Henotheism is the belief in and worship of a single god while accepting the
existence or possible existence of other deities that may also be served. The
term was originally coined by Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling to depict
early stages of monotheism. Max Müller, a German philologist and orientalist,
brought the term into wider usage. Müller made the term central to his
criticism of Western theological and religious exceptionalism, focusing on a
cultural dogma which held "monotheism" to be both fundamentally well defined
and inherently superior to differing conceptions of God.
Definition and terminology Variations on the term have been
"inclusive monotheism" and "monarchical polytheism", designed to describe
differing forms of the idea. Related terms are monolatrism and kathenotheism,
which are typically understood as subtypes of henotheism. The latter term
is an extension of "henotheism", from καθ' ἕνα θεόν — "one god at a time".
Henotheism is similar but less exclusive than monolatry because a monolator
worships only one god, while the henotheist may worship any within the
pantheon, depending on circumstances, but will usually worship only one
throughout one's life. In some belief systems, the choice of the supreme deity
within a henotheistic framework may be determined by cultural, geographical,
historical or political reasons. Hinduism
Henotheism was coined to describe the theology of Rigvedic religion. The
Rigveda was the basis for Max Müller's description of henotheism in the sense
of a polytheistic tradition striving towards a formulation of The One
Divinity aimed at by the worship of different cosmic principles. From this
mix of monism, monotheism and naturalist polytheism Müller named the early Vedic
religion henotheistic. A prime example of the monistic aspects of the late
Rigveda is the Nasadiya Sukta, a hymn describing creation: "That One breathed
by itself without breath, other than it there has been nothing." Hinduism later
developed the concept of Brahman, which implies a transcendent and immanent
reality. Different schools of thought interpret Brahman as either personal,
impersonal or transpersonal. Ishwar Chandra Sharma describes it as "Absolute
Reality, beyond all contradictions of existence and non-existence, light and
darkness, and of time, space and cause." Hellenistic religion
While Greek and Roman religion began as polytheism, during the Classical period,
under the influence of philosophy, differing conceptions emerged. Often
Zeus was considered the supreme, all-powerful and all-knowing, king and
father of the Olympian gods. According to Maijastina Kahlos "monotheism was
pervasive in the educated circles in Late Antiquity" and "all divinities were
interpreted as aspects, particles or epithets of one supreme God". Maximus
Tyrius 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 Neoplatonic philosopher Plotinus
taught that above the gods of traditional belief was "The One", and
polytheist grammarian Maximus of Madauros even stated that only a madman
would deny the existence of the supreme God.
Canaanite religion and early Judaism Rabbinical Judaism as it developed in
Late Antiquity is emphatically monotheistic, but its predecessor, the
various schools of Hellenistic Judaism and Second Temple Judaism, and
especially the cult of Yahweh as it was practiced in ancient Israel and Judah
during the 8th and 7th centuries BC, have been described as henotheistic.
For example, the Moabites worshipped the god Chemosh, the Edomites, Qaus, both of
whom were part of the greater Canaanite pantheon, headed by the chief god, El.
The Canaanite pantheon consisted of El and Asherah as the chief deities, with
70 sons who were said to rule over each of the nations of the earth. These sons
were each worshiped within a specific region. Kurt Noll states that "the Bible
preserves a tradition that Yahweh used to 'live' in the south, in the land of
Edom" and that the original god of Israel was El Shaddai.
Several Biblical stories allude to the belief that the Canaanite gods all
existed and were thought to possess the most power in the lands by the people
who worshiped them and their sacred objects; their power was believed to be
real and could be invoked by the people who patronised them. There are numerous
accounts of surrounding nations of Israel showing fear or reverence for the
Israelite God despite their continued polytheistic practices. For instance, in
1 Samuel 4, the Philistines fret before the second battle of Aphek when they
learn that the Israelites are bearing the Ark of the Covenant, and therefore
Yahweh, into battle. The Israelites were forbidden to worship other deities, but
according to some interpretations of the Bible, they were not fully monotheistic
before the Babylonian captivity. Mark S. Smith refers to this stage as a form of
monolatry. Smith argues that Yahweh underwent a process of merging with El
and that acceptance of cults of Asherah was common in the period of the Judges.
2 Kings 3:27 has been interpreted as describing a human sacrifice in Moab
that led the invading Israelite army to fear the power of Chemosh.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Some scholars have written that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints can be characterized as henotheistic, though others have
rejected this stance. Eugene England, a professor at Brigham
Young University, asserted that LDS Presidents Brigham Young and Joseph
Fielding Smith, along with LDS scholar B.H. Roberts, used the LDS
interpretation of 1 Corinthians 8:5-6 as "a brief explanation of how it is
possible to be both a Christian polytheist and a monotheist." BYU
Professor Roger R. Keller rejected descriptions of the LDS Church as
polytheistic by countering, as summarized by a reviewer, that "Mormons
are fundamentally monotheistic because they deal with only one god out of the
many which exist." In their book Mormon America: The Power
and the Promise, Richard and Joan Ostling wrote that some Mormons are
comfortable describing themselves as henotheists.
Kurt Widmer, professor at the University of Lethbridge, described LDS beliefs as
a "cosmic henotheism". A review of Widmer's book by Bruening and Paulsen in
the FARMS Review of Books countered that Widmer's hypothesis was "strongly
disconfirmed in light of the total evidence."
Van Hale has written that "Mormonism teaches the existence of gods who are
not the Father, Son, or Holy Ghost" and "the existence of more than one god [is]
clearly a Mormon doctrine" but he also said that defining this belief system in
theological terms was troublesome. Henotheism might appear to be
"promising" in describing LDS beliefs, Hale wrote, but is ultimately not
accurate because henotheism was intended to describe the worship of a god that
was restricted to a specific geographical area.
See also Comparative religion
Henosis, mystical "oneness," "union," or "unity" in classical Greek
King of the Gods, a tendency for one divinity, usually male, to achieve
pre-eminence References
External links What are Henotheism and Monolatry? in
About Religion On Henotheism in Sofiatopia