Monotheism

What is it?

Monotheism is the religious belief that only one god truly exists and holds ultimate authority over the cosmos. In monotheistic systems, this single deity is typically understood as the sole creator, ruler, and source of law or moral order, and the worship of other gods is rejected or prohibited. Classic historical examples include Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, though the concept can appear in other philosophical or theological frameworks as well like Atenism and Zoroastrianism.

See also monism a term Dr Hillman uses for monotheism.

Examples

Atenism was a short-lived religious reform in ancient Egypt during the reign of the pharaoh Akhenaten in the 14th century BCE. It elevated the solar disk Aten as the primary or exclusive divine focus, replacing the traditional Egyptian pantheon with a more centralized cult directed through the pharaoh and royal family. Scholars often describe it as one of the earliest experiments with something resembling monotheism, though it functioned mainly as a state-sponsored religious reform rather than a grassroots faith. After Akhenaten’s death, the traditional polytheistic system was restored, and Atenism disappeared as an organized religion.

Zoroastrianism developed in ancient Iran and is associated with the teachings of the prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra), likely sometime in the late second or early first millennium BCE. It centers on the worship of Ahura Mazda, a supreme creator deity representing truth, order, and wisdom, who stands in opposition to destructive forces represented by Angra Mainyu. The religion became closely connected with Persian imperial states such as the Achaemenid and later the Sasanian empires, where it helped shape royal ideology, ethics, and social norms. Zoroastrianism represents one of the earliest influential traditions organized around a single supreme god and a strong moral dualism between truth and falsehood, ideas that later interacted with and influenced neighboring religious traditions in the Near East.

Judaism developed among the ancient Judeans in the eastern Mediterranean after the 290BCE Septuagint was authored in Alexandria, which is a canonical work that also happens to reference a small number of older regional inscriptions and short minor blessings from the previous 1000 years - which tends to confuse the dating (there's a 1900's era "document hypothesis" that argues for a much (much) older Hebrew origin, but no evidence of that in the archeology record or in philology). This Septuagint document introduces the terms Israel, Hebrew, and Judea for the first time in the context of religion, where any previous examples were almost non-existant, amounting to: Yahud in 520–500 BCE Achaemenid Empire 520–500 BCE administrative records referring to a Persian satrapal district - a province name, and YSRLR in a 1208 BCE Egyptian royal victory monument called The Merneptah Stele referring to a group of people. The Judaic religion centers on a single deity who is portrayed in the literature as the sole creator and sovereign authority over the world. In the narratives and laws of the tradition, this supreme single god forms a covenant with the Israelite people, promising protection and land in exchange for loyalty, obedience, and adherence to a detailed legal code. The deity’s character in these texts is often depicted as intensely concerned with order, allegiance, and proper ritual conduct, and worship, rewarding fidelity while responding punitively to disobedience or rival worship. Commentary: Perhaps related, you decide, but, a Villain / Victim mindset with heavy Sycophancy, is a recipe for creating a power/control structure for obedient slaves, or put another way, it's a supreme god that resembles a below-the-line afraid and war-like tyrant toddler with full punitive retaliation for its subjects' basic expression of free will.

Christianity emerged in the first century CE within the Greek speaking Judaic region of the Roman Empire and over next 300 years spread through Greek-speaking cities of the Mediterranean. Its defining claim is that Jesus was “the Christ,” a title interpreted by followers as marking him as a divinely authorized teacher and transformative figure. Early communities (gnostic or mystery cults) organized around narratives about his life and teachings and developed theological interpretations about his role in "salvation" and cosmic order. A role seen in previous traditions like Medea, another Christ and Savior from 1300BCE, in a long line of savior figures. Christing was a medical term that means "to apply a salve to the surface of the skin", and a Christos, or "a Christ", is a title for someone who's applied that salve. Christ goes back to 700BCE homeric writing, and continued in literature and medical texts until the Christian church took the title. Christianity can be understood as a religious movement that adapted those Alexandrian Septuagintal traditions (which itself was Hellenistic) while incorporating more Hellenistic philosophical ideas and eventually becoming a major institutional religion of the Roman and post-Roman world. It split into Catholic and Orthodox. The apostles who wrote the New Testament, did so in Greek, and referenced the Greek Septuagint. The Greek was prime for 300 years until Jerome translated to Latin from Hebrew copies (resulting in flattened simplification due to the 7000 word capability of the Hebrew language) but filling in from the Greek primary sources when the Hebrew wasn't available (consider the implication!). The Orthodox has never left the Greek language, and still considers it primary.

Islam began in the 7th century CE in the Arabian Peninsula with the preaching of Muhammad, whose followers regarded the Qur’an as a revelation from the single God worshiped by earlier monotheistic traditions. The religion emphasizes strict monotheism, prophetic guidance, and a comprehensive way of life governed by scripture and legal interpretation. From a secular perspective, Islam’s rapid expansion was intertwined with the rise of new political structures and trade networks in the Near East and North Africa. Its institutions and scholarship produced extensive legal, philosophical, and scientific traditions across a vast geographic area.