Origins of the One True God

The religions of today are dominated by two major beliefs -- Christianity and Islam. There are many more others, mostly offshoots and sects of these two religions or the indigenous religions of tribes and natives in many lands. Most of the people in the world believe in one god, a singular entity responsible for creating the world and giving life to the universe. People fight and die for their religion believing theirs is true and superior. And in many corners of the world, debate rage as to what religion is the first and what god takes precedence above the other.

It is interesting to note, however, that centuries before Jesus Christ and Muhammad declared there is one god, thus starting the two biggest religions in the world, an almost forgotten pharaoh in Egypt espoused that there is indeed one god. He is vastly considered as the father of all modern religions, a stalwart perhaps a genius. However, in his day when Egyptians believed in the pharaohs as gods and people revered the other major and minor gods surrounding them, he was a rebel and a lunatic and soon after his death, was considered a mistake of history.

The pharaoh’s name is Akhnaten and his god’s name was simply the sun, the Naten – the giver of light, the giver of life, the one true god according to him. He dared to change centuries old from history, tradition and religion in Egypt. He put out of work the millions of craftsmen and priests, along with the immense tributes given to the gods through them and their temples. He moved his capital out to the wilderness in a place chosen by the god, reinvented the way history is recorded and even how pharaohs are portrayed in wall encryptions and sculptures – he was the first to require himself to be depicted as how he looked like – not the traditional strong, muscled, stern-looking pharaohs of the past.

As with many other great thinkers of history, Akhnaten’s influence did not last long. His passion for his religion opened the once powerful Egypt to invaders and crushed its economy. Soon the jobless priests began screaming for retribution and the sad state of the country did not help in welcoming the new sect. Not long after Akhnaten died, the old order was restored and the old religion was back. On of his successors was the legendary pharaoh Tutankhamen.

Some two centuries later, the idea of a one singular god was widely accepted by Abraham, Moses and the prophets. Muhammad in his journey to Medina discovered the one true god in Allah. They themselves were considered heretics during their time and their followers even prosecuted and killed. However, as history also showed us, the Romans that prosecuted Christians soon embraced the religion. And the tribes that once cursed Muhammad soon realized their ways and are now the staunchest believers of Allah.

History and religion are intertwined. Religion played a great role in the development of the modern man, his ways and his thinking. It is ridiculous and blasphemous to; even think there is another major religion that will supersede what the world has today. However, that was also what the Egyptians, the Romans and the Barbarians of the east thought during their time.