Encyclopedia
| Disambiguation |
- This article discusses the term "God" in the context of monotheism and henotheism. See God for the etymology and capitalization of the term. See deity, god or goddess for details on polytheistic usages. See Names of God for terms used in other languages or specific belief systems. See God for other uses.
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God is the deity believed by monotheists to be the supreme reality. He is believed variously to be the creator, emanator, substance or at least the sustainer, of the universe.
Theologians and philosophers have ascribed a number of attributes to God, including omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, omnibenevolence, divine simplicity, and eternal and necessary existence. He has been described as incorporeal, a personal being, the source of all moral obligation, and the greatest conceivable existent. the great
medieval philosophers developed arguments for the existence of God,
The last few hundred years of philosophy have seen sustained attacks on the ontological, cosmological, and teleological arguments for God's existence. Against these, some theists argue that faith is not a product of reason, but requires risk. There would be no risk, they say, if the arguments for God's existence were as solid as the laws of logic, a position famously summed up by
Pascal as: "The heart has reasons which reason knows not of."
Etymology and usage
The earliest written form of the Germanic word "god" comes from the 6th century
Christian Codex Argenteus, which descends from the Old English guţ from the
Proto-Germanic *?udan.
While hotly disputed, most agree on the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European form *?hu-tó-m, based on the root *?hau-, *?hau??-, which meant "to call" or "to invoke". "Ghau" itself appears to have derived from a posthumously deified chieftain named "Gaut" — a name which sometimes appears as a name for the Norse god
Odin or one of his descendants. The Lombardic form of Odin, Godan, may derive from cognate Proto-Germanic *?udánaz.
The capitalized form "God" was first used in
Ulfilas' Gothic translation of the
New Testament, to represent the Greek
Theos , and the Latin
Deus .
Because the development of English orthography was dominated by Christian texts, the capitalization continues to represent a distinction between monotheistic "God" and the "gods" of pagan polytheism.
The name "God" now typically refers to the
Abrahamic God of
Judaism ,
Christianity , and
Islam . Though there are significant cultural divergences that are implied by these different names, "God" remains the common English translation for all.
The name may signify any related or similar monotheistic deities, such as the early monotheism of
Akhenaten and
Zoroastrianism.
In the context of comparative religion, "God" is also often related to concepts of universal deity in
Dharmic religions, in spite of the historical distinctions which separate
monotheism from polytheism — a distinction which some, such as
Max Müller and
Joseph Campbell, have characterised as a
bias within
Western culture and theology.
History of monotheism
Many historians of religion hold that monotheism may be of relatively recent historical origins — although comparison is difficult as many religions claim to be ancient. Native religions of
China and
India have concepts of panentheistic views of God that are difficult to classify along
Western notions of monotheism vs. polytheism.
In the
Ancient Orient, many cities had their own local god, although this henotheistic worship of a single god did not imply denial of the existence of other gods. The Hebrew
Ark of the Covenant is supposed to have adapted this practice to a
nomadic lifestyle, paving their way for a singular God. Yet, many scholars now believe that it may have been the Zoroastrian religion of the
Persian Empire that was the first monotheistic religion, and the Jews were influenced by such notions .
The innovative cult of the Egyptian solar god
Aten was promoted by the pharaoh
Akhenaten , who ruled between 1358 and 1340 BC. The Aten cult is often cited as the earliest known example of monotheism, and is sometimes claimed to have been a formative influence on early Judaism, due to the presence of Hebrew slaves in Egypt. But even though
Akhenaten's hymn to Aten offers strong evidence that Akhenaten considered Aten to be the sole, omnipotent creator, Akhenaten's program to enforce this monotheistic world-view ended with his death; the worship of other gods beside Aten never ceased outside his court, and the older polytheistic religions soon regained precedence.
