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== Monotheism ==
Monotheism is the belief in a single creator God and the lack of belief in any other Creator.<ref>Bruce Trigger (2003), Understanding Early Civilizations: A Comparative Study, Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-0521822459}}, pages 473-474</ref><ref>Charles Taliaferro and Elsa J. Marty (2010), A Dictionary of Philosophy of Religion, Bloomsbury Academic, {{ISBN|978-1441111975}}, pages 98-99</ref> Hinduism is not a monolithic faith and different sects may or may not posit or require such a belief. Religion is considered a personal belief in Hinduism and followers are free to choose the different interpretations within the framework of ''karma'' and ''samsara''. Many forms of Hinduism believe in a type of monotheistic God, such as [[Krishnaism]] with polymorphic theism, some schools of [[Vedanta]], and [[Arya Samaj]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Eric Ackroyd|title=Divinity in Things: Religion Without Myth|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bv8o5lGxtgAC&pg=PA78 |year=2009|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|isbn=978-1-84519-333-1 |pages=78 }}, Quote: "The jealous God who says, "Thou shalt have no other gods but me" belongs to the Jewish-Christian-Muslim tradition, but not to the Hindu tradition, which tolerates all gods but is not a monotheism, monism, yes, but not monotheism."</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Frank Whaling|title=Understanding Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WudXAAAAYAAJ |year=2010|publisher=Dunedin Academic Press |isbn=978-1-903765-36-4 |pages=19 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Hiroshi Ōbayashi|title=Death and afterlife: perspectives of world religions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ub8oAAAAYAAJ |year=1992|publisher=Praeger|isbn=978-0-275-94104-8 |pages=145 }}</ref>
[[Advaita Vedanta]], for instance, espouses [[monism]], and holds ''[[Brahman]]'' to be unchanging and undifferentiated from reality. ''Brahman'' is therefore undifferentiated from the individual self, or ''Atman''.<ref name="Leeming 2014"/><ref name="BEH3">{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Ram-Prasad |author-first=Chakravarthi |author-link=Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad |year=2018 |origyear=2010 |title=Brahman |editor1-last=Basu |editor1-first=Helene |editor2-last=Jacobsen |editor2-first=Knut A. |editor2-link=Knut A. Jacobsen |editor3-last=Malinar |editor3-first=Angelika |editor4-last=Narayanan |editor4-first=Vasudha |editor4-link=Vasudha Narayanan |encyclopedia=Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |volume=2 |doi=10.1163/2212-5019_BEH_COM_2050070 |isbn=978-90-04-17893-9 |issn=2212-5019}}</ref> The concept is though by some, such as [[David Adams Leeming]] and [[Gavin Flood]], to resemble monotheistic conceptions of god to some degree, since all other since are believed to be manifestations of ''Brahman''.<ref name="Leeming 2014"/><ref name="Flood 2020">{{cite book | last=Flood | first=Gavin Dennis | title=Hindu Monotheism | publisher=Cambridge University Press | date=2020-07-23 | isbn=978-1-108-58428-9 | doi=10.1017/9781108584289}}</ref>
Several medieval Muslim scholars, such as [[al-Biruni]] and [[Amir Khusrau]], described Hinduism as fundamentally monotheistic in nature, and attributed polytheistic worship to a lack of education.<ref name="Friedmann, Yohanan 1975">Friedmann, Yohanan. "Medieval Muslim views of Indian religions." Journal of the American Oriental Society (1975): 214-221.</ref>
=== Madhvacharya's monotheistic God ===
[[Madhvacharya]] (1238–1317 CE) developed the [[Dvaita]] theology wherein Vishnu was presented as a monotheistic God, similar to major world religions.<ref name="mmyers"/>{{Sfn|Sharma|1962|p=7}} His writings led some, such as [[George Abraham Grierson]], to suggest he was influenced by [[Christianity]].<ref name=skhk177>Sabapathy Kulandran and Hendrik Kraemer (2004), Grace in Christianity and Hinduism, James Clarke, {{ISBN|978-0227172360}}, pages 177-179</ref> However, modern scholarship rules out the influence of Christianity on Madhvacharya,<ref name=skhk177/>{{Sfn|Jones|Ryan|2006|p=266}} as there is no evidence that there ever was a Christian settlement where Madhvacharya grew up and lived, or that there was a sharing or discussion of ideas between someone with knowledge of the Bible and Christian narratives, and him.{{Sfn|Sharma|2000|pp=609-611}} Furthermore, many adherents consider the similarities to be superficial and insubstantial; for example, Madhvacharya postulates three co-eternal fundamental realities, consisting of Supreme Being (Vishnu or paramatman), individual Self ([[jiva|jīvātman]]), and inanimate matter.{{Sfn|Sarma|2000}}
Madhvacharya was misperceived and misrepresented by both Christian missionaries and Hindu writers during the colonial era scholarship.{{Sfn|Sarma|2000|pp=19-25}}{{Sfn|Sharma|2000|pp=609-611}} The similarities in the primacy of one God, dualism and distinction between man and God, devotion to God, the son of God as the intermediary, predestination, the role of grace in salvation, as well as the similarities in the legends of miracles in Christianity and Madhvacharya's Dvaita tradition fed these stories.{{Sfn|Sarma|2000|pp=19-25}}{{Sfn|Sharma|2000|pp=609-611}} Among Christian writers, G. A. Grierson creatively asserted that Madhva's ideas evidently were "borrowed from Christianity, quite possibly promulgated as a rival to the central doctrine of that faith".{{Sfn|Sarma|2000|p=20}} Among Hindu writers, according to Sarma, S. C. Vasu creatively translated Madhvacharya's works to identify Madhvacharya with Christ, rather than compare their ideas.{{Sfn|Sarma|2000|pp=22-24}}
== Brahman==
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