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{{Short description|Belief in the existence of at least one deity}}
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[[File:Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld_Bibel_in_Bildern_1860_001.png|thumb|[[God the Father]] depicted by [[Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld]] in 1860]]
'''Theism''' is broadly defined as the [[belief]] in the existence of at least one [[deity]].<ref>[https://www.dictionary.com/browse/theism? "theism"], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212143951/http://www.dictionary.com/browse/theism |date=12 December 2021 }} ''Dictionary.com''. Retrieved 21 October 2016.</ref><ref>[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theism "theism,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514194441/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theism |date=14 May 2011 }} ''Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary''. Retrieved 18 March 2011.</ref> In common parlance, or when contrasted with ''[[deism]]'', the term often describes the philosophical conception of [[God]] that is found in [[classical theism]]—or the conception found in [[monotheism]]—or [[gods]] found in [[Polytheism|polytheistic]] religions—or a belief in God or gods without the rejection of [[revelation]], as is characteristic of deism.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/theism?s=t |title=Dictionary.com Online Dictionary |access-date=21 October 2016 |archive-date=16 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216052754/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/theism?s=t |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/deism?s=t |title=Dictionary.com Online Dictionary |access-date=23 November 2016 |archive-date=16 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216052745/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/deism?s=t |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Nontheism|Non-theism]] and [[atheism]] is commonly understood as non-acceptance or outright rejection of theism in the broadest sense of the term (i.e., non-acceptance or rejection of belief in God or gods).<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |first=Kai |last=Nielsen |author-link=Kai Nielsen (philosopher) |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |title=Atheism |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/40634/atheism |year=2010 |access-date=26 January 2011 |quote=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)...}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Atheism |first=Paul |last=Edwards |author-link=Paul Edwards (philosopher) |publisher=MacMillan Reference USA (Gale)|editor=Donald M. Borchert |orig-year=1967 |year=2005 |edition=2nd |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Philosophy|The Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |volume=1 |page=359 |isbn=9780028657806 |quote=On our definition, 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)</ref> Related (but separate) is the claim that the existence of any deity is unknown or unknowable; a stance known as [[agnosticism]].<ref name="Hepburn">{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Agnosticism|first=Ronald W.|last=Hepburn|publisher=MacMillan Reference USA (Gale)|editor=Donald M. Borchert|orig-year=1967|year=2005|edition=2nd|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Philosophy|The Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]|volume=1|page=92|isbn=9780028657806|quote=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)</ref><ref name="RoweRoutledge">{{cite encyclopedia| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VQ-GhVWTH84C&pg=PA122 |title=Agnosticism|first=William L.|last=Rowe|author-link=William L. Rowe|encyclopedia=[[Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]|isbn=978-0-415-07310-3|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=1998|editor=Edward Craig|quote=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 sufficient 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 sufficiently 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 purely rational.}}</ref> 
''Agnostic theism'' is a personal belief in one or more deities along with acceptance that the existence or non-existence of the deity or deities is fundamentally unknowable.

A 2020 ''Philpapers'' survey of professional philosophers found that 66.72% accepted or leaned towards atheism, 18.64% accepted or leaned towards theism, and 14.64% leaned towards another opinion.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=PhilPapers Survey 2020 |url=https://survey2020.philpeople.org/survey/results/4842 |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=survey2020.philpeople.org}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The term ''theism'' derives from the Greek {{lang|grk|θεός}}<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Theism |volume=26 |page=744 |first=Robert |last=Mackintosh }}</ref> (''theós'') or ''theoi'' meaning 'god' or 'gods'. The term ''theism'' was first used by [[Ralph Cudworth]] (1617–1688).<ref>
{{cite book|last=Halsey|first=William|author2=Robert H. Blackburn |author3=Sir Frank Francis | title =Collier's Encyclopedia|editor=Louis Shores|publisher=Crowell-Collier Educational Corporation|year=1969| edition =20|volume=22|pages=266–7|editor-link=Louis Shores}}
</ref> In Cudworth's definition, they are "strictly and properly called Theists, who affirm that a perfectly conscious understanding being, or mind, existing of itself from eternity, was the cause of all other things".<ref>Cudworth, Ralph (1678). ''The True Intellectual System of the Universe, Vol. I''. New York: Gould & Newman, 1837, p. 267.</ref>

