How does monotheism differ from polytheism?

[mohamedhassan]

The prophet was Elijah. And the contest was between the Yahweh, the God of Abraham and the Israelites, and Baal, the god of the Caananites.

It also explains why God is a jealous god, doesn't it? Hard to be jealous if you're the only god. Basically, Yahweh picked Abraham and said, "You. I need followers - all those other gods have followers - and you are going to be the one I stake my fortunes on. Promise to worship only me, circumcize yourself and all the males in your household as a sign of your allegiance - and in return I will give you as many descendants are there are stars in the sky."

Of course, it's hard to reconcile this god with the one who created heaven and earth in Genesis I.

Is this what your religion teaches you?? thats ubsrud! how can a prophet of god worship other gods while still recieving revelation from him??? completly absurd. In islam we believe that prophet (though they do make mistakes) don't worship gods other then god!! i mean if they, the ones recieving revelation did this then we would have an excuse. and wuts this jelous god buisness?? God doesn't get jelous why would he? you don't worship him you go to hell period. he doesn't need worship lol that really is wierd man read about islam!!!

 

[lilithu]

Is this what your religion teaches you?? thats ubsrud! how can a prophet of god worship other gods while still recieving revelation from him??? completly absurd. In islam we believe that prophet (though they do make mistakes) don't worship gods other then god!! i mean if they, the ones recieving revelation did this then we would have an excuse. and wuts this jelous god buisness?? God doesn't get jelous why would he? you don't worship him you go to hell period. he doesn't need worship lol that really is wierd man read about islam!!!

Umm.... no, that's not what my religion teaches me. My religion allows me to think for myself. And I was just having some fun with my friend des, regarding the text. And in the Hebrew scriptures, it does say that God is jealous. (Of course one can interpret that in many ways.)

As for Islam, I have read about it. There are some beautiful things about it. But interestingly enough, your little proselytizing rant doesn't inspire me to convert.

 

[des]

Uh, though I think Bible scholars say that Genesis One is rather later on than that event? Whoever wrote that appears to be a true monotheist.
As I recall they even use a little different wording than Gen.2 (which is earier actually). In Gen. 2, God is "Lord God" and also clearly a physical being. Whereas in Gen1, God is clearly not physical. Moses also comfronts
God in what appears to be partly physical ways, i.e. the burning bush. God isn't walking like a human but God has some physicality. Gen. 1 doesn't describe any way that God creates that could be construed as physical.
He does it and it was so (of course he "said" so maybe that's not entirely true.)

Yes, several times god is described as a jealous God. Makes no sense
at all if HE is IT!! Yahweh is better than other gods, not the one and only--
at least until later.

--des

The prophet was Elijah. And the contest was between the Yahweh, the God of Abraham and the Israelites, and Baal, the god of the Caananites.

It also explains why God is a jealous god, doesn't it? Hard to be jealous if you're the only god. Basically, Yahweh picked Abraham and said, "You. I
...
Of course, it's hard to reconcile this god with the one who created heaven and earth in Genesis I.

 

[jamaesi]

The answer may seem obvious at first--polytheists believe in more than one God, and monotheists believe in only one God. But I think that on another level the answer isn't nearly so cut-and-dried.

Consider the concept of "God" in some classic polytheistic systems--say, for example, the ancient Greek Pantheon. The gods were little different than mortals--more powerful, to be sure, but quite limited in power. Yes, they are spiritual beings--but they are not considered omnipresent, omnipotent or omniscient.

This is a totally different concept of "God" then the "big three" Monotheistic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). God is generally believed in these faiths to be all-powerful and of a different order of being than the Greek Gods.

However, even in these monotheistic faiths, there are other spiritual beings who are very similar to the Greek Gods--angels or genii. Angels are not all-powerful, but more powerful than mortals, they are spiritual, and they are immortal.

Would it be more accurate to call the classic polytheistic systems as atheistic, because there is no overall supreme being? Or perhaps call monotheism as henotheism (acknowledging other spiritual beings but only worshipping one)?

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

I'm not very good at these philosophical posts, but I'll input one of my opinions- it's not a mainstream Islamic or even an Islamic thought as far as I know, but it is mine and how I reconcile there existing "other G-ds" than my own.

I believe in one G-d. I also believe that only one G-d exists. I'll explain this.

Now, I don't think this in a way that means that if someone does not believe in the Abrahamic G-d then they don't believe in G-d at all and are just some heathen. When I hear about different G-ds I always sort of see them as being facets of the one G-d. I know G-d and religion have been revealed and developed in many many many ways through the times all over the world- I believe all religions worship the same one G-d, just in different ways.

So I guess to answer your question, all theists are monotheists in my opinion.

I mean this in the kindest way. To those who believe that there are seperate individual G-ds, then I respect and encourage them. This is only how I see things from my understanding. Now it comes back to my belief that we're all going to the same place, just taking different roads.

As for Islam, I have read about it. There are some beautiful things about it. But interestingly enough, your little proselytizing rant doesn't inspire me to convert.

That's what attracts me to Islam and keeps me Muslim. It's a beautiful religion.


... But when I hear things like this it makes me want to convert. :cover:

Not in my name, not in my religion's name should anyone take that post.

 

[soulreaver23]

For anyone interested, a certified soul, sealed in blood, is available for sale. Post reply if interested.

