Monotheism or Enotheism? What is more apt for Christian Religion?

Frequently, people speak about the "the great monotheistic religions" to refer to Hebraism, Islam, and Christianity.I query myself if these are monotheistic religions, really, or if they are more aptly situated in a conceptual context of Enotheism.

It would help a great deal if you offered a definition for enotheism. It would then require that you show your argument for why these religions are enotheistic. Then perhaps it can be promoted.

You are right. Not every people know what Henotheism implies (I apologize for my mistake about my missing of the first letter ‘h’. In Italian the term is ‘Enoteismo’, without a prefixed "h").‘Henotheism’ indicates the worship of a particular god, without disbelieving in the existence of others gods.This concept may be illustrated with the help of a simple analogy:Two men have a habit to read a news paper every day. The — so to speak — ‘Monotheistic’ reader is that one who denies the existence of other published newspapers. So, he proclaims the only existent newspaper is that same newspaper he reads every day. The — so to speak — ‘Henotheistic’ reader is that one who acknowledges the existence of other published newspapers, but chooses to read always the same newspaper.On the basis of these concepts my question is: ‘It would be more correct define the classical ‘Monotheistic’ Religions like ‘Henotheistic’, since their followers do admit the existence of other - even though not worshipped by them - divinities besides the Divinity they choose to worship?Thanks for the tip.

I couldn't find "enotheism" in any on-line dictionary or in my home dictionary, which is a good one, but I did find it at Quizlet: That still doesn't mean it's a real word (though new words enter the language all the time), but that was the what I thought you meant, and it does seem especially appropriate for Christianity.

The term Henotheism (and the derivate ‘henotheistic’) is a real word.For example, you may find a definition of Henotheism in the following on-line dictionaries:http://ancienthistory.about.com/...gyptmyth/g/henotheism.htm
Henotheism Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
henotheism | religion | Britannica
Henotheism - definition of henotheism by The Free Dictionary
http://www.yourdictionary.com/henotheism
henotheism | Etymology, origin and meaning of henotheism by etymonlineBut, what is more important than mere words are the concepts included in the three ideas of what we call Monotheism, Henotheism, and Politheism (these definitions are not always well defined!)You may also safely forget these words and, instead, focus yourselves on these three ideal concepts:Concept A: In the whole universe exists only one god. I worship this sole god.
Concept B: In the universe exist a number of gods. But I worship only one of these
Concept C: In the universe exist a number of gods. I worship all of themNow, is not important if the word sequence ‘Monotheism’-‘Henotheism’-‘Politheism’ closely fits with the sequence ‘Concept A’-‘Concept B’-‘Concept C’ (shown before).The pivotal point is:
Is — for example — Christianity more closely described like a Religion that sticks on the Concept A, the Concept B, or the Concept C?Virtually all Christians immediately would rule out the Concept C from the (mathematical) set of Christianity.But, what about the remaining Concepts, A and B?
Christianity may be considered to be inside the Concept A?
Or, it is more appropriate to consider Christianity like a part of the Concept B?I think this is an important question inside the thread Bible Study.

Well, that's why I thought so enotheism, as defined at that website I linked to, so interesting. Christianity seems much more like enotheism than "Concept B" because it has the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, and then there's the cult of Saint Mary, and then there's all the lesser saints that Christians pray to, especially Catholics.But enough of moderators having all the fun. I was leaving it to AdminNosy to make the promotion decision since he replied first, but maybe he's not around this weekend, so I'll promote this now.

Thread copied to the Monotheism or Enotheism? What is more apt for Christian Religion? thread in the Faith and Belief forum, this copy of the thread has been closed.