==Types of theism==

=== Classical theism ===
{{Main|Classical theism}}
Classical theism is the form of theism that describes God as the Absolute Being. Central insights of classical theistic [[theology]] includes [[emanationism]] and [[divine simplicity]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Feser |first=Edward |title=Five Proofs of the Existence of God |publisher=IGNATIUS PRESS |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-62164-133-9 |location=San Francisco |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=[[David Bentley Hart|Hart]] |first=David Bentley |title=The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss |date=September 24, 2013 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] }}</ref> Classical theistic traditions can be observed in major religions and philosophies, such as [[Sufism]] in [[Islam]], [[Vaishnavism]] in [[Hinduism]], [[Sikhism]] in general, and [[Platonism]].

===Monotheism===
{{Main|Monotheism}}
Monotheism (from [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] {{lang|grc|[[:wikt:μόνος|μόνος]]}}) is the belief in theology that only one [[deity]] exists.<ref>"Monotheism", in Britannica, 15th ed. (1986), 8:266.</ref> Some modern day [[Monotheism|monotheistic]] religions include [[Christianity]], [[Judaism]], [[Islam]], [[Mandaeism]], [[Druzism|Druze]], [[Baháʼí Faith]], [[Sikhism]], [[Zoroastrianism]], [[Rastafari]], some sects of [[Hinduism]], and [[Eckankar]].

===Polytheism===
{{Main|Polytheism}}
[[Polytheism]] is the belief in multiple [[deity|deities]], which are usually assembled into a [[pantheon (religion)|pantheon]], along with their own [[religious sect]]s and [[ritual]]s. Polytheism was the typical form of religion before the development and spread of the [[Abrahamic religions]] of [[Judaism]], [[Christianity]], and [[Islam]], which enforce monotheism. It is well documented throughout history; from [[prehistory]] and the earliest records of [[ancient Egyptian religion]] and [[ancient Mesopotamian religion]] to the religions prevalent during [[Classical antiquity]], such as [[ancient Greek religion]] and [[ancient Roman religion]], and in [[ethnic religions]] such as [[Germanic paganism|Germanic]], [[Slavic paganism|Slavic]], and [[Baltic mythology|Baltic paganism]] and [[Native American religion]]s.

Notable polytheistic religions practiced today include [[Taoism]], [[Shenism]] or [[Chinese folk religion]], Japanese [[Shinto]], [[Santería]], most [[traditional African religions]],<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kimmerle|first=Heinz|date=11 April 2006|title=The world of spirits and the respect for nature: towards a new appreciation of animism|journal=The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa|language=en-US|volume=2|issue=2|pages=15|doi=10.4102/td.v2i2.277|issn=2415-2005|doi-access=free}}</ref> and various [[modern Paganism|neopagan]] faiths such as [[Wicca]], [[Druidry (modern)|Druidry]], [[Romuva (religion)|Romuva]], and [[Hellenism (modern religion)|Hellenism]]. [[Hinduism]], while popularly held as polytheistic, cannot be exclusively categorised as such as some Hindus consider themselves to be [[pantheists]] and others consider themselves to be monotheists. Both are compatible with Hindu texts since there exists no consensus of standardisation in the faith. Advaita Vedanta, a philosophy in Hinduism, offers a combination of monotheism and polytheism, holding that [[Brahman]] is the sole ''ultimate reality'' of the universe, yet unity with it can be reached by worshipping multiple Devas and Devies.

