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