View source for Religion:Deity

{{Short description|Supernatural being}}
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| footer            = Examples of representations of deities in different cultures; clockwise from upper left: [[Religion:Hinduism|Hinduism]], [[Religion:Buddhism|Buddhism]], [[Religion:Yoruba religion|Yoruba]], Maya<nowiki>, </nowiki>Egyptian<nowiki>, </nowiki>[[Philosophy:Shinto|Shinto]], [[Religion:Christianity|Christianity]], [[Religion:Ancient Greek religion|Graeco]]-Roman, and Inca.
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A '''deity''' or '''god''' is a [[Philosophy:Supernatural|supernatural]] being considered to be [[Religion:Sacred|sacred]] and worthy of worship. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a [[Religion:God (male deity)|god]] or [[Philosophy:Goddess|goddess]], or anything revered as divine.<ref name="Stevenson">{{cite book|last1=Stevenson|first1=Angus|title=Oxford Dictionary of English|year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-19-957112-3|page=461|edition=3rd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=anecAQAAQBAJ|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en|archive-date=11 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311102542/https://books.google.com/books?id=anecAQAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greater than those of ordinary humans, but who interacts with humans, positively or negatively, in ways that carry humans to new [[Philosophy:Higher consciousness|levels of consciousness]], beyond the grounded preoccupations of ordinary life".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Littleton |first1=C. Scott|title=Gods, Goddesses, and Mythology|year=2005|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7614-7559-0|page=378|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=3ufSStXPECkC |page=378 }} |access-date=28 June 2017 |language=en }}</ref>

Religions can be categorized by how many deities they worship. [[Philosophy:Monotheism|Monotheistic]] religions accept only one deity (predominantly referred to as "[[Religion:God|God]]"),<ref>{{cite book|last1=Becking|first1=Bob|last2=Dijkstra|first2=Meindert|last3=Korpel| first3=Marjo|last4=Vriezen |first4=Karel|title=Only One God?: Monotheism in Ancient Israel and the Veneration of the Goddess Asherah|date=2001|publisher=New York|location=London|isbn=978-0-567-23212-0|page=189|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=eMneBAAAQBAJ|page=189}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en|quote=The Christian tradition is, in imitation of Judaism, a monotheistic religion. This implies that believers accept the existence of only one God. Other deities either do not exist, are considered inferior, are seen as the product of human imagination, or are dismissed as remnants of a persistent paganism}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Korte|first1=Anne-Marie|last2=Haardt|first2=Maaike De |title= The Boundaries of Monotheism: Interdisciplinary Explorations Into the Foundations of Western Monotheism|date=2009|publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-17316-3|page=9|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=-53d1iRsqDEC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> whereas polytheistic religions accept multiple deities.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Jeannine K.|title=Scripture as Communication: Introducing Biblical Hermeneutics|date=2007|publisher=Baker Academic|isbn= 978-0-8010-2788-8|page=72|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=5QJjyGoxEzkC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> [[Philosophy:Henotheism|Henotheistic]] religions accept one [[Religion:God|supreme deity]] without denying other deities, considering them as aspects of the same divine principle.<ref name = routledge>{{cite book|last1=Taliaferro|first1=Charles|last2=Harrison|first2=Victoria S.|last3=Goetz|first3=Stewart|title=The Routledge Companion to Theism|date=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-33823-6|pages=78–79|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ct7fCgAAQBAJ|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en|archive-date=15 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115140609/https://books.google.com/books?id=ct7fCgAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=ross73>{{cite book |last1= Reat|first1=N. Ross|last2=Perry|first2=Edmund F.|title=A World Theology: The Central Spiritual Reality of Humankind|date=1991|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-33159-3|pages=73–75|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=vD2TJNc7NE4C}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> [[Religion:Nontheistic religion|Nontheistic religion]]s deny any supreme eternal [[Religion:Creator deity|creator deity]], but may accept a [[Religion:Pantheon|pantheon]] of deities which live, die and may be reborn like any other being.<ref name="Keown"/>{{rp|35–37}}<ref name="Bullivant"/>{{rp|357–358}}

Although most monotheistic religions traditionally envision their god as [[Philosophy:Omnipotence|omnipotent]], [[Philosophy:Omnipresence|omnipresent]], [[Philosophy:Omniscience|omniscient]], [[Philosophy:Omnibenevolence|omnibenevolent]], and [[Unsolved:Immortality|eternal]],<ref name="Taliaferro">{{cite book|last1=Taliaferro|first1=Charles|last2=Marty|first2=Elsa J.|title=A Dictionary of Philosophy of Religion|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=78962vlrCDcC|page=98}}|date=2010|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1-4411-1197-5|pages=98–99}}</ref><ref name="Trigger2003">{{cite book|last=Trigger|first=Bruce G.|title=Understanding Early Civilizations: A Comparative Study|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=ZEX-yZOAG9IC||pages=473}}|date=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-82245-9|pages=473–474|edition=1st}}</ref> none of [[Religion:God#Specific characteristics|these qualities]] are essential to the definition of a "deity"<ref name=Hood>{{cite book|last=Hood|first=Robert Earl|title=Must God Remain Greek?: Afro Cultures and God-talk|year=1990|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=-ceFU75KyYQC|page=128}}|publisher=Fortress Press|isbn=978-1-4514-1726-5|pages=128–29|quote=African people may describe their deities as strong, but not omnipotent; wise but not omniscient; old but not eternal; great but not omnipresent (...)}}</ref><ref name="Trigger">{{cite book|last1=Trigger|first1=Bruce G.|title=Understanding Early Civilizations: A Comparative Study|url=https://archive.org/details/understandingear0000trig|url-access=registration|date=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-82245-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/understandingear0000trig/page/441 441–42]|edition=1st|quote=[Historically...] people perceived far fewer differences between themselves and the gods than the adherents of modern monotheistic religions. Deities were not thought to be omniscient or omnipotent and were rarely believed to be changeless or eternal}}</ref><ref name="Murdoch">{{cite book|last=Murdoch|first=John|title=English Translations of Select Tracts, Published in India: With an Introd. Containing Lists of the Tracts in Each Language|url={{Google books |plainurl=y |id=IHQAAAAAMAAJ |page = 141 }} |year=1861|publisher=Graves |pages = 141–42 |quote = We [monotheists] find by reason and revelation that God is omniscient, omnipotent, most holy, etc., but the Hindu deities possess none of those attributes. It is mentioned in their [[Religion:Shastra|Shastra]]s that their deities were all vanquished by the Asurs, while they fought in the heavens, and for fear of whom they left their abodes. This plainly shows that they are not omnipotent.}}</ref> and various cultures have conceptualized their deities differently.<ref name=Hood/><ref name=Trigger/> Monotheistic religions typically refer to their god in masculine terms,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kramarae|first1=Cheris|last2=Spender|first2=Dale|title=Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women: Global Women's Issues and Knowledge|date=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-96315-6|page=655|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=QAOUAgAAQBAJ}} |access-date=28 June 2017 |language = en }}</ref><ref name="OBrien2" />{{rp|96}} while other religions refer to their deities in a variety of ways—male, female, [[Biology:Hermaphrodite|hermaphroditic]], or genderless.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bonnefoy|first1=Yves|title=Roman and European Mythologies |year=1992|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=978-0-226-06455-0|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=Uf2_kHAs22sC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en|pages=274–75}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Pintchman|first1=Tracy|title=Seeking Mahadevi: Constructing the Identities of the Hindu Great Goddess|date=2014|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-9049-5 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=JfXdGInecRIC}} |access-date=28 June 2017|language=en |pages=1–2, 19–20}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Roberts|first1=Nathaniel|title=To Be Cared For: The Power of Conversion and Foreignness of Belonging in an Indian Slum|year=2016|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-96363-4|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=UVPQCwAAQBAJ}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en|page=xv}}</ref>

Many cultures—including the ancient [[Place:Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]]ns, Egyptians, {{wipe|Ancient Greece}}, [[History:Ancient Rome|Romans]], and Germanic peoples—have personified [[Earth:List of natural phenomena|natural phenomena]], variously as either deliberate causes or effects.<ref name="Malandra">{{cite book|last1=Malandra|first1=William W.|title=An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion: Readings from the Avesta and the Achaemenid Inscriptions|year=1983|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|location=Minneapolis|isbn=978-0-8166-1115-7|pages=9–10|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=nZQMrjukmboC|page=9}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Fløistad">{{cite book|last1=Fløistad|first1=Guttorm|title=Volume 10: Philosophy of Religion|year=2010|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media B.V.|location=Dordrecht|isbn=978-90-481-3527-1|pages=19–20|edition=1st|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=BclABayC1QQC|page=19}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Potts|first1=Daniel T.|title=Mesopotamian Civilization: The Material Foundations|date=1997|publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca, NY|isbn=978-0-8014-3339-9|pages=272–274|edition=st|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=OdZS9gBu4KwC|page=272}} |access-date=22 January 2018 }}</ref> Some [[Social:Avesta|Avesta]]n and [[Religion:Vedas|Vedic]] deities were viewed as ethical concepts.<ref name="Malandra" /><ref name="Fløistad" /> In Indian religions, deities have been envisioned as manifesting within the temple of every living being's body, as sensory organs and mind.<ref>{{cite book |last = Potter |first = Karl H. |title = The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Volume 3: Advaita Vedanta up to Samkara and His Pupils |year=2014|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-5651-0|pages=272–74 |url={{Google books |plainurl=y |id=Ydf_AwAAQBAJ |page=272 }} |access-date=28 June 2017 |language=en }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Olivelle|first=Patrick|title=The Samnyasa Upanisads: Hindu Scriptures on Asceticism and Renunciation.|date=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-19-536137-7|page=47 |url={{Google books |plainurl=y |id=fB8uneM7q1cC |page=47 }} |access-date=28 June 2017 |language=en }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Cush|first1=Denise|last2=Robinson|first2=Catherine|last3=York|first3=Michael|title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism|year=2008|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=978-1-135-18979-2 |pages=899–900 |url = {{Google books |plainurl=y |id=kzPgCgAAQBAJ |page=899 }} |access-date=28 June 2017 |language=en }}</ref> Deities are envisioned as a form of existence ([[Philosophy:Saṃsāra|Saṃsāra]]) after [[Philosophy:Reincarnation|rebirth]], for human beings who gain merit through an ethical life, where they become guardian deities and live blissfully in [[Unsolved:Heaven|heaven]], but are also subject to death when their merit is lost.<ref name="Keown" />{{rp|35–38}}<ref name="Bullivant" />{{rp|356–359}}
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==Etymology==
{{main|Religion:Dyeus|Religion:Deus|Religion:God (word)|Religion:Deva (Hinduism)}}

