People sometimes ask- why is it important to believe in One God?  It’s a really good question. The Oneness of God is a primary theme in the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as well as the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism.  Hindus also have a sense of one Force at the root of all existence, and many cultures that believed in many gods still had one God they worshipped above the others. The Oneness of God was an evolution and advancement in humanity’s conception of God and it had a lot of impact on how humans thought about the world. 

Before these great religions, humans tended to see nature as the expression of forces controlled by the “gods”.  It thundered because the gods were angry, rained because the gods were crying…etc.  The perception of people was that they were at the mercy of these gods and the natural forces they controlled.  The gods were not necessarily ethical- they were just glorified human personalities. People would make idols of these gods and sacrifice to them  so that good things would happen and bad things would be avoided. Belief in these gods was more like superstition than anything else.

The Oneness of God was taught by Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad as a fundamental doctrine and it made two connections that were significant. The first was that all these other gods were nothing in the face of the true abstract Reality that was the real Source of all being.  Second, that One God was an ethical God who cared about humanity and wanted humans to achieve their full potential. To be like that One God was to take on the highest virtues of humanity.  With the Oneness of God, humanity’s conception of the world also went from one that was very concrete, to one that was more abstract.  Being able to think and see the world in abstract terms is an evolution in human thinking and spirituality that set the stage for other advances, both intellectual and religious. The Oneness of God actually provided the basis for science because it was understood that the world was  a rational place, created by a single rational and benevolent God, and not the playground for a bunch of juvenile divinities that always fought each other.  

There is a story in the Gospels where Jesus is conversing with a Samaritan woman at a well.  Samaritan’s were not Jews and did not worship One God, and she noted that her god was in the mountains whereas Jews worshipped theirs in the temple.  Jesus told her that God was a “Spirit and needed to be worshipped in spirit and in truth”.  It wasn’t the place that was important, but the worship of an abstract reality that was the essence of Truth. 

The Oneness of God was further developed in the revelation of Muhammad and Islam. The fundamental teaching of Muhammad was the “Unity of God”.  To say God was one was even incorrect- God was beyond numbers and shouldn’t even be thought of in those concrete terms. Even idols became non-physical.  An “idol” could be a physical idol, but also an “idol” we created in our minds, anything that caused us to worship something other than One True God who was the essence of compassion and mercy.  As expressed by Ali, the Prophet’s son-in-law-

“To know God is to know his oneness. To say that God is one has four meanings: two of them are false and two are correct. As for the two meanings that are false, one is that a person should say “God is one” and be thinking of a number and counting. This is false because that which has no second cannot enter into the category of number…Another meaning is to say, “So-and-So is one of his people”, namely, a species of this genus or a member of this species. This meaning is also false when applied to God, because it implies likening something to God, whereas God is above all likeness. As to the two meanings that are correct when applied to God, one is that it should be said that “God is one” in the sense that there is no likeness to him among things. Another is to say that “God is one” in the sense that there is no multiplicity or division conceivable in Him, neither outwardly, nor in the mind, nor in the imagination. God alone possesses such a unity.”

Baha’u’llah built on these concepts in His Revelation.  God becomes completely abstract, only knowable through the qualities He manifests in all creation, including within us, and in the Revelations that come to humanity and explain His reality and our connection to It.

“Regard thou the one true God as One Who is apart from, and immeasurably exalted above, all created things. The whole universe reflecteth His glory, while He is Himself independent of, and transcendeth His creatures. This is the true meaning of Divine unity. He Who is the Eternal Truth is the one Power Who exerciseth undisputed sovereignty over the world of being, Whose image is reflected in the mirror of the entire creation. All existence is dependent upon Him, and from Him is derived the source of the sustenance of all things. This is what is meant by Divine unity; this is its fundamental principle.”

To worship that one God is to express it in pure and holy deeds of service to all humanity, irrespective of any particular characteristic- race, religion, political party or other divisions. To worship God is to worship love and justice in pure form.

Worship thou God in such wise that if thy worship lead thee to the fire, no alteration in thine adoration would be produced, and so likewise if thy recompense should be paradise. Thus and thus alone should be the worship which befitteth the one True God. Shouldst thou worship Him because of fear, this would be unseemly in the sanctified Court of His presence, and could not be regarded as an act by thee dedicated to the Oneness of His Being. Or if thy gaze should be on paradise, and thou shouldst worship Him while cherishing such a hope, thou wouldst make God’s creation a partner with Him, notwithstanding the fact that paradise is desired by men. Fire and paradise both bow down and prostrate themselves before God. That which is worthy of His Essence is to worship Him for His sake, without fear of fire, or hope of paradise. (The Bab)

The Oneness of God is the truth that connects our spiritual instincts with ethical behavior. It is the basis of all exalted forms of religion.