Biblical Monotheism

    Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are the three monotheistic religions designated as “Hebraic,” “Biblical,” or “Abrahamic” religions because of their origins in ancient Hebrew Civilization. The Episcopal Church is committed to Hebraic monotheism: the biblical belief in the one and only personal God Who creates the universe and Who invites humanity to enter a communal, covenant relationship with Him. This loving, awesome Supreme Being, self-disclosed in the Bible (especially in Jesus Christ), is not common to all major world religions. For example, classical Hinduism, Buddhism, and Daoism are not monotheistic. They do not acknowledge as their ultimate reality a personal, revealing, caring, creator God-Who-Acts in search of personal, human loyalty. Instead, they embrace other views of non-personal spirituality as ultimate. Some Christian theologians and clergy have rejected biblical monotheism as intellectually inferior; instead, they have embraced what they believe to be more sophisticated views similar to some Asian and non-biblical, philosophical traditions. The Book of Common Prayer is thoroughly monotheistic, and its use by non-theistic clergy would be inconsistent with its biblical context.