However, in neither case is the corrupted being a god, but rather something of lesser status. As such, these faiths are not considered dualistic but are instead monotheisms. The theological differences can be significant between the two views. Polytheism is any religion that honors more than one god, but not in a dualistic relationship. Most polytheistic religions acknowledge dozens, hundreds, thousands, or even millions of deities.
Hinduism is a perfect example, as are a number of lesser-known religions that have stemmed from its beliefs. Believing in multiple gods does not mean that a polytheist regularly worships all such deities. Rather, they approach the gods as needed, and may have one or several whom they feel particularly close to.
Polytheistic gods are generally not omnipotent, unlike monotheistic gods who are often thought to have unlimited power.
Rather, each god has his or her own spheres of influence or interest. An atheistic religion is one that expressly states that there are no divine beings. The lack of supernatural beings, in general, is also commonly accepted but not specifically inherent in the term. The Raelian Movement is an actively atheistic movement.
Formal acceptance into the religion involves a renouncing of previous religions and the embracing of the fact that there are no gods.
Instead, the creation of the human race is credited to advanced life forms living beyond the planet Earth. It is their wishes, not the wishes of a supernatural being, which we should endeavor to embrace for the betterment of humanity. LaVeyan Satanism is commonly described as atheistic Satanism , although there's no formal declaration of such. Some of these Satanists may describe themselves as agnostic. It is one religion among many. The term ecclesia , originally referring to a political assembly of citizens in ancient Athens, Greece, now refers to a congregation.
In sociology, the term is used to refer to a religious group that most all members of a society belong to.
It is considered a nationally recognized, or official, religion that holds a religious monopoly and is closely allied with state and secular powers. The United States does not have an ecclesia by this standard; in fact, this is the type of religious organization that many of the first colonists came to America to escape.
One way to remember these religious organizational terms is to think of cults, sects, denominations, and ecclesia representing a continuum, with increasing influence on society, where cults are least influential and ecclesia are most influential. Scholars from a variety of disciplines have strived to classify religions. One widely accepted categorization that helps people understand different belief systems considers what or who people worship if anything.
Using this method of classification, religions might fall into one of these basic categories, as shown in the table below. Note that some religions may be practiced—or understood—in various categories. For instance, the Christian notion of the Holy Trinity God, Jesus, Holy Spirit defies the definition of monotheism , which is a religion based on belief in a single deity, to some scholars.
Some Japanese practice Shinto, which follows animism , which is a religion that believes in the divinity of nonhuman beings, like animals, plants, and objects of the natural world, while people who practice totemism believe in a divine connection between humans and other natural beings. It is also important to note that every society also has nonbelievers, such as atheists , who do not believe in a divine being or entity, and agnostics, who hold that ultimate reality such as God is unknowable.
While typically not an organized group, atheists and agnostics represent a significant portion of the population. It is important to recognize that being a nonbeliever in a divine entity does not mean the individual subscribes to no morality. Indeed, many Nobel Peace Prize winners and other great humanitarians over the centuries would have classified themselves as atheists or agnostics. It has been called "monotheism in principle and polytheism in fact".
Monolatrism or Monolatry : The belief in the existence of many gods , but with the consistent worship of only one deity. Unlike Henotheism, Monolatrism asserts that there is only one god who is worthy of worship , though other gods are known to exist. Kathenotheism : The belief that there is more than one deity, but only one deity at a time should be worshipped, each being supreme in turn. Animism : The belief that souls inhabit all or most objects whether they be animals, vegetables or minerals.
Animistic religions generally do not accept a sharp distinction between spirit and matter , and assume that this unification of matter and spirit plays a role in daily life. Early Shintoism was animistic in nature, as are many indigenous African religions. Shamanism communication with the spirit world and Ancestor Worship worship of deceased family members, who are believed to have a continued existence and influence are similar categories.
Atheism or Nontheism : The belief that gods do not exist , or a complete rejection of Theism in any form. Some atheists argue a lack of empirical evidence for the existence of deities, while others argue for Atheism on philosophical, social or historical grounds.
Many atheists tend toward secular philosophies such as Humanism and Naturalism. Atheism may be implicit someone who has never thought about belief in gods or explicit someone who has made an assertion, either weak or strong, regarding their lack of belief in gods. Confucianism , Taoism , Jainism and some varieties of Buddhism , either do not include belief in a personal god as a tenet of the religion, or actively teach nontheism.
Agnosticism : The belief that the nature and existence of gods is unknown and cannot ever be known or proven. Technically, this position is strong agnosticism : in popular usage, an agnostic may just be someone who takes no position , pro or con, on the existence of gods, or who has not yet been able to decide , or who suspends judgment due to lack of evidence one way or the other weak agnosticism.
The earliest professed agnostic was Protagoras , although the term itself, which literally means "without knowledge", was not coined until the s by T. Huxley - Humanism : Humanism is more an ethical process , not a dogma about the existence or otherwise of gods. But in general terms, it rejects the validity of transcendental justifications , such as a dependence on belief without reason , the supernatural , or texts of allegedly divine origin.
It is therefore generally compatible with Atheism and Agnosticism , but does not require these, and can be compatible with some religions. To some extent, it supplements or supplants the role of religions, and can be considered in some ways as "equivalent" to a religion.
Anselm and Avicenna in the 11th Century, attempts to prove the existence of God through a priori abstract reasoning alone. By this argument, to say that God does not exist is a contradiction in terms. The argument is certainly ingenious , but has the appearance of a linguistic trick. The same ontological argument could be used to prove the existence of any perfect thing at all for example, Anselm 's contemporary, the monk Gaunilo , used it to show that a perfect island must exist.
Immanuel Kant argued against the ontological argument on the grounds that existence is not a property of objects but a property of concepts , and that, whatever ideas may participate in a given concept, it is a further question whether that concept is instantiated. The Cosmological Argument : The Cosmological Argument is the argument that the existence of the world or universe implies the existence of a being that brought it into existence and keeps it in existence.
In essence, the argument is that everything that moves is moved by something else; an infinite regress that is, going back through a chain of movers forever is impossible; and therefore there must exist a first mover i. It comes in two forms, modal having to do with possibility , and temporal having to do with time : The Modal Cosmological Argument : This argument, also known as the Argument from Contingency , suggests that because the universe might not have existed i.
Wherever there are two possibilities, something must determine which of those possibilities is realized. Therefore, as the universe is contingent, there must be some reason for its existence, i. In fact, the only kind of being whose existence requires no explanation is a necessary being, a being that could not have failed to exist. Looking at this definition of belief, we can begin to understand that our beliefs are held in all areas of our lives, for better or for worse. We hold three core types of beliefs.
Within each of those core types of beliefs are many different subtypes of beliefs. First, we hold beliefs about ourselves. Second, we hold beliefs about others. Lastly, we hold beliefs about the world around us.
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