The English language word ''deity'' derives from [[Social:Old French|Old French]] ''deité,''<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hoad|first1=T. F.|title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology|date=2008|publisher=Paw Prints|isbn=978-1-4395-0571-7|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=CDaPuAAACAAJ}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=June 2017}} the [[Social:Latin|Latin]] ''deitatem'' or "divine nature", coined by [[Biography:Augustine of Hippo|Augustine of Hippo]] from ''{{lang|la|[[Religion:Deus|deus]]}}'' ("god"). Deus is related through a common [[Social:Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] (PIE) origin to ''[[Religion:Dyeus|*deiwos]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=deity |title=Online Etymology Dictionary – Deity |publisher=Etymonline.com |access-date=6 June 2017 |archive-date=18 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818174000/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=deity |url-status=live }}</ref> This root yields the ancient Indian word ''[[Religion:Deva (Hinduism)|Deva]]'' meaning "to gleam, a shining one", from *div- "to shine", as well as [[Social:Greek language|Greek]] ''{{lang|grc-Latn|dios}}'' "[[Philosophy:Divinity|divine]]" and [[Religion:Zeus|Zeus]]; and Latin ''{{lang|la|deus}}'' "god" (Old Latin ''deivos'').<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=deva&searchmode=none |title=Online Etymology Dictionary – Deva |publisher=Etymonline.com |access-date=6 June 2017 |archive-date=18 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818214335/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=deva&searchmode=none |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="etymonline1">{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Zeus&allowed_in_frame=0 |title=Online Etymology Dictionary – Zeus |publisher=Etymonline.com |access-date=6 June 2017 |archive-date=18 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818173500/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Zeus&allowed_in_frame=0 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Mallory"/>{{rp|230–31}} Deva is masculine, and the related feminine equivalent is [[Religion:Devi|devi]].<ref name="Monier-Williams"/>{{rp|496}} Etymologically, the cognates of ''Devi'' are Latin ''{{lang|la|dea}}'' and Greek ''{{lang|grc-Latn|thea}}''.<ref name="HawleyWulff1998">{{cite book|last1=Hawley|first1=John Stratton|last2=Wulff|first2=Donna M.|title=Devī: Goddesses of India|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=CZrV3kOpMt0C|page=2}}|year=1998|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-1491-2|pages=2, 18–21|edition=1st}}</ref> In Old Persian, ''[[Unsolved:Daeva|daiva-]]'' means "[[Unsolved:Demon|demon]], evil god",<ref name="etymonline1" /> while in [[Social:Sanskrit|Sanskrit]] it means the opposite, referring to the "heavenly, divine, terrestrial things of high excellence, exalted, shining ones".<ref name="Monier-Williams"/>{{rp|496}}<ref name="Klostermaier">{{cite book|last=Klostermaier|first=Klaus K.|title=Survey of Hinduism, A: Third Edition|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=8CVviRghVtIC|page=101}}|date=2010|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-8011-3|pages=101–102|edition=3rd}}</ref><ref name="Mallory2">{{cite book|last1=Mallory|first1=J.P.|last2=Adams|first2=D.Q.|title=The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European world|date=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-928791-8|pages=418–23|edition=Reprint|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=iNUSDAAAQBAJ|page=418}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref>

The closely linked term "[[Religion:God (word)|god]]" refers to "supreme being, deity", according to Douglas Harper,<ref name="Etymonline">{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=god&allowed_in_frame=0 |title=Online Etymology Dictionary –\ God |access-date=6 June 2017 |archive-date=30 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730023014/http://etymonline.com/index.php?term=god&allowed_in_frame=0 |url-status=live }}</ref> and is derived from [[Social:Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]] ''*guthan'', from PIE ''{{PIE|*ghut-}}'', which means "that which is invoked".<ref name="Mallory"/>{{rp|230–231}} ''Guth'' in the [[Social:Irish language|Irish language]] means "voice". The term ''{{PIE|*ghut-}}'' is also the source of [[Social:Old Church Slavonic|Old Church Slavonic]] {{lang|cu|zovo}} ("to call"), Sanskrit ''{{lang|sa-Latn|huta-}}'' ("invoked", an epithet of [[Religion:Indra|Indra]]), from the root {{PIE|*gheu(e)-}} ("to call, invoke."),<ref name="Etymonline"/>

An alternate etymology for the term "god" comes from the Proto-Germanic Gaut, which traces it to the PIE root ''{{PIE|*ghu-to-}}'' ("poured"), derived from the root ''{{PIE|*gheu-}}'' ("to pour, pour a libation"). The term ''{{PIE|*gheu-}}'' is also the source of the Greek ''{{lang|grc-Latn|khein}}'' "to pour".<ref name="Etymonline"/> Originally the word "god" and its other Germanic cognates were neuter nouns but shifted to being generally masculine under the influence of Christianity in which the [[Religion:Gender of God|god is typically seen as male]].<ref name="Mallory"/>{{rp|230–231}}<ref name="Etymonline"/> In contrast, all ancient [[History:Proto-Indo-European society|Indo-European cultures]] and mythologies recognized both masculine and feminine deities.<ref name="Mallory2"/>

==Definitions==
[[File:NASA-HS201427a-HubbleUltraDeepField2014-20140603.jpg|thumb|[[Philosophy:Pantheism|Pantheists]] believe that the universe itself and everything in it forms a single, all-encompassing deity.<ref name="Pearsall">{{cite book|last1=Pearsall|first1=Judy|title=The New Oxford Dictionary Of English|date=1998|publisher=Clarendon Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-861263-6|page=1341|edition=1st}}</ref><ref name="Edwards">{{cite book|last1=Edwards|first1=Paul|title=Encyclopedia of Philosophy|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofph08edwa|url-access=registration|date=1967|publisher=Macmillan|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofph08edwa/page/34 34]}}</ref>]]
There is no universally accepted consensus on what a deity is, and concepts of deities vary considerably across cultures.<ref name="OBrien2"/>{{rp|69–74}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Strazny|first1=Philipp|title=Encyclopedia of Linguistics|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-45522-4|page=1046|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=27JOMobauYAC|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en|archive-date=4 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604114946/https://books.google.com/books?id=27JOMobauYAC|url-status=live}}</ref> Huw Owen states that the term "deity or god or its equivalent in other languages" has a bewildering range of meanings and significance.<ref name="Owen"/>{{rp|vii-ix}} It has ranged from "infinite transcendent being who created and lords over the universe" (God), to a "finite entity or experience, with special significance or which evokes a special feeling" (god), to "a concept in religious or philosophical context that relates to nature or magnified beings or a supra-mundane realm", to "numerous other usages".<ref name="Owen"/>{{rp|vii–ix}}

A deity is typically conceptualized as a supernatural or divine concept, manifesting in ideas and knowledge, in a form that combines excellence in some or all aspects, wrestling with weakness and questions in other aspects, heroic in outlook and actions, yet tied up with emotions and desires.<ref name=Gupta>{{cite book|last1=Gupta|first1=Bina|last2=Gupta|first2=Professor of Philosophy and Director South Asia Language Area Center Bina|title=An Introduction to Indian Philosophy: Perspectives on Reality, Knowledge, and Freedom|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=-WepAgAAQBAJ|page=21}}|date=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-65310-0|pages=21–25}}</ref><ref name="Gupta2012">{{cite book|last=Gupta|first=Bina|title=An Introduction to Indian Philosophy: Perspectives on Reality, Knowledge, and Freedom|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=2mmpAgAAQBAJ|page=88}}|year= 2012|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-136-65309-4|pages=88–96}}</ref> In other cases, the deity is a principle or reality such as the idea of "soul". The Upanishads of Hinduism, for example, characterize Atman (soul, self) as ''deva'' (deity), thereby asserting that the ''deva'' and eternal supreme principle ([[Philosophy:Brahman|Brahman]]) is part of every living creature, that this soul is spiritual and divine, and that to realize self-knowledge is to know the supreme.<ref name="Cohen2008">{{cite book|last=Cohen|first=Signe|title=Text and Authority in the Older Upaniṣads|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=dUKwCQAAQBAJ|page=40}}|date=2008|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-474-3363-7|pages=40, 219–220, 243–244}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Fowler|first1=Jeaneane|title=Hinduism: Beliefs and Practices|date=1997|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|location=Brighton|isbn=978-1-898723-60-8|pages=10, 17–18, 114–118, 132–133, 149|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=RmGKHu20hA0C|page=10}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}{{Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Choon Kim|first1=Yong|last2=Freeman|first2=David H.|title=Oriental Thought: An Introduction to the Philosophical and Religious Thought of Asia|date=1981|publisher=Littlefield, Adams and Company|location=Totowa, NJ|isbn=978-0-8226-0365-8|pages=15–19|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=omwMQA_DUVEC|page=15}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref>

