Monotheism
faith in the One True God
Monotheism was a human religion teaching of a single omnipotent and omniscient deity called the One True God. A minority faith across the Twelve Colonies, it was often treated as zealotry, yet its largest colonial home lay on Gemenon and its conflict with Polytheism recurred throughout the Cycle of Time.
Monotheism was a form of religion which told of a single, all knowing, all powerful deity called the One True God. Humans in the Cyrannus Star System who held to it were a minority, often viewed with suspicion by the polytheist majority, and the Cylons later took up the same faith. On Gemenon it found its home in the Monotheist Church, and there the militant Soldiers of The One were formed to defend it. (Battlestar Galactica (miniseries); Caprica, "Pilot", "Unvanquished")
Origins on Kobol#
The show never says exactly where Monotheism began, but it points back to Kobol. In a deleted scene, the priest Elosha says the exodus from Kobol came about when "one jealous god began to desire that he be elevated above all the other gods, and the war on Kobol began." The Temple of Five, built by the Thirteenth Tribe, honours a "god whose name must not be spoken," which suggests that tribe worshipped a single god. The tension between this one god and the many gods of Polytheism runs through the whole saga. (Battlestar Galactica, "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I" (deleted scene); Battlestar Galactica, "The Eye of Jupiter", "Rapture")
Spread through the colonies#
Throughout colonial history Monotheists represented a minority of the population, which worshipped the Lords of Kobol. On Caprica, in the years before the first Cylon War, many viewed them with suspicion or contempt: the devout polytheist investigator Jordan Duram called worship of a single god whose judgement can't be questioned "absolutism", and the Soldiers of The One's attacks in Caprica City tied the faith to terrorism in the public mind. Other Capricans were more open to it. Gemenon was the faith's centre. (Caprica, "Pilot", "Gravedancing", "Retribution")
The Gemenese faith#
The Monotheist Church on Gemenon was formed in the decades before the first Cylon War. Its clerics gathered in a retreat on the seaside cliffs, a cathedral the faithful regarded as the Holy Land. A ten member conclave of clerics, among them Obal Ferras, carried out the church's affairs and answered to a single leader known as the Blessed Mother. The Soldiers of The One were formed as the church's militant arm to defend it, though by Clarice Willow's time the church kept its STO cells at arm's length. (Caprica, "Unvanquished", "Retribution", "Blowback")
Beliefs#
The core element of Monotheism was that the One True God was all loving, wanted worship to the exclusion of all other deities, and had a plan for everyone. Number Six tells Baltar that "God is love", and the Cylons see his hand in their own existence, describing themselves as God's retribution for humanity's sins. (Battlestar Galactica (miniseries); Battlestar Galactica, "Escape Velocity")
Frequently asked questions
- What is Monotheism in Battlestar Galactica?
- Monotheism was a form of religion practiced by humans which told of a single omnipotent and omniscient deity called the One True God. It was a minority faith across the Twelve Colonies, where its adherents were often regarded as zealots.
- Where did Monotheism originate?
- The show never pins down its origin. In a deleted scene, the priest Elosha says the war on Kobol began when one jealous god wanted to be elevated above all the others, and the Temple of Five suggests the Thirteenth Tribe worshipped a single god whose name must not be spoken.
- What did Monotheists believe?
- The core belief was that the One True God was all loving and just, despite his desire for worship to the exclusion of all other deities, and that he had a plan for everyone, follower or otherwise.
- What role did Gemenon play in Monotheism?
- Gemenon was home to the Monotheist Church, housed in a cliffside retreat the faithful called the Holy Land. A conclave of clerics ran its affairs under a single leader known as the Blessed Mother, and the Soldiers of The One were formed as its militant arm.
- How did Monotheism spread through the colonies?
- Monotheists remained a minority against the dominant worship of the Lords of Kobol. On Caprica many viewed them with suspicion, and the Soldiers of The One's bombings tied belief in one god to terrorism in the public mind.
Sources
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica (miniseries), Miniseries, Sci Fi Channel (2003)
- SerialBattlestar Galactica, "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I" (deleted scene), Deleted scene, Season 1 DVD
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "The Eye of Jupiter", Season 3, Episode 11 (2006)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Rapture", Season 3, Episode 12 (2007)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Escape Velocity", Season 4, Episode 4 (2008)
- EpisodeCaprica, "Pilot", Season 1 (2010)
- EpisodeCaprica, "Gravedancing", Season 1 (2010)
- EpisodeCaprica, "Unvanquished", Season 1 (2010)
- EpisodeCaprica, "Retribution", Season 1 (2010)
- EpisodeCaprica, "Blowback", Season 1 (2010)
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Followed from this entry
Cyrannus: the Colonies' four suns
Four stars in a double binary, Helios Alpha through Delta, holding all Twelve Colonies. Refugees from Kobol settled them two thousand years back.
Polytheism
Polytheism was the dominant religion of the Twelve Worlds, originating on Kobol and worshipping many deities known as the Lords of Kobol. Its faith shaped Colonial politics, ritual, and community, and stood in long opposition to the Monotheist belief in a single God.
Thirteenth Tribe: the lost Cylon people of Kobol
The Thirteenth Tribe were a race of cybernetic beings who originated on Kobol and left it to found their own world. They settled Earth, where the sentient machines they built rose against them in a war that ended in mutual destruction.
Gemenon: the First Colony
One of the Twelve Colonies settled by the refugees from Kobol, and the most devout of them all, a poor, deeply religious world that suffered with the rest in the Fall.
Kobol: humanity's lost homeworld
Kobol was the ancestral home of the Twelve Tribes, abandoned for two thousand years. The fleet found the Tomb of Athena there, and with it the way to Earth.
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Lacy Rand
Lacy Rand was a Caprican student who converted to Monotheism in her teenage years and joined the Soldiers of the One. After surviving the unsanctioned MagLev bombing that killed her friend Zoe Graystone, she rose within the movement on Gemenon to become its Blessed Mother.
Nestor Willow
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Olaf Willow
Olaf Willow was a Monotheist terrorist tied to the Soldiers of the One who took orders from his wife, Sister Clarice Willow. He helped hunt rival cells, chase Zoe Graystone's avatar program, and carry out the Atlas Arena bombing, where he died believing the One True God would save his soul.
Zoe Graystone
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