For thousands of years, our world has been shaped by biblical monotheism. But its hallmark—a distinction between one true God and many false gods—was once a new and radical idea. Of God ...and Gods explores the revolutionary newness of biblical theology against a background of the polytheism that was once so commonplace.     Jan Assmann, one of the most distinguished scholars of ancient Egypt working today, traces the concept of a true religion back to its earliest beginnings in Egypt and describes how this new idea took shape in the context of the older polytheistic world that it rejected. He offers readers a deepened understanding of Egyptian polytheism and elaborates on his concept of the “Mosaic distinction,” which conceives an exclusive and emphatic Truth that sets religion apart from beliefs shunned as superstition, paganism, or heresy.     Without a theory of polytheism, Assmann contends, any adequate understanding of monotheism is impossible. Best Books for General Audiences, selected by the American Association of School Librarians, and Best Books for Special Interests, selected by the Public Library Association
This study focuses on the knowledge of inter-relations between surah al-isra’ and surah al-kahfi and aims to derive patterns of thematic relation between them and discloses its hypothesis by ...responding to two main questions: the first, whether they have limited and strong relationship. The second, what are types of relationship between the two surahs in terms of the topics, contents, and meanings. As for the method followed for this study is descriptive and resolving the issues by referring to the main references.The outcome of the study appears in two main points.Relationship between the two surahs very strong in terms of the objectives and aims, strong connection between beginning and ending of the both surahs, as well as between the ending of the al-isra’ and the beginning of the surat al-kahf. It appears that thematic harmonization in both surah, particularly regarding the issues; of the faith, prophethood, truthfulness of the message and the high ranking of the status of the Prophet.
Abstract
This study aims to see how symbols or personifications can bridge profane things from God into human reality. Religious symbols as the embodiment of God have the highest sacred value because ...they are built by the structures of religious teachings originating from the texts of the scriptures. This research is limited to three religions because they have the same theological concept, namely monotheism and the approach used is qualitative based on library research-related sources, especially as primary data, are the holy books of each religion, namely the Vedas, Tipitaka, and Al-Qur'an. As an analytical tool to help compare the symbolization of God in the scriptures, the semiotic theory is used to analyze the symbols of each religion. The results of this study found that the theological concept of monotheism in symbols of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam has similarities and there are differences in Islam that do not symbolize God in the form of symbols or forms. In this case, the difference is due to the pattern of belief, worship, and communal structure patterns in the teachings of the holy books of each religion.
Keywords: Symbol, Monotheism, Islam, Hindu, Budha
Abstrak
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk melihat bagaimana simbol atau personifikasi dapat menjembatani hal-hal yang profan dari Tuhan ke dalam realitas manusia. Simbol-simbol agama sebagai perwujudan Tuhan memiliki nilai sakralitas yang tertinggi karena terbangun oleh struktur-struktur ajaran agama yang berasal dari teks kitab suci. Penelitian ini dibatasi pada tiga agama karena memiliki konsep teologis yang sama yaitu monoteisme dan pendekatan yang digunakan adalah kualitatif dengan berbasis library research dengam sumber yang terkait terutama sebagai data primer adalah kitab suci masing-masing agama yaitu Veda, Tipitaka dan Al-Qur’an. Sebagai alat analisis bantu membandingkan simbolisasi Tuhan dalam kitab suci, teori semiotik digunakan untuk menganalisis simbol dari masing-masing agama. Hasil penelitian ini ditemukan, konsep teologis monoteisme dalam simbol agama Hindu, Budha dan Islam memiliki persamaan dan terdapat perbedaan pada agama Islam yang tidak menyimbolkan Tuhan ke dalam bentuk simbol atau bentuk. Pada hal perbedaan tersebut disebabkan karena faktor pola struktur keyakinan, peribadahan, dan komunal dalam ajaran kitab suci dari masing-masing agama.
Kata kunci: Simbol, Monoteisme, Islam, Hindu, Budha
One God Mitchell, Stephen; Van Nuffelen, Peter
04/2010
eBook
Graeco-Roman religion in its classic form was polytheistic; on the other hand, monotheistic ideas enjoyed wide currency in ancient philosophy. This contradiction provides a challenge for our ...understanding of ancient pagan religion. Certain forms of cult activity, including acclamations of 'one god' and the worship of theos hypsistos, the highest god, have sometimes been interpreted as evidence for pagan monotheism. This book discusses pagan monotheism in its philosophical and intellectual context, traces the evolution of new religious ideas in the time of the Roman empire, and evaluates the usefulness of the term 'monotheism' as a way of understanding these developments in later antiquity outside the context of Judaism and Christianity. In doing so, it establishes a framework for understanding the relationship between polytheistic and monotheistic religious cultures between the first and fourth centuries AD.
Islam emerged amid flourishing Christian and Jewish cultures, yet students of Antiquity and the Middle Ages mostly ignore it. Despite intensive study of late Antiquity over the last fifty years, even ...generous definitions of this period have reached only the eighth century, whereas Islam did not mature sufficiently to compare with Christianity or rabbinic Judaism until the tenth century.Before and After Muhammadsuggests a new way of thinking about the historical relationship between the scriptural monotheisms, integrating Islam into European and West Asian history.
Garth Fowden identifies the whole of the First Millennium--from Augustus and Christ to the formation of a recognizably Islamic worldview by the time of the philosopher Avicenna--as the proper chronological unit of analysis for understanding the emergence and maturation of the three monotheistic faiths across Eurasia. Fowden proposes not just a chronological expansion of late Antiquity but also an eastward shift in the geographical frame to embrace Iran.
InBefore and After Muhammad, Fowden looks at Judaism, Christianity, and Islam alongside other important developments in Greek philosophy and Roman law, to reveal how the First Millennium was bound together by diverse exegetical traditions that nurtured communities and often stimulated each other.
This essay has two aims. The first is to draw attention to the significance of what Katherine Sonderegger is doing in her doctrine of God, both in the essay presented in this volume, and in her ...Systematic Theology, volume one. This is done by means of a contrast with an influential essay by Colin Gunton that suggests itself because of Sonderegger's arresting reflections on the angel Gabriel. The second aim of this essay is to explore a little further Sonderegger's suggestion that a robust, metaphysical account of divine simplicity opens up to the doctrine of the Trinity, rather than constricting it. This second aim is pursued by describing some connections between the doctrines of God's simplicity and triunity in Thomas Aquinas's thought. It concludes by indicating the potential constructive value of an area of Augustine's thought dismissed by Gunton and not stressed by Sonderegger the so-called psychological analogy.
This essay has two aims. The first is to draw attention to the significance of what Katherine Sonderegger is doing in her doctrine of God, both in the essay presented in this volume, and in her ...Systematic Theology, volume one. This is done by means of a contrast with an influential essay by Colin Gunton that suggests itself because of Sonderegger's arresting reflections on the angel Gabriel. The second aim of this essay is to explore a little further Sonderegger's suggestion that a robust, metaphysical account of divine simplicity opens up to the doctrine of the Trinity, rather than constricting it. This second aim is pursued by describing some connections between the doctrines of God's simplicity and triunity in Thomas Aquinas's thought. It concludes by indicating the potential constructive value of an area of Augustine's thought dismissed by Gunton and not stressed by Sonderegger the so-called psychological analogy.
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