Religions Of The Ancient Near East The religions of the ancient Near East were mostly polytheistic, with some examples of monolatry (for example, Yahwism and Atenism). Some scholars believe that the similarities between these religions indicate that the religions are related, a belief known as patternism. Many religions of the ancient near...
Demiurge In the Platonic, Neopythagorean, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy, the demiurge is an artisan-like figure responsible for fashioning and maintaining the physical universe. The Gnostics adopted the term “demiurge“. Although a fashioner, the demiurge is not necessarily the same as the creator figure in the monotheistic sense, because the demiurge itself and the...
What Is The Meaning Of The Lord? Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others acting like a master, a chief, or a ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are entitled to courtesy titles. The collective...
What Is Deity? A deity is a supernatural being considered divine or sacred. The Oxford Dictionary of English defines deity as “a god or goddess (in a polytheistic religion)”, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as “a being with powers greater than those of ordinary humans, but who interacts with humans, positively or negatively,...
Shangdi Shangdi (上帝; pinyin: Shàngdì; Wade–Giles: Shang Ti), also written simply, “Emperor” (帝; pinyin: Dì), is the Chinese term for “Supreme Deity” or “Highest Deity” in the theology of the classical texts, especially deriving from Shang theology and finding an equivalent in the later Tian (“Heaven” or “Great Whole”) of Zhou theology. Although in Chinese religion the usage...
Dying And Rising Deity A dying and rising deity, death and rebirth deity, or resurrection deity is a religious motif in which a god or goddess dies and is resurrected. “Death or departure of the gods” is motif A192 in Stith Thompson’s Motif-Index of Folk-Literature (1932), while “resurrection of gods” is motif A193. Examples of gods...
Hindu Views On Monotheism This article covers Hindu views on Monotheism. Hinduism is a religion which incorporates diverse views on the concept of God. Different traditions of Hinduism have different theistic views, and these views have been described by scholars as polytheism, monotheism, henotheism, panentheism, pantheism, monism, agnostic humanism, atheism...
God In Sikhism Sikhism is a monotheistic religion and hence, believes that “God” is One, and prevails in everything, as symbolized by the symbol Ik Onkar (one all pervading spirit). The fundamental belief of Sikhism is that God exists, indescribable yet knowable and perceivable to anyone who surrenders his egoism and Loves the Almighty. The Sikh...
Intelligent Designer An Intelligent designer also referred to as an intelligent agent, is the hypothetical willed and self-aware entity that the intelligent design movement argues had some role in the origin and/or development of life. The term “intelligent cause” is also used, implying their teleological supposition of direction and purpose in features of...
Why Did He Not Create Universe Sooner? This article covers the answer to the question: “Why Did He Not Create Universe Sooner?“ What does mean by ‘sooner’? If one wishes to say ‘sooner’ in the period of eternity before the creation of time, then the word ‘sooner’ has no meaning....
Why Can’t We See God? This article covers the answer to the question: “Why Can’t We See God?“ God is other than His creation, for the Creator cannot have the same kind of being as His creation. Although this is self-evident, some people still ask why we cannot see God...
Given That God Created Everything, Who Created God? Who Created God? At best, the question is based on perceived “cause and effect” relationships. Everything can be thought of as an effect and attributed to a prior cause that, in turn, is attributed to a prior cause, and so on. However,...
Classical Theism Classical theism is a form of theism in which God is characterized as the absolutely metaphysically ultimate being, in contrast to other conceptions such as pantheism, panentheism, polytheism, deism, and process theism. Classical theism is a form of monotheism. Whereas most monotheists agree that God is, at minimum,...
God In Abrahamic Religions Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are sometimes called Abrahamic religions because they all accept the tradition of the God, Yahweh, (known as Allah in Arabic), that revealed himself to the prophet Abraham. The theological traditions of all Abrahamic religions are thus to some extent influenced by the...
Gender Of God In Sikhism Irrespective of the native-language meaning of the Mantra, the standard English translation neutralises the implied gender of God in Sikhism. Nonetheless, the Guru Granth consistently refers to God as He, even in English. He is also predominantly referred to as Father. Gurū Granth The scripture of Sikhism is the Gurū...
Anecdotal Evidence Anecdotal evidence is evidence from anecdotes: evidence collected in a casual or informal manner and relying heavily or entirely on personal testimony. The term is sometimes used in a legal context to describe certain kinds of testimony which are uncorroborated by objective, independent evidence such as notarized documentation, photographs, audio-visual recordings, etc. When used...
Ontological Argument For The Existence of God An ontological argument is a philosophical argument for the existence of God that uses ontology. Many arguments fall under the category of the ontological, and they tend to involve arguments about the state of being or existing. More specifically, ontological arguments tend to start with a priori theory about...
Existence Of God The existence of God is a subject of debate in the philosophy of religion and popular culture. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God can be categorized as metaphysical, logical, empirical, or subjective. In philosophical terms, the question of the existence of God...
Theism Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of the Supreme Being or deities. In common parlance, or when contrasted with deism, the term often describes the classical conception of God that is found in monotheism (also referred to as classical theism) – or gods found in polytheistic...
Gitche Manitou Gitche Manitou (Gitchi Manitou, Kitchi Manitou, etc.) means “Great Spirit” in several Algonquian languages. Christian missionaries have translated God as Gitche Manitou in scriptures and prayers in the Algonquian languages. Manitou is a common Algonquian term for spirit, mystery, or deity. Native American Churches in Mexico, United States and Canada often use this...