DIFFERENT RELIGIONS, DIFFERING BELIEFS

What different faiths believe about their deity/deities:

The religions of the world teach a wide diversity of concepts about deity. Is is certain that thousands and thousands of Gods and Goddesses have been worshiped in various eras and locations.

	A person who is investigating the "God" concept for the first time might conclude that all of these diverse deities are purely human creations. That is: God did not create us -- we created God.
	However, most people believe that the God or Goddess or Gods or Goddesses that they worship are real, whereas all of the thousands of other deities are human creations, nonexistent, except in the minds of their believers.

Beliefs about deity cover a wide range, including:

Agnosticism: having reached no conclusion whether God exists.

Animism. The belief that all entities have life force, a soul or mind. For example, rocks, trees and mountains have an awareness of their surroundings.

Atheism:

	According to most dictionary definitions and general usage, Atheists believe that God does not exist.
	American Atheists, the largest group of Atheists in the U.S. define Atheism as having no belief in God. In other words, they define atheism as agnosticism.

Deism: The belief that God exists, but is remote, unknowable and uninvolved. They believe that God created the universe, set it going, left, but has not taken an active interest in it since. This was a popular belief among intellectuals during and after the American revolution. It shows up in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and its references to to "Nature's God," and "Creator." It is a rapidly growing believe today.

Duotheism (a.k.a. Bitheism): belief in two deities: In the case of Wicca, one deity is female, the other male. In the case of Christianity and Zoroastrianism, one is all good while the other is all evil.

Henotheism. belief in many deities of which only one is the supreme deity. This may involve:

	One chief God and multiple gods and goddesses of lesser power and importance. Ancient Greek and Roman religions were of this type.
	One supreme God, and multiple gods and goddesses who are all simply manifestations or aspects of the supreme God. Hinduism is one example; they recognize Brahman as the single deity. Some Wiccans believe in a single deity about which they know little. They call the deity "The One" or "The All." They recognize the God and Goddess as the male and female aspects of that supreme deity.
	One supreme God who rules over a country, and many other gods and goddesses who have similar jurisdiction over other territories. Liberal theologians believe that the ancient Israelites in the early years of the Hebrew nation were henotheists. They worshipped Jehovah as the supreme God over Israel, but recognized the existence of Baal and other deities who ruled over other tribes. The monotheistic concept of "Yahweh only" came later.

Monism: The belief that what people perceive as deity, humanity and the rest of the universe is in fact all of one substance - that divisions among the body, mind, flesh, spirit, material, physical are not real. All are simply aspects of one being.

Monotheism: The belief in a single God. Examples include Islam, Judaism, and Sikhism). Within Christianity, most denominations consider themselves to be monotheistic, even though they teach the existence of three separate persons in the Trinity. Some believe that religiously inspired violence is often found among monotheists.

Panentheism: The belief that the entire universe -- substances, forces and laws -- is God; the universe is God's body. God transcends the universe as well. (e.g. some components of New Age belief).

Pantheism: The belief that every existing entity (humans, animals, etc.) together, is a part of God. They do not see God as having a personality, the ability to make decisions, etc. Rather, God is the very spiritual essence of the entire universe.

Polytheism: belief in many Gods and Goddesses: (e.g. various Neopagan religions. Hinduism is often looked upon in the west as a polytheistic religion).

Trinity: belief in a single deity who has three aspects (e.g. historical Christianity, whose members generally believe in Trinity formed by a Father, Son and Holy Spirit who they view as being a single entity). Christians often look upon God as being omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent and omni-beneficient (all knowing, all powerful, all present and all good.) Some liberal Christians believe that such a list of attributes is logically contradictory.

Many specific faiths are difficult to categorize. For example, a religion might teach the belief in a single God, and a large number of minor deities, heroes, or saints who have some powers normally restricted to deities. It might be considered a monotheistic religion in theory or a polytheistic/henotheistic religion in practice.