described him as the most important theologian since Thomas Aquinas. Beginning with his experience as a pastor, he rejected his training in the predominant liberal theology typical of 19th-century European Protestantism. Instead he embarked on a new theological path initially called dialectical theology, due to its stress on the paradoxical nature of divine truth (e.g., God's relationship to humanity embodies both grace and judgment). Other critics have referred to Barth as the father of neo-orthodoxy — a term emphatically rejected by Barth himself. The most accurate description of his work might be "a theology of the Word." Barth's theological thought emphasized the sovereignty of God, particularly through his innovative doctrine of election.
http://wn.com/Karl_Barth
Karl Marx
http://wn.com/Karl_Marx
Lev Shestov
Lev Isaakovich Shestov (), born Yehuda Leyb Schwarzmann (), was a Ukrainian/Russian existentialist philosopher. Born in Kiev (Russian Empire) on , he emigrated to France in 1921, fleeing from the aftermath of the October Revolution. He lived in Paris until his death on November 19, 1938.
http://wn.com/Lev_Shestov
Loyal Rue
Dr. Loyal D. Rue is professor of religion and philosophy at Luther College of Decorah, Iowa , and focuses on naturalistic theories of religion.
http://wn.com/Loyal_Rue
Maimonides
http://wn.com/Maimonides
Manichaeism
http://wn.com/Manichaeism
Martin Buber
http://wn.com/Martin_Buber
Mazdak
http://wn.com/Mazdak
Mircea Eliade
http://wn.com/Mircea_Eliade
Mizrahi
http://wn.com/Mizrahi
Mozi
http://wn.com/Mozi
Nahmanides
http://wn.com/Nahmanides
Olelbis
Olelbis (meaning "he who is above") is the creator deity in Wintun mythology. The antagonist of Olelbis is Sedit.
http://wn.com/Olelbis
Paul Tillich
http://wn.com/Paul_Tillich
Pavel Florensky
http://wn.com/Pavel_Florensky
Peter Geach
Peter Thomas Geach (; born March 29, 1916) is a British philosopher. His areas of interest are the history of philosophy, philosophical logic, and the theory of identity.
http://wn.com/Peter_Geach
Pharaoh
http://wn.com/Pharaoh
Plato
:For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation) and Platon (disambiguation).
http://wn.com/Plato
Pope Damasus I
Pope Saint Damasus I ( ) was pope from 366 to 384.
http://wn.com/Pope_Damasus_I
Pope Innocent XI
Blessed Pope Innocent XI (16 May 1611 – 12 August 1689), born Benedetto Odescalchi, was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1676 to 1689.
http://wn.com/Pope_Innocent_XI
Ralph T.H. Griffith
http://wn.com/Ralph_TH_Griffith
Rama
http://wn.com/Rama
Rambam
http://wn.com/Rambam
Reinhold Niebuhr
Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (; June 21, 1892 – June 1, 1971) was an American theologian and commentator on public affairs. Niebuhr was the archetypal American intellectual of the Cold War era. Starting as a leftist minister in the 1920s indebted to theological liberalism, he shifted to the new Neo-Orthodox theology in the 1930s, explaining how the sin of pride created evil in the world. He attacked utopianism as useless for dealing with reality, writing in The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness (1944):
http://wn.com/Reinhold_Niebuhr
René Descartes
http://wn.com/René_Descartes
René Guénon
http://wn.com/René_Guénon
Richard Swinburne
Richard G. Swinburne (born 26 December 1934) is an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford. Over the last 50 years Swinburne has been a very influential proponent of natural theology, that is, philosophical arguments for the existence of God. His philosophical contributions are primarily in philosophy of religion and philosophy of science. He aroused much discussion with his early work in the philosophy of religion, a trilogy of books consisting of The Coherence of Theism, The Existence of God, and Faith and Reason.
http://wn.com/Richard_Swinburne
Roman Emperors
http://wn.com/Roman_Emperors
Romanian philosophy
Romanian philosophy is a name covering either a) the philosophy done in Romania or by Romanians, or b) an ethnic philosophy, which expresses at a high level the fundamental features of the Romanian spirituality, or which elevates to a philosophical level the Weltanschauung of the Romanian people, as deposited in language and folklore, traditions, architecture and other linguistic and cultural artifacts.
http://wn.com/Romanian_philosophy
Russian philosophy
http://wn.com/Russian_philosophy
Sepharadi
http://wn.com/Sepharadi
Sergei Bulgakov
Fr. Sergei Nikolaevich Bulgakov () ( - July 12, 1944) was a Russian Orthodox theologian, philosopher and economist.
http://wn.com/Sergei_Bulgakov
Shoghi Effendi
http://wn.com/Shoghi_Effendi
Sigmund Freud
http://wn.com/Sigmund_Freud
Swaminarayan
http://wn.com/Swaminarayan
Søren Kierkegaard
http://wn.com/Søren_Kierkegaard
Taryenyawagon
http://wn.com/Taryenyawagon
Vallabha
http://wn.com/Vallabha
Vallabha Sampradaya
http://wn.com/Vallabha_Sampradaya
Vasudeva
::For the Kushan king, see Vasudeva I. For the book by Narendra Kohli, see Vasudeva (book).
http://wn.com/Vasudeva
Vilna Gaon
Elijah ben Shlomo Zalman, () known as the Vilna Gaon or Elijah of Vilna and simply by his Hebrew acronym Gra ("Gaon Rabbenu Eliyahu"), (b. Vilnius April 23, 1720, d. Vilaus October 9, 1797), was a Talmudist, halachist, kabbalist, and the foremost leader of non-hasidic Jewry of the past few centuries. He is commonly referred to in Hebrew as ''ha'Gaon ha'Chasid mi'Vilna'', "the saintly genius from Vilnius."
http://wn.com/Vilna_Gaon
William Alston
http://wn.com/William_Alston
William James
:This article is about the American psychologist and philosopher. For other people named William James see William James (disambiguation)
http://wn.com/William_James
William L. Rowe
William Leonard Rowe (born 26 July 1931) is a professor emeritus of philosophy at Purdue University who specialises in the philosophy of religion. His work has played a leading role in the "remarkable revival of analytic philosophy of religion since the 1970s". He is most notable for his formulation of the evidential argument from evil.
http://wn.com/William_L_Rowe
William Lane Craig
William Lane Craig (born August 23, 1949) is an American Evangelical Christian apologist, theologian, and analytic philosopher known for his contributions to the philosophy of religion, historical Jesus studies, and the philosophy of time. He is one of the most visible contemporary proponents of natural theology, often participating in debates on the existence of God. In 1979, Craig authored The Kalam Cosmological Argument, a modern defense of the kalam cosmological argument—which is today the most published-on contemporary argument for theism in the philosophy of religion.
http://wn.com/William_Lane_Craig
William Whewell
William Whewell (24 May 1794 – 6 March 1866) was an English polymath, scientist, Anglican priest, philosopher, theologian, and historian of science. His surname is .
http://wn.com/William_Whewell
William Wollaston
http://wn.com/William_Wollaston
Zoroaster
http://wn.com/Zoroaster

Birth of Monotheism - Origins of God

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published: 25 Jun 2009

Why The Monotheist's God Is Too Improbable To Believe, Even On Faith

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published: 30 Aug 2010

Pure Monotheism of Islam vs Pagan beliefs and Superstitions-TheDeenshow

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published: 05 Jan 2012

How Monotheism destroyed community

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published: 12 Mar 2008

The Birth of Monotheism: Great Hymn to the Aten

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published: 08 Aug 2010

Welcome to Christian Monotheism.com #1

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published: 28 Aug 2010

Monotheism - Luck-One Feat. Braille & Gen.Erik

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published: 08 Mar 2011

Time to Talk about Trinity, Monotheism and Panentheism

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published: 08 Jan 2012

Monotheist - Unforsaken

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published: 07 Oct 2011

Clip 3: Monotheism and empire (Templeton Foundation)

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published: 29 Jun 2009

Bible Secrets (8/8) - Birth of monotheism, modern Judaism and finalizing the Torah.

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published: 06 Aug 2010

Lesson 01 : Monotheism in Islam

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published: 19 Jul 2007

What is Islamic Monotheism? (part 1)

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published: 11 Nov 2009

Theism Atheism Deism Pantheism Polytheism Monotheism Agnosticism

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published: 11 Aug 2012

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Virgin for sale: Website auctions off virginity of college student for $780,000 (Video)

The Examiner

26 Oct 2012

Related topics virgin auctionvirginity auction Advertisement A 20 year-old Brazilian student has sold her virginity for the sum of $780,000 through an online auction on a website simply called Virgins...

