In the
Philosophy of religion,
theism is the
belief in
God and/or
Goddess as unitary being. The word comes from the
Greek word
theos which means "god". There are four
major views of the role of God/dess in the world in this
context:
- proper Theism is the view that God/dess is
immanent in the world, yet
transcends it;
-
Deism is the view that God/dess created the world but
does not interact with it;
-
Pantheism is the view that the world is identical to
God/dess; and
-
Panentheism is the view that the world is entirely
contained within God/dess, while at the same time God is
something greater than just the world.
The
monotheistic religions, such as
Judaism,
Christianity, and
Islam, are typically theistic.
More generically, theism can be described as the belief in
one or more
gods.
Compare:
Deism,
Atheism,
Agnosticism,
Pantheism,
Panentheism,
Maltheism
