If a person were to juxtapose the Western religions that exist in our society today, a great deal of people would conclude that one of the major similarities between them is that they are all monotheistic. There are many religions in this world today, but some are monotheistic like the Western religions and then there are the polytheistic religions, which tend to be more along the eastern side. Monotheism may be simple with its definition; however, there are some concepts that you need to know to fully understand the true nature of monotheism in Western religions today. These concepts can be understood by exploring some themes within monotheism. Fundamentally, monotheism refers to the idea that there is only one Supreme Being, known as God. Monotheism, which comes from Greek, can be broken down into “monos” meaning “one” and “theos” meaning “God.” This particular theism is continually contrasted with the other common word called polytheism. Essentially, polytheism refers to the belief in a large number of gods, which is common in many Eastern religions. Doing some research, there appears to be a slight difference in the historical origin of the term monotheism. There were some sources referring to monotheism starting from ancient Egyptian times. It has been stated that the idea of ​​believing in a God was mentioned in the Egyptian Book of the Dead; however, other sources referred to monotheism beginning with the tribal people known as the Jews. It was said that Abraham began to believe that the universe was created by a single superior being and decided to teach this notion to others. The story behind Abraham is much more in depth... middle of paper... Western religions in today's society are known as Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. This does not mean that there are other religions that share the monotheistic vision. It goes without saying that monotheism appears to be a simple definition but actually has a much deeper meaning. As mentioned above, there are shared beliefs among Western religions, but there is also the idea that there are a variety of different forms of monotheism. Most forms do not necessarily refer to major Western religions but they exist. These different forms provide a very different meaning to monotheism and how monotheism can be viewed. Some of these forms, such as deism, are actually considered a true religion. But by exploring some main concepts of monotheism, one can take a more understandable look at Western religions.