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Photo: AP / Themba Hadebe

Mine workers sing a dance during a memorial service at the Lonmin Platinum Mine near Rustenburg, South Africa, Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012. Police shot and killed 34 striking miners and wounded 78 others last week. Demands for higher wages spread to at least two other mines, raising fears of further protests at more South African mines that provide most of the world's platinum.

News Flash: Gandhi Just Murdered in South Africa

WorldNews.com

29 Oct 2012

Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. Yesterday while protesting with striking mine workers in South Africa, Mohandas Gandhi was gunned down by heavily armed security forces. Gandhi, who...

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Photo: US Navy / MCS2 Justin Ailes

Hurricane Sandy makes landfall at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, October 24, 2012.

Slow-moving Hurricane Sandy marches toward East Coast

CNBC

27 Oct 2012

MIAMI (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy pulled away from the Bahamas on Saturday after killing at least 41 people in the Caribbean, beginning a slow march toward the U.S. East Coast where it threatens to...

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Photo: AP / Robert F. Bukaty

In this May 6, 2012 file photo, Gov. Paul LePage speaks at the Maine Republican Convention in Augusta, Maine. LePage met with representatives from two Jewish groups on Friday, July 13, 2012, following comments he has made comparing the Internal Revenue Service to the Gestapo

The New Gestapo Politics

WorldNews.com

28 Oct 2012

Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling Even though Maine's Governor, Paul LePage, apologized for making comments for comparing the Affordable Health Care Act and Internal Revenue Service (IRS)...

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Photo: AP / Khin Maung Win

A Rakhine refugee lies on a bed under medical treatment at Sittwe hospital in Sittwe, Rakhine State, western Myanmar, Friday, Oct. 26, 2012.

Burma: HRW satellite images 'show Rakhine destruction'

BBC News

27 Oct 2012

A human rights group has released pictures showing what appears to be the destruction of a western Burmese district riven by ethnic unrest. Human Rights Watch says more than 800 buildings and...

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Why are they leaving traditional churches? The Exodus explained 28 Oct 2012

The Gleaner Ian Boyne, Contributor The Gleaner has done an excellent job in reporting on the decline in membership of traditional churches and the rise of the Adventists and Pentecostals/Charismatics, drawing on statistics from the latest Jamaican census. Beginning with its lead story in last week's Sunday...(size: 10.9Kb)

The Demonization of Dissent in the United States 27 Oct 2012

The People's Voice {Note: you may share, email or post this essay for others to read. Feel free to email to friends, representatives, and news organizations, etc.} On Oct. 3rd, 2012 Wired.Comâs (or Wired Magazineâs) Danger Room came out with Spencer Ackermanâs story of a leaked although unclassified U.S. Army...(size: 36.8Kb)

A relook at the life of Prophet Mohamed 27 Oct 2012

The Hindu A video titled 'Innocence of Muslims' released this year defaming Islam and its founder Prophet Mohamed had angered Muslims across the globe. Though the video as such had been banned in India by YouTube following a request from the Centre, parts of it could still be watched in the same website...(size: 3.4Kb)

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the Mormon cult (Video) 23 Oct 2012

The Examiner Related topics MormonBilly GrahamMitt RomneyMormon CultChristian Apologetics Advertisement In part 1 and part 2 we noted that in his ever expanding crusade to preach the pseudo-gospel of universalism Billy Graham’s Evangelistic Association has taken it upon itself to redefine both Christian as well...(size: 16.2Kb)

Understanding And Harmonization of Religion and Science 22 Oct 2012

The Examiner Related topics wwwmtatvAHMADIYYA MUSLIM COMMUNITY CALGARY Advertisement The Chinese tell of a time during the Hsia dynasty, in the third millennium before Jesus, when our cosmic environment suddenly changed. Ten suns appeared in the sky. The people on earth suffered greatly from the heat, so the...(size: 16.5Kb)

How does the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association define “cult” (Video) 21 Oct 2012

The Examiner Related topics MormonBilly GrahamMitt RomneyMormon CultChristian Apologetics Advertisement In the previous segment we noted that in his ever expanding crusade to preach the pseudo-gospel of universalism Billy Graham’s Evangelistic Association has taken it upon itself to redefine both Christian as...(size: 12.2Kb)

The Story of Hajj starts with an introduction about Prophet Ibrahim or Abraham (alaihis salaam) 20 Oct 2012

The Siasat Daily October 20: IBRAHIM (Abraham) (a.s.) Abraham (a.s.) is a figure revered by Muslims, Jews, and Christians alike as a righteous person who lived over four thousand years ago. His story can be found in the Bible as well as the Qur'an (the Muslim holy book). Abraham (a.s.) is considered to be the...(size: 6.5Kb)

What non-Muslims say about Muhammad: Part I 18 Oct 2012

The Examiner Related topics muhammad Advertisement Stanley Lane-Poole wrote that it was thus that Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) entered again his native city and forgave those who were his blood-thirsty enemies. She writes that through all the annals of conquest there is no triumphant entry...(size: 9.4Kb)

Prophet Mohammad and Islam 18 Oct 2012

GroundReport Â Prophet Mohammad, born in the holy city of Mecca is the propounded of Islam. The parts of the Bible called the Old Testament are considered as the teachings and the earlier tradition Islam. The Muslims believe Mohammad as...(size: 1.5Kb)

Tunisia: Attackers set fire to Muslim saint shrine 16 Oct 2012

San Francisco Chronicle TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Five masked men on Tuesday stormed into a 500-year-old shrine to a female Muslim saint near the capital Tunis that had previously been threatened by religious conservatives and set it on fire, the Interior Ministry said....(size: 1.6Kb)

Israeli airstrike kills al-Qaida militant 15 Oct 2012

Newsday GAZA CITY, -- Israel claimed a significant blow against al-Qaida-inspired militants in the Strip Sunday, killing one of the most influential leaders from an extreme branch of Islam that has targeted and Gaza's rulers as well as Israel. Hisham Saidani, 43, was killed alongside another militant in the...(size: 8.3Kb)

Top Gaza militant killed in Israeli airstrike 14 Oct 2012

The Hindu Israel killed a top leader of an al-Qaida-inspired Gaza group in an airstrike, the military said on Sunday, delivering a significant blow...(size: 0.9Kb)

Israeli airstrike kills senior Gaza militant 14 Oct 2012

my SA GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel killed a top leader of an al-Qaida-inspired Gaza group in an airstrike, the military said Sunday, a significant blow in Israel's campaign against the shadowy fighters. Hisham Saidani was killed with his bodyguard in an airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip late...(size: 4.9Kb)

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"Monotheist" redirects here. For the Celtic Frost album, see Monotheist (album).

God
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General conceptions
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Monotheism (from Greek μόνος, monos, "single", and θεός, theos, "god") is the belief in the existence of one god or in the oneness of God.^[1]. Monotheism is characteristic of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, most denominations of Christianity, Islam, Sabianism) and also recognizable in numerous other religions such as Zoroastrianism, Bahá'í Faith, Sikhism and even Hinduism.^[2]

Origin and development [link]

The word monotheism is derived from the Greek μόνος (monos)^[3] meaning "single" and θεός (theos)^[4] meaning "god".^[5] The English term was first used by Henry More (1614–1687).^[6]

Some writers such as Karen Armstrong believe that the concept of monotheism sees a gradual development out of notions of henotheism (worshiping a single god while accepting the existence or possible existence of other deities) and monolatrism (the recognition of the existence of many gods, but with the consistent worship of only one deity).^{[citation needed]}^{[dubious – discuss]} However, the historical incidences of monotheism are so rare, that it's difficult to support any theory of the natural progression of religions from polytheism to henotheism to monotheism.^{[citation needed]}

Two examples of monolatrism developing from polytheism are the Aten cult in the reign of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten, as well as the rise of Marduk from the tutelary of Babylon to the claim of universal supremacy.

In Iran, Zoroastrianism, Ahura Mazda appears as a supreme and transcendental deity. Depending on the date of Zoroaster (usually placed in the early Iron Age), this may be one of the earliest documented instances of the emergence of monism in an Indo-European religion.

