Kathenotheism is a term coined by the
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
Max Müller
Friedrich Max Müller (; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born philologist and Orientalist, who lived and studied in Britain for most of his life. He was one of the founders of the western academic disciplines of Indian ...
to mean the worship of one
god at a time. It is closely related to
henotheism, the worship of one god while not rejecting the existence of other gods. Müller coined the term in reference to the
Vedas
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...
, where he explained each deity is treated as
supreme in turn.
Etymology
Kathenotheism, a more specific form of
henotheism, refers to the worship of a succession of supreme gods "one at a time", from the Greek ''kath' hena'' "one by one" + ''
theism
Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of a supreme being or deities. In common parlance, or when contrasted with ''deism'', the term often describes the classical conception of God that is found in monotheism (also referred to ...
''.
Ancient Greece
The ancient
Orphic religion had a polytheistic theology. The deities were each distinct individuals that were not equated with one another.
Hinduism
The
Smarta Tradition
The ''Smarta'' tradition ( sa, स्मार्त), also called Smartism, is a movement in Hinduism that developed and expanded with the Puranas genre of literature. It reflects a synthesis of four philosophical strands, namely Mimamsa, A ...
of Hinduism worship the five major deities as supreme in turn and collectively.
References
Theism
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