The Oneness of God

Islam
Say, He is God, the One!
God, the eternally Besought of all!
He neither begets nor was begotten,
And there is none comparable unto Him. (Qur'an 112)

Hinduism
He is the one God, hidden in all beings, all-pervading, the Self within all beings, watching over all works, dwelling in all beings, the witness, the perceiver, the only one, free from qualities. (Svetasvatara Upanishad 6.11)

Sikhism
He is the Sole Supreme Being: of eternal manifestation; Creator, Immanent Reality; without Fear, without Rancor; Timeless Form; Unincarnated; Self-existent; Realized by the grace of the Holy Preceptor. (Adi Granth, Japuji, p. 1)

Taoism
The way that can be spoken of is not the eternal Way. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. (Tao Te Ching 1)

Buddhism
The Suchness of these dharmas and the Suchness of all dharmas and the Suchness of the Tathagata are simply this one single Suchness. There is no division within Suchness. Just simply one single is this Suchness, not two, nor three. (Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thoursand Lines 31.1)

Baha'i Faith
There is none other God but Thee, the Inaccessible, the Omnipotent, the Omniscient, the Holy of Holies. (Gleanings, 5)

"As men approach me, so I receive them. All paths, Arjuna, lead to me" (Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 4.11). This passage is from a conversation between Arjuna and Krishna. The statement can be read as a condition as well as an indication that the paths may be different. "As men approach me" can be understood as "when men approach me." It can also be understood as "no matter how they approach me." The how is less important than the reality of the effort.

The theme of the oneness of God is common to the scriptures of the world's religions: for the Jews and Christians, "the Lord is One"; for the Muslims, "He is God, the One"; for the Hindu, "He is the One God"; for the Buddhist, "this one single Suchness"; for the Taoist God is the "Primal Unity." With each Messenger of God comes the restatement of the oneness of God. The statement can be understood as a realization of the reality rather than a theological position. There is only one God no matter what different people call Him or how they view or understand Him. It is the same God who makes Himself known to all of us though we have multiple religious traditions and an infinite variety of conceptualizations of Him. All of the Messengers remind us that all of the conceptions of God are not God. The Messenger brings the realization or recognition of His oneness beyond human conception.

Individuals understand their experience of God in the context of the scriptures, practices, and theologies of their individualized faith traditions. The realization of the oneness of God provided by Zoroaster, Krishna, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad become literalized into concepts. As followers of the various religions, we tend to view our concept of God as God and view with skepticism the concepts others present of God. The scriptures of all of the religions repeatedly remind us that there is only one God who is not subject to conceptualization.

The assumption of the absolute rightness of our own thoughts is a normal human predisposition. My thinking processes require an assumption of credibility. The assumption is, nevertheless, inaccurate if accepted as absolute. We do not have the ability to perfectly conceptualize anything. My thoughts are a partial, incomplete reflection of reality. To the degree that any of us holds or presents our thoughts as absolutes, we set a course for conflict with the perceptions and pronouncements of others.

The tendency to understand our conceptualizations as objective reality is particularly true of our conceptions of God. This derives from the nature of the experiences we have of communion with God. When God presents Himself to us, He is absolutely perfect. However, the instant we turn our gaze from God to our thoughts of Him we are no longer gazing toward the realm of perfection. Our thoughts of God are not God. The scriptures bear evidence to and the Messengers remind us of this repeatedly by providing us with admonitions against mistaking our images of God for the remembrance God provides of Himself. We have infinitely diverse images, perspectives, and understandings of God, but they are not God. Only God has the capacity to manifest His own Self.

The realization of the oneness of God with which Jesus inspired the apostle Paul, for example, permitted him to introduce the spirit of God to the Greeks by identifying with a statue of the unknown God. Paul was in Athens. He addressed a gathering of Athenians "in the midst of Mar's hill" concerning their preoccupation with their graven images of God to the point of their having an altar dedicated "to the unknown God" (Christianity. Acts, 17:23). Paul was not confused by images of God. He experienced the realty of God through Jesus and wanted to share the good news. His words and actions demonstrated that he knew the difference between his understanding of God and the reality of God. Paul was not, therefore, threatened by the Greek image of the unknown God nor was he afraid to use it to connect people with the experience of the oneness of God that Jesus brought.

Six hundred years earlier Lao Tze articulated the same principle. "The way that can be spoken of is not the eternal Way. The name that can be named is not the eternal name" (Taoism. Tao Te Ching 1). "The sage clasps the Primal Unity, testing by it everything under heaven" (Tao Te Ching 22). The recognition of the reality of "everything under heaven" is dependent on holding fast, not to a concept or image but to the Primal Unity. God speaks for Himself through His Messengers to the human heart that "clasps" or earnestly seeks understanding through His presence. The spirit of God informs understanding and is primary. Theology is secondary and cannot encompass God.