In the ancient Near East, each city had a local patron deity, such as Shamash at Larsa or Sin at Ur. The first claims of global supremacy of a specific god date to the Late Bronze Age, with Akhenaten's Great Hymn to the Aten (speculatively connected to Judaism by Sigmund Freud in his Moses and Monotheism). However the date of the Exodus is disputed, and it is not definitive whether the setting of the biblical Exodus event is prior to or following Akhenaten's reign. Furthermore it is not clear to what extent Akhenaten's Atenism was monotheistic rather than henotheistic with Akhenaten himself identified with the god Aten.

Currents of monism or monotheism emerge in Vedic India earlier, with e.g. the Nasadiya Sukta. In the Indo-Iranian tradition, the Rigveda exhibits notions of monism, in particular in the comparatively late tenth book, also dated to the early Iron Age, e.g. in the Nasadiya sukta.

Ethical monotheism and the associated concept of absolute good and evil emerge in Zoroastrianism and Judaism, later culminating in the doctrines of Christology in early Christianity and later (by the 7th century) in the tawhid in Islam. In Islamic theology, a person who spontaneously "discovers" monotheism is called a ḥanīf, the original ḥanīf being Abraham.

Austrian anthropologist Wilhelm Schmidt in the 1910s postulated an Urmonotheismus, "original" or "primitive monotheism."

Definitions [link]

Conceptions of God
Bahá'í
Buddhist
Christian
Hindu
Islamic
Jain
Jewish
Mormon
Sikh
Zoroastrian
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Further information: Comparative religion, Conceptions of God, and Theism

Monotheism is the belief in a singular God, in contrast to polytheism, the belief in several deities. Polytheism can, however, be reconcilable with inclusive monotheism (monolatrism) or other forms of monism. The distinction between inclusive monotheism and polytheism is not clear or objective in light of that.

Forms of Monotheism [link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Deism posits the existence of a single god, the Designer of the designs in Nature. Some Deists believe in an impersonal god that does not intervene in the world, while other Deists believe in intervention through Providence.
Trinitarian monotheism is the Christian doctrine of belief in one God who is three distinct persons; God the Father (Yahweh), God the Son (Christ Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost).
Monotheism is often contrasted with theistic dualism (ditheism). However, in dualistic theologies such as that of Gnosticism, the two deities are not of equal rank, and the role of the Gnostic demiurge is closer to that of the Devil^[7] in Christian trinitarian theology than a diarch on equal terms with God (who is represented in pantheistic fashion, as Pleroma).
Henotheism involves devotion to a single god while accepting the existence of other gods. Though similar, it contrasts drastically with monotheism, the worship of a single deity independent of the ontological claims regarding that deity. Hinduism is sometimes overgeneralized to as henotheistic.^[8]
Monism is the type of monotheism found in Hinduism, encompassing pantheism and panentheism, and at the same time the concept of a personal god.
Pantheism holds that the universe itself is God. The existence of a transcendent being extraneous to nature is denied.
Panentheism is a form of monistic monotheism which holds that God is all of existence, containing, but not identical to, the Universe. The one God is omnipotent and all-pervading, the universe is part of God, and God is both immanent and transcendent.
Substance monotheism, found in some indigenous African religions, holds that the many gods are different forms of a single underlying substance.
Tawhīd is a rigorous form of monotheism practiced by Muslims and Jehovah's Witnesses which among other things specifically rejects via creedal formula the notion of Christ being begotten of the Father before all ages. It holds that God the Father is the supreme agent in the Universe with none equal or related to him.

Indo-European religions [link]

Proto-Indo-European religion [link]

Main article: Proto-Indo-European religion

In the Proto-Indo-European religion, the supreme god is Dyeus, as the word "Dyeus" is literally used in many Indo-European language cognates to denote a supreme god.

In western Eurasia, the ancient traditions of the Slavic religion had elements of monotheism, of a supreme deity known by many names worshiped by some tribes. The most common name of the supreme deity is Perun and was identified with the Christian God after Christianization.

In speaking of Henotheism, Indo-European religions have had shifting tendencies regarding their supreme god. Consider the ruler of lightning: the supreme god Zeus, Perun, Jupiter controlled lightning himself; while in Norse mythology Odin delegated the power of lighting to his son Thor. In this vein, phenomena controlled by any single henotheistic god differ widely among various Indo-European religions.

Indo-Iranian religions [link]

Main article: Proto-Indo-Iranian religion

Indian religions [link]

Hinduism [link]

Main articles: God in Hinduism and Hindu views on monotheism

Sikhism [link]

Main articles: Sikhism primary beliefs and principles, Ik Onkar, and Mul Mantra

A Sikh temple, known as Nanaksar Gurudwara, in Alberta, Canada.

Sikhi is a monotheistic^[30]^[31] and a revealed religion.^[32] God in Sikhi is called Vāhigurū, and is shapeless, timeless, and sightless: niraṅkār, akaal, and alakh. God is present (sarav viāpak) in all of creation. God must be seen from "the inward eye", or the "heart". Sikhi devotees must meditate to progress towards enlightenment, as its rigorous application permits the existence of communication between God and human beings.^[33]

Sikhism is a monotheistic faith^[34]^[35] that arose in northern India 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:

Punjabi: ੴ ਸਤਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਕਰਤਾ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਨਿਰਭਉ ਨਿਰਵੈਰੁ ਅਕਾਲ ਮੂਰਤਿ ਅਜੂਨੀ ਸੈਭੰ ਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥

Transliteration: Ik ōaṅkār (or ikoo) sat nām karatā purakh nirabha'u niravair akāl mūrat ajūnī saibhaṁ gur prasād.

English: There is only One God. The Name Is Truth. Creative Being Personified. No Fear. No Hatred. Image Of The Timeless One, Beyond Birth, Self-Existent. By Guru's Grace ~

The word "ੴ" ("Ik ōaṅkār") has two components. The first is ੧, the digit "1" in Gurmukhi signifying the singularity of the creator. Together the word means: "There is only one god".

It is often said that the 1430 pages of the Guru Granth Sahib are all expansions on the Mul Mantra. Although the Sikhs have many names for God, some derived from Islam and Hinduism, they all refer to the same Supreme Being.

The Sikh holy scriptures refer to the One God who pervades the whole of space and is the creator of all beings in the universe. The following quotation from the Guru Granth Sahib highlights this point:

"Chant, and meditate on the One God, who permeates and pervades the many beings of the whole Universe. God created it, and God spreads through it everywhere. Everywhere I look, I see God. The Perfect Lord is perfectly pervading and permeating the water, the land and the sky; there is no place without Him."

—Guru Granth Sahib, Page 782

However there is a strong case for arguing that the Guru Granth Sahib teaches monism due to its non-dualistic tendencies:

Punjabi: "ਸਹਸ ਪਦ ਬਿਮਲ ਨਨ ਏਕ ਪਦ ਗੰਧ ਬਿਨੁ ਸਹਸ ਤਵ ਗੰਧ ਇਵ ਚਲਤ ਮੋਹੀ ॥੨॥"
English: "You have thousands of Lotus Feet, and yet You do not have even one foot. You have no nose, but you have thousands of noses. This Play of Yours entrances me."

Sikhs believe that God has been given many names, but they all refer to the One God, VāhiGurū. Sikhs believe that members of other religions such as Islam, Hinduism and Christianity all worship the same God, and the names Allah, Rahim, Karim, Hari, Raam and Paarbrahm are frequently mentioned in the Sikh holy scriptures. Although there is no set reference to God in Sikhism, the most commonly used Sikh reference to God is Akal Purakh (which means "the true immortal") or Waheguru, the Primal Being.

Iranian religions [link]

Main article: Iranian religions

Zoroastrianism [link]

Main article: Zoroastrianism

Faravahar (or Ferohar), one of the primary symbols of Zoroastrianism, believed to be the depiction of a Fravashi (guardian spirit)

Zoroastrianism idiosyncratically combines cosmogonic dualism and escathological monotheism which makes it unique among the religions of the world. Zoroastrianism proclaims an evolution through time from dualism to monotheism.^[36]

Zoroastrianism is a monotheistic religion^[37] (although early Zoroastrianism is often regarded^[who?] as dualist) which was once one of the largest religions on Earth. Zoroastrianism is generally believed to have been founded around the 1st millennium BCE.^[38] By some scholars,^[who?] the Zoroastrians ("Parsis" or "Zartoshtis") are credited with being the first monotheists and having had significant influence in the formation of currently larger world religions. Figures put the number of adherents at up to 3.5 million,^[39] ranging from regions in South Asia and spread across the globe.

