Monotheism in Epic Fantasy (Just like DF but with culture)

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by b-dog

The ultimate goal of this is to have a pseudo medieval world where there is a monotheistic god that people worship and opposes the Infernal and other supernatural beings like fairies and pagan faiths even though they may be good.

So...don't make it easy to wipe out the pagan faiths and fairies.

[b-dog]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

So...don't make it easy to wipe out the pagan faiths and fairies.

I stole a concept called Dominion from Ars Magica. This is where the monotheistic god is worshipped and opposes other forces. In a DF type campaign, the pagan gods and fairies would be weakened in areas of Dominion but they would be at full power outside of it. Dominion opposes the Infernal too.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by b-dog

I stole a concept called Dominion from Ars Magica. This is where the monotheistic god is worshipped and opposes other forces..

Uh-hunh. But the abilities of holy men in Ars Magica do not include all of the spells.

[safisher]

Originally Posted by b-dog

The ultimate goal of this is to have a pseudo medieval world where there is a monotheistic god that people worship and opposes the Infernal and other supernatural beings like fairies and pagan faiths even though they may be good. Thus the town part of the adventure is pretty normal without many supernatural beings but outside of town is where the pagan gods are worshipped and fairies roam free. It makes things more complex because good fairies oppose evil ones but good monotheistic clerics oppose good fairies.

Go back and look at the Medieval cosmology in the link I posted upthread. It's far more complex than Good vs. Evil.

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by safisher

I mostly see this as a discussion between henotheism and monotheism. Biblical Israel struggled with polytheism and henotheism, likes it neighbors, but the scripture is clearly monotheistic. Henotheism is the claim of one god above all other gods, like in Zoroastrianism. All of these are historical Christian heresies that could exist in a fantasy monotheistic cosmology.

I've tended to see henotheism as more tolerant of other gods than monolatry - to the henotheist, your choice of god is a matter of personal preference, rather than moral imperative. I would see the henotheistic viewpoint as "there are many gods, pick one" and the monolatrous one as "there are many gods, but this one is ours and is the one you should worship" - the monotheist, of course, acknowledges only one god and the polytheist many, worshiping them (or not) as appropriate.

I was under the impression that the Zoroastrians acknowledged only one god but held that he had an opposite who represented everything that should not be worshiped. How balanced the two were in power depended on your denomination...

[safisher]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

I've tended to see henotheism as more tolerant of other gods than monolatry - to the henotheist, your choice of god is a matter of personal preference, rather than moral imperative. I would see the henotheistic viewpoint as "there are many gods, pick one" and the monolatrous one as "there are many gods, but this one is ours and is the one you should worship" - the monotheist, of course, acknowledges only one god and the polytheist many, worshiping them (or not) as appropriate.

I was under the impression that the Zoroastrians acknowledged only one god but held that he had an opposite who represented everything that should not be worshiped. How balanced the two were in power depended on your denomination...

I've always heard that monotheism is an antonym to atheism, not polytheism. If that is the case, then yes, henotheism could describe Judaic theology, but it does not Christian theology -- it would have to be monolastry. So an Abrahamic centrist Medieval world would have monolastry Christianity and Islam, and henotheistic Judaism. I think there is still under considerable debate about Zoroastrianism henotheism.

[David Johnston2]

If I were to represent Christian holy men I'd give them anti-magic and anti-spirit powers, and healing and blessing and leave it at that.

[Shostak]

Originally Posted by b-dog

Yeah, lots of supernatural beings are good, it is just that the monotheistic clerics have powers over them as if they were evil. Say a monotheistic cleric were to encounter a fairy, he could turn it as if it were undead and resist it's fairy powers as if it were evil even though the fairy is good.

Hmm ... If that's the case, if I were playing in that game I'd want to know why the same cleric couldn't turn evil people (I assume they could not). Or, to put it another way, I'd want to know what it is about the (possibly good) supernatural beings that gives the clerics their power over them when (presumably) the same clerics have no power over demonstrably evil humans (or whatever non-supernatural race is the standard in your game).

[b-dog]

Originally Posted by Shostak

Hmm ... If that's the case, if I were playing in that game I'd want to know why the same cleric couldn't turn evil people (I assume they could not). Or, to put it another way, I'd want to know what it is about the (possibly good) supernatural beings that gives the clerics their power over them when (presumably) the same clerics have no power over demonstrably evil humans (or whatever non-supernatural race is the standard in your game).

The Divine has power over supernatural spiritual beings while over the mundane it does not. I would liken it as the Divine energy interacts with other supernatural energies in a way that allows clerics to use the Divine energy to push away the supernatural energies of say fairies or demons.

[Tuk the Weekah]

Originally Posted by safisher

henotheism could describe Judaic theology, but it does not Christian theology -- it would have to be monolastry. So an Abrahamic centrist Medieval world would have monolastry Christianity and Islam, and henotheistic Judaism.

You realize that henotheism and monolatry are not exclusive terms; in fact, the pre-Exile Hebrew religion could be easily classified as both. The early Christian writings are pretty clear about 'other gods', however; while those worshipping them might not be evil per se, they are fully mistaken in their religious fervour. There is only one God, in their cosmology. There is no ambiguity. Like the Jewish religion of the time, even the earliest forms of Christianity were fully monotheistic, albeit not judgementally so.