3.2.5 - Monotheism

The Belief In One God

In Judaism, monotheism means belief in one God. For this AQA point, that is not just a numerical claim that there is "one deity rather than many". The specification gives a fuller account: God is one, eternal, omniscient and omnipotent, and God is creator and controller of all things.

These terms work together:

A careful AO1 answer should not treat these ideas as separate vocabulary items. Jewish monotheism is a connected claim about ultimate reality: one God is the source, sustainer, knower and ruler of all that exists. That makes monotheism foundational for Jewish worship and moral life.

There is also an AO2 issue from the beginning. The clearer the claim is, the more questions it raises. If God knows and controls all things, how should human freedom be understood? If God is beyond the world, how can human language describe God at all? This lesson does not turn those questions into a full philosophy essay, but it uses them to build judgement about the significance and difficulty of the belief.

The Shema and Exclusive Devotion

The most important biblical source anchor for Jewish monotheism is the Shema, from Deuteronomy 6:4. It is often translated as "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one", while some Jewish translations render the final idea as the Lord "alone". Both translations support the same lesson point: Israel's God is not one god among rivals, but the only proper object of Israel's worship and loyalty.

The Shema matters because it is both a source of belief and a practice of faith. It is recited in Jewish prayer and is associated with accepting God's rule. Deuteronomy 6:5 immediately links the confession of God's uniqueness with loving God with heart, soul and might. That means monotheism is not only a theoretical doctrine; it calls for devotion, obedience and identity.

There is a small covenantal note here, but it must stay modest. Deuteronomy presents God's oneness in the setting of commanded loyalty by Israel. That helps explain why monotheism shapes obedience and worship. It should not become a whole lesson on covenant, the patriarchs, Sinai or mitzvot, because those are wider route topics.

The Shema also helps avoid a common mistake. Jewish monotheism is not merely an abstract philosophical belief. It is a lived confession: the one God is heard, loved and obeyed. AQA can therefore ask about the influence of belief, not only its definition.

Maimonides' Thirteen Principles

Maimonides was a medieval Jewish philosopher, legal scholar and physician, also known as the Rambam. His Thirteen Principles of the Faith are a famous attempt to state core Jewish beliefs. AQA names them because they give a concentrated way of expressing Jewish beliefs about God.

The whole list contains more than this lesson needs, including prophecy, Torah, Messiah and resurrection. The AQA focus is the God-belief expressed through the principles. The most relevant principles are:

The important point is not that every Jewish thinker treats Maimonides' list in exactly the same way. The important AO1 point is that Maimonides gives a systematic formulation of Jewish monotheism. He does not only say "there is one God"; he explains what that oneness implies: God is not bodily, not divided, not dependent and not rivalled.

Maimonides' Mishneh Torah, Foundations of the Torah develops the same ideas in philosophical language. He presents God as the primary being on whom all other beings depend, and he argues that God's unity is unlike the unity of a physical thing made of parts. That is why Maimonides is especially useful for explaining the depth of "God is one".

There is a danger, though. Students can treat the Thirteen Principles as if Judaism were simply a creed-based religion in the same style as some forms of Christianity. That is too flat. Judaism includes belief, but Jewish identity is also shaped by Torah, practice, community, worship and law. Maimonides is a major source, not the whole of Judaism.

Attributes Without Limiting God

Words such as omniscient and omnipotent are useful, but they can mislead if they make God sound like a superhuman person with bigger versions of human knowledge and power. Maimonides is important because he tries to protect God's uniqueness from that mistake.

For Maimonides, God's unity means God is not made up of separate parts or properties. Human beings have a body, a mind, a life, knowledge, intentions and powers. God is not like that. If God had separate parts, then God would be composite and dependent, which would weaken divine unity. So Maimonides treats language about God very carefully.

This does not mean Jewish belief is silent about God. It means claims about God must not put God on the same scale as created things. To say God is all-powerful is not to say God has the largest amount of creaturely power. It means God does not lack power, is not limited by a rival, and is the source on which all created power depends. To say God is all-knowing is not to say God learns more facts than humans do. It means nothing is hidden from God, while God's knowledge is not the same kind of knowledge as human knowledge.