Bahá'í Faith [link]

Main article: God in the Bahá'í Faith

Bahá'í House of Worship, Langenhain, Germany

God in the Bahá'í Faith is too great for humans to fully comprehend and human primitive understanding of God is achieved through his revelations via his divine intermediary Manifestations.^[40]^[41] In the Bahá'í faith, such Christian doctrines as the Trinity are seen as compromising the Bahá'í view that God is single and has no equal.^[42] And the very existence of the Bahá'í Faith is a challenge to the Islamic doctrine of the finality of Muhammad's revelation.^[43] God in the Bahá'í Faith communicates to humanity through divine intermediaries, known as Manifestations of God.^[44] These Manifestations establish religion in the world.^[41] It is through these divine intermediaries that humans can approach God, and through them God brings divine revelation and law.^[45]

The Bahá'í view of God is monotheistic. God is the imperishable, uncreated being who is the source of all existence.^[46] He is described as "a personal God, unknowable, inaccessible, the source of all Revelation, eternal, omniscient, omnipresent and almighty".^[47]^[48] Although transcendent and inaccessible directly, his image is reflected in his creation. The purpose of creation is for the created to have the capacity to know and love its creator.^[49] God communicates his will and purpose to humanity through intermediaries, known as Manifestations of God, who are the prophets and messengers that have founded religions from prehistoric times up to the present day.^[44]

The Oneness of God is one of the core teachings of the Bahá'í Faith. Bahá'ís believe that there is one supernatural being, God, who has created all existence. God is described as "a personal God, unknowable, inaccessible, the source of all rvievelation, eternal, omniscient, omnipresent and almighty."^[50]

God is taught to be a personal god, too great for humans to fully understand him. The obligatory prayers in the Bahá'í Faith involve explicit monotheistic testimony.^[51]^[52]

European religions [link]

Hellenistic religion [link]

Main article: Hellenistic religion

Remains of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, Greece.

"The One" (Τὸ Ἕν) is a concept that arises in Platonism, although the writings of Plato himself are still cast in polytheistic terminology. The Euthyphro dilemma, for example, is formulated as "Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?" But Plato prefigures monotheism by looking for the absolute Truth, as in the allegory of the cave, and the absolute Good, as in the Form of the Good. Later, Hellenistic religion, including Hellenistic Judaism, and especially Neoplatonism, formulate monotheism explicitly.

The development of pure (philosophical) monotheism is a product of the Late Antiquity. During the 2nd to 3rd centuries, early Christianity was just one of several competing religious movements advocating monotheism.

A number of oracles of Apollo from Didyma and Clarus, the so-called "theological oracles", dated to the 2nd and 3rd century AD, proclaim that there is only one highest god, of whom the gods of polytheistic religions are mere manifestations or servants.^[53] Similarly, the cult of Dionysus as practiced in Cyprus seems to have developed into strict monotheism by the 4th century; together with Mithraism and other sects the cult formed an instance of "pagan monotheism" in direct competition with Early Christianity during Late Antiquity.^[54]

Aristotle's concept of the "Uncaused Cause" - never incorporated into the polytheistic ancient Greek religion - has been used by many exponents of Abrahamic religions to justify their arguments for the existence of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic God of the Abrahamic religions.

The Hypsistarians were a religious group who believed in a most high god, according to Greek documents. Later revisions of this Hellenic religion were adjusted towards Monotheism as it gained consideration among a wider populace. The worship of Zeus as the head-god signaled a trend in the direction of monotheism, with less honour paid to the fragmented powers of the lesser gods.

Abrahamic religions [link]

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Further information: Abrahamic religion

The major source of monotheism in the modern Western World is the narrative of the Hebrew Bible, the scripture of Judaism. The text of the Bible states that Judaism began with divine revelations from "God most high" to Abraham [Gen. 14-15] and to the people of Israel through Moses [Exodus 20]. The understanding of the transmitters of the biblical text was that the Bible uniformly presents one God as creator of the world and the only power controlling history. In their understanding, references to other "gods" are to non-existent entities or angelic servants of God, to whom humans mistakenly ascribe reality and power. e.g. Babylonian Talmud, Megilla 7b-17a.

Early Christianity, originally one of many sects within Judaism, emerged as a distinctive religious tradition around the beginning of the second century when Christians refused to join the Bar Kokhba revolt. Its form of monotheism was distinctive from that of Judaism in that there was a concept that the Godhead was revealed to be three "persons" known today as the Holy Trinity. Islam emerged in the 7th century CE as a reaction to both Christianity and Judaism, drawing from thematic elements of Gnosticism^[55] ^[56] ^[57] ^[58] ^[59] ^[60] ^[61] ^[62] ^[63] ^[64] ^[65] ^[66] ^[67] ^[68] ^[69] ^[70] and stating that the Christian and Jewish scriptures were corrupted, but with a version of monotheism based on that of Judaism.^{[citation needed]}

As they traditionally profess a concept of monotheism with a singular person as God, Judaism^[71] and Islam reject the Christian idea of monotheism. Judaism uses the term Shituf to refer to ways of worshiping God that Jews don't think is monotheistic. Muslims deny the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and divinity of Jesus, often misconstruing it to be polytheism.^[72]. Likewise some scholars^[73] compare Islam to polytheism due in part to the history and original use of the Kaaba as a reliquary for pagan idols and references to Al-Lat, Al-’Uzza, and Manat which were redacted from later Korans.

Judaism [link]

Main articles: God in Judaism and Names of God in Judaism

Tzedakah motive on a Jewish gravestone. Jewish cemetery in Otwock (Karczew-Anielin)

For nearly four millennia, Judaism has been steadfast for monotheism and against paganism, polytheism, and anti-semitism. The Midrash tells, that as a young boy, the patriarch Abraham destroyed the idols in his fathers studio. One rabbi stated recently in a book, which was denounced as a heresy by Orthodox rabbis^[74], that the difference between creator and creation is inviolable, the belief, that God can be human is the utmost heresy.^[71] God in Judaism is strictly monotheistic.^[75] The God of Israel is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who is the ultimate cause of all existence. He delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt, and gave the Shabbat and the 613 Mitzvot only to the Jews and the Seven Laws of Noah to all human-kind. YHWH (Hebrew: יהוה‎) is the proper Name of God in Judaism. Another name of God is Elohim, designating his justice. Elohim relates to the interaction between God and the creation, and it means "the One who is the totality of powers, forces and causes in the universe". God is an indivisible one God, as the Shema Yisrael states, it's first, pivotal, words are:

שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד - Sh'ma Yisra'el YHWH Eloheinu YHWH Eḥad - "Attention Israel, Adonay God, Adonay One".

The Hebrew Bible commands the Israelites not to worship other gods, but only the God of Israel who brought them out of Egypt (Ex. 20:1-4; Deut. 5:6-7).

While the creation story in Genesis Ch. 01, which is similar to Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation story by the god Marduk after his defeat of Tiamat, offers a monotheistic alternative to the Mesopotamian myth, Second Isaiah makes this explicit.^{[citation needed]}^{[original research?]} It was Yahweh, not Marduk, who defeated primeval chaos, the "great deep" (Isa 51:10), Second Isaiah repeatedly says, it was Yahweh, not Marduk, who created the world; Isaiah 40:12 "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?" It was Yahweh, not Marduk, who formed light and created darkness; Isaiah 45:7 "I form light and create darkness, I make weal and create woe; I the Lord do all these things. "Moreover, unlike Marduk, Yahweh did it alone without any assistance; Isaiah 44:24 "I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by myself spread out the earth", Isaiah 43:10 "Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me."^{[original research?]}

The concept of Yahweh enlarged through the exile of Babylon and Yahweh was responsible for what happened to Israel. All the events and enemies around Israel were instruments in the divine hand because Yahweh is the only God and no other gods existed.^[76] -- were is the relevance here? -->

One of the best-known statements of Rabbinical Judaism on monotheism occurs in Maimonides' 13 Principles of faith, Second Principle:

God, the Cause of all, is one. This does not mean one as in one of a pair, nor one like a species (which encompasses many individuals), nor one as in an object that is made up of many elements, nor as a single simple object that is infinitely divisible. Rather, God is a unity unlike any other possible unity. This is referred to in the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:4): "Hear Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one."