[[Philosophy:Theism|Theism]] is the belief in the existence of one or more deities.<ref>{{cite web|title=the definition of theism|url=http://www.dictionary.com/browse/theism?|website=Dictionary.com|access-date=22 January 2018|archive-date=12 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212143951/http://www.dictionary.com/browse/theism|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=theism|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theism|website=Merriam-Webster|access-date=22 January 2018|language=en|archive-date=14 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514194441/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/theism|url-status=live}}</ref> Polytheism is the belief in and worship of multiple deities,<ref name="Libbrecht"/> which are usually assembled into a [[Religion:Pantheon|pantheon]] of gods and [[Philosophy:Goddess|goddess]]es, with accompanying rituals.<ref name="Libbrecht">{{cite book|last=Libbrecht |first=Ulrich|title=Within the Four Seas: Introduction to Comparative Philosophy|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=rmT3ZHGxJPgC|page=42}}|year=2007|publisher= Peeters Publishers|isbn=978-90-429-1812-2|page=42}}</ref> In most polytheistic religions, the different gods and goddesses are representations of forces of nature or ancestral principles, and can be viewed either as autonomous or as aspects or [[Philosophy:Emanationism|emanations]] of a creator God or [[Religion:Transcendence|transcendental]] [[Philosophy:Absolute|absolute principle]] ([[Philosophy:Monism|monistic]] theologies), which manifests [[Philosophy:Immanence|immanently]] in nature.<ref name="Libbrecht"/> [[Philosophy:Henotheism|Henotheism]] accepts the existence of more than one deity, but considers all deities as equivalent representations or aspects of the same divine principle, the highest.<ref name=ross73/><ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/monotheism Monotheism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229113308/https://www.britannica.com/topic/monotheism |date=29 December 2017 }} and [https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism Polytheism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism |date=11 November 2020 }}, Encyclopædia Britannica;<br />{{cite book|author=Louis Shores|title=Collier's Encyclopedia: With Bibliography and Index|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E2maKFG4CpMC|year=1963|publisher=Crowell-Collier Publishing|page=179|access-date=29 January 2018|archive-date=31 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831002206/https://books.google.com/books?id=E2maKFG4CpMC|url-status=live}}, Quote: "While admitting a plurality of gods, henotheism at the same time affirms the paramount position of some one divine principle."</ref><ref name = routledge/><ref>{{cite book|author=Rangar Cline|title=Ancient Angels: Conceptualizing Angeloi in the Roman Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-pZHD6JtR_sC|year=2011|publisher=Brill Academic|isbn=978-90-04-19453-3|pages=40–41|access-date=29 January 2018|archive-date=27 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427062942/https://books.google.com/books?id=-pZHD6JtR_sC|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Philosophy:Monolatry|Monolatry]] is the belief that many deities exist, but that only one of these deities may be validly worshipped.<ref>{{cite book|last=Eakin|first=Frank Jr.|title=The Religion and Culture of Israel|location=Boston|publisher=Allyn and Bacon|date=1971|page=70}}, Quote: "Monolatry: The recognition of the existence of many gods but the consistent worship of one deity".</ref><ref>{{citation |first= Bruce R. |last= McConkie |title= Mormon Doctrine |edition= 2nd |location= Salt Lake City, UT |publisher= Bookcraft |year= 1979 |page= 351|title-link= Mormon Doctrine }}</ref>

[[Philosophy:Monotheism|Monotheism]] is the belief that only one deity exists.<ref>{{Cite book |publisher=[[Hutchinson Encyclopedia]] (12th edition) |title= Monotheism |page=644}}</ref><ref name="odccmono">Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: [[Organization:Oxford University Press|Oxford University Press]].</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Wainwright|first1=William|title=Monotheism|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/monotheism/|website=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|access-date=22 January 2018|date=2013|archive-date=7 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407040931/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/monotheism/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Van Baaren|first1=Theodorus P.|title=Monotheism|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/monotheism|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=22 January 2018|language=en|archive-date=29 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229113308/https://www.britannica.com/topic/monotheism|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=monotheism|url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/monotheism|website=Oxford Dictionaries|access-date=22 January 2018|archive-date=3 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903165202/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/monotheism|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=monotheism|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monotheism|website=Merriam-Webster|access-date=22 January 2018|language=en|archive-date=14 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114070404/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monotheism|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=monotheism|url=http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/monotheism|website=Cambridge English Dictionary|access-date=22 January 2018|language=en|archive-date=9 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109193832/https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/monotheism|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Excessive citations inline|date=October 2021}} A monotheistic deity, known as "God", is usually described as [[Philosophy:Omnipotence|omnipotent]], [[Philosophy:Omnipresence|omnipresent]], [[Philosophy:Omniscience|omniscient]], [[Philosophy:Omnibenevolence|omnibenevolent]] and [[Unsolved:Immortality|eternal]].<ref name=Swinburne>[[Biography:Richard Swinburne|Swinburne, R.G.]] "God" in [[Biography:Ted Honderich|Honderich, Ted]] (editor).''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', [[Organization:Oxford University Press|Oxford University Press]], 1995.</ref> However, not all deities have been regarded this way<ref name=Hood/><ref name="Murdoch"/><ref name="Beck2005">{{cite book|last1=Beck|first1=Guy L.|title=Alternative Krishnas: Regional and Vernacular Variations on a Hindu Deity|date=2005|publisher=State University of New York Press|location= Albany|isbn= 978-0-7914-6415-1| page=169, note 11}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Williams|first1=George M.|title=Handbook of Hindu Mythology|date= 2008|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-533261-2|pages=24–35|edition=Reprint}}</ref> and an entity does not need to be almighty, omnipresent, omniscient, omnibenevolent or eternal to qualify as a deity.<ref name=Hood/><ref name="Murdoch"/><ref name="Beck2005"/>

