ABSTRACT
Recognition of the difference in monotheistic gods has been impeded by the fact that the idea of different one and only gods, if historically obvious, is logically self-contradictory. Historically the adherents of Judaism have never believed in a Trinitarian god who condemned humanity for original sin, one of whose persons was incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth who died and rose again to make eternal salvation possible for human beings. The only prominent figure in early Christianity who openly proclaimed that Jews and Christians worshipped different gods was Marcion, a contemporary of Justin. Marcion was a Christian dualist. By the fifth century, one historical change had greatly increased the distance separating Christianity from Judaism. The pluralists would seem the most tolerant, for they stress the validity of all the great religious traditions. Many theological justifications or rationalizations have been given for that mutual intolerance, and it may be the inescapable result of the logic of monotheistic belief.