A major division in modern polytheistic practices is between so-called ''soft'' polytheism and ''hard'' polytheism.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://digilib.phil.muni.cz/handle/11222.digilib/138049|title=Modern Pagan religious conversion revisited|last=Galtsin|first=Dmitry|date=21 June 2018|journal=Sacra|volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=7–17 |access-date=5 February 2019|archive-date=7 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207015038/https://digilib.phil.muni.cz/handle/11222.digilib/138049|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite book|title=Seeking the mystery : an introduction to Pagan theologies|last=Hoff|first=Kraemer, Christine|date=2012|publisher=Patheos Press|isbn=9781939221186|location=Englewood, CO|oclc=855412257}}</ref> "Soft" polytheism is the belief that different gods may be [[Jungian archetypes|psychological archetypes]], personifications of natural forces, or fundamentally one deity in different cultural contexts (e.g., [[Odin]], [[Zeus]], and [[Indra]] all being the same god as interpreted by Germanic, Greek, and Indic peoples, respectively)—known as [[wiktionary:omnitheism|omnitheism]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Negedu|first=I. A.|date=1 January 2014|title=The Igala traditional religious belief system: Between monotheism and polytheism|url=https://www.ajol.info/index.php/og/article/view/109609|journal=OGIRISI: A New Journal of African Studies|language=en|volume=10|issue=1|pages=116–129|issn=1597-474X|doi=10.4314/og.v10i1.7|doi-access=free|access-date=24 February 2023|archive-date=24 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224223707/https://www.ajol.info/index.php/og/article/view/109609|url-status=live}}</ref> In this way, gods may be interchangeable for one another across cultures.<ref name=":0" /> "Hard" polytheism is the belief that gods are distinct, separate, real divine beings rather than psychological archetypes or personifications of natural forces. Hard polytheists reject the idea that "all gods are one essential god" and may also [[Religious exclusivism|reject the existence of gods outside their own pantheon altogether]].<ref name=":0" />

Polytheism is further divided according to how the individual deities are regarded:

; [[Henotheism]]: Henotheism is the belief that there may be more than one deity but only one of them is to be worshiped. [[Zoroastrianism]] is sometimes considered an example. 
; [[Kathenotheism]]: Kathenotheism is the belief that there is more than one deity, but only one deity is worshiped at a time (or ever) and another may be worthy of worship in another time or place. If they are worshiped one at a time, then each is supreme in turn.
; [[Monolatrism]]: Monolatrism is the belief that there may be more than one deity but only one is worthy of being worshiped. Most of the modern [[monotheistic]] religions may have begun as monolatrous ones, but this is disputed.{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}}

[[File:Spinoza.jpg|thumb|160px|The philosophy of Baruch Spinoza is often regarded as pantheist.<ref name=Picton>{{cite book|last=Picton|first=James Allanson|title=Pantheism: its story and significance|year=1905|publisher=Archibald Constable & CO LTD.|location=Chicago|isbn=978-1419140082|url=https://archive.org/details/pantheismitsstor00pictrich}}</ref><ref>*Fraser, Alexander Campbell "Philosophy of Theism", William Blackwood and Sons, 1895, p 163.</ref>]]

===Pantheism===
{{Main|Pantheism}}
Pantheism is the belief that [[reality]], the [[universe]] and the [[cosmos]] are identical to [[divinity]] and a [[Creator deity|supreme being]] or entity. Pointing to the universe as being an [[Immanence|immanent]] [[creator deity]] in and of itself, the deity is understood as still expanding, creating, and eternal,<ref>{{cite book |title=The New [[Oxford Dictionary of English]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press|Clarendon Press]] |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-19-861263-6 |location=Oxford |page=1341}} "The term 'pantheist' designates one who holds both that everything constitutes a unity and that this unity is divine."</ref> or that [[Everything|all things]] compose an all-encompassing, immanent god or goddess that is manifested as the universe.<ref name="Edwards">{{Cite book|title = Encyclopedia of Philosophy ed. Paul Edwards |publisher=Macmillan and Free Press |year = 1967 |location = New York|page=34}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Reid-Bowen|first=Paul|title=Goddess as Nature: Towards a Philosophical Thealogy|page=70|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|date=15 April 2016|isbn=9781317126348}}</ref> As such, even [[astronomical object]]s are viewed as part of the sole deity. The worship of all gods of every religion has been conceived as a form of pantheism, but such a system is more akin to [[Omnism]].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pantheism| title=Definition of Pantheism| access-date=24 February 2023| archive-date=3 November 2022| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221103001704/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pantheism| url-status=live}}</ref>
Pantheist [[Belief#Religious belief|belief]] does not recognize a distinct [[personal god]],<ref>{{cite book |title=A Companion to Philosophy of Religion |editor1=Charles Taliaferro |editor2=Paul Draper |editor3=Philip L. Quinn |page=340 |quote=They deny that God is "totally other" than the world or ontologically distinct from it.}}</ref> [[anthropomorphic]] or otherwise, but instead characterizes a broad range of doctrines differing in forms of relationships between reality and divinity.<ref name="LevineDetailed">{{citation |last=Levine |first=Michael |title=Pantheism: A Non-Theistic Concept of Deity |publisher=Psychology Press |date=1994 |isbn=9780415070645 |pages=44, 274–275}}:

