MONOTHEISM IN LATE ANTIQUITY. THEOS HYPSISTOS AND THE ORACLE OF APOLLO OF CLAROS

Abstract

Monotheism in Late Antiquity is a multidimensional topic. The article deals with only one aspect of the formation of monotheistic tendencies in Greco-Roman religious conceptions, both traditional pagan and Judeo-Christian, including "Judaizing" paganism and Gnosticism. Both folk cults (an epigraphically attested cult of the Theos Hypsistos) and the new monotheistic religion of the revived oracles (the inscription from Oenoanda and the Tübingen Theosophy 13) are considered. We also see how the eschatological and soteriological motifs characteristic of monotheistic religions are revealed in the context of a kind of philosophical ontology.