Ethical monotheism is a form of exclusive
monotheism
Monotheism is the belief that one God is the only, or at least the dominant deity.F. L. Cross, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. A ...
in which
God
In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
is believed to be the only god as well as the source for one's standards of
morality
Morality () is the categorization of intentions, Decision-making, decisions and Social actions, actions into those that are ''proper'', or ''right'', and those that are ''improper'', or ''wrong''. Morality can be a body of standards or principle ...
, guiding humanity through
ethical principles
Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied ethic ...
.
Definition
Ethical monotheism originated—''pace'' any claims of priority on behalf of
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, ...
—within
Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
.
The concept is present in various other monotheistic religions, such as Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, ...
, Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
, the Baháʼí Faith
The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...
, Sikhism
Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...
, and Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
. All of these monotheistic religions include the belief in one Supreme Being
{{broad-concept article
A supreme deity, supreme god or supreme being is the conception of the sole deity of monotheistic religions or, in polytheistic or henotheistic religions, the paramount deity or supernatural entity which is above all other ...
as the ultimate authority and creator of the universe. In Christianity, God
In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
is worshipped as the Trinity
The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...
or according to Nontrinitarian conceptions of God. In monotheistic religions, other deities are variously considered to be false or demon
A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including
f ...
ic, and it is believed that any other gods cannot be compared to the one that they respectively regard as the only true God.
See also
* Argument from morality
The argument from morality is an argument for the existence of God. Arguments from morality tend to be based on moral normativity or moral order. Arguments from moral normativity observe some aspect of morality and argue that God is the best o ...
* Atenism
Atenism, also known as the Aten religion, the Amarna religion, and the Amarna heresy, was a religion in ancient Egypt. It was founded by Akhenaten, a pharaoh who ruled the New Kingdom under the Eighteenth Dynasty. The religion is described as ...
* Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion
Unity of religion is a core teaching of the Baháʼí Faith which states that there is a fundamental unity in many of the world's religions. The principle states that the teachings of the major religions are part of a single plan directed from t ...
* Baháʼí moral teachings
* Christian ethics
Christian ethics, also known as moral theology, is a multi-faceted ethical system. It is a Virtue ethics, virtue ethic, which focuses on building moral character, and a Deontological ethics, deontological ethic which emphasizes duty according ...
* Comparative religion
Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including human migration, migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study ...
* Demiurge
In the Platonic, Neopythagorean, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy, the Demiurge () is an artisan-like figure responsible for fashioning and maintaining the physical universe. Various sects of Gnostics adopted the term '' ...
* ''Dhimmi
' ( ', , collectively ''/'' "the people of the covenant") or () is a historical term for non-Muslims living in an Islamic state with legal protection. The word literally means "protected person", referring to the state's obligation under ''s ...
''
* Dystheism
* Evil God challenge
* God in Abrahamic religions
Monotheism—the belief that there is only one deity—is the focus of the Abrahamic religions, which like-mindedly conceive God as the all-powerful and all-knowing deity from whom Abraham received a divine revelation, according to their res ...
** God in the Baháʼí Faith
** God in Christianity
In Christianity, God is the God and eternity, eternal, supreme being who Creator god, created and God the Sustainer, preserves all things. Christians believe in a Monotheism, monotheistic conception of God, which is both Transcendence (religio ...
** God in Judaism
In Judaism, God has been conceived in a variety of ways. Traditionally, Judaism holds that Yahweh—that is, the God in Abrahamic religions#Judaism, god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the national god of the Israelites—delivered them from ...
** God in Islam
In Islam, God (, contraction of , ) is seen as the Creator god, creator and God the Sustainer, sustainer of the universe, who God and eternity, lives eternally. God is conceived as a perfect, Tawhid, singular, immortal, omnipotent, and omnisc ...
* God in Sikhism
In Sikhism, God is conceived as the Oneness that permeates the entirety of creation and beyond. It abides within all of creation as symbolized by the symbol Ik Onkar. The One is indescribable yet knowable and perceivable to anyone who surrenders ...
* God in Zoroastrianism
* Jewish ethics
Jewish ethics are the ethics of the Jewish religion or the Jewish people. A type of normative ethics, Jewish ethics may involve issues in Jewish law as well as non-legal issues, and may involve the convergence of Judaism and the Western phil ...
* Judeo-Christian ethics
* Maltheism
* Moralistic therapeutic deism
* Morality in Islam
In Islam, morality in the sense of "non practical guidelines" or "specific norms or codes of behavior" for good doing (as opposed to ethical theory) are primarily based on the Quran and the Hadith – the central religious texts of IslamClark ( ...
* Natural religion
* Outline of theology
* Problem of evil
The problem of evil is the philosophical question of how to reconcile the existence of evil and suffering with an Omnipotence, omnipotent, Omnibenevolence, omnibenevolent, and Omniscience, omniscient God.The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ...
* Problem of Hell
The problem of Hell is an ethical problem in the Abrahamic religions of Christianity and Islam, in which the existence of Hell or Jahannam for the punishment of souls in the afterlife is regarded as inconsistent with the notion of a just, moral, ...
* Seven Laws of Noah
In Judaism, the Seven Laws of Noah (, ''Sheva Mitzvot B'nei Noach''), otherwise referred to as the Noahide Laws or the Noachian Laws (from the Hebrew pronunciation of "Noah"), are a set of universal moral laws which, according to the Talmud, ...
** ''Ger toshav
''Ger toshav'' (, ''ger'': "foreigner" or "alien" + ''toshav'': "resident", lit. "Alien (law), resident alien") is a Halakha, halakhic term used in Judaism to designate the legal status of a Gentile#Judaism, Gentile (non-Jew) living in the La ...
'' (resident alien)
** Noahidism
Noahidism () or Noachidism () is a monotheistic Jewish religious movement aimed at non-Jews, based upon the Seven Laws of Noah and their traditional interpretations within Orthodox Judaism.
According to the Jewish law, non-Jews (''gentiles ...
* Theodicy
In the philosophy of religion, a theodicy (; meaning 'vindication of God', from Ancient Greek θεός ''theos'', "god" and δίκη ''dikē'', "justice") is an argument that attempts to resolve the problem of evil that arises when all powe ...
* ''Urmonotheismus
The term ( German for " primeval monotheism") or "primitive monotheism" expresses the hypothesis of a monotheistic '' Urreligion'', from which polytheistic religions allegedly degenerated. This evolutionary view of religious development cont ...
'' (primitive monotheism)
* Violence in the Bible
* Violence in the Quran
References
Bibliography
*
*
*{{cite book , editor-last=Tzvi Langermann , editor-first=Y. , year=2011 , title=Monotheism & Ethics: Historical and Contemporary Intersections among Judaism, Christianity, and Islam , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Smg2JORaYJUC , series=Studies on the Children of Abraham , volume=2 , location=Leiden
Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...
, publisher=Brill Publishers
Brill Academic Publishers () is a Dutch international academic publisher of books, academic journals, and Bibliographic database, databases founded in 1683, making it one of the oldest publishing houses in the Netherlands. Founded in the South ...
, isbn=978-90-04-19429-8
Monotheism
Religious ethics