* "The idea that Unity that is rooted in nature is what types of nature mysticism (e.g. Wordsworth, Robinson Jeffers, Gary Snyder) have in common with more philosophically robust versions of pantheism. It is why nature mysticism and philosophical pantheism are often conflated and confused for one another."
* "[Wood's] pantheism is distant from Spinoza's identification of God with nature, and much closer to nature mysticism. In fact it is nature mysticism."
* "Nature mysticism, however, is as compatible with theism as it is with pantheism."</ref> Pantheistic concepts date back thousands of years, and pantheistic elements have been identified in various religious traditions. The term ''pantheism'' was coined by mathematician [[Joseph Raphson]] in 1697,<ref name="Taylor">{{cite book|last1=Taylor|first1=Bron|title=Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature|date=2008|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1441122780|pages=1341–1342|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i4mvAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1342|access-date=27 July 2017}}</ref><ref name=Thomson>Ann Thomson; Bodies of Thought: Science, Religion, and the Soul in the Early Enlightenment, 2008, page 54.</ref> and since then has been used to describe the beliefs of a variety of individuals and organizations. Pantheism was popularized in [[Western culture]] as a [[theology]] and philosophy based on the work of the 17th-century philosopher [[Baruch Spinoza]]—in particular, his book ''[[Ethics (Spinoza book)|Ethics]]''.<ref name="Genevieve Lloyd 1996">{{cite book |first=Genevieve |last=Lloyd |title=Routledge Philosophy GuideBook to Spinoza and The Ethics |series=Routledge Philosophy Guidebooks |publisher=[[Routledge]] |edition=1st |date=2 October 1996 |isbn=978-0-415-10782-2 |page=24}}</ref> A pantheistic stance was also expressed by the 16th-century by philosopher and [[Cosmology|cosmologist]] [[Giordano Bruno]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Birx |first=Jams H. |url=http://www.theharbinger.org/xvi/971111/birx.html |title=Giordano Bruno |publisher=The Harbinger |location=[[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile, AL]] |date=11 November 1997 |quote=Bruno was burned to death at the stake for his pantheistic stance and cosmic perspective. |access-date=5 February 2019 |archive-date=27 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170727101806/http://www.theharbinger.org/xvi/971111/birx.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Deism===
{{Main|Deism}}
; Classical Deism: Classical deism is the belief that one [[God]] exists and created the world, but that the Creator does not alter the original plan for the universe. Instead, the deity presides over it in the form of [[Divine providence|Providence]]; some classical deists, however, did believe in divine intervention.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20051120140834/http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/deism AskOxford: deism<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite book |title=Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language |publisher=G.&C. Merriam |year=1924}} 

defines deism as
: 'belief in the existence of a personal god, with disbelief in Christian teaching, or with a purely rationalistic interpretation of Scripture'.

Although Webster's lists '''deism''' as a type of ''theism'', deism is completely different from theism. If anything, theism would be an off-shoot of deism since it takes beliefs a step further to include miracles and divine revelation, with deism being the 'base' belief in (a) God.</ref>
; [[Pandeism]]: Pandeism is the belief that God preceded the universe and created it but is now equivalent with it.
; [[Polydeism]]: Polydeism is the belief that multiple gods exist but do not intervene in the universe.

