theism - A taxonomy of beliefs about deities, Theism, Atheism, Agnosticism

Belief in a single divine being, transcendent and personal, who created the world and, although involved with and related to the creation, is distinct from it. It is a feature of Jewish and Islamic as well as Christian faith, and is contrasted with both deism and pantheism.

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Theism is the belief in the existence of one or more Gods or deities.

A taxonomy of beliefs about deities

It is possible to categorize views about deities in a variety of ways. This classification system categorizes view about deities as:

theism — roughly, the opinion that gods or deities exist atheism — roughly, an absence of belief in any gods or deities agnosticism — roughly, the opinion that it is not possible to know whether gods or deities exist, or the opinion that one does not know. Some classifications group atheism and agnosticism together under the classification of non-theism — absence of clearly identified belief in any deity.

The main subcategories of theism are:

polytheism — roughly, the opinion that multiple gods or deities exist monotheism — roughly, the opinion that only one god exists.

This taxonomy is based on opinions about the existence of god or gods. For example, a different taxonomy is based on opinions about the nature or characteristics (rather than the existence) of God or the gods. Examples include:

pantheism — roughly, the opinion that God and the universe are equivalent panentheism — roughly, the opinion that the universe is part of God eutheism and dystheismare more recently coined terms of this sort. Kathenotheism: The belief that there is more than one deity, but only one deity at a time should be worshipped.

Theism

Polytheism

Polytheism is the belief that there is more than one deity. In practice, polytheism is not just the belief that there are multiple gods; it usually includes belief in the existence of a specific pantheon of distinct deities.

Monotheism

Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity.

Inclusive monotheism: The belief that there is only one deity, and that all other claimed deities are just different names for it. Exclusive monotheism: The belief that there is only one deity, and that all other claimed deities are distinct from it and false — either invented, demonic, or simply incorrect. Deism: The belief in the existence of a god which, having set up the universe initially, plays no further part in the running of the universe. Theism (second definition): The doctrine that God (or Gods) is (or are) immanent in the world, yet transcends it.

Atheism

Atheism is an absence of belief in the existence of gods or deities. The word atheism is derived from the Greek word atheos, from the negative prefix a- (without) and the word theos (θεóς, god), meaning literally 'without god.'

Agnosticism

The word "agnostic" was coined by T.

In one sense of the word, agnosticism is the position that it is not possible to know whether or not gods exist. It holds that it is not possible to determine whether gods exist. Specifically, it holds that the question of the existence of gods is beyond the scope of science — that it is a question that cannot be answered by science. When a person describes himself as an agnostic he usually means one of the following:

he takes no position, pro or con, on the existence of gods. he has considered the question of the existence of gods, and has not yet been able to decide whether he believes in the existence of gods or not.