Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/819

( MONOTHEISM. gods of otlier peoples; traces of this belief licing still discoverable in the Bible itself, us well as liisloiically proved by what we now know' of ear- lier religious altinities of the Hebrews. So. too, Jliilianiniedanisni was first of all a protest against theriolatrv, litliolatrv, and other forms of poly- theism. In India, monotheism was an evolution from pantheism, when it was not direetly bor- rowed from Mohammedanism or Christianity, as is the case with most of the reforming seets of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Zoroas- trianism was also essentially a monotheistic re- ligion, based upon an earlier polytheism; though its dualistic nature, expressed by the conflict be- tween good and evil, and its retention of the older gods as great spirits, cause it to be popu- larly regarded as polytheistic. Thus also the ligyptians worked out from a chaos of hetero- geneous gods the idea of one only real (iod : and in the highest expression of their religion they may be said to be monotheistic, though this monotheism is rather a pantheistic expression of monotheism. It is claimed by some that Chris- tianity is not monotheism ; that no trinitarian- ism can be a pure monotheism, but must be a tritheism — that is, a belief in three gods. Two objections to this view may be pointed out. In the first place, the corresponding trini- tarianism of India in no wise invalidates the belief in the unitarian pantheistic God, of which the three-in-one are merely different expressions. Secondly, the earliest creed of Christianity, as given in I. Cor. viii. 4 f., is clearly monothe- istic. Finally, it must be observed that neither in the literal meaning of the word nor in its accepted significance is there any objection to the view that monotheism may be a form of ]iantheism. The nature of God, whether monistic or part of a dualistic system, is not deducible ironi the definition, though, doubtless, in the ordinary >ise of the word, it is understood that the (iod of monotheism is a creative intelligent spirit governing the universe and not one iden- tical with it. MONOTH'ELITISM, more correctlv MONO- THELETISM (from Lat. monothelitw, from Gk. IwvoBeKriTai.. riioiwtheletai, from /idms. monos, single + SeXrjT-fis. tlielftcs. one who wills, from fi^eix, thelein, to will ) . The name of a seventh- century heresy which asserted the existence of one will in Christ instead of two. It was a direct outgrowth of the Jlonophysite heresy (see Mo.opHY.siTE.s) , for if Christ had only one nature, of course He had also only one will. Orthodoxy, however, drew the logical conclusion from its two-nature doctrine, which had been formulated at Chalcedon (451), and maintained that there were two wills in Christ, correspond- ing to His divine and human natures resi)ectively. The controversy over this r|uestion involved most of the Kastern Church, and its inlUience was felt in Rome. The Emperor Heraclius (010-fi41), threatened by the advances of Mohammedanism and by danger from the Persians, strove to reunite his Christian subjects, who had been sadly divided over the Monophysite question and had formed schismatic churches, e.g. .Armenians, Jacobites, etc. Sergius. Patriarch of Constanti- nople. an<l Cyrus. Patriarch of .Alexandria, were working along the same line, with some measiire of success, by interpreting the decree of Chalce- don in such a way a.s to persuade the Mono- physites to accept it. But a monk named 735 MONRAD. Sophronius, who visited .Mcxandria and learned what was going on, denounced the muvement as a relapse into the heresy of .pollinaris, whose views had long since been condemned. (See Ai'OLLi.NAKis.) Pope Honorius tried to allay this strife by seeking to quiet Sophronius, thus taking a dangerously temporizing stand. But Sophronius was so(m elevated to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem (034), and his continued opi)osition to the measures of Sergius ;uk1 Heraclius was now more serious. The Western Church, as a whole, was logical enough to share the views of Sophronius. This appeared in the action of a Roman synod in 041). which asserted the doctrine of the two wills. After some thirty years the East- ern Church was brought to the same position, and the Sixth Ecumenical Council (Constantinople, GSO) adopted dyothelitism as a Catholic dogma. The same Council cffndemned the monothelite leaders, Sergius and Cyrus, and along with them Pope Honorius, for not promptly suppressing the incipient heresy. This properly ends the Christo- logical controversies which for three hundred years had agitated the Church. Monothelitism found a home among the Maronites of Mount Lebanon, and their name was long synonymous in the East with Monothelites. In the twelfth century the Maronites entered the Roman com- nuinion. Consult: Hefele, History of the Councils, vol. V. (Edinburgh, 1800 1 ; Harnack. Ilislori/ of Dofima, vol. iv. (Lond<m, 1808) ; Fisher, History of Christian Doctrine (New York, 1800) ; Gibbon, Roman Empire, chap. 47 (ed. by J. B. Burv, Lon- don, 1806-1000) ; Smith and VV'acc, Dictionary of Christian. Bioyraphy, article "Person of Christ." MON'OTREME (Neo-Lat. nom. pi., from Gk. fi.6i'os, monos, single + Tpyjiia, trcma, perfora- tion). A mammal of the order Monotremata, which is coextensive with the sub-class Proto- tlieria, and embraces the Jow egg-laying mam- mals (Ornithodelphia) duckbill and echidna (qq.v. ). The term connotes the fact that in the rejiroductive organs of this grou]) the orifices of the urinary canal, the intestinal canal, and the genei-ative canal, open, as in birds, into a com- mon cloaca. See PnoTOTiiERi.. For fossil forms, see .lA:r^r.i,iA. MONOVAR, mo-nfi'viir. A town of South- e-astern Spain, in the Province of Alicante, sit- uated among the mountains. 18 miles northwest of Alicante (Map: Spain. E 3). It has a num- ber of good buildings, a large and handsome church, and a casino with a beautiful park. Great quantities of wine are produced in the vicinity, and the town manufactures woolen and cotton textiles, leather, soap. :uid spirits. In the neighborhood are quarries of marble, gj'psum. and building stone. Population, in 1900, 10,573. MOWRAD, mrm'nU. DiTr.EV OoTiT.Rn (1811- 87 ) . A Danish statesman and ecclesiastic, born in Copenhagen. He studied theology and Orientjil philology- at tlie University of Copenhagen, spent a year in Paris, and after the death of Frederick VI. entered political journalism as author of Flyrcnrle potiliskc Urcre (1840-42). In 1840 he had settled as pastor of a iiarish in Laaland. but he was active in the rising of 1848. and was ^linister of Education in (he March Ministry of that year. With political success came ad- vancement in the Church; but in 18:')4. because of his continued opposition to Oersted's ministry,