Nutshell: G!d concepts in Judiasm, Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism

The concept of G!d in the Jewish, Christian, Islamic, and Hindu traditions...

Islam: For Muslims, the G!d of Islam is absolutely identical with the G!d of Abraham. Muhammad, who received the Qur’an as revelation from G!d through the Angel Gabriel, saw himself in the tradition of the Hebrew prophets, and the last prophet of the true religion of the one and only G!d.

Muslims believe that G!d is one alone: There is only one G!d; G!d was not created by a being; and there are no equal, superior, or lesser gods. There is the one almighty G!d, named Allah, who is infinitely superior to and transcendent from humankind, the creator of the universe and the source of all good and all evil. Everything that happens is Allah’s will, a powerful and strict judge, who will be merciful toward followers according to the their life’s good works and religious devotion. A Muslim’s relationship with Allah is as a servant to Allah.

Hinduism: This religion blends monotheism and polytheism in a complex way. Unlike most other religions, Hinduism has no single founder, no single scripture, and no commonly agreed set of teachings. Throughout its extensive history, many key figures have taught different philosophies and written numerous holy books. For these reasons, writers often refer to Hinduism as ‘a family of religions’ rather than a single religion.

Most Hindus agree that Brahman pervades everything, although they do not worship Brahman. Some Hindus regard a particular deity or deities as manifestations of Brahman. Brahman is a Sanskrit word which refers to a transcendent power beyond the universe. As such, it is sometimes translated as ‘G!d’ although the two concepts are not identical. It is too simplistic to define Hinduism as belief in many gods or ‘polytheism’. Most Hindus believe in a Supreme G!d, who, being unlimited, can have unlimited forms and expressions. Thus, G!d can be approached in a number of ways, and each person can relate to G!d in a different particular form.

For convenience, Hindus are often classified into the three most popular Hindu denominations, called paramparas in Sanskrit. These paramparas are defined by their attraction to a particular form of G!d (called ishta or devata): Vaishnavas (considered to be the most popular Hindu denomination) focus on Vishnu and his incarnations (avatara, avatars), believing that G!d incarnates into the world in different forms such as Krishna and Rama;  Shaivas focus on Shiva; Shaktas focus on the goddess in her various forms such as Lakshmi, Parvati, Sarasvati, Durga and Kali.

A Hindu’s goal is to become free from the law of karma, to be free from continuous reincarnations. To this end, Hinduism gives a person freedom to choose how to work toward spiritual perfection in order to end this cycle of karma: 1. Be lovingly devoted to any of the Hindu deities; 2. Grow in knowledge through meditation of Brahman (oneness); 3. Be dedicated to various religious ceremonies and rites.

Christianity: Christianity is the most populous religion on earth, with two billion believers worldwide — one-third of the earth’s population. Yet it is also one of the most fiercely disputed religions, with hundreds, perhaps thousands of denominations and splinter sects, and many individual believers who do not associate themselves with any established church.

From the outset, Christianity has seen itself as a religion of salvation, and has always proclaimed a particular message of salvation to the world. Christianity on the whole has always measured and judged other worldviews, ideologies, and religions according to this particular salvific message. This self-interpretation and claim to prescribe the only means of access to a happy eternal destiny/salvation of the whole of humanity colors its entire concept of G!d. The defining belief of Christianity is that Jesus is the “only begotten Son of G!d”, i.e. G!d incarnated in a human being.

For the most part, it can be said that followers of Christianity state a belief in one G!d, viewed as eternal, all-powerful, and all-knowing. Here, it gets a little complicated, because most Christians also believe that G!d is a trinity of three distinct supernatural persons: the Father, the powerful figure depicted in the Christian Old Testament; the Son, Jesus, who incarnated on earth, as related in the Christian New Testament, for the sole mission of dying on the cross to atone for the sins of humankind; and the Holy Spirit, which represents the supernatural effect that G!d has upon humans. While Christians deny being polytheistic, they simultaneously claim a one-for-three and three-for-one unity of their triune G!dhead.

Trinitarians define the one G!d of the Bible as three co-equal divine persons. It seems questionable that trinitarian Christianity can be categorized as monotheistic. Yet, trinitarian scholars insist they are monotheistic, believing in only one G!d. However, they arrive at this definition through the concept of “one” as a unity rather than numerically, which is completely different from the way other monotheistic religions understand monotheism and G!d as One. Jesus, ever the Jew, repeatedly endorsed the Sh’ma. Like any other Jew, he seemed to believe that G!d was numerically one, echad, as the Sh’ma states. This occurs in several places in the Christian New Testament. In so doing, he denied both a trinitarian concept of G!d, as well as himself as G!d incarnate.