[[Philosophy:Deism|Deism]] is the belief that only one deity exists, who created the universe, but does not usually intervene in the resulting world.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Manuel|first1=Frank Edward|last2=Pailin|first2=David A.|title=Deism|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/156154/Deism|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=22 January 2018|language=en|date=1999|quote=In general, Deism refers to what can be called natural religion, the acceptance of a certain body of religious knowledge that is inborn in every person or that can be acquired by the use of reason and the rejection of religious knowledge when it is acquired through either revelation or the teaching of any church.|archive-date=1 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501053700/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/156154/Deism|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Kohler|first1=Kaufmann|last2=Hirsch|first2=Emil G.|title=DEISM|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5049-deism|website=Jewish Encyclopedia|access-date=22 January 2018|date=1906|quote=DEISM: A system of belief which posits God's existence as the cause of all things, and admits His perfection, but rejects Divine revelation and government, proclaiming the all-sufficiency of natural laws.|archive-date=9 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109235415/http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5049-deism|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Kurian|first1=George Thomas|title=The Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization|date=2008|publisher=Blackwell|location=Malden, MA|isbn=978-0-470-67060-6|quote=Deism is a rationalistic, critical approach to theism with an emphasis on natural theology. The Deists attempted to reduce religion to what they regarded as its most foundational, rationally justifiable elements. Deism is not, strictly speaking, the teaching that God wound up the world like a watch and let it run on its own, though that teaching was embraced by some within the movement.}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=January 2018}} Deism was particularly popular among western intellectuals during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Thomsett|first1=Michael C.|title=Heresy in the Roman Catholic Church: A History|date=2011|publisher=McFarland & Co.|location=Jefferson|isbn=978-0-7864-8539-0|page=222|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=LDbhV7u1_yIC}}|access-date=22 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Ellen Judy|last2=Reill|first2=Peter Hanns|title=Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment|date=2004|publisher=Facts On File|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8160-5335-3|pages=146–158|edition=Revised|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=t1pQ4YG-TDIC}}|access-date=22 January 2018}}</ref> [[Philosophy:Pantheism|Pantheism]] is the belief that the universe itself is God<ref name="Pearsall"/> or that everything composes an all-encompassing, [[Philosophy:Immanence|immanent]] deity.<ref name="Edwards"/> [[Philosophy:Pandeism|Pandeism]] is an intermediate position between these, proposing that the creator became a pantheistic universe.<ref>{{cite book|author = Sal Restivo|title = Society and the Death of God|year = 2021|isbn = 978-0-3676-3764-4|publisher = [[Company:Routledge|Routledge]]|chapter = The End of God and the Beginning of Inquiry|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ST4oEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA123|page = 123|quote = In the pandeism argument, an omnipotent and omnibenevolent God creates the universe and in the process becomes the universe and loses his powers to intervene in human affairs.|access-date = 25 April 2021|archive-date = 25 April 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210425040608/https://books.google.com/books?id=ST4oEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA123|url-status = live}}</ref> [[Religion:Panentheism|Panentheism]] is the belief that [[Philosophy:Divinity|divinity]] pervades the universe, but that it also [[Religion:Transcendence|transcends]] the universe.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fahlbusch|first1=Erwin|last2=Bromiley|first2=Geoffrey William|title=The Encyclopedia of Christianity|date=2005|publisher=William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|location=Grand Rapids, MI|isbn=978-0-8028-2416-5|page=21|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=sCY4sAjTGIYC|page=21}}|access-date=22 January 2018|language=en}}</ref> Agnosticism is the position that it is impossible to know for certain whether a deity of any kind exists.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Borchert|first1=Donald M.|title=The Encyclopedia of Philosophy|date=2006|publisher=Macmillan Reference|location=Detroit|isbn=978-0-02-865780-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofph0000unse/page/92 92]|edition=2nd|quote=In the most general use of the term, agnosticism is the view that we do not know whether there is a God or not.|title-link=Encyclopedia of Philosophy}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Craig|first1=Edward|last2=Floridi|first2=Luciano|title=Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy|date=1998|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=978-0-415-07310-3|page=112|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=VQ-GhVWTH84C|page=122}}|access-date=22 January 2018|language=en|quote=In the popular sense, an agnostic is someone who neither believes nor disbelieves in God, whereas an atheist disbelieves in God. In the strict sense, however, agnosticism is the view that human reason is incapable of providing sufficient rational grounds to justify either the belief that God exists or the belief that God does not exist. In so far as one holds that our beliefs are rational only if they are sufficiently supported by human reason, the person who accepts the philosophical position of agnosticism will hold that neither the belief that God exists nor the belief that God does not exist is rational.}}</ref><ref>{{cite dictionary |dictionary=OED Online, 3rd ed. |entry=agnostic, agnosticism |publisher=Oxford University Press |date= 2012 <!--|access-date=22 July 2013--> |quote='''agnostic'''. : '''A'''. n[oun]. :# A person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of immaterial things, especially of the existence or nature of God. :# In extended use: a person who is not persuaded by or committed to a particular point of view; a sceptic. Also: person of indeterminate ideology or conviction; an equivocator. : '''B.''' adj[ective]. :# Of or relating to the belief that the existence of anything beyond and behind material phenomena is unknown and (as far as can be judged) unknowable. Also: holding this belief. :# a. In extended use: not committed to or persuaded by a particular point of view; sceptical. Also: politically or ideologically unaligned; non-partisan, equivocal. '''agnosticism''' n. The doctrine or tenets of agnostics with regard to the existence of anything beyond and behind material phenomena or to knowledge of a First Cause or God.}}</ref> [[Philosophy:Atheism|Atheism]] is the non-belief in the existence of any deity.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Draper|first1=Paul|title=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|year=2017|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|edition=Fall 2017|chapter-url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/#1|access-date=22 January 2018|chapter=Atheism and Agnosticism|archive-date=11 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161211005616/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/#1|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Prehistoric==
[[File:Museum of Anatolian Civilizations 1320259 nevit.jpg|thumb|upright|Statuette of a nude, corpulent, seated woman flanked by two felines from Çatalhöyük, dating to {{circa}} 6000 BCE, thought by most archaeologists to represent a goddess of some kind<ref name=mellart181>{{cite book | first = James | last = Mellaart |year = 1967 | title = Catal Huyuk: A Neolithic Town in Anatolia | publisher = McGraw-Hill | pages = 181}}</ref><ref>A typical assessment: "A terracotta statuette of a seated (mother) goddess giving birth with each hand on the head of a leopard or panther from Çatalhöyük (dated around 6000 B.C.E.)" (Sarolta A. Takács, "Cybele and Catullus' ''Attis''", in Eugene N. Lane, ''Cybele, Attis and related cults: essays in memory of M.J. Vermaseren'' 1996:376.</ref>]]
{{Further|Religion:Prehistoric religion}}
Scholars infer the probable existence of deities in the prehistoric period from inscriptions and prehistoric arts such as cave drawings, but it is unclear what these sketches and paintings are and why they were made.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Brooks|first1=Philip|title=The Story of Prehistoric Peoples|date=2012|publisher=Rosen Central|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4488-4790-7|pages=22–23|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=exY3ViA3sSQC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> Some engravings or sketches show animals, hunters or rituals.<ref name="Ruether">{{cite book|last1=Ruether|first1=Rosemary Radford|title=Goddesses and the Divine Feminine: A Western Religious History|date=2006|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley, CA|isbn=978-0-520-25005-5|page=3|edition=1st|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=mb_her-hd9YC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> It was once common for archaeologists to interpret virtually every prehistoric female figurine as a representation of a single, primordial goddess, the ancestor of historically attested goddesses such as [[Social:Inanna|Inanna]], Ishtar, [[Social:Astarte|Astarte]], Cybele, and [[Religion:Aphrodite|Aphrodite]];<ref name="Lesure">{{cite book|last1=Lesure|first1=Richard G.|title=The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines|date=2017|editor-last=Insoll|editor-first=Timothy|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-967561-6|pages=54–58|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TdKdDgAAQBAJ&q=prehistoric+deities&pg=PA55|access-date=16 October 2020|archive-date=31 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831002220/https://books.google.com/books?id=TdKdDgAAQBAJ&q=prehistoric+deities&pg=PA55|url-status=live}}</ref> this approach has now generally been discredited.<ref name="Lesure"/> Modern archaeologists now generally recognize that it is impossible to conclusively identify any prehistoric figurines as representations of any kind of deities, let alone goddesses.<ref name="Lesure"/> Nonetheless, it is possible to evaluate ancient representations on a case-by-case basis and rate them on how likely they are to represent deities.<ref name="Lesure"/> The Venus of Willendorf, a female figurine found in Europe and dated to about 25,000 BCE has been interpreted by some as an exemplar of a prehistoric female deity.<ref name="Ruether"/> A number of probable representations of deities have been discovered at 'Ain Ghazal<ref name="Lesure"/> and the works of art uncovered at Çatalhöyük reveal references to what is probably a complex mythology.<ref name="Lesure"/>

==Religions and cultures==
===Sub-Saharan African===
[[File:Musée africain Lyon 130909 02.jpg|thumb|upright=0.55|Yoruba deity from Nigeria]]Diverse African cultures developed theology and concepts of deities over their history. In Nigeria and neighboring West African countries, for example, two prominent deities (locally called ''Òrìṣà'')<ref name="Osun">{{cite book|last1=Murphy|first1=Joseph M.|last2=Sanford|first2=Mei-Mei|title=Osun across the Waters: A Yoruba Goddess in Africa and the Americas|date=2002|publisher=Indiana University Press|location=Bloomington|isbn=978-0-253-10863-0|pages=1–8|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=XIx0TjQb8yEC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> are found in the Yoruba religion, namely the god Ogun and the goddess Osun.<ref name="Osun"/> Ogun is the primordial masculine deity as well as the archdivinity and guardian of occupations such as tools making and use, metal working, hunting, war, protection and ascertaining equity and justice.<ref name="Barnes">{{cite book|last1=Barnes|first1=Sandra T.|title=Africa's Ogun: Old World and New|date=1997|publisher=Indiana University Press|location=Bloomington, IN|isbn=978-0-253-21083-8|pages=ix–x, 1–3, 59, 132–134, 199–200|edition=2nd|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=8OWjkR-1btMC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Juang|first1=Richard M.|last2=Morrissette|first2=Noelle|title=Africa and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History|date=2007|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=Santa Barbara, CA|isbn=978-1-85109-441-7|pages=843–44|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=wFrAOqfhuGYC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> Osun is an equally powerful primordial feminine deity and a multidimensional guardian of fertility, water, maternal, health, social relations, love and peace.<ref name="Osun"/> Ogun and Osun traditions were brought into the Americas on [[Engineering:Slave ship|slave ship]]s. They were preserved by the Africans in their plantation communities, and their festivals continue to be observed.<ref name="Osun"/><ref name="Barnes"/>

In [[Place:Southern Africa|Southern African cultures]], a similar masculine-feminine deity combination has appeared in other forms, particularly as the Moon and Sun deities.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Andrews|first1=Tamra|title=Dictionary of Nature Myths: Legends of the Earth, Sea, and Sky|date=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-513677-7|pages=6–7|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=7jS65aClvFEC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> One Southern African cosmology consists of ''Hieseba'' or ''Xuba'' (deity, god), ''Gaune'' (evil spirits) and ''Khuene'' (people). The ''Hieseba'' includes ''Nladiba'' (male, creator sky god) and ''Nladisara'' (females, Nladiba's two wives). The Sun (female) and the Moon (male) deities are viewed as offspring of ''Nladiba'' and two ''Nladisara''. The Sun and Moon are viewed as manifestations of the supreme deity, and worship is timed and directed to them.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Barnard|first1=Alan|title=Hunters and Herders of Southern Africa: A Comparative Ethnography of the Khoisan Peoples|date=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-42865-1|pages=87–88, 153–155, 252–256|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=2nBx83jMc48C}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> In other African cultures the Sun is seen as male, while the Moon is female, both symbols of the godhead.<ref name="Lynch"/>{{rp|199–120}} In Zimbabwe, the supreme deity is androgynous with male-female aspects, envisioned as the giver of rain, treated simultaneously as the god of darkness and light and is called ''Mwari Shona''.<ref name="Lynch"/>{{rp|89}} In the Lake Victoria region, the term for a deity is ''Lubaale'', or alternatively ''Jok''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Makward|first1=Edris|last2=Lilleleht|first2=Mark|last3=Saber|first3=Ahmed|title=North-south Linkages and Connections in Continental and Diaspora African Literatures|date=2004|publisher=Africa World|location=Trenton, NJ|isbn=978-1-59221-157-9|pages=302–04|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=zGUcI99zssYC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref>

===Ancient Near Eastern===

====Egyptian====
[[File:La Tombe de Horemheb cropped.jpg|thumb|Egyptian tomb painting showing the gods [[Biology:Osiris|Osiris]], Anubis, and Horus, who are among the major deities in ancient Egyptian religion<ref name="Pinch"/>]]

Ancient Egyptian culture revered numerous deities. Egyptian records and inscriptions list the names of many whose nature is unknown and make vague references to other unnamed deities.<ref name="Wilkinson1"/>{{rp|73}} Egyptologist James P. Allen estimates that more than 1,400 deities are named in Egyptian texts,<ref name="Allen">{{cite journal|last1=Allen|first1=James P.|title=Monotheism: The Egyptian Roots|journal=Archaeology Odyssey|date=Jul–Aug 1999|volume=2|issue=3|pages=44–54, 59}}</ref> whereas Christian Leitz offers an estimate of "thousands upon thousands" of Egyptian deities.<ref name="Johnston"/>{{rp|393–394}} Their terms for deities were ''nṯr'' (god), and feminine ''nṯrt'' (goddess);<ref name="Baines"/>{{rp|42}} however, these terms may also have applied to any being – spirits and deceased human beings, but not demons – who in some way were outside the sphere of everyday life.<ref name="Assmann"/>{{rp|216}}<ref name="Baines"/>{{rp|62}} Egyptian deities typically had an associated cult, role and mythologies.<ref name="Assmann"/>{{rp|7–8, 83}}