===Autotheism===
{{Main|Egotheism}}
Autotheism is the belief that [[divinity]] exists within oneself and that individuals can achieve a godlike state. It is found in various philosophical and religious traditions emphasizing personal divinity or spiritual progression.

In [[Advaita Vedanta]], a Hindu philosophical school, the phrase ''[[Aham Brahmasmi|aham Brahmāsmi]] ("''I am Brahman") expresses the unity of the individual self (''[[Ātman (Hinduism)|atman]]'') with the ultimate reality (''[[Brahman]]'').<ref>{{cite book |author=Gurumayum Ranjit Sharma |year=1987 |title=The Idealistic Philosophy of Swami Vivekananda |publisher=Atlantic |page=180 |id=GGKEY:PSWXE5NTFF4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ORYOsJHi53sC&pg=PA180}}</ref>

In [[Mormonism]], the doctrine of [[Exaltation (Mormonism)|exaltation]] suggests that faithful individuals can attain godhood in the afterlife.<ref>{{cite book |last=Davies |first=Douglas J. |date=23 October 2003 |title=An Introduction to Mormonism |isbn=9780521817387 |page=79 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fw8DIziwEDsC&dq=apotheosis+mormon&pg=PA79 |via=Google Books |access-date=16 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Chapter 47: Exaltation |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-principles/chapter-47-exaltation?lang=eng |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241219084234/https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-principles/chapter-47-exaltation?lang=eng |archive-date=December 19, 2024 |access-date=2024-12-24 |website=ChurchofJesusChrist.org |language=en}}</ref>

Autotheistic ideas also appear in [[Gnosticism]], which emphasizes self-knowledge (''gnosis'') as the path to recognizing one’s divine nature,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hans |first=Jonas |title=The Gnostic Religion: The Message of the Alien God and the Beginnings of Christianity |publisher=Beacon Press |year=2001 |isbn=0807058017 |edition=3rd}}</ref> and in Friedrich Nietzsche’s concept of the ''[[Übermensch]]'', which advocates transcending human limitations to create one’s own values.

===Value-judgment Theisms===
; Eutheism: Eutheism is the belief that a deity is wholly benevolent.
; [[Dystheism]]: [[Dystheism]] is the belief that a deity is not wholly good, and is possibly evil.
; [[Maltheism]]: [[Maltheism]] is the belief that a deity exists but is wholly malicious.
; [[Misotheism]]: [[Misotheism]] is active hatred toward and for God, gods, and/or other divine beings.

===Non-theism and atheism ===
; [[Atheism]] : [[Atheism]] is defined by most people as the belief in the non-existence of gods, goddesses, and [[messiah]]s. Some atheists express an [[Negative and positive atheism|active disbelief or rejection]] of the existence of such entities.

; [[Non-theism]]: [[Non-theism]] is the belief in no gods or god.

; [[Agnosticism]] : [[Agnosticism]] is the belief that it is not known or not knowable whether a god or gods or the supernatural are part of reality regardless of how popular theistic beliefs may be. [[Agnostics]] withhold judgement on the existence and non-existence of a god on the basis that there is not enough evidence to come to a definitive conclusion that there is a god or that there is no god'.

=== Alterity theism ===
[[Alterity]] theism is a belief that the supreme being is radically [[Transcendence (religion)|transcendent]] to the point that it cannot be recognized as having any genuine [[Existence|being]] at all.

== Academic opinions ==
A 2020 ''Philpapers'' survey of professional philosophers found that:<ref name=":1" />

* 66.72% accepted or leaned towards atheism
* 18.64% accepted or leaned towards theism
* 14.64% leaned towards another opinion

==See also==
*[[Atheism]]
*[[Antitheism]]
*[[Apeirotheism]]
*[[Āstika and nāstika]]
*[[Classical theism]]
*[[Deism]]
*[[Theistic evolution]]
*[[Gottgläubig]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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{{Theology|god}}
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