It is a form of polytheism in that even this one preferred deity is not recognized as the only true God.
1 posted on
12/13/2013 8:06:16 AM PST by
Salvation
To: Salvation
I wonder what the base and origin of the word is.
2 posted on
12/13/2013 8:11:20 AM PST by
mountainlion
(Live well for those that did not make it back.)
To: JRandomFreeper; Allegra; Straight Vermonter; Cronos; SumProVita; AnAmericanMother; annalex; dsc
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3 posted on
12/13/2013 8:13:15 AM PST by
Salvation
("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
To: Salvation
Current example of henotheism is Mormonism.
Mormonic teaching is that there are an unlimited number of mormon gods (4 Earth Gods alone), but mormons are instructed to worship just one. Male Mormons are also taught that if they obey the extensive rules of mormonism, they can also become a mormonic god that has their own worshippers.
Henotheism is not Christianity.
4 posted on
12/13/2013 8:32:56 AM PST by
aMorePerfectUnion
(I grew up in America. I now live in the United States..)
To: Salvation
Pre-exilic Judaism was more likely henotheistic rather than monotheistic. For example, in Psalm 18 David describes YHWH as someone who battles the other gods and is victorious, in terms similar to the way a sports writer might describe the undefeated Florida State Seminoles to FSU students: there may be many football teams, but our team is the one to root for, because it conquers all the other teams.
The idea that there is only one Supreme Being, and that all other "gods" are either non-existent frauds or expressions of the demonic, seems to take hold in Judaism during the Babylonian exile. To be sure, there is a difference between reality and perception: the ancient Hebrews may have been henotheistic, but that doesn't mean that the truth of God was henotheistic, only that the perception of God was henotheistic at the time.
6 posted on
12/13/2013 9:23:50 AM PST by
chajin
("There is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12)
To: Salvation
Atheism would not be henothism then as they do not believe in any god but are they a religion?
9 posted on
12/13/2013 11:26:14 AM PST by
mountainlion
(Live well for those that did not make it back.)
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