That is why Yahweh is the true God. Do you know any other religion which has a monotheistic god of unknown form? Human will not create such a god.
Some argue that there are various forms of monotheism, including:
- Henotheism involves devotion to a single God while accepting the existence of other gods. Similarly, monolatrism is the worship of a single deity independent of the ontological claims regarding that deity.
- Theism a term that refers to the belief in the existence of God or a divine being.
- Deism is a form of monotheism in which it is believed that one God exists. However, a deist rejects the idea that this God intervenes in the world.
- Monistic Theism is the type of monotheism found in Hinduism, encompassing pantheistic and panentheistic monism, and at the same time the concept of a personal God.
- Pantheism holds that the Universe itself is God. The existence of a transcendent supreme extraneous to nature is denied.
- Panentheism, is a form of monistic monotheism which holds that God is all of existence, containing, but not identical to, the Universe. The 'one God' is omnipotent and all-pervading, the universe is part of God, and God is both immanent and transcendent.
- Substance monotheism, found in some indigenous African religions, holds that the many gods are different forms of a single underlying substance.
On the surface, monotheism is in contrast with
polytheism, which is the worship of several
deities. Polytheism is however reconcilable with
Inclusive monotheism, which claims that all deities are just different names or forms for the single God. This approach is common in
Hinduism, e.g. in
Smartism.
Exclusive monotheism, on the other hand, actively opposes polytheism. Monotheism is often contrasted with theistic
dualism (ditheism). However, in dualistic theologies as that of
Gnosticism, the two deities are not of equal rank, and the role of the Gnostic
demiurge is closer to that of
Satan in Christian theology than that of a
diarch on equal terms with God (who is represented in pantheistic fashion, as
Pleroma).
Christian orthodox traditions (Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Evangelical) follow this decision, which was codified in 381 and reached its full development through the work of the
Cappadocian Fathers. They consider God to be a triune entity, called the
Trinity, comprised of the three "Persons"
God the Father,
God the Son, and
God the Holy Spirit, the three of this unity are described as being "of the same substance" ([[ousia|ὁμοούσιος]]). The true nature of an infinite God, however, is beyond definition, and "the word 'person' is but an imperfect expression of the idea. In common parlance it denotes a separate rational and moral individual, possessed of self-consciousness, and conscious of his identity amid all changes. Experience teaches that where you have a person, you also have a distinct individual essence. Every person is a distinct and separate individual, in whom human nature is individualized. But in God there are no three individuals alongside of, and separate from, one another, but only personal self distinctions within the Divine essence, which is not only generically, but also numerically, one."
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Some critics contend that the Trinity originated in the
Pagan Celtic tradition, in which many gods and goddesses were
tripartite, and that its incorporation into Christianity is a corruption of the original doctrines, similar to the adoption of many Pagan gods and goddesses such as
Brigid as Christian
Saints. Other critics contend that because of the adoption of a tripartite conception of deity, Christianity is actually a form of
Tritheism or
Polytheism. This concept dates from the teachings of the Alexandrian Church, which claimed that Jesus, having appeared later in the Bible than his "Father," had to be a secondary, lesser, and therefore "distinct" God. This controversy led to the convention of the
Nicean council in 325 CE. For
Jews and
Muslims, the idea of God as a
trinity is
heretical - it is considered akin to
polytheism. Christians overwhelmingly assert that monotheism is central to the Christian faith, as the very Nicene Creed (among others) which gives the orthodox Christian definition of the Trinity does begin with: "I believe in one God".
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