There has historically been disagreement between the Hasidic Jews and the Mitnagdim Jews on various Jewish philosophical issues surrounding certain concepts of monotheism. A similar situation of differing views is seen in modern times among Dor Daim, students of the Rambam, segments of Lithuanian Jewry, and portions of the Modern Orthodox world toward Jewish communities that are more thoroughly influenced by Lurianic Kabbalistic teachings such as Hasidism and large segments of the Sepharadi and Mizrahi communities. This dispute is likely rooted in the differences between what are popularly referred to as the "philosophically inclined" sources and the "kabbalistic sources;" the "philosophic sources" include such Rabbis as Saadia Gaon, Rabenu Bahya ibn Paquda, Abraham ibn Ezra, and Maimonides. The "kabbalistic sources" include Rabbis such as Nahmanides, Bahya ben Asher, Isaac the Blind, and Azriel. The Vilna Gaon is usually granted great respect in modern times by those who side with both views; by the more kabbalistic segments of Judaism he is regarded as a great kabbalist; those who take the other side of the issue regard him as a strict advocate of the people of Israel's historical monotheism.

The Shema [link]

Main article: Shema

File:Shema.JPG

The first paragraph of the Shema seen in a Torah scroll

Judaism's earliest history, beliefs, laws, and practices are preserved and taught in the Torah (the first part of the Hebrew Bible), dating from around 600 BCE. It provides a clear textual source for the rise and development of what is named Judaism's ethical monotheism which means that:

(1) There is one God from whom emanates one morality for all humanity. (2) God's primary demand of people is that they act decently toward one another...The God of ethical monotheism is the God first revealed to the world according to the Jewish Bible. Through it, we can establish God's four primary characteristics:

God is supernatural.
God is personal.
God is good.
God is holy.

...in the study of Hebrew history: Israel's monotheism was an ethical monotheism. Dennis Prager

When Moses returned with the Ten Commandments, the second of those stated that "you shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3), right after the first, which affirmed the existence of God. Furthermore, Israelites recite the Shema Yisrael ("Hear, O Israel") which partly says, "Hear, O Israel: YHWH is our God, YHWH is one," meaning that Israel was to worship none of the gods of other peoples. Monotheism was and is the central tenet of the Israelite and the Jewish religion.

**The Shema**
Hebrew	שמע ישראל יי אלהנו יי אחד
Common transliteration	Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad
English	Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God! The Lord is One!

The literal word meanings are roughly as follows:

Shema — 'listen' or 'hear.' The word also implies comprehension.
Yisrael — 'Israel', in the sense of the people or congregation of Israel
Adonai — often translated as 'Lord', it is used in place of the Tetragrammaton
Eloheinu — 'our God', a plural noun (said to imply majesty rather than plural number) with a pronominal suffix ('our')
Echad — 'one'

In this case, Elohim is used in the plural as a form of respect and not polytheism.

Gen.1:26 And Elohim said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Elohim is morphologically plural in form in Hebrew, but generally takes singular agreement when it refers to the God of Israel (so the verb meaning "said" in this verse is vayyomer ויאמר with singular inflection, and not vayyomru ויאמרו with plural inflection), and yet in this case the "our" and "us" seems to create a presumption of plurality, though it may just be God talking to angels and not another god.

Judaism, however, insists that the "Lord is One," as in the Shema, and at least two interpretations exist to explain the Torah's use of the plural form. The first is that the plural form "Elohim" is analogous to the royal plural as used in English. The second is that, in order to set an example for human kings, Elohim consulted with his court (the angels, just created) before making a major decision (creating man).

Christianity [link]

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Attributes of God
Part of a series on the

Aseity Eternity Graciousness Holiness Immanence Immutability Impassibility Impeccability Incorporeality Love Mission Omnibenevolence Omnipotence Omnipresence Omniscience Oneness Providence Righteousness Simplicity Transcendence Trinity Veracity Wrath
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Main article: God in Christianity

From earlier then the times of the Nicene Creed, 325 A.D., Christianity advocated^[77] the triune mystery-nature of God as a normative profession of faith^[78] . Christians have held that in scriptural references to 'God the Father' (Philippians 1:2, 1_Peter 1:2) 'God the Son' (John 1:1, 1:14, Hebrews 1:8, Colossians Col 2:9) and 'God the Holy Spirit' (Acts 5:3-4) are referring to or describing the different divine persons. But they also still believe that passages of the New Testament, such as 1 Corinthians 8:4 "There is no God but one,", and the Old Testament, such as Isaiah 45:5 "I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God besides me.", revealing the Christian God as being 'one'.

The Christian notion of a triune Godhead and the doctrine of a man-god Christ Jesus as God incarnate is rejected by adherents of Judaism and Islam. Modern Christians, though, believe their God is triune meaning that the three persons of the Trinity are in one union in which each person is also wholly God. Christians also do not believe that one of the three divine figures is God alone and the other two are not but that all three are mysteriously God and one. Thus all three are in union as one God of one essence, and different from many gods just as God may materialized himself in water, 'one in element' but may be ice, water, or gas without changing its element. This analogy itself however is not descriptive of the Holy Trinity but of Sabellianism which is one God with different modes or "masks."^{[citation needed]} Other sects like Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormonism do not share those views on the Trinity.

Historically, most Christian churches have taught that the nature of God is a mystery, in the original, technical meaning; something that must be revealed by special revelation rather than deduced through general revelation. Among early Christians there was considerable debate over the nature of Godhead, with some denying the incarnation but not the the deity of Jesus (Docetism) and others later calling for an Arian conception of God. Despite at least one earlier local synod rejecting the claim of Arius, this Christological issue was to be one of the items addressed at the First Council of Nicaea.

The First Council of Nicaea, held in Nicaea in Nicaea (in present-day Turkey), convoked by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in 325, was the first ecumenical^[79] council of bishops of the Roman Empire, and most significantly resulted in the first uniform Christian doctrine, called the Nicene Creed. With the creation of the creed, a precedent was established for subsequent 'general (ecumenical) councils of bishops' (synods) to create statements of belief and canons of doctrinal orthodoxy— the intent being to define unity of beliefs for the Church and addressheresies ideas.

One purpose of the council was to resolve disagreements in Alexandria over the nature of Jesus in relationship to the Father; in particular, whether Jesus was of the same substance as God the Father or merely of similar substance. All but two bishops took the first position; while Arius' argument failed.

Christian orthodox traditions (Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and most Protestants) follow this decision, which was reaffirmed in 381 at the First Council of Constantinople and reached its full development through the work of the Cappadocian Fathers. They consider God to be a triune entity, called the Trinity, comprising the three "persons" God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, the three of this unity are described as being "of the same substance" (ὁμοούσιος). Christians overwhelmingly assert that monotheism is central to the Christian faith, as the Nicene Creed (and others), which gives the orthodox Christian definition of the Trinity, begins: "I believe in one God".

Deism is a philosophy of religion which arises in the Christian tradition during the Early Modern period. It postulates that there is a God who however does not intervene in human affairs.

Unitarianism is a Christological doctrine in contrast with Trinitarian Christianity, postulating that Jesus was completely human messiah.^[80]

Islam [link]

Main articles: God in Islam, Tawhid, and Hanif

Quran manuscript from the 7th century CE, written on vellum in the Hijazi script.

God in Islam, Allāh, is a all-powerful and all-knowing God, creator, sustainer, ordainer, and judge of the universe.^[81]^[82] Islam advocates that the God in Islam is strictly singular (tawhid)^[83] unique (wahid) and inherently One (ahad), all-merciful and omnipotent.^[84] Allāh exists without place^[85] and the Qur'an states that "No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision. God is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things" (Qur'an 6:103)^[82] Allāh is the only God and the same God worshiped by members of Christianity and Judaism. (29:46).^[86]

The holy book of Islam, the Qur'an, asserts the existence of a single and absolute truth that transcends the world; a unique and indivisible being who is independent of the creation.^[87] The indivisibility of Allah (God) implies the indivisibility of God's sovereignty which in turn leads to the conception of the universe as just, coherent and moral rather than as an existential and moral chaos (as in polytheism). Similarly the Qur'an rejects the binary modes of thinking such as the idea of a duality of God by arguing that both good and evil generate from God's creative act and that evil forces have no power to create anything. God in Islam is a universal god rather than a local, tribal or parochial one; an absolute who integrates all affirmative values and brooks no evil.^[88]

Tawhid constitutes the foremost article of the Muslim profession.^[89] To attribute divinity to a created entity is the only unpardonable sin mentioned in the Qur'an.^[88] Muslims believe that the entirety of the Islamic teaching rests on the principle of Tawhid (Oneness of God).^[90]

Sabianism [link]

Main article: Sabians

According to the Qur'an, the Sabians were an Abrahamic religious group.^[91] The Hadith accounts them as converts to Islam,^[92] while their identity in later Islamic literature became a matter of discussion and investigation.

Chinese view [link]

Shang Dynasty bronze script character for tian (天), which translates to Heaven and sky.

