Theism

What's the point of all of this? Does life have meaning? Who gets to decide whether you're good or bad? These are questions that humans have debated for… well, since we became humans. Evidence of people pondering their place in the universe and the existence of spiritual forces dates all the way back to the appearance of anatomically modern humans. This means that many, if not most, of human societies across time have embraced some sense of theism, or the belief in a divine power or deity.

Generally, this revolves around a figure who is seen as the creator of the universe, but also can include other spiritual and divine forces capable of exerting influence over the daily lives of us mortals here on Earth. It's very common to find human societies with religious or spiritual beliefs, but the nature of those beliefs can change dramatically. So, there are different kinds of theism. Let's take a look at some different religious beliefs and see how different cultures tried to figure out the meaning of it all.

Polytheism

When looking at the different kinds of theism, or belief in deities, the first big question we have to ask is this: how many deities are there? That's an important question! In many cultures, the universe was seen as being filled with divine forces. We call a religion that worships multiple deities a polytheistic religion. So, polytheism is the belief in more than one god.

For a great example, let's look to the ancient Greeks. The Greeks had a full pantheon of gods and goddesses, each of which was responsible for different things. Rather than offering all prayers to a single deity, the Greeks would ask specific deities for help with specific issues. For example, a blacksmith might pray to Hephaestus to bless his forge and the business he did there, while a midwife might pray to Eileithyia for wisdom while delivering a baby. You would pray to one deity for good crops and another for a safe voyage across the sea.

Of course, the Greeks weren't the only culture to practice polytheism. The Mesopotamians, Egyptians, and Romans were also ancient polytheistic cultures found around the Mediterranean. The vast majority of religions and spiritual traditions native to Africa, Polynesia, Central Asia, and the indigenous Americas are also polytheistic, many of which focus on the worship of divine forces in nature. Today, the largest polytheistic religion in the world is Hinduism, which is native to India and recognizes a complex pantheon of deities.

Monotheism

A polytheistic religion recognizes many deities, but not all religions are like this, and so this is where our other main category of religions comes into play. A monotheistic religion is a religion that worships a single deity. While polytheism divides the supernatural forces of the universe between many gods, in monotheism a single god is responsible for everything.

In the ancient world, one of the most influential monotheistic religions was Zoroastrianism, a religion native to West Asia. Zoroastrianism challenged other religions of the area by claiming that a single deity was responsible for creating and reigning over the universe, named Ahura Mazda. Instead of praying to many gods, the practitioners of Zoroastrianism gave all their prayers and devotion to Ahura Mazda, which allowed for a more centralized religion.