Theism (redirected from theist)

theism (thē`ĭzəm), in theology and philosophy, the belief in a personal God. It is opposed to atheism and agnosticism and is to be distinguished from pantheism and deism (see deists). Unlike pantheists, theists do not hold God to be identical to the universe. Like deists, they believe that God created the universe and transcends it; unlike the deists, they hold that God involves himself in human affairs. For a summary of the arguments that support theism, see God.

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theism

View that all observable phenomena are dependent on but distinct from one supreme being. The view usually entails the idea that God is beyond human comprehension, perfect and self-sustained, but also peculiarly involved in the world and its events. Theists seek support for their view in rational argument and appeals to experience. Arguments for God's existence are of four principal types: cosmological, ontological, teleological, or moral. A central issue for theism is reconciling God, usually understood as omnipotent and perfect, with the existence of evil. See also agnosticism, atheism, Deism, monotheism, polytheism, theodicy.

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theism

1. the form of the belief in one God as the transcendent creator and ruler of the universe that does not necessarily entail further belief in divine revelation

2. the belief in the existence of a God or gods

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Theism 

a religious world view proceeding from an understanding of absolute being as an infinite divine person who is transcendent to the world and who created the world in a free act of will and continues to control it. (In orthodox Christianity, god is understood as a “trinity” of three such persons.)

Acceptance of the transcendancy of god distinguishes theism from pantheism. In theism, god is conceived as the source of the being of all things yet is separate from all things. (Catholic theology, however, postulates an “analogy of being” between the being of god and the being of things.) Theism differs in this both from monistic mysticism, with its concept of the identity between god and the world, and the pantheistic concept of emanation, by which the world is described as naturally and necessarily emanating from the fullness of divine being. The acceptance of the continuing, conscious, active role of god in the world distinguishes theism from deism and accounts for the concepts of divine providence and the miracles that are characteristic of theism.

Theism developed in its purest form within the framework of three genetically linked religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The term “theism” was first used by the English philosopher R. Cudworth.

Marxism-Leninism’s critique of theism as a type of religious world view is based on the general principles of the critique of any form of religious consciousness. (SeeRELIGION.)