Concept in Definition ABC

In the set of religious traditions there are two main currents: monotheism and polytheism. Christianity, Judaism and Islam are examples of monotheistic religions, since they affirm that there is only one God. Hinduism or the ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman religions are examples of polytheistic doctrines. Between the two approaches there is an intermediate alternative, henotheism. It consists of believing in several deities, but at the same time in a deity of a higher order.

In other words, it is a polytheistic vision in which there is a god with a higher hierarchical level

The term was coined in the 19th century by the German philologist Max Muller. With this neologism reference was made to religiosity in India, where different deities are worshiped but at the same time there is a god with supreme power.

Henotheism is related to the historical evolution of the religious phenomenon

Those who have studied religious beliefs from an anthropological point of view maintain that human beings began to worship the forces of nature. Thus, the

rain, Earth tremors or sun rays had a divine character. In a next stage, a polytheistic vision was consolidated in which different deities served to explain the order of the universe.

The plurality Gods in the ancient world evolved and in the different mythological beliefs appeared a god with greater power over others. Thus, in the Olympus of the Greeks inhabited twelve deities and one of them, Zeus, had a supremacy over the others.

In the civilization Roman the pantheon of the gods maintained a scheme very similar, since the Greek gods were replaced by others with a simple change of name (Zeus became Neptune, Athena in Minerva, Aphrodite in Venus, etc.). It is in the Greek and Roman historical context where henotheism is established as approach religious.

With the first prophets of Judaism a new paradigm, monotheism. In the Hebrew people there was a transformation gradual evolution of religious beliefs: originally they were polytheists, then Abraham appeared and established a combination of henotheism and monotheism and finally a vision exclusively monotheistic.

From the expansion of Christianity the henotheistic vision began to weaken

For the first Christians those who believed in various gods were pagans. Christianity vigorously fought paganism in its different versions, since it was understood that worshiping different deities expressed a rejection of the sacred scriptures.

In the lV century d. C Roman Emperor Constantine l turned Christianity into the religion official of the Empire. From that moment on, the gradual decline of any henotheistic vision began.

Photo: Fotolia - Jurgen Falchle

Topics in Henotheism