MONOTHEISTIC CONCEPTIONS 894 That the world exists is not necessarily true (i.e., it is false that it is impossible that the
world not exist; remember here that necessity is metaphysical, having to do with what
there is, not epistemological, having to do with what is known, so that what 4 asserts has
to do with what can be, not with what we know).
Here, God could have chosen that there be no world. The world is not everlasting. Either God
created time in the same act as that by which God created a world, or God created the world
after a time when there was no world. God sustains the world in existence and at times
brings it about that particular individuals are born or are chosen for specific religious roles
and that specific events occur. A religious tradition with no Abraham, Sarah, Moses, David,
Ruth, Isaiah, Micah, or any of the prophets, no exile in Egypt, no Passover, no era of judges
or of prophecy, no Hebrew people chosen by God is not Judaism. If there have been none of
these people and events, Judaism is false. If Jesus did not live, or died a peaceful death in his
own bed, or remained in the grave, then Christianity is false. If Mohammed never existed,
or was always an atheist, or was a wealthy merchant entirely uninterested in religion and
never claimed to receive any revelation, then Islam is false. With room for debate about
exactly the scope of the claims, the Semitic monotheisms have in common that their core
doctrines refer to particular persons and particular events.
The deity of Greek monotheism cannot act, unless everlasting contemplation of
necessary truths is acting. The deity of Semitic monotheism can act. The God of Semitic
monotheism acts in history; it is unthinkable for Greek monotheism that the deity be
able so to behave, and unthinkable for Semitic monotheism that the deity not be able so
to behave. The deity of Greek monotheism is not the God of history; that would be
beyond her power and beneath her dignity. The deity of Semitic monotheism is the God
of history, not by necessity but by choice; this is not beyond his power or beneath his
dignity.
Within Semitic monotheism, Jewish and Muslim monotheisms assert that God creates
and providentially rules the world; God acts in history, ordains prophets, and gives
revelations. Christian monotheism agrees, but also claims that God has become incarnate
in the person of Jesus Christ. That God become incarnate, according to Jewish and
Islamic monotheism, is beyond God’s power and beneath God’s dignity – that God be
incarnate in a human being who is crucified is, if possible, even more impossible and
even more against the divine status. Christian monotheism asserts that becoming
incarnate is within the power of an omnicompetent God, and provides the supreme
instance of God’s wisdom and love.
Hindu monotheism
Hindu monotheism, in addition to accepting generic monotheism, accepts these claims.
1 The world has always existed.