#25 - "Hear, O Israel": The Shema and the Battle over One God

Deuteronomy 6:4 — the Shema — is the heartbeat of Jewish faith: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." For centuries Christians and Jews read that short sentence as the clearest statement of God's unity. But during the Reformation and especially in the writings of Fausto Socini and the Polish Brethren, the Shema became a battleground. This episode examines how the orthodox tradition historically read Deuteronomy 6:4 as compatible with the Trinity, and how that reading set the stage for Socinian insistence on a strict, single-person monotheism. Expect close attention to Hebrew and Greek words, patristic and Reformation commentary, and the ritual life that made the Shema central to identity.