Monotheism it is the belief in only one god.
The three largest monotheistic religions in the world are Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Origin
The word monotheism comes from the junction of two Greek words. Mono means single, one; while Theo means god.
Monotheism, for Judaism, Christianity and Islam, has in common the same source, the Bible. They also recognize Abraham as the common father of them all. Hence, these religions are also called as Abrahamic or Book religions.
Abraham would have been born in Ur, in Chaldea, a region where the cult of various deities predominated. However, he intuited that there was only one god and by Him he was called to lead his people to the promised land.
To Islam, Abraham is called Ibrahim, and from his son with his concubine Hagar, Ishmael, Muslims descend.
In this way, the Old Testament writings are fundamental to understand what are the characteristics of this unique god. Let's see:
- God is the source of all being and is subject to no kingdom;
- is free, strong and sovereign;
- is eternal, has no history, has always existed;
- God is creator, but not in Nature;
- there is a clear boundary between humanity and God, which cannot be confused;
- To know Him, God sends prophets to reveal His will.
Monotheism in History
In addition to the religions mentioned above, there are examples of monotheism in some periods of history.
In Egypt, Pharaoh Akenaten, father of Tutankhamun, tried to establish the cult of a single god, during his reign.
The prophet Zarathustra, also known as Zoroaster, systematized monotheism in Persia (present-day Iran). It is a religion that defends the choices between Good and Evil, the existence of Paradise, of resurrection, in the coming of a messiah. There are still remnants of Zoroastrian communities in India.
During the Roman Empire, Emperor Constantine tried to appease Christians and pagans by instituting the cult of the Sun God, whose day of worship would be Sunday.
The Yazidis, who belong to ethnic Kurds, are a pre-Islamic community living in Iraq. They also worship a single god, whose representative on earth would be Melek Taus.
Statistics
According to statistics, monotheistic religions are the ones with the largest number of adherents.
Judaism has about 10 to 18 million people, Islam has 1.6 billion believers and, finally, Christianity has 2.2 billion believers.
Criticism
Despite being the majority belief in the world, polytheistic religions are currently experiencing a growth. Especially those that were in force before Christianity arrived.
So we have a number of organizations promoting neopagan cults reviving Norse mythology in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the UK that seek to re-establish these ancient gods.
Atheist philosophers, scholars and scientists have also been occupying space in the media, propagating what is conventionally called “new atheism”. Some names in this movement are Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris.
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- Christianity
- Islamism
- Judaism
- Zoroastrianism