Other early examples of monotheism include two late
rigvedic hymns to a Panentheistic creator god, Shri Rudram, a Vedic hymn to Rudra, an earlier aspect of Shiva often referred to by the ancient Brahmans as Stiva, a masculine fertility god, which expressed
monistic theism, and is still chanted today; the
Zoroastrian Ahuramazda and Chinese Shang Ti. The worship of polytheistic gods, on the other hand, is seen by many to predate monotheism, reaching back as far as the Paleolithic. Today, monotheistic religions are dominant in the many parts of the world, though other systems of belief continue to be prevalent.
Names of God
The noun
God is the proper English name used for the deity of monotheistic faiths. Different names for God exist within different religious traditions:
- Allah is the Arabic name of God, which is used by Arab Muslims and also by most non-Muslim Arabs. ilah, cognate to northwest Semitic El , is the generic word for a god , Allah contains the article, literally "The God". Also, when speaking in English, Muslims often translate "Allah" as "God". One Islamic tradition states that Allah has 99 names while others say that all good names belong to Allah. Similarly, in the Aramaic of Jesus, the word Alaha is used for the name of God.
- Yahweh
...
,
Jehovah are some of the names used for God in various translations of the Bible . El, and the plural/majestic form
Elohim, is another term used frequently, though
El can also simply mean
god in reference to deities of other religions. Others include El Shaddai,
Adonai, Emmanuel. When Moses asked "What is your name?" he was given the answer
Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh, which literally means, "I am that I am," as a parallel to the
Tetragrammaton Yud-Hay-Vav-Hay. See
The name of God in Judaism for Jewish names of God. Most Orthodox Jews, and many Jews of other denominations, believe it wrong to write the word "God" on any substance which can be destroyed. Therefore, they will write "G-d" as what they consider a more respectful symbolic representation. Others consider this unnecessary because English is not the "
Holy Language" , but still will not speak the Hebrew representation written in the
Torah, "Yud-Hay-Vav-Hay", aloud, and will instead use other names such as "Adonai" or the euphemism "Hashem" . Another name especially used by ultra-Orthodox Jews is "HaKadosh Baruch Hu", meaning "The Holy One, Blessed is He".
In early English Bibles, the Tetragrammaton was rendered in capitals: "IEHOUAH" in
William Tyndale's version of 1525. The
King James Version of 1611 renders
YHWH as "The
Lord", also as "Jehovah", see Psalms 83:18; Exodus 6:3.
Research in comparative mythology shows a linguistic correlation between Levantine Yaw and monotheistic Yahweh, suggesting that the god may in some manner be the predecessor in the sense of an evolving religion of
Yahweh.
- Elohim as "God" ; sometimes used to mean "gods" or apparently mortal judges.
- The Holy Trinity denotes God in almost all Christianity. Arab Christians will often also use "Allah" to refer to God.
- Deus, cognate of the Greek ?e?? is the Latin word for God, and will be used in Latin portions of Roman Catholic masses. It is also used to denote God by some Deists, Pandeists, Pantheists, and followers of similars non-Theistic beliefs.
- God is called Igzi'abihier or Amlak in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
- Jah is the name of God in the Rastafari movement
- The Maasai name for "God" is Ngai, which occurs in the volcano name Ol Doinyo Lengai .
- The Mi'kmaq name for "God" is Niskam.
- Some churches are using "the One" alongside "God" as a more gender-neutral way of referring to God .
- Ishvara is the term used for God among the Hindus. In Sanskrit, it means the Supreme Lord. Most Hindus worship the personal form of God or Saguna Brahman, as Vishnu, Shiva, or directly as the Supreme Cosmic Spirit Brahman through the Gayatri mantra. A common prayer for Hindus is the Vishnu sahasranama, which is a hymn describing the one thousand names of God. Ishvara must not be confused with the numerous deities of the Hindus. In modern Hindi, Ishvara is also called Bhagavan.
- Baquan is a phonetical pronunciation for God in several Pacific Islander religions.
