Theism

ern day monotheistic religions include Zoroastrianism,

Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Baha'i Faith, Sikhism,
Eckankar and some forms of Hinduism.

1.2 Polytheism
Main article: Polytheism
Polytheism is the belief that there is more than one
deity.[8] In practice, polytheism is not just the belief that
there are multiple gods; it usually includes belief in the
existence of a specic pantheon of distinct deities.
Gods in the Triumph of Civilization

Within polytheism there are hard and soft varieties:

Theism, in the eld of comparative religion, is the belief that at least one deity exists.[1] In popular parlance,
the term theism often describes the classical conception
of God that is found in Christianity, Judaism, Islam,
Sikhism, and Hinduism

Hard polytheism views the gods as being distinct and

separate beings; an example of this would be certain
schools of Hinduism as well as Hellenismos.

Soft polytheism views the gods as being subsumed

into a greater whole. Some other forms of Hinduism
The term theism derives from the Greek theos meaning
such as Smartism/Advaita Vedanta serve as examgod. The term theism was rst used by Ralph Cudworth
ples of soft polytheism.
(161788).[2] In Cudworths denition, they are strictly
and properly called Theists, who arm, that a perfectly
conscious understanding being, or mind, existing of itself Polytheism is also divided according to how the individual
from eternity, was the cause of all other things.[3]
deities are regarded:
Atheism is rejection of theism in the broadest sense of
theism; i.e. the rejection of belief that there is even one
Henotheism: The viewpoint/belief that there may be
deity.[4] Rejection of the narrower sense of theism can
more than one deity, but only one of them is wortake forms such as deism, pantheism, and polytheism.
shiped.
The claim that the existence of any deity is unknown or
unknowable is agnosticism.[5][6] The positive assertion of
Kathenotheism: The viewpoint/belief that there is
knowledge, either of the existence of gods or the absence
more than one deity, but only one deity is worshiped
of gods, can also be attributed to some theists and some
at a time or ever, and another may be worthy of woratheists. Put simply, theism and atheism deal with beship at another time or place. If they are worshiped
lief, and agnosticism deals with rational claims to assertone at a time, then each is supreme in turn.
ing knowledge.[6]

1
1.1

Monolatrism: The belief that there may be more

than one deity, but that only one is worthy of being
worshiped. Most of the modern monotheistic religions may have begun as monolatric ones, although
this is disputed.

Types
Monotheism

Main article: Monotheism

1.3 Pantheism and panentheism

Monotheism (from Greek ) is the belief in Main articles: Pantheism and Panentheism
theology that only one deity exists.[7] Some mod1

3 NOTES
Pantheism: The belief that the physical universe is
equivalent to god, and that there is no division between a Creator and the substance of its creation.[9]
Examples include works of Baruch Spinoza.

Autotheism can also refer to the belief that ones self

is a deity (often the only one), within the context of
subjectivism. This is a fairly extreme version of subjectivism, however.

Panentheism: Like Pantheism, the belief that the

physical universe is joined to a god or gods. How- 1.6 Value-judgment theisms
ever, it also believes that a god or gods are greater
Eutheism is the belief that a deity is wholly benevothan the material universe. Examples include most
lent.
forms of Vaishnavism.
Some people nd the distinction between these two beliefs as ambiguous and unhelpful, while others see it as a
signicant point of division.[10] Pantheism may be understood a type of Nontheism, where the physical universe
takes on some of the roles of a theistic God, and other
roles of God viewed as unnecessary.[11]

Dystheism is the belief that a deity is not wholly

good, and is possibly evil.
Misotheism is the belief that a deity exists, but is
wholly malicious.

2 See also
1.4

Deism

Main article: Deism

Animism
Atheism
Deism

Classical deism is the belief that at least one deity exists and created the world, but that the creator(s) does/do not alter the original plan for the
universe.[12]
Deism typically rejects supernatural events (such as
prophecies, miracles, and divine revelations) prominent
in organized religion. Instead, Deism holds that religious
beliefs must be founded on human reason and observed
features of the natural world, and that these sources reveal
the existence of a supreme being as creator.[13]
Pandeism: The belief that a god preceded
the universe and created it, but is now
equivalent with it.
Panendeism combines deism with panentheism, believing the universe is a part
(but not the whole) of deity
Polydeism: The belief that multiple gods
existed, but do not intervene in the universe.

