henotheism
Sign in to saveHenotheism is the worship of a single, supreme god that does not deny the existence or possible existence of other deities that may be worshipped. Friedrich Schelling (1775–1854) coined the word, and Friedrich Welcker (1784–1868) used it to depict primitive monotheism among ancient Greeks.
AI overview
Henotheism is the practice of worshipping one supreme god while acknowledging that other gods may exist and be worthy of worship by others. It matters historically because scholars like Friedrich Welcker used the concept to explain how ancient societies, such as the Greeks, could have practiced a form of monotheism without denying the existence of multiple deities.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
11 sectionsContents
- Definition and terminology
- Zoroastrianism
- Hinduism
- Hellenistic religion
- Canaanite religion and Yahwism
- In Christianity
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Japanese religions
- See also
- References
- External links
Henotheism is the worship of a single, supreme god that does not deny the existence or possible existence of other deities that may be worshipped. Friedrich Schelling (1775–1854) coined the word, and Friedrich Welcker (1784–1868) used it to depict primitive monotheism among ancient Greeks.
Max Müller (1823–1900), a German-British philologist and orientalist, brought the term into wider usage in his scholarship on the Indian religions, particularly Hinduism, whose scriptures mention and praise numerous deities as if they are one ultimate unitary divine essence. Müller made the term central to his criticism of Western theological and religious exceptionalism (relative to Eastern religions), focusing on a cultural dogma which held "monotheism" to be both fundamentally well-defined and inherently superior to differing concepts of God.