Deuteronomy 6:4

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord" (Deuteronomy 6:4 RSV).

Question:

I am trying to understand Oneness—what exactly it means and what it doesn't mean.

Comment:

Oneness is an awesome thing to try to understand! Like the very concept of God, Oneness is greater than any attempt to define it. This is the first statement in the passage known to Jews as the Shema, the cornerstone of their faith and their relationship to the Divine. Deuteronomy is constructed as three final statements from Moses to the people he had led through the wilderness. At that time—and for many centuries after—the Israelites were involved with people and tribes who believed in a number of different gods, with different responsibilities and areas of concern. This is a huge statement of distinction from all other beliefs around them. One God, and one only. The characteristics of that God are omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence. So not only is their God one God, their God is truly all that is—the infinite, eternal Allness that includes everything. Today we understand that there can, by very definition, be no separation from that divine Allness. Jesus, among others, taught that worshipping God as a distant Source is not enough. We must recognize God everywhere around us, and within us, and acting as us. There is nothing that is not a part of the divine Allness.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed