Monotheism

=====Christianity=====
{{Main|God in Christianity|Trinity}}
[[File:Shield-Trinity-Scutum-Fidei-English.svg|thumb|upright=0.9|The [[Trinity]] is the Christian belief that God is one God in essence but three persons: [[God the Father]], [[God the Son]] ([[Jesus]]), and [[God the Holy Spirit]].<ref name="def-lateran">Definition of the [[Fourth Lateran Council]] quoted in ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'' [https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_P17.HTM#1FT §253] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329042425/http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_P17.HTM#1FT |date=2020-03-29 }}</ref>]]
Among [[early Christians]], there was considerable debate over the nature of the [[Godhead (Christianity)|Godhead]], with some denying the incarnation but not the deity of Jesus ([[Docetism]]) and others later calling for an [[Arianism|Arian]] conception of God. Despite at least one earlier local [[Council of Alexandria|synod]] rejecting the claim of Arius, this [[Christology|Christological]] issue was to be one of the items addressed at the [[First Council of Nicaea]].

The First Council of Nicaea, held in [[Nicaea]] (in present-day [[Turkey]]), convoked by the [[Roman Emperors|Roman Emperor]] [[Constantine I (emperor)|Constantine I]] in 325, was the first [[ecumenical council|ecumenical]]<ref>''Ecumenical'', from [[Koine Greek]] [[Oikoumene|oikoumenikos]], literally meaning worldwide the earliest extant uses of the term for a council are in Eusebius's ''Life of Constantine'' 3.6 [http://khazarzar.skeptik.net/books/eusebius/vc/gr/index.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070707114759/http://khazarzar.skeptik.net/books/eusebius/vc/gr/index.htm|date=2007-07-07}} around 338 "{{lang|grc|σύνοδον οἰκουμενικὴν συνεκρότει}}" (he convoked an Ecumenical council), Athanasius's Ad Afros Epistola Synodica in 369 [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2819.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130122828/http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2819.htm|date=2018-11-30}}, and the Letter in 382 to [[Pope Damasus I]] and the Latin bishops from the [[First Council of Constantinople]] [http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-14/Npnf2-14-63.htm#TopOfPage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060613083149/http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-14/Npnf2-14-63.htm#TopOfPage|date=2006-06-13}}</ref> council of [[bishop]]s of the [[Roman Empire]], and most significantly resulted in the first uniform Christian [[doctrine]], called the [[Nicene Creed]]. With the creation of the creed, a precedent was established for subsequent general ecumenical councils of bishops ([[synod]]s) to create statements of belief and [[Canon law|canons]] of doctrinal [[orthodoxy]]—the intent being to define a common creed for the [[Christian Church|Church]] and address [[heresy|heretical]] ideas.

One purpose of the council was to resolve [[Arian controversy|disagreements]] in [[Early centers of Christianity#Alexandria|Alexandria]] over the nature of [[Jesus]] in relationship to the Father; in particular, whether Jesus was of the [[Homoousia|same substance]] as [[God the Father]] or merely of [[Homoiousia|similar substance]]. All but two bishops took the first position; while [[Arius]]' argument failed.

[[File:Michelangelo's "God", from "the Creation of Adam".jpg|thumb|upright|left|God in ''[[The Creation of Adam]]'', fresco by [[Michelangelo]] (c. 1508–1512)]]
Christian orthodox traditions (Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and most Protestants) follow this decision, which was reaffirmed in 381 at the [[First Council of Constantinople]] and reached its full development through the work of the [[Cappadocian Fathers]]. They consider God to be a triune entity, called the Trinity, comprising three "[[person]]s", [[God the Father]], [[God the Son]], and [[God the Holy Spirit]]. These three are described as being "of the same substance" ({{lang|grc|[[ousia|ὁμοούσιος]]}}).

Christians overwhelmingly assert that monotheism is central to the Christian faith, as the Nicene Creed (and others), which gives the orthodox Christian definition of the Trinity, begins: "I believe in one God". From earlier than the times of the [[Nicene Creed]], 325&nbsp;CE, various Christian figures advocated<ref>''Examples of ante-Nicene statements'':

{{blockquote|Hence all the power of magic became dissolved; and every bond of wickedness was destroyed, men's ignorance was taken away, and the old kingdom abolished God Himself appearing in the form of a man, for the renewal of eternal life.|St. Ignatius of Antioch in ''Letter to the Ephesians'', ch.4, shorter version, Roberts-Donaldson translation}}

{{blockquote|We have also as a Physician the Lord our God Jesus the Christ the only-begotten Son and Word, before time began, but who afterwards became also man, of Mary the virgin. For 'the Word was made flesh.' Being incorporeal, He was in the body; being impassible, He was in a passable body; being immortal, He was in a mortal body; being life, He became subject to corruption, that He might free our souls from death and corruption, and heal them, and might restore them to health, when they were diseased with ungodliness and wicked lusts|St. Ignatius of Antioch in ''Letter to the Ephesians'', ch.7, shorter version, Roberts-Donaldson translation}}

{{blockquote|The Church, though dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: ...one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father 'to gather all things in one,' and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Savior, and King, according to the will of the invisible Father, 'every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess; to him, and that He should execute just judgment towards all...'|St. Irenaeus in ''Against Heresies'', ch.X, v.I, {{Citation | last = Donaldson| first = Sir James|title = Ante Nicene Fathers, Volume 1: Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus | publisher = [[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.]] | year = 1950| isbn = 978-0802880871}}}}