A major division between Christians and Jews has not been whether or not Jesus was the messiah, but whether the one G!d consists of more than one person. Jewish writer David Klinghoffer explains, “In Talmudic and other early rabbinic literature [produced during the early centuries of the Christian era], the most often heard polemical theme directed against Christians has to do with the charge that the latter worshipped two gods. Not three, as in later Christian formulations —the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—but two. In the first centuries of our era, not all Christians had yet become Trinitarians, for the Holy Spirit had not yet joined the pantheon.”

So the Christian concept of G!d is a bit murky. It claims a belief in one G!d as monotheists, but does so by changing the very definition of mono- (numerically one) theism. Trinitarianism, the Christian belief in three persons in one G!dhead, cannot rightly be categorized as monotheism, although it is claimed as such.

Judaism: The most basic and encompassing Jewish concept of G!d is expressed succinctly in the Sh’ma:  “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our G!d, the Lord is one.” (Deuteronomy 6:4). The Hebrew word that is translated “one” in Deuteronomy 6:4 is echad, and its primary meaning is the numeral one. The bedrock of normative Judaism has always been strict monotheism—the belief that there is numerically only one G!d, and it is this belief in one G!d that made a Jew a Jew. It distinguished Jews from their neighbors, who during antiquity were polytheistic.

In the Jewish Bible and later Jewish sources, the Hebrew G!d has numerous names, yet was always considered simply different names for the One G!d, not different or multiple gods. The Talmud has additional names for G!d including, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, HaMakom, etc. Even the most holy and sacred Name ascribed to G!d is unpronounceable and not articulated: the Tetragrammaton. During prayer and communal Torah reading it is pronounced Adonai. Another common name for G!d in the Bible is El or Elohim.

This business of naming G!d is serious in Judaism, a reflection of the idea that G!d is seen as transcending this world, and language is a finite human construct reflecting the lives, thoughts, and biases of those who use it within the cultural framework of the time. How, then, can we write or say anything credible about the Divine? And if we cannot discuss, describe, or even name G!d, how can G!d be a meaningful concept? While G!d has always been central to “normative” Judaism, must a Jew believe in G!d in a certain way?

In the Torah, Jews are commanded to believe in G!d, and Maimonides begins his Mishneh Torah with the assertion that belief in G!d is the fundamental of all fundamentals. On the other hand, there are other traditional sources that minimize the role of this G!d concept in Judaism. A rabbinic text, Pesikta D’Rav Kehane, interprets G!d’s lament in the book of Jeremiah that the Jews “have forsaken me and not kept my Torah,” to mean, “if only they had forsaken me and kept my Torah,” asserting that Judaism demands action—fulfilling the commandments of the Torah—but not necessarily a proscribed belief in a particular concept of G!d.

Is the Sh’ma simply a math equation, or is it a wholistic perspective combining many concepts? Is G!d an infinitude, and if so, how can G!d also be a numerical one, since one is not an infinitude? Or is it? Relative to the Sh’ma as previously noted is  the verse, “You are My witnesses” (Isaiah 43:10), wherein the Rabbis imagine G!d saying, “When you are My witnesses, I am G!d. When you are not My witnesses, it is as if I am not G!d” (P’sikta D’Rav Kahana, piska 12:6; Sifrei 346). This begs the question, “Is G!d only G!d when we give witness to echad?”

To me, THIS is what it means to be a Jew. We are defined throughout the millennia by our seeking of G!d, to name, but more importantly, to relate. And therein, our search is transformative. It is not a search for transformation; it is transformative. A search for transformation has an end point clearly defined from the beginning. Jews have not had an end point clearly defined. This is why we have been a people wandering and wondering, on the move, unsettled, yet looking for ways to relate to a G!d who very much desires to relate to us, to dwell in our midst. Our biblical story is our metaphorical adventure.

Jacob Needleman, in the very first sentence of his book, What is G!d, asserts: “G!d is to the soul, what breathing is to the body.” Is G!d an abstract concept unconnected to any genuine experience? Or is the very seeking that which becomes the finding, and the finding the seeking? We are the people who wrestle with G!d. We may limp, but at morning’s dawn, we rise and bless, and ask for a blessing. We do not let go, even though we still seek answers. This is what makes Judaism so different, as I see it. At sunrise, all we can say is “Sh’ma Yisrael, Adoai Elohaynu, Adonai Echad.” THAT I believe this is a given. HOW I believe this is where the wrestling comes in.