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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

MONOTHEISM*

Belief that there is only one God. It is distinguished from polytheism, which posits the existence of more than one god; from henotheism, which worships one god without denying the existence of other gods; and from atheism, which denies the existence of any God. The three great monotheistic religions of the world are, in their historic order, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

If there is only one God, it follows that the deity is personal, sovereign, infinite, eternal, perfect, and almighty. This is, in fact, what Scripture declares of God in his essential being. It is only in the biblical revelation that we can know clearly and certainly who God is and what he is like. He must be distinct from the world (thus avoiding pantheism) in such a way that he is the only Creator and sustainer of the universe and the Lord of history. He is above and beyond his creation (divine transcendence), and yet he enters into time and human affairs (divine immanence). The biblical doctrine of monotheism is known both through historical events involving “the God who acts” for the salvation of the human race and through his verbal communication as “the God who speaks” to chosen servants for the instruction and edification of those who believe. It is in such dimensions that monotheism embraces the possibility and reality of direct encounter between the eternal and infinite God and the finite, sinful creature. The NT makes it clear that this is accomplished through Jesus Christ.

According to the Bible, man was originally a monotheist. No other conclusion is possible from the Genesis records (Gn 1–3). Polytheism developed later as a sinful corruption of the pristine belief in one true God, the God of Creation, revelation, and redemption. This corruption had set in at least by the time of Abraham, for God’s call of Abraham to leave Ur of the Chaldees and journey toward Canaan, the land God had promised him and his posterity, undoubtedly involved a break with the polytheism of his ancestors in the area of Ur (11:31–12:9).

When Abraham reached Canaan, the Promised Land, he and his family found people worshiping a multitude of gods. Each ethnic grouping in Palestine had its own god or many gods (Gn 31:3-35; Jgs 11:24; 1 Sm 5:2-5; 1 Kgs 11:33). In their disobedience, the sons of Abraham were continually losing faith in God and lusting after the gods of the Canaanites or diluting the true worship of God with the heathen practices associated with the worship of the Canaanite gods (Gn 35:2-4; cf. Jos 24:2; 1 Kgs 16:30-33). One of the major roles of the prophets was to call the Jews back to true worship and faith in the one God, “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Ex 3:6, 15-16; cf. 1 Kgs 18:17-18). This reminder of their monotheistic heritage was constantly needed because of the ever-present danger of losing it through contact with the polytheistic beliefs and practices of their idolatrous neighbors. Such reminders were necessary even for leaders like David (1 Sm 26:19), and certainly for Solomon (1 Kgs 11:1-7) and later kings (12:28-32; 2 Kgs 10:31; 22:17).

The early prophets did not clearly delineate a formal doctrine of monotheism; rather, they showed the importance and unreality of the pagan gods (1 Kgs 18:24). It was the eighth-century BC prophets who asserted a monotheistic faith in the face of a persistent polytheism. It was not until the time of the exile that the Jews were cured of their idolatrous polytheism, when their enemies took away their idols and demonstrated their impotence (Ps 115; Is 46). Then Israel learned that God alone was their refuge and help in the time of trouble, because he only is the true and living God who can save his people when they repent of their sins and obey the divine will.