The Theism reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Theism

Theism (from Greek θεoς theos god) is used in two meanings: Generally it is the belief in God/s and/orGoddess/s, sometimes as a unitary being or specifically the belief in God as creator of the universe who is actively involved in maintaining and ruling it.

The first meaning sees four major views of the role of God/dess in the world in this context:

• deism, the view that God/dess created the world but does not interact with it; emphasis on God/dess' transcendence
• theism, proper (second definition), the view that God[dess] is immanent in the world, yet transcends it;
• panentheism, the view that the world is entirely contained within God/dess, while at the same time God is something greater than just the world.
• pantheism, the view that the world is identical to God/dess; emphasis on God/dess' immanence

Within theism proper, it can be differentiated between

• monotheism (there is only one god)
• henotheism (there are several gods, but only one of them is adored)
• kathenotheism (worship of one god at a time, seeing each as supreme in turn)
• polytheism (there are several gods)

Finally, we can make the distinction between belief in God's existence and assertions about his benevolence:

• theophilia says that God is good and worthy of our worship and devotion
• maltheism says that the evidence contradicts the notion that God is good, and thus he is not worthy of our worship and devotion

Typical theistic religions are Zoroastrianism, Saivism Vaishnavism Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Bahá'í and Sikhism

Compare: Deism, Atheism, Agnosticism, Aldeism, Pantheism, Panentheism, Maltheism

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