- Buddhism is non-theistic : instead of extolling an anthropomorphic creator God, Gautama Buddha employed negative theology to avoid speculation and keep the undefined as ineffable . Buddha believed the more important issue was to bring beings out of suffering to liberation. Enlightened ones are called Arhats or Buddha , and are venerated. A bodhisattva is an altruistic being who has vowed to attain Buddhahood in order to help others to become Awakened too. Buddhism also teaches of the existence of the devas or heavenly beings who temporarily dwell in celestial states of great happiness but are not yet free from the cycle of reincarnations . Some Mahayana and Tantra Buddhist scriptures do express ideas which are extremely close to pantheism, with a cosmic Buddha being viewed as the sustaining Ground of all being - although this is very much a minority vision within Buddhism.
- Jains invoke the five paramethis: Siddha, Arahant, Acharya, Upadhyaya, Sadhu. The arhantas include the 24 Tirthankaras from Lord Rishabha to Mahavira. But Jain philosophy as such does not recognize any Supreme Omnipotent creator God.
- Sikhs worship God with these common names Waheguru Wondrous God, Satnaam , Akal or Onkar . When reciting these names, devotion, dedication and a genuine appreciation and acceptance of the Almighty and His blessings is essential if one is to gain anything by the meditation. Just mechanical reciting of the words brings little advantage to the devotee. Help of the Guru is essential to reach God.
- In Surat Shabda Yoga, names used for God include Anami Purush and Radha Swami .
- The Bahá'í Faith refers to God using the local word for God in whatever language is being spoken. In the Bahá'í Writings in Arabic, Allah is used. Bahá'ís share some naming traditions with Islam, but see "Bahá" as The Greatest Name of God. God's names are seen as his attributes, and God is often, in prayers, referred to by these titles and attributes.
- Zoroastrians worship Ahura Mazda.
- To many Native American religions, God is called "The Great Spirit", "The Master of Life", "The Master of Breath", or "Grandfather". For example, in the Algonquian first nations culture, Gitche Manitou or "Great Spirit" was the name adopted by French missionaries for the Christian God. Other similar names may also be used.
- Followers of Eckankar refer to God as SUGMAD or HU; the latter name is pronounced as a spiritual practice.
- In Chinese, the name Shang Ti ?? , is the name given for God in the Standard Mandarin Union Version of the Bible. Shen ? was also adopted by Protestant missionaries in China to refer to the Christian God.
Theological approaches
Theologians attempt to explicate beliefs; some express their own experience of the divine. Theologians ask questions such as, "What is the nature of God?" "What does it mean for God to be singular?" "If people believe in God as a duality or trinity, what do these terms signify?" "Is God transcendent, immanent, or some mix of the two?" "What is the relationship between God and the universe, and God and humankind?"
It is also important to note that most major religions hold God not as a metaphor, but a being that influences our day-to-day existences. This is to say that people who have rejected the teachings of such religions typically view God as a metaphor or stand-in for the common aspirations and beliefs all humans share, rather than a sentient part of life; whereas organized religion tends to believe the opposite.
Most believers allow for the existence of other, less powerful spiritual beings, and give them names such as angels, saints,
Djinni, demons, and devas.
- — Catholic Encyclopedia article
Theism and Deism
Theism holds that God exists realistically, objectively, and independently of human thought; that God created and sustains everything; that God is omnipotent and eternal, and is personal, interested and answers prayer. It holds that God is both transcendent and immanent; thus, God is simultaneously infinite and in some way present in the affairs of the world. Catholic theology holds that God is infinitely simple and is not involuntarily subject to time. Most theists hold that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and benevolent, although this belief raises questions about God's responsibility for evil and suffering in the world. Some theists ascribe to God a self-conscious or purposeful limiting of omnipotence, omniscience, or benevolence. Open Theism, by contrast, asserts that, due to the nature of time, God's omniscience does not mean he can predict the future. "Theism" is sometimes used to refer in general to any belief in a god or gods, i.e., monotheism or polytheism.
