What does it actually means to be monothistic?

[Spirit of Light]

In mostly all mono-theistic beliefs it is said similar to.

" You are only to worship one God, one God alone" if worshiping or even attempts to believe the existence of other Gods, that is seen as a sin or shirk (in Islam)

But, does it really means, there is only one God, or does it mean, you as a believer can only follow one God, one teaching at the time?

Is there actually many many Gods, but you should not follow/have faith in more than one at any given time?

I dont say OP directly reflect my personal belief, but it is a question i do pondering about.

Any thoughts?

 

[Lain]

In mostly all mono-theistic beliefs it is said similar to.

" You are only to worship one God, one God alone" if worshiping or even attempts to believe the existence of other Gods, that is seen as a sin or shirk (in Islam)

But, does it really means, there is only one God, or does it mean, you as a believer can only follow one God, one teaching at the time?

Is there actually many many Gods, but you should not follow/have faith in more than one at any given time?

I dont say OP directly reflect my personal belief, but it is a question i do pondering about.

Any thoughts?

Monotheism is not a term I would personally use to describe myself, but it seems to me believing in the existence of one deity, that only one deity exists.

The belief that there are many gods but you should only worship one of them is monolatry (and called henotheism?).

 

[Sedim Haba]

Pure Monotheism is belief that only one god exists. Any belief that other gods exist or that there is gods or demigods in opposition to the one G-d (looking @ you, believers in a rebellious Satan) is not monotheism. A pure Monotheistic G-d cannot be fragmented or divided either, into parts.

 

[Spirit of Light]

Many would look at Sufism as pantheistic

 

[Sirona]

In mostly all mono-theistic beliefs it is said similar to.

" You are only to worship one God, one God alone" if worshiping or even attempts to believe the existence of other Gods, that is seen as a sin or shirk (in Islam)

But, does it really means, there is only one God, or does it mean, you as a believer can only follow one God, one teaching at the time?

Is there actually many many Gods, but you should not follow/have faith in more than one at any given time?

I dont say OP directly reflect my personal belief, but it is a question i do pondering about.

Any thoughts?

I believe "monotheistic" is how the religion in question defines "monotheistic."

The monotheistic religions developed in a polytheistic environment, so at that time of their respective origins, it was taken for granted that many gods existed.

In the Near East, each tribe had its tribal god, and Yahweh was the tribal god of the Jews. I think the story of Samson says that the Philistines wanted to sacrifice him to their tribal god Dagon, and that Samson tore down the pillars of a house and thus killed a lot of Philistines along with himself to avoid being sacrificed.
Greeks and Romans were polytheists living in a polytheistic, "globalized" world, where each new people brought new gods with them.
The Qur'an speaks of three goddesses, Manat, Al-Lat and Al-Uzza, so you can assume that there were polytheistic Arabs in pre-Islamic times.

 

[Sirona]

The belief that there are many gods but you should only worship one of them is monolatry (and called henotheism?).

The difference between monotheism and henotheism is that for a monotheist, all other gods are "false gods" and "idols" that "don't exist", whereas a henotheist acknowledges the divine nature of all other gods while just dedicating himself to the worship of his "chosen god" (ishta-deva) exclusively. Henotheism refers to this attitude largely found in Hinduism.

 

[Spirit of Light]

I believe "monotheistic" is how the religion in question defines "monotheistic."

The monotheistic religions developed in a polytheistic environment, so at that time of their respective origins, it was taken for granted that many gods existed.

In the Near East, each tribe had its tribal god, and Yahweh was the tribal god of the Jews. I think the story of Samson says that the Philistines wanted to sacrifice him to their tribal god Dagon, and that Samson tore down the pillars of a house and thus killed a lot of Philistines along with himself to avoid being sacrificed.
Greeks and Romans were polytheists living in a polytheistic, "globalized" world, where each new people brought new gods with them.
The Qur'an speaks of three goddesses, Manat, Al-Lat and Al-Uzza, so you can assume that there were polytheistic Arabs in pre-Islamic times.

Thank you for sharing this @Sirona

 

[IndigoChild5559]

In mostly all mono-theistic beliefs it is said similar to.

" You are only to worship one God, one God alone" if worshiping or even attempts to believe the existence of other Gods, that is seen as a sin or shirk (in Islam)

But, does it really means, there is only one God, or does it mean, you as a believer can only follow one God, one teaching at the time?

Is there actually many many Gods, but you should not follow/have faith in more than one at any given time?

I dont say OP directly reflect my personal belief, but it is a question i do pondering about.

Any thoughts?

Monothestic is more than just worshiping one God. It means that you do not believe any other gods exist.

Those who believe in many gods but worship just one are called henotheists, which is a subcategory of polytheists.

Judaism, Christianity (with explanation) and Islam are the three monotheistic world religions. There are also other much smaller religions that are monotheistic, such as Lakota spirituality, and many many monotheists that are not part of any organized religion.

 

[Spirit of Light]

Monothestic is more than just worshiping one God. It means that you do not believe any other gods exist.

Those who believe in many gods but worship just one are called henotheists, which is a subcategory of polytheists.

Judaism, Christianity (with explanation) and Islam are the three monotheistic world religions. There are also other much smaller religions that are monotheistic, such as Lakota spirituality, and many many monotheists that are not part of any organized religion.

Yes, you seem to have a good understanding

 

[Fool]

In mostly all mono-theistic beliefs it is said similar to.

" You are only to worship one God, one God alone" if worshiping or even attempts to believe the existence of other Gods, that is seen as a sin or shirk (in Islam)

But, does it really means, there is only one God, or does it mean, you as a believer can only follow one God, one teaching at the time?

Is there actually many many Gods, but you should not follow/have faith in more than one at any given time?

I dont say OP directly reflect my personal belief, but it is a question i do pondering about.

Any thoughts?

there is only one absolute

 

[Audie]

In mostly all mono-theistic beliefs it is said similar to.

" You are only to worship one God, one God alone" if worshiping or even attempts to believe the existence of other Gods, that is seen as a sin or shirk (in Islam)

But, does it really means, there is only one God, or does it mean, you as a believer can only follow one God, one teaching at the time?

Is there actually many many Gods, but you should not follow/have faith in more than one at any given time?

I dont say OP directly reflect my personal belief, but it is a question i do pondering about.

Any thoughts?

A god is any supernatural being.
Christianity is full of them