Around 200 deities are prominent in the [[Religion:Pyramid Texts|Pyramid texts]] and ancient temples of Egypt, many [[Religion:Zoomorphism|zoomorphic]]. Among these, were ''Min'' (fertility god), ''Neith'' (creator goddess), ''Anubis'', ''Atum'', ''Bes'', ''Horus'', ''Isis'', ''Ra'', ''Meretseger'', ''Nut'', ''Osiris'', ''Shu'', ''Sia'' and ''Thoth''.<ref name="Pinch"/>{{rp|11–12}} Most Egyptian deities represented natural phenomenon, physical objects or social aspects of life, as hidden immanent forces within these phenomena.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Allen|first1=James P.|title=Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs|date=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-521-77483-3|pages=43–45}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Dunand|first1=Françoise|last2=Zivie-Coche|first2=Christiane|last3=Lorton|first3=David|title=Gods and Men in Egypt: 3000 BCE to 395 CE|date=2004|publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca, NY|isbn=978-0-8014-8853-5|page=26}}</ref> The deity ''Shu'', for example represented air; the goddess ''Meretseger'' represented parts of the earth, and the god ''Sia'' represented the abstract powers of perception.<ref name="Hart"/>{{rp|91, 147}} Deities such as ''Ra'' and ''Osiris'' were associated with the judgement of the dead and their care during the afterlife.<ref name="Pinch"/>{{rp|26–28}} Major gods often had multiple roles and were involved in multiple phenomena.<ref name="Hart"/>{{rp|85–86}}

The first written evidence of deities are from early 3rd millennium BCE, likely emerging from prehistoric beliefs.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wilkinson|first1=Toby A.H.|title=Early dynastic Egypt|date=1999|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=978-0-415-18633-9|pages=261–262|edition=1st}}</ref> However, deities became systematized and sophisticated after the formation of an Egyptian state under the [[Social:Pharaoh|Pharaoh]]s and their treatment as [[Social:Sacred king|sacred king]]s who had exclusive rights to interact with the gods, in the later part of the 3rd millennium BCE.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Traunecker|first1=Claude|last2=Lorton|first2=David|title=The Gods of Egypt|date=2001|publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca, NY|isbn=978-0-8014-3834-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/godsofegypt00trau/page/29 29]|edition=1st|url=https://archive.org/details/godsofegypt00trau/page/29}}</ref><ref name="Wilkinson1"/>{{rp|12–15}} Through the early centuries of the common era, as Egyptians interacted and traded with neighboring cultures, foreign deities were adopted and venerated.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Shafer|first1=Byron E.|last2=Baines|first2=John|last3=Lesko|first3=Leonard H.|last4=Silverman|first4=David P.|title=Religion in Ancient Egypt: Gods, Myths, and Personal Practice |date=1991|publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca, NY|isbn=978-0-8014-9786-5|page=58}}</ref><ref name="Johnston"/>{{rp|160}}

====Levantine====
[[File:Zeus Yahweh.jpg|thumb|A 4th century BC drachm (quarter shekel) coin from the Persian province of Yehud Medinata, possibly representing Yahweh seated on a winged and wheeled sun-throne]]
The ancient Canaanites were polytheists who believed in a pantheon of deities,<ref name="Day">{{cite book|last=Day|first=John|date=2002|orig-year=2000|title=Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=2xadCgAAQBAJ}} |location=Sheffield, England|publisher=Sheffield Academic Press|isbn=978-0-8264-6830-7}}</ref><ref name="CooganSmith">{{cite book|last1 = Coogan|first1 = Michael D.|last2 = Smith|first2 = Mark S.|title = Stories from Ancient Canaan|publisher = Presbyterian Publishing Corp|year = 2012|url = {{google books |plainurl=y |id=G49SJI183IkC}}|isbn = 978-90-5356-503-2|page=8|edition = 2nd}}</ref><ref name="MarkSSmith2002">{{cite book|last = Smith|first = Mark S.|year = 2002|title = The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel|publisher = Eerdmans|url = {{google books |plainurl=y |id=1yM3AuBh4AsC|page=28}}|edition = 2nd|isbn = 978-0-8028-3972-5}}</ref> the chief of whom was the god [[Religion:El (deity)|El]], who ruled alongside his consort Asherah and their [[Religion:Sons of God|seventy sons]].<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|22–24}}<ref name="CooganSmith"/><ref name="MarkSSmith2002"/> [[Religion:Baal|Baal]] was the god of storm, rain, vegetation and fertility,<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|68–127}} while his consort Anat was the goddess of war<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|131, 137–139}} and [[Social:Astarte|Astarte]], the [[Social:West Semitic languages|West Semitic]] equivalent to Ishtar, was the goddess of love.<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|146–149}} The people of the Kingdoms of Israel and [[History:Kingdom of Judah|Judah]] originally believed in these deities,<ref name="Day"/><ref name="MarkSSmith2002"/><ref>{{cite book|last = Albertz|first = Rainer|title = A History of Israelite Religion, Volume I: From the Beginnings to the End of the Monarchy|publisher = Westminster John Knox|year = 1994|url = {{google books |plainurl=y |id=yvZUWbTftSgC|page=89}}|page=61|isbn = 978-0-664-22719-7}}</ref> alongside their own national god Yahweh.<ref>{{cite book|last = Miller|first = Patrick D|author-link = Patrick D. Miller|title = A History of Ancient Israel and Judah|publisher = Westminster John Knox Press|year = 1986|url = {{google books |plainurl=y |id=uDijjc_D5P0C|page=110}}|isbn = 978-0-664-21262-9|page=110}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last = Grabbe|first = Lester L. |title = An Introduction to Second Temple Judaism|publisher = A&C Black|year = 2010|url = {{google books |plainurl=y |id=i89-9fdNUcAC}}|isbn = 978-0-567-55248-8|page=184}}</ref> El later became syncretized with [[Religion:Yahweh|Yahweh]], who took over El's role as the head of the pantheon,<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|13–17}} with Asherah as his divine consort<ref name="Niehr"/>{{rp|45}}<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|146}} and the "sons of El" as his offspring.<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|22–24}} During the later years of the [[History:Kingdom of Judah|Kingdom of Judah]], a [[Philosophy:Monolatry|monolatristic]] faction rose to power insisting that only Yahweh was fit to be worshipped by the people of Judah.<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|229–233}} Monolatry became enforced during the reforms of King Josiah in 621 BCE.<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|229}} Finally, during the national crisis of the Babylonian captivity, some Judahites began to teach that deities aside from Yahweh were not just unfit to be worshipped, but did not exist.<ref>{{cite book|last = Betz|first = Arnold Gottfried|chapter = Monotheism|editor1-last = Freedman|editor1-first = David Noel|editor2-last = Myer|editor2-first = Allen C.|title = Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible|publisher = Eerdmans|year = 2000|chapter-url = {{google books |plainurl=y |id=qRtUqxkB7wkC|page=917=bible%20monotheism%20Betz}}|isbn = 978-90-5356-503-2|page=917}}</ref><ref name="Owen"/>{{rp|4}} The "sons of El" were demoted from deities to angels.<ref name="Day"/>{{rp|22}}

====Mesopotamian====
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<!-- Image 1 -->| image1            = Seal of Inanna, 2350-2150 BCE.jpg
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| caption1          = Akkadian cylinder seal impression showing [[Social:Inanna|Inanna]], the Sumerian goddess of love, sex, and war
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| caption2          = Wall relief of the Assyrian national god Aššur in a "winged male" hybrid iconography
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Ancient [[Place:Mesopotamia|Mesopotamian culture]] in southern Iraq had numerous ''dingir'' (deities, gods and goddesses).<ref name="OBrien2"/>{{rp|69–74}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Strazny|first1=Philipp|title=Encyclopedia of Linguistics|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-45522-4|page=1046|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=27JOMobauYAC|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en|archive-date=4 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604114946/https://books.google.com/books?id=27JOMobauYAC|url-status=live}}</ref> Mesopotamian deities were almost exclusively anthropomorphic.<ref name="Black">{{cite book|last1=Black|first1=Jeremy|last2=Green|first2=Anthony|last3=Rickards|first3=Tessa|title=Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary|date=1998|publisher=British Museum Press|location=London|isbn=978-0-7141-1705-8|edition=2nd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=05LXAAAAMAAJ&q=Inana|access-date=16 October 2020|archive-date=20 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120094829/https://books.google.com/books?id=05LXAAAAMAAJ&q=Inana|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|93}}<ref name="OBrien2"/>{{rp|69–74}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Masson|first1=Vadim Mikhaĭlovich|title=Altyn-Depe|date=1988|publisher=University Museum, University of Pennsylvania|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-0-934718-54-7|pages=77–78|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QQMzQ_k3ty0C|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en|archive-date=15 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215081839/https://books.google.com/books?id=QQMzQ_k3ty0C|url-status=live}}</ref> They were thought to possess extraordinary powers<ref name="Black"/>{{rp|93}} and were often envisioned as being of tremendous physical size.<ref name="Black"/>{{rp|93}} They were generally immortal,<ref name="Black"/>{{rp|93}} but a few of them, particularly Dumuzid, Geshtinanna, and [[Religion:Gugalanna|Gugalanna]] were said to have either died or visited the underworld.<ref name="Black"/>{{rp|93}} Both male and female deities were widely venerated.<ref name="Black"/>{{rp|93}}

In the Sumerian pantheon, deities had multiple functions, which included presiding over procreation, rains, irrigation, agriculture, destiny, and justice.<ref name="OBrien2"/>{{rp|69–74}} The gods were fed, clothed, entertained, and worshipped to prevent natural catastrophes as well as to prevent social chaos such as pillaging, rape, or atrocities.<ref name="OBrien2"/>{{rp|69–74}}<ref name="Nemet"/>{{rp|186}}<ref name="Black"/>{{rp|93}} Many of the Sumerian deities were patron guardians of [[Earth:City-state|city-state]]s.<ref name="Nemet">{{cite book|last1=Nemet-Nejat|first1=Karen Rhea|title=Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia|date=1998|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, CN|isbn=978-0-313-29497-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinancie00neme/page/179 179]|url=https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinancie00neme/page/179}}</ref>

