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The term Supreme Being
Being

In ontology being is anything that can be said to be, either Transcendence or Immanence.The nature of being varies by philosophy, given different interpretations in the frameworks of Parmenides, Leucippus, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Hegel, Heidegger, and Sartre....
 is often defined simply as "God
God

God is a deity in theism and deism religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
", and it is used with this meaning by theologians of many religious faiths, including, but not limited to, Christianity
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
, Islam
Islam

Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....
, Hinduism
Hinduism

'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
, and Deism
Deism

Deism is a religious and philosophical belief that a supreme natural God exists and created the physical universe, and that religious truths can be arrived at by the application of reason and observation of the natural world....
. However, the term can also refer to more complex or philosophical interpretations of the divine. Many fraternal organisations, especially those which admit members of diverse religious backgrounds (such as Freemasonry
Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a fraternal and service organizations that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around 5 million ....
) use the term as a generic description, allowing the candidate to adhere to whichever deity or concept he holds to be appropriate.
hristian Theology, the term Supreme Being can refer to God, the Father almighty.






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The term Supreme Being
Being

In ontology being is anything that can be said to be, either Transcendence or Immanence.The nature of being varies by philosophy, given different interpretations in the frameworks of Parmenides, Leucippus, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Hegel, Heidegger, and Sartre....
 is often defined simply as "God
God

God is a deity in theism and deism religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
", and it is used with this meaning by theologians of many religious faiths, including, but not limited to, Christianity
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
, Islam
Islam

Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....
, Hinduism
Hinduism

'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
, and Deism
Deism

Deism is a religious and philosophical belief that a supreme natural God exists and created the physical universe, and that religious truths can be arrived at by the application of reason and observation of the natural world....
. However, the term can also refer to more complex or philosophical interpretations of the divine. Many fraternal organisations, especially those which admit members of diverse religious backgrounds (such as Freemasonry
Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a fraternal and service organizations that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around 5 million ....
) use the term as a generic description, allowing the candidate to adhere to whichever deity or concept he holds to be appropriate.

Use of the term in religious contexts


Christian Theology

In Christian Theology, the term Supreme Being can refer to God, the Father almighty. It can also be used to refer to the Christian Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Hinduism

Para Brahman
Para Brahman

Para Brahman - is a term often used by Vedantic philosophers as to the "attainment of the ultimate goal". It is believed that all Vaishnava and other schools attribute Personhood to this concept, as in Svayam bhagavan....
 is referred to as the Supreme Being, as the main force, power or energy, and all forms of divinity are considered to be merely His diverse divine descents, expansions, aspects, or manifestations.

Islam

Islamic scholars have used the term Supreme Being to refer to 'Allah', the Islamic name for God.

Deism

Deists use the term Supreme Being to refer to the Divine (although the Divine is not defined).

Use in non-religious contexts


Freemasonry

In Masonic ritual the Supreme Being is referred to as Great Architect of the Universe
Great Architect of the Universe

The Great Architect of the Universe is a conceptions of God discussed by many Christian theologians and apologists. As a designation it is used within Freemasonry to neutrally represent whatever Supreme Being to which each member individually holds in adherence....
, which alludes to the use of architectural symbolism within Freemasonry.

Candidates for regular
Regular Masonic jurisdictions

Regularity is the process by which individual Grand Lodges recognise one another for the purposes of allowing formal interaction at the Grand Lodge level and visitation by members of other jurisdictions....
 freemasonry
Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a fraternal and service organizations that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around 5 million ....
 are required to declare a belief in a Supreme Being. However, the candidate is not asked to expand on, or explain, his or her interpretation of Supreme Being. The discussion of politics
Politics

Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behaviour within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporation, academia, and religion institutions....
 and religion
Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
 is forbidden within a Masonic Lodge
Masonic Lodge

A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge in Books of Constitutions, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry....
, in part so a candidate or Mason will not be placed in the situation of having to justify his personal interpretation. Thus, reference to the Supreme Being will mean the Christian Trinity
Trinity

In Christianity doctrine, the Trinity is the unity of God the Father, God the Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in monotheism. The doctrine states that God is the Triune God, existing as three persons, or in the Greek hypostasis , but one being....
 to a Christian Mason, Allah
Allah

Allah is the standard Arabic language word for God. While the term is best known in the Western world for its use by Muslims as a reference to God, it is used by Arabic-speakers of all Abrahamic faiths, including Christians and Jews, in reference to "God"....
 to a Muslim Mason, Para Brahman
Para Brahman

Para Brahman - is a term often used by Vedantic philosophers as to the "attainment of the ultimate goal". It is believed that all Vaishnava and other schools attribute Personhood to this concept, as in Svayam bhagavan....
 to a Hindu Mason, etc. While most Freemasons would take the view that the term Supreme Being equates to God
God

God is a deity in theism and deism religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
, others may hold a more complex or philosophical interpretation of the term.

See also

  • Absolute (philosophy)
    Absolute (philosophy)

    The Absolute is the concept of an unconditional reality which transcendence limited, conditional, everyday existence. It is often used as an alternate term for "God" or "the Divinity", especially, but by no means exclusively, by those who feel that the term "God" lends itself too easily to anthropomorphic presumptions....
  • Demiurge
    Demiurge

    Demiurge in philosophical and religious language is a term for a creator deity, responsible for the Creation myth of the physical universe.In the sense of a divine creative principle as expressed in ergon or energy, the word was first introduced by Plato in Timaeus , 41a ....
  • God
    God

    God is a deity in theism and deism religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
  • Names of God
    Names of God

    The Name of God, or Holy Name is the name in Eastern traditions or Western spiritual traditions or religions that is used in practice or prayer....
  • Conceptions of God
    Conceptions of God

    Conceptions of God can vary widely, despite the use of the same term for them all.The God of monotheism, pantheism or panentheism, or the supreme deity of henotheistic religions, may be conceived of in various degrees of abstraction:...
  • Existence of God
    Existence of God

    Arguments for and against the existence of God have been proposed by scientists, philosophers, theologians, and others. In Philosophy terminology, "existence-of-God" arguments concern schools of thought on the epistemology of the ontology of God....
  • Cult of the Supreme Being
    Cult of the Supreme Being

    The Cult of the Supreme Being was a religion based on deism devised by Maximilien Robespierre, intended to become the state religion after the French Revolution....
  • God the Father
    God the Father

    In many religions, the supreme deity is given the title and attributions of Father. In many forms of polytheism, the highest god has been conceived as a "father of gods and of men"....
  • Great Mother
    Great Mother

    The Great Mother refers to the concept of the mother goddess, including:*Great Mother, anglicization of Latin Magna Mater, Roman title of the goddess Cybele...