Lexicon index Lexicon
Shema
The central prayer of Judaism, quoted by Christ as the greatest commandment; foundational for Christian theology.
The Shema ('Hear, O Israel') is the central prayer of Judaism (Deuteronomy 6:4-5), quoted by Christ as the greatest commandment (Mark 12:29-30). Its confession of divine unity ('The Lord our God, the Lord is one') is the foundation of monotheism and is taken into Christian Trinitarian theology with the question: how is the one God also Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Orthodox theology reads the Shema through the Trinitarian lens: the oneness confessed in the Shema is the unity of the three Persons in one divine essence.