Main articles: Shangdi, Tian, and Mohism

The orthodox faith system held by most dynasties of China since at least 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.^[93] This faith system pre-dated the development of Confucianism and Taoism and the introduction of Buddhism and Christianity. It has features of monotheism in that Heaven is seen as an omnipotent entity, endowed with personality but no corporeal form. From the writings of Confucius in the Analects, we find that Confucius himself believed that Heaven cannot be deceived, Heaven guides people's lives and maintains a personal relationship with them, and that Heaven gives tasks for people to fulfill in order to teach them of virtues and morality.^[93] However, this faith system was not truly monotheistic since other lesser gods and spirits, which varied with locality, were also worshiped along with Shangdi. Still, variants such as Mohism approached high monotheism, teaching that the function of lesser gods and ancestral spirits is merely to carry out the will of Shangdi, akin to angels in Western civilization. In Mozi's Will of Heaven (天志), he writes:

"I know Heaven loves men dearly not without reason. Heaven ordered the sun, the moon, and the stars to enlighten and guide them. Heaven ordained the four seasons, Spring, Autumn, Winter, and Summer, to regulate them. Heaven sent down snow, frost, rain, and dew to grow the five grains and flax and silk that so the people could use and enjoy them. Heaven established the hills and rivers, ravines and valleys, and arranged many things to minister to man's good or bring him evil. He appointed the dukes and lords to reward the virtuous and punish the wicked, and to gather metal and wood, birds and beasts, and to engage in cultivating the five grains and flax and silk to provide for the people's food and clothing. This has been so from antiquity to the present."

且吾所以知天之愛民之厚者有矣，曰以磨為日月星辰，以昭道之；制為四時春秋冬夏，以紀綱之；雷降雪霜雨露，以長遂五穀麻絲，使民得而財利之；列為山川谿谷，播賦百事，以臨司民之善否；為王公侯伯，使之賞賢而罰暴；賊金木鳥獸，從事乎五穀麻絲，以為民衣食之財。自古及今，未嘗不有此也。

Will of Heaven, Chapter 27, Paragraph 6, ca. 5th Century BCE

Worship of Shangdi and Heaven in ancient China includes the erection of shrines, the last and greatest being the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, and the offering of prayers. The ruler of China in every Chinese dynasty would perform annual sacrificial rituals to Shangdi, usually by slaughtering a completely healthy bull as sacrifice. Although its popularity gradually diminished after the advent of Taoism and Buddhism, among other religions, its concepts remained in use throughout the pre-modern period and have been incorporated in later religions in China, including terminology used by early Christians in China. Despite the rising of non-theistic and pantheistic spirituality contributed by Taoism and Buddhism, Shangdi was still praised up until the end of the Qing Dynasty, surprisingly as the last ruler of Qing declared himself son of heaven, literally son of God.

Islam and Christianity became the forerunners of Monotheism in China there on. The 100-word eulogy written by the founder of the Ming dynasty states his comment on Islam.

Notes [link]

^ "Monotheism", Britannica, 15th ed. (1986), 8:266.
^ monotheism 2012. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 12 January 2012, from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/390101/monotheism
^ Monos, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, at Perseus
^ Theos, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, at Perseus
^ The compound μονοθεισμός is current only in Modern Greek. There is a single attestation of μονόθεον in a Byzantine hymn (Canones Junii 20.6.43; A. Acconcia Longo and G. Schirò, Analecta hymnica graeca, vol. 11 e codicibus eruta Italiae inferioris. Rome: Istituto di Studi Bizantini e Neoellenici. Università di Roma, 1978)
^ More, Henry (1660). An Explanation of the Grand Mystery of Godliness. London: Flesher & Morden. pp. 62.
^ The Jewish concept of Satan is sharply different from the Christian concepts of Satan and the Devil. In short, the Jewish satan is not a fallen angel with own free will but rather an angelic servant of God (an acting force of God) under full control of God himself. The Jewish satan means adversary or prosecutor and is not to be confused with the Christian Antichrist or Devil
^ See Michaels 2004, p. xiv and Gill, N.S. "Henotheism". About, Inc. http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/egyptmyth/g/henotheism.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
^ Rogers, Peter (2009), Ultimate Truth, Book 1, AuthorHouse, p. 109, ISBN 978-1-4389-7968-7, http://books.google.com/?id=e3kf6GtwaT0C&pg=PA109
^ Chakravarti, Sitansu (1991), Hinduism, a way of life, Motilal Banarsidass Publ., p. 71, ISBN 978-81-208-0899-7, http://books.google.com/?id=J_-rASTgw8wC&pg=PA71
^ "Polytheism". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2007. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-38143/polytheism. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
^ Pattanaik, Devdutt (2002), The man who was a woman and other queer tales of Hindu lore, Routledge, p. 38, ISBN 978-1-56023-181-3, http://books.google.com/?id=Odsk9xfOp6oC&pg=PA38
^ http://www.islam101.com/religions/hinduism/conceptOfGod.htm
^ Bhagawan Swaminarayan bicentenary commemoration volume, 1781-1981. p. 154: ...Shri Vallabhacharya [and] Shri Swaminarayan... Both of them designate the highest reality as Krishna, who is both the highest avatara and also the source of other avataras. To quote R. Kaladhar Bhatt in this context. "In this transcendental devotieon (Nirguna Bhakti), the sole Deity and only" is Krishna. New Dimensions in Vedanta Philosophy - Page 154, Sahajānanda, Vedanta. 1981
^ Delmonico, N. (2004). "The History Of Indic Monotheism And Modern Chaitanya Vaishnavism". The Hare Krishna Movement: the Postcharismatic Fate of a Religious Transplant. ISBN 978-0-231-12256-6. http://books.google.com/?id=mBMxPdgrBhoC&pg=PA31&dq=Vaisnava+monotheism. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
^ Elkman, S.M.; Gosvami, J. (1986). Jiva Gosvamin's Tattvasandarbha: A Study on the Philosophical and Sectarian Development of the Gaudiya Vaishnava Movement. Motilal Banarsidass Pub.
^ Dimock Jr, E.C.; Dimock, E.C. (1989). The Place of the Hidden Moon: Erotic Mysticism in the Vaisnava-Sahajiya Cult of Bengal. University Of Chicago Press. page 132
^ Kennedy, M.T. (1925). The Chaitanya Movement: A Study of the Vaishnavism of Bengal. H. Milford, Oxford university press.
^ Flood, Gavin D. (1996). An introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 341. ISBN 0-521-43878-0. http://books.google.com/?id=KpIWhKnYmF0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=gavin+flood. Retrieved 2008-04-21. "Early Vaishnava worship focuses on three deities who become fused together, namely Vasudeva-Krishna, Krishna-Gopala, and Narayana, who in turn all become identified with Vishnu. Put simply, Vasudeva-Krishna and Krishna-Gopala were worshiped by groups generally referred to as Bhagavatas, while Narayana was worshipped by the Pancaratra sect."
^ Gupta, Ravi M. (2007). Caitanya Vaisnava Vedanta of Jiva Gosvami. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-40548-3.
^ Essential Hinduism S. Rosen, 2006, Greenwood Publishing Group p.124 ISBN 0-275-99006-0
^ Matchett, Freda (2000). Krsna, Lord or Avatara? the relationship between Krsna and Visnu: in the context of the Avatara myth as presented by the Harivamsa, the Visnupurana and the Bhagavatapurana. Surrey: Routledge. p. 4. ISBN 0-7007-1281-X.
^ Rig Veda: A Metrically Restored Text with an Introduction and Notes, HOS, 1994
^ Atharva Veda: Spiritual & Philosophical Hymns
^ Shukla Yajur Veda: The transcendental "That"
^ Tapasyananda (1991). Bhakti Schools of Vedānta. Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math. ISBN 81-7120-226-8. http://books.google.com/?id=Q_VtAAAACAAJ.
^ For an overview of the Śatarudriya see: Kramrisch, pp. 71-74.
^ For a full translation of the complete hymn see: Sivaramamurti (1976)
^ For the Śatarudrīya as an early example of enumeration of divine names, see: Flood (1996), p. 152.
^ Mark Juergensmeyer, Gurinder Singh Mann (2006). The Oxford Handbook of Global Religions. US: Oxford University Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-19-513798-9.
^ Ardinger, Barbara (2006). Pagan Every Day: Finding the Extraordinary in Our Ordinary Lives. Weisfer. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-57863-332-6.
^ Nesbitt, Eleanor M. (15 November 2005). Sikhi: a very short introduction. Oxford University Press. p. 136. ISBN 978-0-19-280601-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=fvTK_CfkeasC&pg=PP6. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
^ Parrinder, Geoffrey (1971). World Religions:From Ancient History to the Present. USA: Hamlyn Publishing Group. p. 252. ISBN 978-0-87196-129-7.
^ http://www.religionfacts.com/sikhism/beliefs.htm
^ http://www.multifaithcentre.org/sikhism/71-a-short-introduction-to-sikhism-
^ "Buddhism in China: A Historical Sketch", The Journal of Religion.
^ Boyce, Mary (2007). Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. London: Routledge. pp. 19–20. ISBN 978-0-415-23903-5
^ Encyclopedia of Religion 2nd edition
^ http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Zoroastrianism
^ Hatcher, John S. (2005). Unveiling the Hurí of Love. 15. pp. 1–38.
^ ^a ^b Cole, Juan (1982). The Concept of Manifestation in the Bahá'í Writings. monograph 9. pp. 1–38. http://bahai-library.com/cole_concept_manifestation.
^ Stockman, Robert. "Jesus Christ in the Baha'i Writings". Baha'i Studies Review 2 (1). http://bahai-library.com/articles/stockman.jesus.html.
^ *Lewis, Bernard (1984). The Jews of Islam. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00807-8.
^ ^a ^b Smith, Peter (2008). An Introduction to the Baha'i Faith. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-86251-5.
^ Hatcher, William (1985). The Bahá'í Faith. San Francisco: Harper & Row. ISBN 006065441.
^ Hatcher 1985, p. 74
^ Smith 2008, p. 106
^ Effendi 1944, p. 139
^ Smith 2008, p. 111
^ Effendi, Shoghi (1944). God Passes By. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. p. 139. ISBN 0-87743-020-9. http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/GPB/gpb-9.html#gr26.
^ Smith, P. (1999). A Concise Encyclopedia of the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford, UK: Oneworld Publications. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
^ Momen, M. (1997). A Short Introduction to the Bahá'í Faith. Oxford, UK: One World Publications. ISBN 1-85168-209-0. http://bahai-library.com/momen_short_introduction_bahais.
^ Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, s.v. "Apollo".
^ E. Kessler, Dionysian Monotheism in Nea Paphos, Cyprus: "two monotheistic religions, Dionysian and Christian, existed contemporaneously in Nea Paphos during the 4th century C.E. [...] the particular iconography of Hermes and Dionysos in the panel of the Epiphany of Dionysos [...] represents the culmination of a pagan iconographic tradition in which an infant divinity is seated on the lap of another divine figure; this pagan motif was appropriated by early Christian artists and developed into the standardized icon of the Virgin and Child. Thus the mosaic helps to substantiate the existence of pagan monotheism." [ (Abstract)
^ Tisdall, William (1911). The Sources of Islam: A Persian Treatise. London: Morrison and Gibb LTF. pp. 46-74.
^ Rudolph, Kurt (2001). Gnosis: The Nature And History of Gnosticism. London: T&T Clark Int'l. pp. 367-390. ISBN 978-0567086402.
^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriac_Infancy_Gospel#Quranic_Parallels_With_The_Infancy_Gospels
^ Lawson, Todd (2011). Gnostic Apocalypse and Islam: Qur'an, Exegesis, Messianism and the Literary Origins of the Babi Religion. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415495394.
^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legends_and_the_Quran#Jesus_creates_birds
^ Hoeller, Stephan A. (2002). Gnosticism: New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing. Wheaton, IL, USA: Quest Books. pp. 155-174. ISBN 978-0835608169.
^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legends_and_the_Quran#Jesus_speaks_in_the_cradle
^ Smith, Andrew (2008). The Gnostics: History, Tradition, Scriptures, Influence.. Watkins. ISBN 978-1905857784.
^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legends_and_the_Quran#Mary_and_the_miracle_of_the_Palm_Tree
^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legends_and_the_Quran#Casting_lots_to_care_for_Mary
^ Smith, Andrew (2006). The Lost Sayings of Jesus: Teachings from Ancient Christian, Jewish, Gnostic, and Islamic Sources--Annotated & Explained. Skylight Paths Publishing. ISBN 978-1594731723.
^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legends_and_the_Quran#God_cares_for_Mary}}
^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legends_and_the_Quran#Mary_and_Zechariah
^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legends_and_the_Quran#Satan_and_Ada}
^ Van Den Broek, Roelof (1998). Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times. State University of New York Press. pp. 87-108. ISBN 978-0791436110.
^ Tillman, Nagel (2000). The History of Islamic Theology from Muhammad to the Present. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener Publishers. pp. 215-234. ISBN 978-1558762039.
^ ^a ^b Boteach, Shmuley (5772 (2012)). Kosher Jesus. Springfield, NJ: Gefen Books. pp. 47ff, 111ff, 152ff,. ISBN 9789652295781.
^ Ludovico Marracci (1734), the confessor of Pope Innocent XI, states: William Montgomery Watt, Islam and Christianity today: A Contribution to Dialogue, Routledge, 1983, p.45

