Monolatrism
Encyclopedia
Monolatrism or monolatry (Greek
: μόνος (monos) = single, and λατρεία (latreia) = worship
) is the recognition of the existence of many gods, but with the consistent worship of only one deity. The term was perhaps first used by Julius Wellhausen
.
Monolatry is distinguished from monotheism
, which acknowledges the existence of only one god, and henotheism
, which consistently worships one god without denying that other persons can with equal validity worship different gods.
This was recognised by Rashi
in his commentary to that the declaration of Shema
accepts belief in one god as being only a part of Jewish faith at the time of Moses
, but would eventually be accepted by all humanity.
Some scholars claim the Torah
(Pentateuch) shows evidence of monolatrism in some passages. This argument is normally based on references to other gods, such as the "gods of the Egyptians" in the Book of Exodus . The Egyptians are also attributed powers that suggest the existence of their gods; in , after Aaron transforms his staff into a snake, Pharaoh's magicians do likewise.
The Ten Commandments
have been interpreted as monolatry: reads "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me" (emphasis added).
There is even a passage in the Book of Psalms, , that reads "Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works."
This, however, does not seem to mean that the other gods were considered to deserve this name, in the sense that they had no real power or property; and later prophet Jeremiah confirms that they did not create the Earth and are going to perish.
In verse five, Paul carefully distinguishes between actual divine beings and things that are incorrectly called gods.
In his second letter to the Corinthians when he refers to "the god of this world" , he is generally interpreted as referring to the devil or the material things put before God, such as money, rather than acknowledging any separate deity from God. In addition, in Isaiah
44:6, God states "I am the first and the last, beside me there is no god".
as three distinct beings, where God the Father
is supreme, yet all three beings are defined collectively as "God". The Church teaches the worship of one God, which belief is most easily described as worshiping God the Father through the conduit of the Son, Jesus Christ, as led by the Holy Ghost. Whereas other Christians speak of "One God in Three Persons", LDS scripture speaks instead of "Three Persons in One God." See the Book of Mormon
's ("they are one God"), and LDS interpretation of John 17:11 (Jesus asks the Father in prayer that his disciples "may be one, as we are"). See apotheosis
. Also of note is that the LDS church describes "as man is, God once was, as God is, man may become," which allows for the existence of many gods at any one time, but only one as ruler over life on this earth. The Church's doctrine on the subject is best described as monolatrism.
Jehovah's Witnesses
(JW's) New World Translation incorrectly renders John 1:1 as "In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god." If Jesus, who is unquestionably identified as the Word, or the Logos, is but "a god", this seems to indicate a presupposition towards monolatrism.
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: μόνος (monos) = single, and λατρεία (latreia) = worship
Worship
Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. The word is derived from the Old English worthscipe, meaning worthiness or worth-ship — to give, at its simplest, worth to something, for example, Christian worship.Evelyn Underhill defines worship thus: "The absolute...
) is the recognition of the existence of many gods, but with the consistent worship of only one deity. The term was perhaps first used by Julius Wellhausen
Julius Wellhausen
Julius Wellhausen , was a German biblical scholar and orientalist, noted particularly for his contribution to scholarly understanding of the origin of the Pentateuch/Torah ....
.
Monolatry is distinguished from monotheism
Monotheism
Monotheism is the belief in the existence of one and only one god. Monotheism is characteristic of the Baha'i Faith, Christianity, Druzism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Samaritanism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.While they profess the existence of only one deity, monotheistic religions may still...
, which acknowledges the existence of only one god, and henotheism
Henotheism
Henotheism is the belief and worship of a single god while accepting the existence or possible existence of other deities...
, which consistently worships one god without denying that other persons can with equal validity worship different gods.
In ancient Israel
Recognized scholars have formulated a substantial case for ancient Israel's practice of monolatry.
The highest claim to be made for Moses is that he was, rather than a monotheist, a monolatrist. ... The attribution of fully developed monotheism to Moses is certainly going beyond the evidence."
As absolute monotheism took over from monolatry in Israel, those who had originally been in the pantheon of the gods were demoted to the status of angels.
The exclusivity of the relationship between Yahweh and Israel is an important element in Israel's oldest religious tradition. However, it is not necessary to ascribe the present formulation of the commandment ["you shall have no other gods before me"] to a very early stage of the tradition, nor is it advantageous to interpret the commandment as if it inculcated monotheism. The commandment technically enjoins monolatry, but it can be understood within a henotheistic religious system.
The Deuteronomic CodeDeuteronomic CodeThe Deuteronomic Code is the name given by academics to the law code within the Book of Deuteronomy. It contains "a variety of topics including religious ceremonies and ritual purity, civil and criminal law, and the conduct of war"...
imposes at the least a strict monolatry.
In the ancient Near East the existence of divine beings was universally accepted without questions. As for unicity, in Israel there is no clear and unambiguous denial of the existence of gods other than Yahweh before Deutero-Isaiah in the 6th century B.C. … The question was not whether there is only one elohimElohimElohim is a grammatically singular or plural noun for "god" or "gods" in both modern and ancient Hebrew language. When used with singular verbs and adjectives elohim is usually singular, "god" or especially, the God. When used with plural verbs and adjectives elohim is usually plural, "gods" or...