The most important deities in the Sumerian pantheon were known as the [[Unsolved:Anunnaki|Anunnaki]],<ref name="Kramer1963">{{cite book|last1=Kramer|first1=Samuel Noah|title=The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character|url=https://archive.org/details/sumerianstheirhi00samu|url-access=registration|date=1963|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=978-0-226-45238-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/sumerianstheirhi00samu/page/122 122–123]}}</ref> and included deities known as the "seven gods who decree": [[Religion:Anu|An]], [[Religion:Enlil|Enlil]], [[Religion:Enki|Enki]], [[Religion:Ninhursag|Ninhursag]], [[Religion:Sin (mythology)|Nanna]], [[Religion:Utu|Utu]] and [[Social:Inanna|Inanna]].<ref name="Kramer1963"/> After the conquest of Sumer by Sargon of Akkad, many Sumerian deities were syncretized with East Semitic ones.<ref name="Nemet"/> The goddess Inanna, syncretized with the East Semitic Ishtar, became popular,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Leick|first1=Gwendolyn|title=A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology|date=1998|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=978-0-415-19811-0|page=87|edition=1st|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=c52EAgAAQBAJ|page=91}}|access-date=22 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="Wolkstein"/>{{rp|xviii, xv}}<ref name="Nemet"/>{{rp|182}}<ref name="Black"/>{{rp|106–09}} with temples across Mesopotamia.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Harris|first1=Rivkah|title=Inanna-Ishtar as Paradox and a Coincidence of Opposites|journal=History of Religions|date=February 1991|volume=30|issue=3|pages=261–78|doi=10.1086/463228|s2cid=162322517}}</ref><ref name="Black"/>{{rp|106–09}}

The Mesopotamian mythology of the first millennium BCE treated [[Religion:Anshar|Anšar]] (later [[Religion:Ashur (god)|Aššur]]) and [[Religion:Kishar|Kišar]] as primordial deities.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/anarandkiar/ |title=Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses – Anšar and Kišar (god and goddess) |publisher=Oracc |access-date=6 June 2017 |archive-date=16 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116000951/http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/anarandkiar/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Religion:Marduk|Marduk]] was a significant god among the Babylonians. He rose from an obscure deity of the third millennium BCE to become one of the most important deities in the Mesopotamian pantheon of the first millennium BCE. The Babylonians worshipped Marduk as creator of heaven, earth and humankind, and as their national god.<ref name="OBrien2"/>{{rp|62, 73}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Leeming|first1=David|title=The Oxford Companion to World Mythology|date=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-028888-4|pages=122–124|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=iPrhBwAAQBAJ|page=122}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> Marduk's iconography is zoomorphic and is most often found in Middle Eastern archaeological remains depicted as a "snake-dragon" or a "human-animal hybrid".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/marduk/ |title=Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses – Marduk (god) |publisher=Oracc |access-date=6 June 2017 |archive-date=26 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161126050252/http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/marduk/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="VDT"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Bienkowski|first1=Piotr|last2=Millard|first2=Alan|title=Dictionary of the ancient Near East|date=2000|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|location=Philadelphia, PA|isbn=978-0-8122-2115-2|page=246|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=V9QrPMN1C4EC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref>

===Indo-European===
====Germanic====
[[File:Kirkby Stephen Stone by Petersen.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|The Kirkby Stephen Stone, discovered in Kirkby Stephen, England, depicts a bound figure, who some have theorized may be the Germanic god Loki.]]

In Germanic languages, the terms cognate with '[[Religion:God (word)|god]]' such as {{lang-ang|god}} and {{lang-non|guð}} were originally neuter but became masculine, as in modern Germanic languages, after Christianisation due their use in referring to the Christian god.<ref name="gudą">{{cite web |title=Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/gudą |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/gud%C4%85 |website=Wiktionary |access-date=3 July 2022 |language=en |date=24 October 2020 |archive-date=3 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703111017/https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/gud%C4%85 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In Norse mythology, {{lang|non|[[Religion:Æsir|Æsir]]}} (singular {{lang|non|áss}} or {{lang|non|ǫ́ss}}) are the principal group of gods,<ref name="áss">{{cite web |title=áss |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%C3%A1ss#Old_Norse |website=Wiktionary |access-date=3 July 2022 |language=en |date=3 July 2022 |archive-date=3 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703111017/https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%C3%A1ss#Old_Norse |url-status=live }}</ref> while the term {{lang|non|ásynjur}} (singular {{lang|non|ásynja}}) refers specifically to the female {{lang|non|Æsir}}.<ref name="ásynja">{{cite web |title=ásynja |url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%C3%A1synja#Old_Norse |website=Wiktionary |access-date=3 July 2022 |language=en |date=26 February 2021 |archive-date=3 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703111015/https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%C3%A1synja#Old_Norse |url-status=live }}</ref> These terms, states John Lindow, may be ultimately rooted in the Indo-European root for "breath" (as in "life giving force"), and are cognate with {{lang-ang|os}} (a heathen god) and [[Social:Gothic language|Gothic]]: ''anses''.<ref name="Lindow"/>{{rp|49–50}}

Another group of deities found in Norse mythology are termed as ''Vanir'', and are associated with fertility. The ''Æsir'' and the ''Vanir'' went to war, according to the Nordic sources. The account in ''Ynglinga saga'' describes the Æsir–Vanir War ending in truce and ultimate reconciliation of the two into a single group of gods, after both sides chose peace, exchanged ambassadors (hostages),<ref name="Warner"/>{{rp|181}} and intermarried.<ref name="Lindow"/>{{rp|52–53}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gimbutas|first1=Marija|last2=Dexter|first2=Miriam Robbins|title=The Living Goddesses|date=2001|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0-520-22915-0|pages=191–196|edition=1st|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=7DfI39EDbMcC}}|language=en}}</ref>

The Norse mythology describes the cooperation after the war, as well as differences between the ''Æsir'' and the ''Vanir'' which were considered scandalous by the other side.<ref name="Warner"/>{{rp|181}} The goddess Freyja of the ''Vanir'' taught magic to the ''Æsir'', while the two sides discover that while ''Æsir'' forbid mating between siblings, ''Vanir'' accepted such mating.<ref name="Warner"/>{{rp|181}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Christensen|first1=Lisbeth Bredholt|last2=Hammer|first2=Olav|last3=Warburton|first3=David|title=The Handbook of Religions in Ancient Europe|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-54453-1|pages=328–329|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=rl5_BAAAQBAJ}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Oosten|first1=Jarich G.|title=The War of the Gods (RLE Myth): The Social Code in Indo-European Mythology|date=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-55584-1|page=36|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=5w_wBgAAQBAJ}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref>

Temples hosting images of Germanic gods (such as [[Religion:Thor|Thor]], [[Religion:Odin|Odin]] and [[Religion:Freyr|Freyr]]), as well as pagan worship rituals, continued in [[Place:Scandinavia|Scandinavia]] into the 12th century, according to historical records. It has been proposed that over time, Christian equivalents were substituted for the Germanic deities to help suppress paganism as part of the Christianisation of the Germanic peoples.<ref name="Warner"/>{{rp|187–188}} Worship of the Germanic gods has been revived in the modern period as part of the [[Religion:New religious movement|new religious movement]] of Heathenry.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Heathenry as a Postcolonial Movement |url=https://submissions.scholasticahq.com/supporting_files/5682/attachment_versions/5685 |last=Horrell |first=Thad N. |year=2012 |journal=The Journal of Religion, Identity, and Politics |volume=1 |number=1 |page=1 }}</ref>

====Greek====
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| caption1  = [[Religion:Zeus|Zeus]], the king of the gods in [[Religion:Ancient Greek religion|ancient Greek religion]], shown on a gold stater from Lampsacus ({{circa}} 360–340 BCE)
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| caption2  = Corinthian black-figure plaque of [[Religion:Poseidon|Poseidon]], the Greek god of the seas ({{circa}} 550–525 BCE)
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| caption3  = Attic white-ground red-figured ''kylix'' of [[Religion:Aphrodite|Aphrodite]], the Greek goddess of love, riding a swan ({{circa}} 46–470 BCE)
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The {{wipe|Ancient Greece}} revered both gods and goddesses.<ref name="Martin">{{cite book|last1=Martin|first1=Thomas R.|title=Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times |date=2013|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven|isbn=978-0-300-16005-5|pages=39–40|edition=2nd|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=iyFaMmr4hFwC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> These continued to be revered through the early centuries of the common era, and many of the Greek deities inspired and were adopted as part of much larger pantheon of Roman deities.<ref name="Gagarin"/>{{rp|91–97}} The Greek religion was polytheistic, but had no centralized church, nor any sacred texts.<ref name="Gagarin"/>{{rp|91–97}} The deities were largely associated with myths and they represented natural phenomena or aspects of human behavior.<ref name="Martin"/><ref name="Gagarin"/>{{rp|91–97}}