{{blockquote|For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water|Justin Martyr in ''First Apology'', ch. LXI, {{Citation | last = Donaldson| first = Sir James|title = Ante Nicene Fathers, Volume 1: Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus | publisher = Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company| year = 1950| isbn = 978-0802880871}}}}
</ref> the triune [[Holy Mystery|mystery]]-nature of God as a normative profession of faith. According to [[Roger E. Olson]] and Christopher Hall, through prayer, meditation, study and practice, the Christian community concluded "that God must exist as both a unity and trinity", codifying this in ecumenical council at the end of the 4th century.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Olson|first1=Roger E.|title=The Trinity|date=2002|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|page=15|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SUAidAp8AgEC&q=the+trinity|isbn=9780802848277}}</ref>

Most modern Christians believe the [[Godhead in Christianity|Godhead]] is triune, meaning that the three persons of the Trinity are in one union in which each person is also wholly God. They also hold to the doctrine of a [[Hypostatic union|man-god]] [[Christ Jesus]] as [[God incarnate#Christianity|God incarnate]]. These Christians also do not believe that one of the three divine figures is God alone and the other two are not but that all three are mysteriously God and one. Other Christian religions, including [[Unitarian Universalism]], [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], [[Mormonism]] and others, [[Nontrinitarianism|do not share those views on the Trinity]].

Some Christian faiths, such as [[God in Mormonism|Mormonism]], argue that the Godhead is in fact three separate individuals which include God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/article/articles-of-faith|title=The Articles of Faith: 13 Beliefs &#124; ComeUntoChrist|website=www.churchofjesuschrist.org|access-date=2022-08-05|archive-date=2022-08-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805174338/https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/article/articles-of-faith|url-status=live}}</ref> each individual having a distinct purpose in the grand existence of human kind.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/believe/jesus|title=Jesus Christ Is Our Savior &#124; ComeUntoChrist|website=www.churchofjesuschrist.org|access-date=2022-08-05|archive-date=2022-08-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805174339/https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/believe/jesus|url-status=live}}</ref> Furthermore, Mormons believe that before the Council of Nicaea, the predominant belief among many early Christians was that the Godhead was three separate individuals. In support of this view, they cite early Christian examples of belief in [[subordinationism]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1105&index=3|title=Offenders for a Word|access-date=2015-02-28|archive-date=2015-12-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210010625/http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1105&index=3|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Unitarianism]] is a theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism.<ref>''[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15154b.htm Unitarians] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140705011058/http://newadvent.org/cathen/15154b.htm |date=2014-07-05 }}'' at 'Catholic Encyclopedia', ed. Kevin Knight at New Advent website</ref>

Some in Judaism and some in Islam do not consider Trinitarian Christianity to be a pure form of monotheism due to the pluriform monotheistic Christian doctrine of the [[Trinity]], classifying it as ''[[shituf]]'' in Judaism and as ''[[Shirk (Islam)|shirk]]'' in Islam.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Mohammed Amin|title=Triangulating the Abrahamic faiths – measuring the closeness of Judaism, Christianity and Islam|url=http://www.mohammedamin.com/Community_issues/Triangulating-the-Abrahamic-faiths.html|quote=Christians were seen as polytheists, due to the doctrine of the Trinity. In the last few hundred years, rabbis have moderated this view slightly, but they still do not regard Christians as being fully monotheistic in the same manner as Jews or Muslims. Muslims were acknowledged as monotheists.|access-date=2016-01-20|archive-date=2016-02-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160222121459/http://mohammedamin.com/Community_issues/Triangulating-the-Abrahamic-faiths.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Oxford University Press" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Islamic Practices|url=http://www.ulc.org/training-education/guide-to-divinity/22-religions-of-the-world/134-practicing-islam/|publisher=Universal Life Church Ministries|quote=It is the Islamic belief that Christianity is not monotheistic, as it claims, but rather polytheistic with the trinity-the father, son and the Holy Ghost.|access-date=2016-01-20|archive-date=2016-03-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307144019/http://www.ulc.org/training-education/guide-to-divinity/22-religions-of-the-world/134-practicing-islam/|url-status=live}}</ref> Trinitarian Christians, on the other hand, argue that the doctrine of the Trinity is a valid expression of monotheism, citing that the Trinity does not consist of three separate [[deities]], but rather the three [[Hypostasis (philosophy and religion)|persons]], who exist [[consubstantiality|consubstantially]] (as one [[Ousia|substance]]) within a single [[Godhead in Christianity|Godhead]].<ref>[https://icucourses.com/pages/025-10-three-persons-are-subsistent-relations Lesson 10: Three Persons are Subsistent Relations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731154530/https://icucourses.com/pages/025-10-three-persons-are-subsistent-relations|date=2017-07-31}}, [[International Catholic University]]: "The fatherhood constitutes the Person of the Father, the sonship constitutes the Person of the Son, and the passive aspiration constitutes the Person of the Holy Spirit. But in God "everything is one where there is no distinction by relative opposition." Consequently, even though in God there are three Persons, there is only one consciousness, one thinking and one loving. The three Persons share equally in the internal divine activity because they are all identified with the divine essence. For, if each divine Person possessed his own distinct and different consciousness, there would be three gods, not the one God of Christian revelation. So you will see that in this regard there is an immense difference between a divine Person and a human person."</ref><ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Trinity-Christianity Trinity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430124922/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Trinity-Christianity |date=2021-04-30 }}, ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'': "The Council of Nicaea in 325 stated the crucial formula for that doctrine in its confession that the Son is "of the same substance [homoousios] as the Father", even though it said very little about the Holy Spirit. Over the next half century, Athanasius defended and refined the Nicene formula, and, by the end of the 4th century, under the leadership of Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus (the Cappadocian Fathers), the doctrine of the Trinity took substantially the form it has maintained ever since. It is accepted in all of the historic confessions of Christianity, even though the impact of the Enlightenment decreased its importance."</ref>