Are you religous?

Whenever people ask me if I am religious, I give them several sentence long explanations, due to lack of my and their knowledge about belief system and related subject matters. So, I searched for more precise definition of “my religiousness” and found the closest one to my belief system regarding God is Theism. Beforehand, let me “Wikipedia” you about religious belief systems.

A TAXONOMY OF BELIEFS ABOUT DEITIES*

It is possible to categorize views about deities in a variety of ways. One common procedure is to classify views about the existence of deities. This classification system categorizes view about deities as:

• Theism — The belief that gods or deities exist and interact with the universe.
• Atheism — A lack of belief that gods exist.
• Deism — The belief that a god or gods exists, but does not interact with the universe.
• Agnosticism — The belief the nature and existence of gods is unknown and cannot be known or proven.

• Some classifications group atheism and agnosticism together under the classification of nontheism — absence of clearly identified belief in any deity.

The main subcategories of theism are:

• polytheism — The belief in and worship of multiple gods or deities.
• monotheism — The belief in and worship of a single god.

This taxonomy is based on beliefs about the existence of god or gods. Other taxonomies are possible. For example, a different taxonomy is based on beliefs about the nature or characteristics (rather than the existence) of God or the gods. Examples include:

• pantheism — The belief that God and the universe are equivalent, or belief that acknowledges other gods.
• panentheism — The belief that the universe is part of God
• dystheism or maltheism — the belief that God is not, as is often assumed, good, but is actually evil

Other categories of belief include:

• Animism: The belief that everything has a soul.
• Monolatry: The belief that there may be more than one deity, but only one should be worshipped.
• Henotheism: The belief that there may be more than one deity, but one is supreme.
• Kathenotheism: The belief that there is more than one deity, but only one deity at a time should be worshipped. Each is supreme in turn.

The one I think I prefer and believe is Theism.

THEISM

Polytheism

Polytheism is the belief that there is more than one deity. In practice, polytheism is not just the belief that there are multiple gods; it usually includes belief in the existence of a specific pantheon of distinct deities.

Within polytheism there are hard and soft varieties.

• Hard polytheism views the gods as being distinct and separate beings; an example of this would be ancient Greek Mythology.
• Soft polytheism views the gods as being subsumed into a greater whole. Most forms of Hinduism serve as examples of soft polytheism.

Monotheism

Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity. There are many forms of monotheism.

• Inclusive monotheism: The belief that there is only one deity, and that all other claimed deities are just different names for it. The Hindu denomination of Smartism is an example of inclusive monotheism.
• Exclusive monotheism: The belief that there is only one deity, and that all other claimed deities are distinct from it and false — either invented, demonic, or simply incorrect. Most Abrahamic religions, and the Hindu denomination of Vaishnavism (which regards the worship of anyone other than Vishnu as incorrect) are examples of exclusive monotheism.
• Pantheism: The view that the universe is identical to a deity.
• Panentheism: The belief that the universe is entirely contained within a deity that is greater than just the universe and beyond.

The rest of the explanations, you can read from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theism

From now on, when I am asked about my religion and beliefs, I will proudly say, “I am Theist!”

Note: Information is obtained from Wikipedia – The Free Encyclopedia.

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*A deity is a postulated preternatural or supernatural being, who is always of significant power, worshipped, thought holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, or respected by human beings.