Several Greek deities probably trace back to more ancient Indo-European traditions, since the gods and goddesses found in distant cultures are mythologically comparable and are cognates.<ref name="Mallory"/>{{rp|230–231}}<ref name="Burkert"/>{{rp|15–19}} Eos, the Greek goddess of the dawn, for instance, is cognate to Indic ''[[Religion:Ushas|Ushas]]'', Roman ''Aurora'' and Latvian ''Auseklis''.<ref name="Mallory"/>{{rp|230–232}} [[Religion:Zeus|Zeus]], the Greek king of gods, is cognate to Latin ''[[Religion:Jupiter (mythology)|Iūpiter]]'', Old German ''Ziu'', and Indic ''Dyaus'', with whom he shares similar mythologies.<ref name="Mallory"/>{{rp|230–232}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=West|first1=Martin Litchfield|title=Indo-European Poetry and Myth|date=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-928075-9|pages=166–173|edition=1st}}</ref> Other deities, such as [[Religion:Aphrodite|Aphrodite]], originated from the [[Place:Near East|Near East]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Breitenberger|first1=Barbara|title=Aphrodite and Eros: The Development of Greek Erotic Mythology|date=2005|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=978-0-415-96823-2|pages=8–12|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=PSFePRxm1jAC|page=10}}|access-date=22 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Cyrino|first1=Monica S.|title=Aphrodite|date=2010|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=978-0-415-77523-6|pages=59–52|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=7gyVn5GjXPkCAphrodite}}|access-date=22 January 2018}}{{Dead link|date=June 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Puhvel|first1=Jaan|title=Comparative Mythology|date=1989|publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press|location=Baltimore, MD|isbn=978-0-8018-3938-2|page=27|edition=2nd}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Marcovich|first1=Miroslav|title=From Ishtar to Aphrodite|journal=Journal of Aesthetic Education|date=1996|volume=39|issue=2|pages=43–59|doi=10.2307/3333191|jstor=3333191}}</ref>

Greek deities varied locally, but many shared panhellenic themes, celebrated similar festivals, rites, and ritual grammar.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Flensted-Jensen|first1=Pernille|title=Further Studies in the Ancient Greek Polis|date=2000|publisher=Steiner|location=Stuttgart|isbn=978-3-515-07607-4|pages=9–12|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=uK8szXLlvjoC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> The most important deities in the Greek pantheon were the Twelve Olympians: Zeus, Hera, [[Religion:Poseidon|Poseidon]], Athena, [[Unsolved:Apollo|Apollo]], [[Religion:Artemis|Artemis]], Aphrodite, [[Religion:Hermes|Hermes]], [[Religion:Demeter|Demeter]], [[Religion:Dionysus|Dionysus]], [[Biology:Hephaestus|Hephaestus]], and Ares.<ref name="Burkert"/>{{rp|125–170}} Other important Greek deities included [[Biology:Hestia|Hestia]], [[Religion:Hades|Hades]] and [[Religion:Heracles|Heracles]].<ref name="Gagarin"/>{{rp|96–97}} These deities later inspired the ''Dii Consentes'' galaxy of Roman deities.<ref name="Gagarin"/>{{rp|96–97}}

Besides the Olympians, the Greeks also worshipped various local deities.<ref name="Burkert"/>{{rp|170–181}}<ref name="Pollard">{{cite web|last1=Pollard|first1=John Ricard Thornhill|last2=Adkins|first2=A.W.H.|title=Greek religion|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Greek-religion|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=22 January 2018|language=en|date=19 September 1998|archive-date=9 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180309201523/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Greek-religion|url-status=live}}</ref> Among these were the goat-legged god Pan (the guardian of shepherds and their flocks), [[Unsolved:Nymph|Nymph]]s ([[Religion:List of nature deities|nature spirits]] associated with particular landforms), [[Unsolved:Naiad|Naiad]]s (who dwelled in springs), [[Unsolved:Dryad|Dryad]]s (who were spirits of the trees), [[Unsolved:Nereid|Nereid]]s (who inhabited the sea), river gods, [[Unsolved:Satyr|satyr]]s (a class of lustful male nature spirits), and others. The dark powers of the underworld were represented by the Erinyes (or Furies), said to pursue those guilty of crimes against blood-relatives.<ref name="Pollard"/>

The Greek deities, like those in many other Indo-European traditions, were anthropomorphic. Walter Burkert describes them as "persons, not abstractions, ideas or concepts".<ref name="Burkert"/>{{rp|182}} They had fantastic abilities and powers; each had some unique expertise and, in some aspects, a specific and flawed personality.<ref name="Campbell"/>{{rp|52}} They were not omnipotent and could be injured in some circumstances.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stoll|first1=Heinrich Wilhelm|title=Handbook of the religion and mythology of the Greeks|date=1852|page=3|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=UWoBAAAAQAAJ&pg=4}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> Greek deities led to cults, were used politically and inspired votive offerings for favors such as bountiful crops, healthy family, victory in war, or peace for a loved one recently deceased.<ref name="Gagarin"/>{{rp|94–95}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Garland|first1=Robert|title=Introducing New Gods: The Politics of Athenian Religion|date=1992|publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca, NY|isbn=978-0-8014-2766-4|pages=1–9|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=7Ne-bCX_DaUC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref>

====Roman====
[[File:MANNapoli 6705 creation of the man sarcophagus.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|4th-century Roman sarcophagus depicting the creation of man by Prometheus, with major Roman deities Jupiter, Neptune, Mercury, Juno, Apollo, Vulcan watching]]

The Roman pantheon had numerous deities, both Greek and non-Greek.<ref name="Gagarin"/>{{rp|96–97}} The more famed deities, found in the mythologies and the 2nd millennium CE European arts, have been the anthropomorphic deities syncretized with the Greek deities. These include the six gods and six goddesses: Venus, Apollo, Mars, Diana, Minerva, Ceres, Vulcan, Juno, Mercury, Vesta, Neptune, Jupiter (Jove, Zeus); as well Bacchus, Pluto and Hercules.<ref name="Gagarin"/>{{rp|96–97}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Long|first1=Charlotte R.|title=The Twelve Gods of Greece and Rome|date=1987|publisher=Brill Archive|isbn=978-90-04-07716-4|pages=232–243|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=3dUUAAAAIAAJ}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> The non-Greek major deities include Janus, Fortuna, Vesta, Quirinus and Tellus (mother goddess, probably most ancient).<ref name="Gagarin"/>{{rp|96–97}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Woodard|first1=Roger|title=Myth, ritual, and the warrior in Roman and Indo-European antiquity|date=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-1-107-02240-9|pages=25–26, 93–96, 194–196|edition=1st|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=VkXlcVMP_dQC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> Some of the non-Greek deities had likely origins in more ancient European culture such as the ancient Germanic religion, while others may have been borrowed, for political reasons, from neighboring trade centers such as those in the Minoan or ancient Egyptian civilization.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ruiz|first1=Angel|title=Poetic Language and Religion in Greece and Rome|date=2013|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|location=Newcastle upon Tyne|isbn=978-1-4438-5565-5|pages=90–91|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=yGUxBwAAQBAJ}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Mysliwiec|first1=Karol|last2=Lorton|first2=David|title=The Twilight of Ancient Egypt: First Millennium B.C.E.|date=2000|publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca, NY|isbn=978-0-8014-8630-2|page=188|edition=1st|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=dJycxuhvS8UC}}|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Todd|first1=Malcolm|title=The Early Germans|date=2004|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|location=Oxford|isbn=978-1-4051-3756-0|pages=103–105|edition=2nd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p5QdmV3zNpIC|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en|archive-date=23 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423122528/https://books.google.com/books?id=p5QdmV3zNpIC|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Roman deities, in a manner similar to the ancient Greeks, inspired community festivals, rituals and sacrifices led by ''flamines'' (priests, pontifs), but priestesses (Vestal Virgins) were also held in high esteem for maintaining sacred fire used in the votive rituals for deities.<ref name="Gagarin"/>{{rp|100–101}} Deities were also maintained in home shrines (''lararium''), such as Hestia honored in homes as the goddess of fire hearth.<ref name="Gagarin"/>{{rp|100–101}}<ref name="Kristensen">{{cite book|last1=Kristensen|first1=f.|title=The Meaning of Religion Lectures in the Phenomenology of Religion|date=1960|publisher=Springer Netherlands|location=Dordrecht|isbn=978-94-017-6580-0|page=138|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p5QdmV3zNpIC|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en|archive-date=23 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423122528/https://books.google.com/books?id=p5QdmV3zNpIC|url-status=live}}</ref> This Roman religion held reverence for sacred fire, and this is also found in Hebrew culture (Leviticus 6), Vedic culture's Homa, ancient Greeks and other cultures.<ref name="Kristensen"/>

Ancient Roman scholars such as Varro and Cicero wrote treatises on the nature of gods of their times.<ref name="Cicero">{{cite book|last1=Walsh|first1=P.G.|title=The Nature of the Gods|date=1997|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-162314-1|page=xxvi|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=JhQ4aXatR08C}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> Varro stated, in his ''Antiquitates Rerum Divinarum'', that it is the superstitious man who fears the gods, while the truly religious person venerates them as parents.<ref name="Cicero"/> Cicero, in his ''[[Philosophy:Academica (Cicero)|Academica]]'', praised Varro for this and other insights.<ref name="Cicero"/> According to Varro, there have been three accounts of deities in the Roman society: the mythical account created by poets for theatre and entertainment, the civil account used by people for veneration as well as by the city, and the natural account created by the philosophers.<ref name="Barfield">{{cite book|last1=Barfield|first1=Raymond|title=The Ancient Quarrel Between Philosophy and Poetry|date=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-49709-1|pages=75–76|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=PY9FbnNhdDUC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> The best state is, adds Varro, where the civil theology combines the poetic mythical account with the philosopher's.<ref name="Barfield"/> The Roman deities continued to be revered in Europe through the era of Constantine, and past 313 CE when he issued the Edict of Toleration.<ref name="Campbell"/>{{rp|118–120}}

===Native American===
====Inca====
{{multiple image
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| footer            = Inti Raymi, a winter solstice festival of the Inca people, reveres ''Inti'', the sun deity—offerings include round bread and maize beer
}}

