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God
,→History of monotheism
''See also [[monotheism]].''
The religions widely thought of as monotheistic today are of relatively recent origin historically, although Eastern religions (notably religions of [[China]] and [[India]]) that have concepts of [[panentheismpantheism]] are difficult to classify along [[Western world|Western]] notions of monotheism vs. versus polytheism, and sometimes have claims of being very ancient, if not eternal.
In the [[Ancient Orient]], many cities had their own local god, but this [[henotheistic]] worship of a single god did not imply denial of the existence of other gods. The [[Hebrew]] [[Ark of the Covenant]] adapted this practice to a [[nomad]]ic lifestyle, paving their way for a singular God. The cult of the solar god [[Aten]] is often cited as the earliest known example of monotheism, but even if [[Akhetaten]]'s [[Great Hymn to the Aten|hymn to Aten]] praises this god as omnipotent creator, worship of other gods beside him never ceased. Early examples of monotheism also include two late [[rigveda|rigvedic]] hymns (10.129,130) to a [[Panentheistic]] [[creator god]], [[Shri Rudram]], a [[Vedic]] hymn to [[Rudra]], an earlier aspect of [[Shiva]], which expressed [[monistic theism]], and is still chanted today, the [[Zoroastrian]] [[Ahuramazda]] and [[China|Chinese]] [[Shang Ti]]. The worship of polytheistic gods, on the other hand, is seen by many to predate monotheism, reaching back as far as the [[paleolithic]]. Today, monotheistic religions are dominant (mainly due to the missionary efforts of [[Christianity]] and [[Islam]]), but polytheism, and to a lesser extent also [[animism]], survive.