1.5

Autotheism

Main article: Apotheosis

Autotheism is the viewpoint that, whether divinity is also
external or not, it is inherently within 'oneself' and that
one has a duty to become perfect (or divine). This can
be in a seless way, a way following the implications of
statements attributed to ethical, philosophical, and religious leaders (such as Jesus[14][15] and Mahavira).

Ietsism
Liberal theism
Nontheistic religions
Open theism
Theistic evolution
stika and nstika

3 Notes
[1] Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved 201103-18.
[2] Halsey, William; Robert H. Blackburn; Sir Frank Francis
(1969). Louis Shores, ed. Colliers Encyclopedia 22 (20
ed.). Crowell-Collier Educational Corporation. pp. 266
7.
[3] Cudworth, Ralph (1678). The True Intellectual System of
the Universe, Vol. I. New York: Gould & Newman, 1837,
p. 267.
[4]

Nielsen, Kai (2010). Atheism. Encyclopdia Britannica. Retrieved 2011-01-26. Atheism, in general, the critique and denial of metaphysical beliefs
in God or spiritual beings.... Instead of saying that
an atheist is someone who believes that it is false
or probably false that there is a God, a more adequate characterization of atheism consists in the
more complex claim that to be an atheist is to be
someone who rejects belief in God for the following
reasons (which reason is stressed depends on how
God is being conceived)...

3
Edwards, Paul (2005) [1967]. Atheism. In Donald M. Borchert. The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). MacMillan Reference USA
(Gale). p. 359. ISBN 9780028657806. On our
denition, an 'atheist' is a person who rejects belief in God, regardless of whether or not his reason
for the rejection is the claim that 'God exists expresses a false proposition. People frequently adopt
an attitude of rejection toward a position for reasons other than that it is a false proposition. It is
common among contemporary philosophers, and
indeed it was not uncommon in earlier centuries, to
reject positions on the ground that they are meaningless. Sometimes, too, a theory is rejected on
such grounds as that it is sterile or redundant or
capricious, and there are many other considerations which in certain contexts are generally agreed
to constitute good grounds for rejecting an assertion.(page 175 in 1967 edition)
[5] Hepburn, Ronald W. (2005) [1967]. Agnosticism. In
Donald M. Borchert. The Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). MacMillan Reference USA (Gale). p.
92. ISBN 9780028657806. In the most general use of the
term, agnosticism is the view that we do not know whether
there is a God or not. (page 56 in 1967 edition)
[6] Rowe, William L. (1998). Agnosticism. In Edward
Craig. Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Taylor &
Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-07310-3. In the popular sense,
an agnostic is someone who neither believes nor disbelieves in God, whereas an atheist disbelieves in God. In
the strict sense, however, agnosticism is the view that human reason is incapable of providing sucient rational
grounds to justify either the belief that God exists or the
belief that God does not exist. In so far as one holds
that our beliefs are rational only if they are suciently
supported by human reason, the person who accepts the
philosophical position of agnosticism will hold that neither the belief that God exists nor the belief that God does
not exist is rational.
[7] Monotheism, in Britannica, 15th ed. (1986), 8:266.
[8] AskOxford: polytheism
[9] Philosophical Dictionary: Pacism-Particular.
[10] What is Panentheism?".
About.Com:
cism/Atheism. Retrieved 2011-03-18.

Agnosti-

[11] Levine, Michael P. (1994). Pantheism : a non-theistic

concept of deity (1. publ. ed.). London u.a.: Routledge.
ISBN 0415070643.
[12] AskOxford: deism
[13] Websters New International Dictionary of the English
Language (G. & C. Merriam, 1924) denes deism as belief in the existence of a personal god, with disbelief in
Christian teaching, or with a purely rationalistic interpretation of Scripture.
[14] Matthew 5:38 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect
[15] Luke 17:21 The Kingdom of God is within you

4 External links

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