Monotheism
Monotheism; which rises from the Greek word “monos” and theos” meaning “single” “god” respectively, is termed as a belief system that is primarily grounded on the idea or rather on the notion of one supreme God.
Different religions tend to have different numbers as well as types of gods, concerning this, religions that do not have gods such as Taoism and Buddhism termed as atheism while those that have many gods such as Hinduism, Paganism, ancient Roman religions and old Semite religions are termed as polytheistic religions (Crabtree).
On the other hand, some of the well-known monotheistic religions include Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
Description of Monotheistic Beliefs
Monotheism is regarded as the foundational principle for Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, in these western traditions monotheism generally indicates more than the notion of one supreme God as it also includes specific beliefs or attributes with regard to the nature of God.
Some of these include the belief that God is omniscient, thus he is fully aware of not only the past but also the present and the future (Crabtree).
As a result, nothing takes him by surprise as he is well aware of all there is to know inclusive of all that can be known.
God is also believed to be omnipotent, which entails him being all-powerful, in accordance to monotheistic theologians, God is believed to have supreme and infinite power, thus he has the ability to do things according to his will.
Moreover, unlike human beings, he is not subject to physical limitations like in the case of human beings. Another monotheistic belief is that God is omnipresent; hence, all present which means he has the ability to be everywhere at the same time, thus his divine presence generally encompasses the whole universe (Crabtree).
In addition, monotheistic religions also believe that God is self-sufficient and the only creator and sustainer of all creation, God is also believed to be incomparable, therefore, should not be equated to any representation or rather any image.
Description of Monotheistic Religions
While the origin of monotheism remains unclear, the first ever recorded monotheistic system emerged during Akhenaten’s rule in Egypt but failed to survive after his death.
The origin of the three monotheistic traditions, thus Islam, Christianity, and Judaism is to a great extent traced back to Abraham or during the Abrahamic period; hence he stands a central figure that to a great extent unites these religions (Monotheistic Religions 3).
However, although Christianity and Judaism trace their historical lineage through Abraham’s second son Isaac while Islam recognizes his first son Ishmael as Abraham’s true heir.
As a result, this great distinction between Ishmael and Isaac vice versa is considered to be the greatest bone of contention between the three monotheistic religions throughout history.
Despite this difference, Abraham still remains as the primary figure or central figure of the three religions.
Therefore, Abraham often acts as the bridge for interfaith dialogues between the monotheistic religions, as a result, the three religions have a definite and similar way of viewing God as not only imminent but also transcendent (Monotheistic Religions 3).
Christianity
Unlike Judaism and Islam, the Christianity recognizes the Bible as its holly book and also applies the holy trinity to expresses the immanence as well as transcendence of God.
In accordance to the holy trinity doctrine; in its simplest form, there exists only one God, however, God is fully present in three distinctions but inseparable forms; Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit (Characteristics of Monotheism).
The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is deeply grounded in the Christian New Testament, despite this, it was only fully articulated by the Christian Church during the 4th century.
Through a number of council and creeds, the Christian church expressed the Holy Trinity doctrine which generally allows for the immanence as well as transcendence of God.
According to the doctrine, God is transcendent however, he is made immanent through his incarnation in Jesus Christ.
At the same time, his divine presence is experienced through the Holy Spirit which is believed to live in individuals.
Islam
In the Islamic religion, the concept of monotheism is termed as tawhīd in Arabic and it is highly considered as the Single most important Islamic concept.
As a result, everything in Islam is grounded on the notion of tawhīd, as it calls to God's absolute oneness; hence, no act of either devotion or worship has any value if the concept of monotheism is compromised (Characteristics of Monotheism).
In the Quran, all messengers as well as prophets; from Adam to Prophet Muhammad called upon individuals to worship the only one true God; Allah, as such Islam is considered to be one of the simplest, purest and most natural faith.
Islam greatly opposes the cultural anthropologist's notion that polytheism was the earliest religion, and the concept of monotheism evolved slowly from polytheism (Cline).
Generally, Islam is one of the extreme religion possesses an uncompromised monotheism where Allah is highly depicted as unbegotten, undifferentiated, eternal, and unequalled.
Furthermore, Islam does not in any way associate itself with anthropomorphism which involves giving human-like qualities to God as such is considered as blasphemous.
However, unlike Islam, Christianity posits a somewhat very anthropomorphic God, whereby, God is represented in as three people in one.
Despite this difference, Like Christianity, both Islam and Judaism both emphasize on God's immanence through mystical experiences whereby, a strong believer may interact with God.
In Islam, this is termed as Sufism and emphasizes on direct union with God as such God is also brought into human experience.
Judaism
Judaism is considered to be one of world's oldest monotheistic religion, like Islam and Christianity, Judaism is also strictly monotheistic, and thus God is regarded as the indivisible, absolute one and incomparable being behind all creation and existence.
Like Islam, Judaism rejects the Christian idea monotheism with regards to the notion of Holy Trinity as such Judaism applies the term shituf to refer the worship of God in a manner that does not deem to be monotheistic.
Like the other monotheistic religions, Judaism holy book is termed as the Torah and it also emphasizes on God's emanations through which God's presence is experienced (Characteristics of Monotheism).
Conclusively
While there exists significant theological dilemmas between Judaism, Christianity the concept of monotheism also provides a moral as well as an ethical outlook that unites the three religions.
Concerning this, all the three monotheistic religions subscribe to the rule of treating others as oneself, this maxim is reiterated from time to time in the three monotheistic religions.
As such, justice, humility, and compassion serve as some of the foundations of a good religious life in not only Islam but also in Judaism and Christianity and perhaps towards what can be termed as a greater understanding of one another.
Works Cited
Crabtree, V. “Single God Religions (Monotheism)”. Human Religions, (2014). http://www.humanreligions.info/monotheism.html
Accessed 19 Feb. 2018.
Cline, A. “Monotheism in Religion” Thought Co. https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-monotheism-4079967
Accessed 19 Feb. 2018.
Characteristics of Monotheism. Tripod, (n.d.) http://shawcss.tripod.com/Deity/content/deity_08.html# Accessed 19 Feb. 2018.
Monotheistic Religions. The Arab American Museum, (n.d) www.arabamericanmuseum.org/umages/pdfs/.../AANM-MonotheisticBooklet-web.pdf Accessed 19 Feb. 2018.