 

[Pete2007]

i think when interpreting the difference between monotheism and polytheism you have to be careful what you actually interpret as 'God'. For instance if you interpret God as omnipresent, then is it possible for another God to exist?
The subject is so deep that contradictions are inevitable.

As for Islam whilst reading Sam Harris' 'The End of Faith' i was suprised to hear that the Qu'ran encourages death to non-believers or 'infidels', this is probably selective reading on Sam Harris' part however i would not suggest any religion to be beautiful particularly in a time when most religions are rearing their ugly head.

 

[TheGodless1]

The answer may seem obvious at first--polytheists believe in more than one God, and monotheists believe in only one God. But I think that on another level the answer isn't nearly so cut-and-dried.

Consider the concept of "God" in some classic polytheistic systems--say, for example, the ancient Greek Pantheon. The gods were little different than mortals--more powerful, to be sure, but quite limited in power. Yes, they are spiritual beings--but they are not considered omnipresent, omnipotent or omniscient.

This is a totally different concept of "God" then the "big three" Monotheistic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). God is generally believed in these faiths to be all-powerful and of a different order of being than the Greek Gods.

However, even in these monotheistic faiths, there are other spiritual beings who are very similar to the Greek Gods--angels or genii. Angels are not all-powerful, but more powerful than mortals, they are spiritual, and they are immortal.

Would it be more accurate to call the classic polytheistic systems as atheistic, because there is no overall supreme being? Or perhaps call monotheism as henotheism (acknowledging other spiritual beings but only worshipping one)?

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

I have the same thought/theory. However, Most religions DO have a supreme leader such as Ra, Zeus, Azura-Mazda, Yaweh. The "sons and daughters" of these heads of respective religions are equal to the angels of Christian mono/polytheism. Athena was the Goddess of wisdom (among other titles) as was Gabriel the Angel of Wisdom. Ares was the God of War and in Christianity it was Michael who filled this role. Religions often branch off of each other and Christianity sought to simplify this by saying there was only one "God" and calling its lesser gods "angels". Also, if Satan is the ruler of Hell and God the ruler of Heaven does that not in theory conclude that both are of the same mettle and power? Remember, our version of the Christian and other religions have been translated and re-translated many, many times. Not counting the "Council of Nicea" where the verses and chapters in the Modern Bible were VOTED upon to suit the needs of power-hungry religious leaders who needed to ensure that their God was the true God, thereby condemning everyone before Christ (except for those prophets such as Elijah, Elisha, and Moses, to hell. What a conveniently stacked deck of cards they created.

 

[arimoff]

Monotheism is the idea that there is only One G-D and Judaism is the best example of it (not accepting any idea of him having any physical form or even taking a physical form that includes having kids or taking His words back), Abraham was the first to recognize it, so stop with all the crap that Islam is the only one. Islam is an almost good enough copy of Judaism, so if it is the only one as was claimed then Judaism is even more.

There can only be One G-D, if g-d A is stronger then g-d B then g-d B is not g-d, and plz don't tell me they both can have same strength lol.

 

[Metempsychosis]

Abraham was the first to recognize it,

This is an unprovable claim.The vedic religion(it has monotheism) grew around the same time as Judaism or earlier.

 

[Luminous]

modern monotheism are just weak henotheism!!!
http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/setian/75077-odd.html
history says Satanism was the first monotheism. the only God there is the the God of Chaos: Creator of the universe, jealous Ruler, and indifferent Judge! =]

 

[eliehass]

As far as the story with Elijah is concerned, the whole point was to prove that Baal was not actually a god (as proven by that fact that nothing happened when baal's priests made sacrifices to him).

As far as God being jealous, that doesn't prove that here are other gods. Someone in a relationship can get jealous when their significant other invests a lot of time and emotion into something else, at the expense of their relationship. This doesn't mean that there is an actual person that they are cheating with, but it can spark feelings of jealousy.

As far as angels are concerned, I can only talk about the Jewish understanding of angels, because thats all I know. Angels have no independent power or free will. They are purely vessels for carrying out gods will. They can do nothing unless god commands it, and they have no will to do anything but follow the exact word of god. This is not at all a lesser god. They have ZERO free will.

 

[budha3]

Socrates was killed for corrupting the youth. He was accused of corrupting the youth by teaching them that there was only one true God. I believe that there is an answer to this, and it lies in our concept of E Pluribus Unum. E Pluribus Unum is Latin for "out of many, one." If you draw a large circle, and you then draw little circles inside the larger circle, you will see that that larger circle is what we refer to as God, and the smaller circles are us; "the one and the many." We all come from the larger circle, this is why we are brothers and sisters. Our racial differences are designed for us to learn. A racist cannot comprehend the one God, nor can Al qaeda. If they did, they would not want to destroy their own brothers and sisters.

 

[Michigan Atheist]

Christianity isnt monotheistic...you have the Trinity (3 Gods) lol.

God the Father God the Holy Ghost and God the Son...absurd huh?

I am sure some christian will point out that this isnt what the trinity symbolises, but I couldnt care less...christianity is not a monotheism or a polytheism, it is a cult.

TWO THUMBS WAY UP!!!!!!!!!:yes::yes::yes:

 

[IsmailaGodHasHeard]

I do not believe that angels are gods. They simply serve the One True God like humans do.