Deism holds that God is wholly transcendent: God exists, but does not intervene in the world beyond what was necessary for God to create it. In this view, God is not
anthropomorphic, and does not literally answer prayers or cause miracles to occur. Common in Deism is a belief that God has no interest in humanity and may not even be aware of humanity.
Pandeism and Panendeism, respectively, combine Deism with the Pantheistic or Panentheistic beliefs discussed below.
Monotheism and Pantheism
Monotheism holds that there is only one God, and/or that the one true God is worshipped in different religions under different names. It is important to note, however, that monotheists of one religion can, and often do, consider the monotheistic god of a different religion to be a false god. For instance, many Christian fundamentalists consider the God of Islam to be a false god or demon. However, theologians and linguists argue that "Allah" is merely the Arabic word for "God," and not the literal name of a specifically Muslim God . To Muslims, the Bible is a holy scripture and Jesus is a Holy Prophet, so Islam is considered a continuation of Christianity. Many Jews consider the messiah of Christianity to be a false god and some monotheists hold that there is one triune God, and that all gods of other religions are actually demons in disguise . Eastern religious believers and liberal Christians are more likely to assume those of other faiths worship the same God as they, just under a different name and/or form. Muslims believe that Jesus, although the Messiah and one of the holy Prophets, is not the son of God, because relating God to any partners or spouses or offspring is considered blasphemy and apostasy.
Pantheism holds that God is the universe and the universe is God. Panentheism holds that God contains, but is not identical to, the Universe. The distinctions between the two are subtle, and some consider them unhelpful. It is also the view of the Liberal Catholic Church,
Theosophy, Hinduism, some divisions of Buddhism, and
Taoism, along with many varying denominations and individuals within denominations.
Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, paints a pantheistic/panentheistic view of God — which has wide acceptance in
Hasidic Judaism, particularly from their founder
The Baal Shem Tov — but only as an addition to the Jewish view of a personal god, not in the original pantheistic sense that denies or limits persona to God.
Speculative dilemmas
Dystheism is a form of theism which holds that God is malevolent as a consequence of the problem of evil. Dystheistic speculation is common in theology, but there is no known church of practicing dystheists. See also
Satanism.
Nontheism holds that the universe can be explained without any reference to the supernatural, or to a supernatural being. Some non-theists avoid the concept of God, whilst accepting that it is significant to many; other non-theists understand God as a symbol of human values and aspirations.
The Ontological Argument
The Ontological argument proposed by
Anselm of Canterbury is one of the first and most famous ontological arguments for God's existence. The argument, first posited in the
Proslogion, argues that God exists based on the definition of God as a being "that-than-which-nothing-greater-can-be-thought".
Scientific perspective
Though conflicts have often been perceived between science and religion, the Vatican's
Pontifical Academy of Sciences argues that there is no conflict between the existence, and different religion-dependent properties, of God and the results of the scientific research:
The Bible itself speaks to us of the origin of the universe and its make-up, not in order to provide us with a scientific treatise, but in order to state the correct relationships of man with God and with the universe. Sacred Scripture wishes simply to declare that the world was created by God, and in order to teach this truth it expresses itself in the terms of the cosmology in use at the time of the writer.
See also
Notes
References
External links
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- - a Christian perspective
- at Mormon.org
-
- Cheung, Vincent .
- Islam-info.ch .
- Draye, Hani . . Retrieved 2005-06-26.
- Haisch, Bernard . .
- . Retrieved 2005-06-26.
- Nicholls, David . . Retrieved 2005-06-26.
- Salgia, Amar Retrieved 2005-10-18.
- Shaivam.org . . Retrieved 2005-06-26.
- from the Yoga point of view.
- Schlecht, Joel . . Retrieved 2005-06-26.
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy . . Retrieved 2005-06-26.
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy . . Retrieved 2005-06-26.
- Students of Shari'ah . . Retrieved 2005-06-26.
-
- . A Gnostic belief system
- The Old Path.
- The Old Path.
- From a Christian point of view