Judaism
For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 1:11)

Islam Unto each nation have We given sacred rites which they are to perform; so let them not dispute with you of the matter, but you summon unto your Lord. (Qur'an 22.67)

Sikhism
Some call on the Lord, "Rama," some cry, "Khuda," Some bow to Him as Gosain, some as Allah; He is called the Ground of Grounds and also the Bountiful, the Compassionate One and Gracious. Hindus bathe in holy waters for His sake; Muslims make the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Hindus perform puja; others bow their heads in namaz. There are those who read the Vedas and others - Christians, Jews, Muslims - who read the Semitic scriptures. Some wear blue, some white robes, some call themselves Muslims, others Hindus. Some aspire to bahishat (Muslim heaven), some to swarga (Hindu heaven). Says Nanak, Whoever realizes the will of the Lord, He will find out the Lord's secrets! (Adi Granth, Ramkali, M.5, p. 885)

Baha'i Faith
There can be no doubt that whatever the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, they derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God. The difference between the ordinances under which they abide should be attributed to the varying requirements and exigencies of the age in which they were revealed. All of them, except for a few which are the outcome of human perversity, were ordained of God, and are a reflection of His Will and Purpose. (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah 111)

Christianity
And Peter opened his mouth and said, "Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him." (Acts 10:34-35)

And I [Jesus] have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd. (John 10:16)

Although the concept of "nation" has changed considerably over the centuries in which the various scriptures have used the term, the broader meaning of the word as different peoples or cultures includes the diverse meanings. The following passage from Malachi instructs us that God has a relationship with all nations. "For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts" (Judaism. Malachi 1:11). The beauty of God is the same beauty no matter who sees it or where they reside. As Peter is quoted, "Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does tiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does 35).

Every nation has its own traditions and rituals for praising God. The Qur'an explicitly states that it is best not to argue about the manner in which each nation relates to God. "Unto each nation have We given sacred rites which they are to perform; so let them not dispute with you of the matter, but you summon unto your Lord" (Islam. Qur'an 22.67). The application of the open market system for the pursuit of converts ("you summon unto your Lord") was applied in the Americas a thousand years later when the Christians agreed to disagree. Each denomination was allowed to seek converts. The impulse to protect the individual's choice concerning religious belief systems and practices in the new land derived largely from the persecutions and wars concerning religion in Europe. The compromise avoided war. They relinquished the impulse to enforce a particular religious orthodoxy in order to survive in a field of competitors that could not be dominated. Christianity in the context of the United States thereby articulated an institutional realization of religious unity and theological relativism within the context of the Christian dispensation.

During the sixteenth century in Northern India, Nanak explicitly addressed the underlying religious unity of Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and imparted the scriptural texts of Sikhism.

Some call on the Lord, "Rama," some cry, "Khuda," Some bow to Him as Gosain, some as Allah; He is called the Ground of Grounds and also the Bountiful, the Compassionate One and Gracious. Hindus bathe in holy waters for His sake; Muslims make the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Hindus perform puja; others bow their heads in namaz. There are those who read the Vedas and others - Christians, Jews, Muslims - who read the Semitic scriptures. Some wear blue, some white robes, some call themselves Muslims, others Hindus. Some aspire to bahishat (Muslim heaven), some to swarga (Hindu heaven). Says Nanak, Whoever realizes the will of the Lord, He will find out the Lord's secrets! (Sikhism. Adi Granth, Ramkali, M.5, p. 885)

The proof concerning the unity of God among the nations can be discerned by being willing to listen to and realize the will of God rather than our own will. If we want to view the will of God, we must submit to Him. Both Peter ("any one who fears him and does what is right") and Nanak ("whoever realizes the will of the Lord") in the above passages remind us that the approach to God is conditioned on doing His will not on the strength of our particular theology. The unity of religion can be realized through seeking God's will and purpose rather than insisting on our own theologies. Religions issue from the will of God. At this juncture in human history, we cannot use force to establish the unity of religion. Nor do we have to abandon religion to create a unified world culture. The unity of religion will be established on the planet and assist in the development of global culture to the degree that we realize that it has always been unified. There has always been one flock and one shepherd - the people of God and His Messengers. All of the Messengers speak as one voice - the voice of God. "And I [Jesus] have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd" (Christianity. John 10:16). "Verily We have raised in every nation a messenger, proclaiming, 'Serve God and shun false gods'" (Islam. Qur'an 16.36). The false gods are those of our own making. They are fashioned most intensely through our refusal to accept that God speaks for Himself through His Messengers to whomever He pleases.