In religion and philosophy,
henotheism is a term coined by
Max Müller, meaning belief
in, and possible worship of, multiple
gods, one of which is supreme. It is also called
inclusive monotheism or monarchial polytheism. According to Müller, it is "monotheism in principle and a
polytheism in fact".
Like monolatrism, henotheism is a cross between monotheism and polytheism. It differs from monolatrism,
however, in that monolatrism is the belief in multiple gods, but the worship of only one, whereas henotheism may include the
worship of several gods. Thus, henotheism is more similar to polytheism than is monolatrism.
Henotheism in various religions
While
Greek and
Roman religion began as polytheism, during the
Classical period the religion was thoroughly henotheistic.
Zeus (or
Jupiter) was viewed as the supreme, most-powerful
king and father of the Olympian gods. To illustrate,
Maximus Tyrius (2nd Century C.E.), stated:
- "In such a mighty contest, sedition and discord, you will see one according law and assertion in all the earth, that there is
one God, the king and father of all things, and many gods, sons of God, ruling together with him."
The Philosophers Plato and
Plotinus
respectively taught that above the gods of traditional belief were the Creator (Demiurge) and "The One" also called God. The One is the impersonal unifying principle of divinity. The One,
Demiurge & Zeus constitute the Classical Pagan "Three Hypostasis"
Hinduism
While Hinduism is generally monistic or monotheistic admitting emanating
deities, the early Rig Veda (undeveloped early Hinduism) was what Max Muller based his views of henotheism on. In the four
Vedas, Muller believed that a striving towards One was being aimed at by the worship of
different cosmic principles, such as
Agni (fire),
Vayu (wind),
Indra (rain, thunder, the sky), etc. each of which was variously,
by clearly different writers, hailed as supreme in different sections of the books. Indeed, however, what was confusing was an
early idea of Rita, or supreme order, that bound all the gods. Other phrases such as Ekam Sat, Vipraha Bahudha Vadanti
(Truth is One, though the sages know it as many) led to understandings that the Vedic people admitted to fundamental oneness.
From this mix of monism, monotheism and naturalist polytheism Max Muller decided to name the early Vedic religion
henotheistic.
This, however, is clearly a one-man view. Extremely advanced, indeed unprecedented and thitherto unduplicated ideas of pure
monism are to be found in the early Vedas, notwithstanding clearly monist and
monotheist movements of Hinduism that developed with the advent of the
Upanishads. One such example of early Vedic monism is the Nasadiya hymn of the Rig Veda: " That One breathed by
itself without breath, other than it there has been nothing." To collectively term the Vedas henotheistic, and thus further
leaning towards polytheism, rather than monotheism, is to ignore the clearly monist bent of the Vedas that were thoroughly
developed as early as 1000 BCE in the first
Aranyakas and
Upanishads.
As for classical Hinduism, it evolved within the Vedic line but truly came into being with the ascendancy of gods like
Shiva and
Vishnu in the Puranic and
post-Puranic developments. Many sects of monotheistic
bhakti (loving devotion)
worshippers came into vogue who, while admitting other deities, saw them as clearly emanating from one principal source. Extreme
monists within the
Advaita Vedanta movement,
Yoga philosophy and certain non-dual
Tantra schools of Hinduism give
the lie to a broad categorization of Hinduism as henotheistic, what with the conception of
Brahman, a formless non-being-being that is posited to be pure consciousness, beyond attributes, the Divine Ground
from which all else that is limited and temporal sprang. The fundamental trinity of the Hindu gods,
Brahma,
Vishnu and
Shiva are seen as many as being creation, preservation and destruction subsumed in one cycle of
being that is ultimately transcended with the attainment of
moksha. Indeed, the only
period of Hinduism that ever approached henotheism was in the early Vedic period (before 1000 BCE within the four preliminary
Vedas) and even that is disputed by scholars, most notably the great Hindu mystic
Aurobindo Ghosh.
Christianity
Although Christians adamantly label themselves as
monotheists, some argue
that Christianity is properly a form of henotheism. Most forms of
Christianity include the belief in a
Christian
Godhead consisting of
God the Father,
Jesus Christ, and the
Holy Spirit, with God the
Father being dominant "actor" and "creator". However,
Trinitarian Christians strongly
reject the view that the three persons of the Godhead are three distinct gods. Rather, they describe the three persons as having
a single "substance", thus counting as one god. The Council of Nicea (325 C.E.) affirmed that God was "One Substance (Gk-Ousia)
and three Persona (Gk-Hypostasis)". The Christian Trinity, like the Classical Pagan Hypostasis and Hindu Trimurti, has an
impersonal divine substance as its unifying principle.
In addition, most Christians reject the view that God the Father is supreme over Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
In addition, many Christians believe in what some consider to be a "pantheon" of
angels, demons, and/or
Saints that
are inferior to the
Trinity. Christians do not label these beings as "gods", although
they are attributed with supernatural powers, and are sometimes the object of prayer.
Some non-trinitarian denominations of
Christianity are more clearly
henotheistic. Christian
Gnosticism is generally henotheistic. In addition, some
sects of Mormonism view the members of the
Christian Godhead as three distinct beings, where
God the Father is supreme. Some
Latter Day Saints also believe in the existence of numerous other
gods
and goddesses who have no direct interest in this Earth or humanity. See
Godhead (Mormonism). Though not explicitly discussed in
canonical scripture, some
Latter Day Saints also acknowledge a
Heavenly Mother in addition to
God the Father.
Judaism
In very early Judaism,
Abraham is
revered as the one who overcame the idol worship of his family and surrounding people by recognizing the Hebrew God and
establishing a covenant with him and creating the foundation of what has been called by scholars "Ethical
Monotheism". The
Ten commandments clearly forbade the Children of Israel from worshiping any other god but the one true God
who had revealed himself at Mount Sinai and given them the
Torah. Unfortunately, as
recorded in the Tanakh ("Old Testament" Bible), in defiance of the Torah's teachings,
the patron god
YHWH was frequently worshipped in conjunction with other
gods such as Baal,
Asherah, and
El. Over time, this tribal god may have assumed all the appellations of the other gods
in the eyes of the people. The destruction of the
Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and the exile to Babylon was considered a divine reprimand and
punishment for the mistaken worship of other deities. By the end of the
Babylonian captivity of Judah in the
Tanakh,
Judaism is strictly
monotheistic. There are still seeming elements of
"polytheism" in certain biblical books, such as
God's reference to himself as "us" in
Genesis 1:26 and 3:22, in
Daniel's frequent
use of the honorific "God of gods" and especially in the Psalms. Some scholars believe that
Exodus 3:13-15 describes the moment when YHWH first tells
Moses that he is
the same god as El, the supreme being. This could be the recounting, in
mythical form, of
Israel's conversion to
monotheism.
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