That both Mohammed and those among his followers who are reckoned orthodox, had and continue to have just and true notions of God and his attributes, appears so plain from the Koran itself and all the Muslim laws, that it would be loss of time to refute those who suppose the God of Mohammed to be different from the true God.
^ Satanic Verses. For statements by some scholars on this topic, see
- Michael Cook, Muhammad. In Founders of Faith, Oxford University Press, 1986, page 309.
- Etan Kohlberg, A Medieval Muslim Scholar at Work: Ibn Tawus and His Library. Brill, 1992, page 20.
- F.E. Peters, The Hajj, Princeton University Press, 1994, page 37. See also The Monotheists: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Conflict and Competition, Princeton University Press, 2003, page 94.
- William Muir, The Life of Mahomet, Smith, Elder 1878, page 88.
- John D. Erickson, Islam and Postcolonial Narrative. Cambridge University Press, 1990, page 140.
- Thomas Patrick Hughes, A Dictionary of Islam, Asian Educational Services, page 191.
- Maxime Rodinson, Prophet of Islam, Tauris Parke Paperbacks, 2002, page 113.
- Montgomery Watt, Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman. Oxford University Press 1961, page 60.
- Daniel J. Sahas, Iconoclasm. Encyclopedia of the Qur'an, Brill Online.
^ Landsberg, Mitchell. "Rabbi's 'Kosher Jesus' book is denounced as heresy". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/05/local/la-me-kosher-jesus-20120206. Retrieved May 03, 2012.
^ Maimonides, 13 principles of faith, Second Principle
^ Michael D. Coogan, "A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament" page 335-336, Oxford University Press, 2009.

^ Examples of ante-Nicene statements:

“

Hence all the power of magic became dissolved; and every bond of wickedness was destroyed, men's ignorance was taken away, and the old kingdom abolished God Himself appearing in the form of a man, for the renewal of eternal life. — St. Ignatius of Antioch in Letter to the Ephesians, ch.4, shorter version, Roberts-Donaldson translation

”

“

We have also as a Physician the Lord our God Jesus the Christ the only-begotten Son and Word, before time began, but who afterwards became also man, of Mary the virgin. For ‘the Word was made flesh.' Being incorporeal, He was in the body; being impassible, He was in a passable body; being immortal, He was in a mortal body; being life, He became subject to corruption, that He might free our souls from death and corruption, and heal them, and might restore them to health, when they were diseased with ungodliness and wicked lusts — St. Ignatius of Antioch in Letter to the Ephesians, ch.7, shorter version, Roberts-Donaldson translation

”

“

The Church, though dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: ...one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father ‘to gather all things in one,' and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Savior, and King, according to the will of the invisible Father, ‘every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess; to him, and that He should execute just judgment towards all... — St. Irenaeus in Against Heresies, ch.X, v.I

”

“

For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water - Justin Martyr in First Apology, ch. LXI

”

