Categories, Types and Varieties of Theists

Psalm 14:1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.

Any study of “World Religions” reveals immediately that there are different beliefs between God, gods or no God (s) and in-betweeners that are not sure either way.  Let’s look at these general types of Godisms, called “Theism for clarity”.  Here are the definitions that I’ve read and found:

Polytheism is a kind of theism that affirms the existence of many gods. These gods may vary in gender, status, authority, and job description. The number of gods included in a polytheistic system of religion can vary from two to infinity. Hinduism, for example, has hundreds of gods, as do most nature religions around the world. 

Henotheism represents a particular kind of theism, between polytheism and monotheism. Henotheism is defined as geographical ethnic or national monotheism. That is a particular nation or group believes in one God who reigns exclusively over them, within the limits of their territorial borders. Other gods exist and reign over other nations. The existence of many gods (polytheism) is affirmed, but allegiance is given to one alone. But Henotheism differs from monotheism in that the God worshipped is not universal in his dominion.

Monotheism refers to the belief in one universal deity, though radically different descriptions of that one deity may be offered by different religions. The one deity may be regarded as personal or impersonal, transcendent or abstract, abstract or concrete, finite or infinite, et cetera. Though the term monotheism is usually associated with the Judeo-Christian tradition and Islam, many people believe in one transcendent, all-powerful Being called “God”. To be a believer means, generally, to believe in one God. The only viable alternatives are atheism and agnosticism.

Atheism involves the rejection of any form of theism. To be an Atheist is to disavow belief in any kind of god or gods. “A” is Greek for “no”, “Theos” is Greek for God“, so the term “Atheist” means one who believes in no god. The term has often been employed to signify a rejection or disavowal of a particular god or group of gods. For example, the early Christians were called atheists because they rejected the deities of Rome. Religions opposed to Christianity or Muslim have been called atheistic insofar as they were understood to be worshipping false gods, founded on the premise that worship of a false god is the worship of no god; a non-theism.

Practical Atheism refers to the situation where people profess belief in some kind of deity, but for all practical purposes, live as if there is no god. Where there is a gap between man’s profession of faith and his practice of it. Almost all polls in the United States have shown a considerable majority of the American people believe in some kind of god and put the adherence to theism as high as 98%. Further analysis will show, however, that the god many people believe in is so often ambiguous. Many believe in some higher power, but “what is a higher power?” Sproul clarifies the issue that at the practical level it makes an enormous difference whether one’s god is a “studied ambiguity” such as an undefined “higher power”, or is a deity with a name, a historical relationship, and moral imperatives. It is one thing to affirm the existence of an “unknown” god who makes no ultimate demands upon one’s life. It is quite another matter to affirm the existence of God who makes an absolute claim on life, who holds people accountable for every deed and thought, and who threatens a person with everlasting torment if he refuses to obey Him, but ever-lasting life in heaven as a child of God if they do. This is the issue.

Modern Theoretical Atheism is an option that states a man is enlightened only when he frees himself from the God-hypothesis in order to open the way to free intellectual progress. From the perspective of natural science, they are content with the theory of spontaneous generation to account for the origin of things, and they found the God-hypothesis “scientifically useless” and the idea of God was both unnecessary and undesirable. Consequently, a closed universe was conceived of, lacking room for intervention from without.   They seek to subordinate revelation with reason and the supernatural with the natural by calling to intellectual maturity, freedom from dependence upon adolescent fantasies of the supernatural in the name of secular humanism and existentialism. Thus, reasoning that if knowledge is restricted to the visible realm, there is no need to go beyond the realm of materialism. In both existential and analytical philosophy there has been a wholesale abandonment of metaphysical inquiry. But fear not, God is in control, and the rising crescendo of atheism established along skeptical lines has not gone unopposed. In spite of the critique of theistic proofs, theism is still very much alive and the theory of (macro) evolution is just a theory with holes big enough to drive a truck through. The debate rages on.  The “atheists” asks, “If there s no God, then why is there religion?” The “Theist” asks, “Since there is God, why are there atheists?”

Isaiah 30:9-11 These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction. They say to the seers, “See no more visions!” and to the prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Hone One of Israel!”

Agnosticism refers to a lack of conviction with respect to the question of theism, but technically considered, is a form of atheism, since it lacks any positive assertion of theism. The agnostic seeks to declare neutrality on the issue, desiring to make either assertion or denial of the theistic question. The term derives from the Greek “agnosis”, meaning “without knowledge.” The agnostic maintains that there is insufficient knowledge on which to make an intellectual judgment about theism. They prefer to suspend judgment until such time that more available data will incline them either to affirm or deny the existence of a god or gods. Many believers and atheists consider agnosticism to be a great intellectual cop-out, avoiding the issue.  Yet, agnostics and they sympathizers say that their position is respectable, since they avoid doing harm in the name of either belief or unbelief. In our contemporary society, where intolerance is often regarded as the supreme evil, agnosticism seems like an attractive option for many people, but it does not satisfy mankind’s religious urges.   

Isaiah 8:13-14, 17b The Lord Almighty is the One you are to regard as Holy, He is the One you are to fear, He is the One you are to dread, and He will be a sanctuary; but for both houses of Israel (atheists and theists) He will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. I will put my trust in Him.

In Christ, Brian