Supreme deity
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A supreme deity, supreme god or supreme being is the conception of the sole sovereign deity who is all powerful in a religion. It is common in monotheistic, polytheistic and henotheistic religions. A supreme deity is often also a creator deity and other deities are often aspects or manifestations of the supreme deity.[1]
African
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- Aten, in Atenism
- Chukwu, in Odinani
- Mwari, in Shona religion
- Nyambe, in Bantu religions
- Nzambi, in Kongo religion
- Ọlọrun, in Isese
- Ruhanga, in Rutara religion
Asian
- Shangdi, in Shenism
- Wusheng Laomu/Wusheng Shengmu/Wujimu/Wuji Shengmu, in many Chinese salvationist religions such as Yiguandao.[2]
- Yaochih Jinmu, in Cihui Tang.[3]
European
- Supreme Being, in a deistic religion established by Maximilien Robespierre during the French Revolution
- Jupiter, in the Cult of Jupiter Summus Exsuperantissimus
- Rod, in some religions of syncretic Slavic neopaganism
- Ukko, in Ukonusko, a syncretic Finnish neopagan religion
- Zeus, in Middle Platonism
Indian
- Para Brahman, in Hinduism
- Indra, in Vedism
- Shiva, in Shaivism
- Vishnu, in Vaishnavism
- Adi Parashakti, in Shaktism
- Maha Ganapati, in Ganapatya
- Surya, in Sauram
- Adibuddha and Dharmakaya, in Mahayana Buddhism
- Waheguru, in Sikhism
Middle Eastern
- God in Abrahamic religions
- God in Judaism
- God in Christianity
- Yahweh
- Allah in Muslim belief: see God in Islam
- Bahá in Bahá'í belief: see God in the Baháʼí Faith
- Hayyi Rabbi in Mandaeism
In Freemasonry
The fraternity of Freemasonry generally requires that all initiates believe in some kind of supreme being or God, that is neutrally referred to as the Great Architect of the Universe.[4]
Carl H. Claudy wrote in his 1931 work Introduction to Freemasonry:
He must declare his faith in a Supreme Being before he may be initiated. But note that he is not required to say, then or ever, what God. He may name Him as he will, think of Him as he pleases; make Him impersonal law or personal and anthropomorphic; Freemasonry cares not. [...] God, Great Architect of the Universe, Grand Artificer, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge Above, Jehovah, Allah, Buddha, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, or Great Geometer...[5]
Henry Wilson Coil in his 1961 Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry outlined:
Men have to decide whether they want a God like the ancient Hebrew Yahweh, a partisan tribal god, with whom they can talk and argue and from whom they can hide if necessary, or a boundless, eternal, universal, undenominational, and international Divine Spirit so vastly removed from the speck called man, that he cannot be known, named or approached. [...] The Masonic test is a Supreme Being, and any qualification added is an innovation and distortion. [...] Monotheism violates Masonic principles, for it requires belief in a specific kind of Supreme Deity.[6]
See also
- Absolute (philosophy)
- Conceptions of God
- Deus otiosus
- Great Spirit
- High God
- Kathenotheism
- King of the gods
- Monad (Gnosticism)
- Monolatry
- Ultimate reality
- Unmoved mover
References
- ↑ Herbener, Jens-André P. (2013). "On the Term "Monotheism"" (PDF). Numen – via Brill.
- ↑ Sangren, P. Steven (1983). "Female Gender in Chinese Religious Symbols: Kuan Yin, Ma Tsu, and the "Eternal Mother"". doi:10.1086/494021. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
- ↑ Clart, Philip (1997). "The Phoenix and the Mother: The Interaction of Spirit Writing Cults and Popular Sects in Taiwan". Journal of Chinese Religions=中國宗教研究集刊. 25 (1): 1–32.
- ↑ Gealogo, Francis A. (2019). "Masonic Parallels in Mabini's True Decalogue and Constitutional Program". Philippine Studies: Historical & Ethnographic Viewpoints. 67 (1): 95–111. ISSN 2244-1093.
- ↑ Claudy, Carl H. (1931). Introduction to Freemasonry (PDF). Temple Publishers. Search this book on
- ↑ Coil, Henry Wilson (1961). Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia. Macoy Pub. & Masonic Supply Company. pp. 516–517. Search this book on
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