^ "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_of_the_Church_Fathers.
^ Ecumenical, from Koine Greek oikoumenikos, literally meaning worldwide the earliest extant uses of the term for a council are in Eusebius's Life of Constantine 3.6 [1] around 338 "σύνοδον οἰκουμενικὴν συνεκρότει" (he convoked an Ecumenical council), Athanasius's Ad Afros Epistola Synodica in 369 [2], and the Letter in 382 to Pope Damasus I and the Latin bishops from the First Council of Constantinople [3]
^ The dogma of the Trinity at 'Catholic Encyclopedia', ed. Kevin Knight at New Advent website
^ Gerhard Böwering, God and his Attributes, Encyclopedia of the Quran
^ ^a ^b John L. Esposito, Islam: The Straight Path, Oxford University Press, 1998, p.22
^ John L. Esposito, Islam: The Straight Path, Oxford University Press, 1998, p.88
^ "Allah." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica
^ Britannica Encyclopedia, Islam, p. 3
^ F.E. Peters, Islam, p.4, Princeton University Press, 2003
^ Vincent J. Cornell, Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol 5, pp.3561-3562
^ ^a ^b Asma Barlas, Believing Women in Islam, p.96
^ D. Gimaret, Tawhid, Encyclopedia of Islam
^ Ramadan (2005), p.230
^ "the Jews, the Sabians, and the Christians." Bernard Lewis, The Jews of Islam, 1987, page 13
^ e.g. Sahih Bukhari Book #7 Hadith #340, Book #59 Hadith #628, and Book #89 Hadith #299 etc.
^ ^a ^b Homer H. Dubs, "Theism and Naturalism in Ancient Chinese Philosophy," Philosophy of East and West, Vol. 9, No. 3/4, 1959

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Ra Un Nefer Amen (born Rogelio Alcides Straughn, on January 6, 1944) is the founder of the Ausar Auset Society, a Pan-African religious organization dedicated to providing Afrocentric based spiritual training to people of African descent.

1 Early life
2 Spiritual work
3 Cultural liaison
4 Bibliography
5 References

Early life [link]

Ra Un Nefer Amen was born in the Central American country of Panama. His initial exposure to African culture came through his visits to the island of San Miguel where many enslaved Africans had escaped to after being brought to Panama in the 18th century by Spaniards to work in the gold mines. These Africans, of primarily East and Central African descent, have been able to maintain much of their traditional culture through the intervening period. It was the early experiences of this phenomenon that shaped his young self.

Amen attended Panama's Conservatory of Music when he was six years old. He arrived in the United States on May 30, 1960 to continue his formal musical training and graduated from the Brooklyn High School for Boys in Brooklyn, New York in 1961. Upon graduating, Amen continued his formal training at Juilliard Prep (Pre-College Division) and Mannes College of Music.^[1]

Spiritual work [link]

Trained originally as a concert pianist, composer, and music theoretician, Amen passed on opportunities in the music industry to devote time to the spiritual education and uplift of African people. To accomplish this goal, he has written and published several books on the subject of ancient Egyptian philosophy and spiritual culture, most notably Metu Neter (Vol. 1 & 2) and the Metu Neter Oracle.

One of Ra Un Nefer Amen's early works, Meditation Techniquies of the Kabalists, Vedantins and Taoists provides specific instruction for student initiates. Instructions are provided for "moral laws" (pg. 16) or body-mind laws required for returning to a correct way of living, i.e., a way of living not deviated (see fall of man) or based upon unnatural conditionings. Adherence to these laws will produce in the practitioner an understanding of the Soul, Will and Consciousness (the three principles that constitute an exact knowledge of the Self). Returning to a proper way of living is a prerequisite bridge to be crossed through methods which include maintaining a proper diet. R.A. Straughn (as he called himself at the time of the book's publication in the late 1970s) pointed out, for example, that the most people eat a diet "severely low in fresh fruits" (page 20). Included is a specific regiment for Hatha Yoga techniques including postures Asanas and breathing exercises Pranayama including, specifically, a technique called Dhumo Breathing used for the purpose of cleansing the energy channels of the subtle body (see Nadis)).

The book describes the three states of consciousness from Yoga science which were perhaps first documented in Patañjali's Yoga Sutra's: Dhyāna, Dhāraṇā, and Samadhi. Emphasis is placed upon the ability to control these states of consciousness, and thus avoid "sowing" in to one's consciousness, the "seeds" of thoughts which enter without the operation of one's will (only to cause un-willed thoughts to return again later and thus increase the likelihood of producing action and a further binding to one's conditionings).

The book also includes an introduction to the Chinese I Ching Oracle--a method of Divination for providing answers to questions about one's path. The book warns practitioners not to use the I Ching improperly, and only ask questions which the student has made every effort to answer before submitting them to the I Ching (abuse of the I Ching will lead to answers which cannot be comprehended, appear nonsensical, or offer no value).

Ra Un Nefer Amen currently leads an international^[2] following as the "Shekhem Ur Shekhem" ("Chief Priest and King") of the Ausar Auset Society headquartered in Brooklyn, New York.

Cultural liaison [link]

In 1984 he was selected by the Ashanti King of Agogo, Nana Kwame Akuoko Sarpong, to host the first Durbar (royal reception) for an African king ever held outside of Africa. Thus, in October 1985 the Shekhem Ur Shekhem Ra Un Nefer Amen hosted the Durbar for Asantehene Otumfuo Nana Opoku Ware II.

In November 1985, Amen attended the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the Ashanti Confederacy, at the invitation of the Asantehene in Kumasi, Ghana, West Africa where he was enstooled as an Omanhene of the Ashanti on November 15, 1985. During this visit Amen was also presented the Epoh Stool officially establishing an alliance between the Kingship of the Ashanti and the Kingship of the Ausar Auset. He was further conferred the position of Paramount King under the title of Odeneho (King of Kings). Additionally, Amen was enstooled by Nana Kwame Akuoko Sarpong as co-ruler of Agogo State in Ghana on November 18, 1985.

In his role as cultural liaison between African-Americans and the National Ghanaian House of Chiefs, the Shekhem Ur Shekhem, along with the Ghanaian community in the United States have sponsored Durbars for several other kings of Africa, including Togbi Adeladza V, a king of the Ewe; Nii Aumgi V, a king of the Ga; Nana Adodankwa III, King of Okuapemman, and others. In 1986, Ra Un Nefer Amen was given a formal reception by President Jerry Rawlings of Ghana as an official guest to the dedication of the Nkrumah Mausoleum Memorial in Accra, Ghana. In 1991, Amen was the official guest of the Oni of the Yoruba kingdom of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade Olubuse in Nigeria, where he was the sole African-American dignitary to the first Ile Ife Reconstruction Project. He was also received by the Emir of Kano, His Royal Majesty Alhaji Ado Bayero.

Bibliography [link]

Ageless Wisdom Guide to Healing: Health Teachings of the Ageless Wisdom
An Afrocentric Guide to Spiritual Union
Healing the Errors of Living Through Homeopathy, Music and Meditation
Heru, The Resurrection (Novel)
Kamitic Success: Achieving Health, Wealth & Happiness Through the Ageless Teachings of Ancient Egypt
Maat, The 11 Laws of God
Meditation Techniquies of the Kabalists, Vedantins and Taoists
Metu Neter, Vol. 1: The Great Oracle of Tehuti and the Egyptian System of Spiritual Cultivation
Metu Neter, Vol. 2: Anuk Ausar – The Kamitic Initiation System
Metu Neter, Vol. 3: The Key To Miracles
Metu Neter, Vol. 4: The Initiate's Daily Meditation Guide
Metu Neter, Vol. 5: Keys to Health & Longevity
Metu Neter, Vol. 6: The Ra Initiation System
Not Out of Greece: The Origins of Logic, Mathematics, and Science
Nuk Au Neter - I Am A Divine Being: The Kamitic Holy Scriptures
Qi Gong Success: Prescriptions For Health, Wealth & Happiness
Tree of Life Meditation System (T.O.L.M)
Tree of Life Qi Gong, Vol. 1: Balancing Heaven and Earth
The Realization of Neter Nu

References [link]

^ Amen (1996). The Key to Understanding Your Incarnation Objective (Destiny Reading). Khamit Publications. p. 4.
^ Asante & Mazama (2005). Encyclopedia of Black Studies. Sage Publications. p. 104.

Amen, Ra Un Nefer, Harlem River Arrangement (The I Ching Transcripts), 1984
Amen, Ra Un Nefer, Metu Neter magazine, vol. 4, no. 1, 1994
Amen, Ra Un Nefer, The Key to Understanding Your Incarnation Objective (Destiny Reading), 1996
Amen, Ra Un Nefer, I Ching Spiritual Counselor Commentary Booklet, 2006
Asante, Molefi and Mazama, Ama, Encyclopedia of Black Studies, Sage Publications, 2005

Persondata
Name	Straughn, Rogelio Alcides
Alternative names	Ra Un Nefer Amen
Short description	Spiritual leader
Date of birth	January 6, 1944
Place of birth	Panama
Date of death
Place of death

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