, but whether there is any elohim like Yahweh.
This was recognised by Rashi
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
in his commentary to that the declaration of Shema
Shema Yisrael
Shema Yisrael are the first two words of a section of the Torah that is a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services...
accepts belief in one god as being only a part of Jewish faith at the time of Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
, but would eventually be accepted by all humanity.
Some scholars claim the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
(Pentateuch) shows evidence of monolatrism in some passages. This argument is normally based on references to other gods, such as the "gods of the Egyptians" in the Book of Exodus . The Egyptians are also attributed powers that suggest the existence of their gods; in , after Aaron transforms his staff into a snake, Pharaoh's magicians do likewise.
The Ten Commandments
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
have been interpreted as monolatry: reads "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me" (emphasis added).
There is even a passage in the Book of Psalms, , that reads "Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works."
This, however, does not seem to mean that the other gods were considered to deserve this name, in the sense that they had no real power or property; and later prophet Jeremiah confirms that they did not create the Earth and are going to perish.
Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine —
—
Tell them this: "These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens."
In Christianity
The Apostle Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, writes that "an idol has no real existence" and "there is no God but one" . He argues that "although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth", "yet for us there is one God". The reason is that only the one god created the Universe ("God, the Father, from whom all things came", "Jesus Christ, through whom all things came").In verse five, Paul carefully distinguishes between actual divine beings and things that are incorrectly called gods.
In his second letter to the Corinthians when he refers to "the god of this world" , he is generally interpreted as referring to the devil or the material things put before God, such as money, rather than acknowledging any separate deity from God. In addition, in Isaiah
Isaiah
Isaiah ; Greek: ', Ēsaïās ; "Yahu is salvation") was a prophet in the 8th-century BC Kingdom of Judah.Jews and Christians consider the Book of Isaiah a part of their Biblical canon; he is the first listed of the neviim akharonim, the later prophets. Many of the New Testament teachings of Jesus...
44:6, God states "I am the first and the last, beside me there is no god".
Other religions
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church, or Mormon Church) considers the members of the Christian GodheadGodhead (Christianity)
Godhead is a Middle English variant of the word godhood, and denotes the Divine Nature or Substance of the Christian God, or the Trinity. Within some traditions such as Mormonism, the term is used as a nontrinitarian substitute for the term Trinity, denoting the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit not as...
as three distinct beings, where God the Father
God the Father
God the Father is a gendered title given to God in many monotheistic religions, particularly patriarchal, Abrahamic ones. In Judaism, God is called Father because he is the creator, life-giver, law-giver, and protector...
is supreme, yet all three beings are defined collectively as "God". The Church teaches the worship of one God, which belief is most easily described as worshiping God the Father through the conduit of the Son, Jesus Christ, as led by the Holy Ghost. Whereas other Christians speak of "One God in Three Persons", LDS scripture speaks instead of "Three Persons in One God." See the Book of Mormon
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...
's ("they are one God"), and LDS interpretation of John 17:11 (Jesus asks the Father in prayer that his disciples "may be one, as we are"). See apotheosis
Apotheosis
Apotheosis is the glorification of a subject to divine level. The term has meanings in theology, where it refers to a belief, and in art, where it refers to a genre.In theology, the term apotheosis refers to the idea that an individual has been raised to godlike stature...
. Also of note is that the LDS church describes "as man is, God once was, as God is, man may become," which allows for the existence of many gods at any one time, but only one as ruler over life on this earth. The Church's doctrine on the subject is best described as monolatrism.
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
(JW's) New World Translation incorrectly renders John 1:1 as "In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god." If Jesus, who is unquestionably identified as the Word, or the Logos, is but "a god", this seems to indicate a presupposition towards monolatrism.
Further reading
- Robert Needham CustRobert Needham CustRobert Needham Cust was a British colonial administrator and linguist.He was educated at Eton College, Trinity College, Cambridge, Haileybury and the College of Fort William, Calcutta, graduating from the last-named institution in 1844. He then worked for the East India Company, in Hoshiarpur and...
(1895). Essay on the Common Features which Appear in All Forms of Religious Belief. Luzac & Co. - Robert Wright (journalist)Robert Wright (journalist)Robert Wright is an American journalist, scholar, and prize-winning author of best-selling books about science, evolutionary psychology, history, religion, and game theory, including The Evolution of God, Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny, The Moral Animal, and Three Scientists and Their Gods:...
, The Evolution of GodThe Evolution of GodThe Evolution of God is a 2009 book by Robert Wright that explores the history of the concept of God in the three Abrahamic religions through a variety of means, including archeology, history, theology, and evolutionary psychology...
(2009) (esp. pages 132 et seq discussing conflict between Elijah and JezebelJezebelJezebel may refer to:* Jezebel, wife of King Ahab*Jezebel, in the Book of Revelation 2:20 a prophetess in the church of Thyatira* Jezebel , starring Bette Davis and Henry Fonda* Jezebel , a blog aimed at women...
). - Mike Schroeder, author of 85 Pages In The Bible; Llumina Press 2005
External links
- Moses and Monotheism
- The Biblical Idea of Idolatry by Jose Faur, differentiating the monolatry authorized by the Bible from the idolatry/iconolatry which is proscribed therein