Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Are We Preaching Biblical Monotheism?

Are We Preaching Biblical Monotheism?

Last updated on: October 8, 2014 at 8:15 am by Brad Vaughn

Are We Preaching Biblical Monotheism? 2014-10-08T08:15:43-07:00 Brad Vaughn

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

There are significant problems with the way we often think about and apply doctrine of monotheism. In my experience, I find many people have a *sub-*biblical understanding of monotheism. All the Bible has to say is rooted in this fact: there is only one true God.

If we misunderstand the biblical meaning of monotheism, what else might we get wrong?

Everyone knows that atheism is common in China, especially among younger generations. However, this way of thinking (propagated by the Communist Party) is not the entire story. As anyone who has ever lived in China knows, countless religious beliefs persist that allows for local deities. This is especially true among minority groups.

Consequently, the existence of God and the particular question of monotheism is incredibly relevant to ministry in East Asia.

Are We Settling for One God?

How do people typically think about monotheism? I will highlight three things that often characterize conventional views of monotheism, as I have observed among evangelical missionaries (and not a few theologians).

1. Monotheism concerns the number of gods.

I suspect that for most people the sum significance of monotheism is that there is only one God rather than two, three, or a thousand gods. In other words, monotheism is mainly about the number of gods. At a very basic level, this is what the doctrine is about; however, we may miss the point if we stop here.

2. Monotheism is background information.

Credit: Lawrie Cate/flickr

Traditionally, monotheism is just a starting point, the first assumption on which everything else rests. People see monotheism merely as theology’s logical starting point. Consequently, people often think, monotheism largely has no great theological significance.3. Monotheism is lumped with apologetics.

Although people talk about the topic in theology classes (especially in relation to the Trinity), I think it is closely linked to apologetics. People first have to defend God’s existence so they can get on with bigger issues.This is probably a problem particular to the West, where many people assume two mutually exclusive options: monotheism and atheism.

From this perspective, one tends to assume that “proving” God’s existence amounts to affirming monotheism.

Does One God “Exist”?

Apologists have offered various logical arguments in order to “prove” (or point to) God’s existence. Yet, these traditional arguments have a number of problems that do not help people grasp biblical monotheism.

Problem #1

Disproving atheism and proving monotheism are two very different things. Commonly used arguments against atheism do not necessarily prove theism. They simply press people to agnosticism (which is admittedly better than atheism).

Problem #2

They merely argue for the reasonableness of theism; this is not the same thing as proving God’s existence.

Problem #3

Many traditional apologetic proofs are consistent with polytheism. That is, they don’t do anything to affirm or explain monotheism specifically.

In fact, it is possible that people use traditional arguments yet still assume a polytheistic system, like that found in Greek mythology. Perhaps, someone might insist that Greek gods, like Gaea and Ouranos/Uranus, created everything, including Chronos.

In short, they do not necessarily preach monotheism. They simply say that some god(s) exists.

Problem #4

From what I’ve said above, we can easily see that many traditional apologetic arguments do not specifically talk about the Christian God.

A Sign of Problems

Briefly, I will highlight a sign indicating that our traditional way of thinking has a problem. Notice how Paul uses the doctrine of monotheism in Romans 3:29–30.

28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.”

Notice that Paul uses monotheism to argue for justification by faith. However, most of us don’t have this kind of monotheistic perspective. That is, our conception of monotheism does not naturally lead to justification by faith.

Yet, if our theology cannot lead to Paul’s conclusions, then we have a problem.

Next Post: How did ancient Jews think about monotheism?

Photo Credit (number 1): CC 2.0/wikipedia

Theology

monotheism

one god

Previous Post

October 1, 2014

There are no "Church Planting Movements" in the Bible

Next Post

October 15, 2014 “Who” is the One True God?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Atonement Biblical Theology Book Reviews China Chinese Church Chinese Culture Chinese Language Collectivism Contextualization Culture (General) Ecclesiology Evangelism Gospel Honor & Shame (Face) Interpretation/Exegesis Justification/Righteousness Missiology Mission Methods One Gospel for All Nations Other Practical Contextualization Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes Resources Romans Salvation (General) Saving God's Face Seeking God's Face The Cross in Context Theological Contextualization Theological Education Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who led the Israelites into the Promised Land?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Aaron Joshua Moses Caleb

Books by This Author Books by Brad Vaughn

See All Titles »