The Inca culture has believed in ''[[Religion:Viracocha|Viracocha]]'' (also called ''Pachacutec'') as the [[Religion:Creator deity|creator deity]].<ref name="Roza"/>{{rp|27–30}}<ref name="Littleton"/>{{rp|726–729}} ''Viracocha'' has been an abstract deity to Inca culture, one who existed before he created space and time.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kolata|first1=Alan L.|title=Ancient Inca|date=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-86900-3|page=164|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=RpELeDbp7BQC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> All other deities of the Inca people have corresponded to elements of nature.<ref name="Roza"/><ref name="Littleton"/>{{rp|726–729}} Of these, the most important ones have been ''[[Inti]]'' (sun deity) responsible for agricultural prosperity and as the father of the first Inca king, and ''Mama Qucha'' the goddess of the sea, lakes, rivers and waters.<ref name="Roza"/> ''Inti'' in some mythologies is the son of ''Viracocha'' and ''Mama Qucha''.<ref name="Roza"/><ref name="Sherman">{{cite book|last1=Sherman|first1=Josepha|title=Storytelling: An Encyclopedia of Mythology and Folklore|date=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-45938-5|page=238|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=n2-sBwAAQBAJ}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref>

{{Quote box
 |quote  = '''Inca Sun deity festival'''
<poem>
Oh creator and Sun and Thunder,
be forever copious,
do not make us old,
let all things be at peace,
multiply the people,
and let there be food,
and let all things be fruitful.
</poem>
 |source = —Inti Raymi prayers<ref name="Parker">{{cite book|last1=Parker|first1=Janet|last2=Stanton|first2=Julie|title=Mythology: Myths, Legends and Fantasies|date=2006|publisher=Struik|location=Cape Town, South Africa|isbn=978-1-77007-453-8|page=501|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=p7dR2w1Wv2sC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
 |bgcolor=#f5dcd8
 |align  = left
}}
Inca people have revered many male and female deities. Among the feminine deities have been ''Mama Kuka'' (goddess of joy), ''Mama Ch'aska'' (goddess of dawn), ''Mama Allpa'' (goddess of harvest and earth, sometimes called ''Mama Pacha'' or ''[[Religion:Pachamama|Pachamama]]''), Mama Killa ([[Astronomy:List of lunar deities|moon goddess]]) and ''Mama Sara'' (goddess of grain).<ref name="Sherman"/><ref name="Roza"/>{{rp|31–32}} During and after the imposition of Christianity during [[Place:Spanish Empire|Spanish colonialism]], the Inca people retained their original beliefs in deities through syncretism, where they overlay the Christian God and teachings over their original beliefs and practices.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Melton|first1=J. Gordon|last2=Baumann|first2=Martin|title=Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices|date=2010|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=Santa Barbara, CA|isbn=978-1-59884-204-3|pages=2243–2244|edition=2nd|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=v2yiyLLOj88C}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Koschorke|first1=Klaus |last2=Ludwig|first2=Frieder|last3=Delgado|first3=Mariano|last4=Spliesgart|first4=Roland|title=A History of Christianity in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, 1450–1990: A Documentary Sourcebook|date=2007|publisher=W.B. Eerdmans|location=Grand Rapids, MI|isbn=978-0-8028-2889-7|pages=323–325|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=dbq6fkyp698C}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Kuznar">{{cite book|last1=Kuznar|first1=Lawrence A.|title=Ethnoarchaeology of Andean South America: Contributions to Archaeological Method and Theory|date=2001|publisher=International Monographs in Prehistory|location=Ann Arbor, MI|isbn=978-1-879621-29-9|pages=45–47|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=88R8AAAAMAAJ}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> The male deity ''Inti'' became accepted as the Christian God, but the Andean rituals centered around Inca deities have been retained and continued thereafter into the modern era by the Inca people.<ref name="Kuznar"/><ref name="Fagan">{{cite book|last1=Fagan|first1=Brian M.|last2=Beck|first2=Charlotte|title=The Oxford Companion to Archaeology|date=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-19-507618-9|pages=345|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=ystMAgAAQBAJ|page=345}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref>

====Maya and Aztec====

In Maya culture, ''[[Unsolved:Kukulkan|Kukulkan]]'' has been the supreme [[Religion:Creator deity|creator deity]], also revered as the god of [[Philosophy:Reincarnation|reincarnation]], water, fertility and wind.<ref name="Littleton"/>{{rp|797–798}} The Maya people built step pyramid temples to honor ''Kukulkan'', aligning them to the [[Astronomy:Sun|Sun]]'s position on the spring [[Astronomy:Equinox|equinox]].<ref name="Littleton"/>{{rp|843–844}} Other deities found at Maya archaeological sites include ''Xib Chac''—the benevolent male rain deity, and ''Ixchel''—the benevolent female earth, weaving and pregnancy goddess.<ref name="Littleton"/>{{rp|843–844}} The [[Astronomy:Maya calendar|Maya calendar]] had 18 months, each with 20 days (and five unlucky days of ''Uayeb''); each month had a presiding deity, who inspired social rituals, special trading markets and community festivals.<ref name="Fagan"/>
[[File:Quetzalcóatl 5.jpg|thumb|Quetzalcoatl in the [[Unsolved:Codex Borgia|Codex Borgia]]]]
A deity with aspects similar to ''Kulkulkan'' in the Aztec culture has been called ''[[Unsolved:Quetzalcoatl|Quetzalcoatl]]''.<ref name="Littleton"/>{{rp|797–798}} However, states Timothy Insoll, the Aztec ideas of deity remain poorly understood. What has been assumed is based on what was constructed by [[Religion:Christian mission|Christian mission]]aries. The deity concept was likely more complex than these historical records.<ref name="Insoll">{{cite book|last1=Insoll|first1=Timothy|title=The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion|date=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-923244-4|pages=563–567|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=U4_ylNNHBy4C}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> In Aztec culture, there were hundred of deities, but many were henotheistic [[Religion:Incarnation|incarnation]]s of one another (similar to the [[Philosophy:Avatar|avatar]] concept of Hinduism). Unlike Hinduism and other cultures, Aztec deities were usually not anthropomorphic, and were instead zoomorphic or hybrid icons associated with spirits, natural phenomena or forces.<ref name="Insoll"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Issitt|first1=Micah Lee|last2=Main|first2=Carlyn|title=Hidden Religion: The Greatest Mysteries and Symbols of the World's Religious Beliefs: The Greatest Mysteries and Symbols of the World's Religious Beliefs|date=2014|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-61069-478-0|pages=373–375|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=kmFhBQAAQBAJ}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> The Aztec deities were often represented through ceramic figurines, revered in home shrines.<ref name="Insoll"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Faust|first1=Katherine A.|last2=Richter|first2=Kim N.|title=The Huasteca: Culture, History, and Interregional Exchange|date=2015|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=978-0-8061-4957-8|pages=162–163|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=f5j_BwAAQBAJ}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref>

===Polynesian===
[[File:Wooden idols of Polynesia (1830).jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.65|Deities of Polynesia carved from wood (bottom two are demons)]]

The Polynesian people developed a theology centered on numerous deities, with clusters of islands having different names for the same idea. There are great deities found across the Pacific Ocean. Some deities are found widely, and there are many local deities whose worship is limited to one or a few islands or sometimes to isolated villages on the same island.<ref name="Williamson"/>{{rp|5–6}}

The Māori people, of what is now New Zealand, called the supreme being as ''[[Religion:Io Matua Kore|Io]]'', who is also referred elsewhere as ''Iho-Iho'', ''Io-Mataaho'', ''Io Nui'', ''Te Io Ora'', ''Io Matua Te Kora'' among other names.<ref name="Coulter"/>{{rp|239}} The ''Io'' deity has been revered as the original uncreated creator, with power of life, with nothing outside or beyond him.<ref name="Coulter"/>{{rp|239}}Other deities in the Polynesian pantheon include ''Tangaloa'' (god who created men),<ref name="Williamson"/>{{rp|37–38}} ''La'a Maomao'' (god of winds), ''Tu-Matauenga'' or ''Ku'' (god of war), ''Tu-Metua'' (mother goddess), ''[[Religion:Kāne|Kane]]'' (god of procreation) and ''[[Religion:Rangi and Papa|Rangi]]'' (sky god father).<ref name="Coulter"/>{{rp|261, 284, 399, 476}}

The Polynesian deities have been part of a sophisticated theology, addressing questions of creation, the nature of existence, guardians in daily lives as well as during wars, natural phenomena, good and evil spirits, priestly rituals, as well as linked to the journey of the souls of the dead.<ref name="Williamson"/>{{rp|6–14, 37–38, 113, 323}}

===Abrahamic===
====Christianity====
[[File:Švenčiausioji Trejybė.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.7|''Holy Trinity'' (1756–1758) by Szymon Czechowicz, showing God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit, all of whom are revered in Christianity as a single deity]]
{{Main|Religion:God in Christianity|Religion:Trinity|Religion:God the Father|Religion:God the Son|Religion:Jesus in Christianity|Religion:Holy Spirit in Christianity|Names of Religion:God in Christianity|Religion:Christian theology}}

Christianity is a monotheistic religion in which most mainstream congregations and denominations accept the concept of the Holy [[Religion:Trinity|Trinity]].<ref name="Emery"/>{{rp|233–234}} Modern orthodox Christians believe that the Trinity is composed of three equal, [[Religion:Consubstantiality|cosubstantial]] persons: [[Religion:God the Father|God the Father]], [[Religion:God the Son|God the Son]], and the [[Religion:Holy Spirit|Holy Spirit]].<ref name="Emery"/>{{rp|233–234}} The first person to describe the persons of the Trinity as ''homooúsios'' (ὁμοούσιος; "of the same substance") was the [[Religion:Church Fathers|Church Father]] Origen.<ref name="La Due">{{cite book|last=La Due|first=William J.|date=2003|title=Trinity Guide to the Trinity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0WvgLlSKW7oC&q=Origen+Trinity&pg=PA37|location=Harrisburg, PA|publisher=Trinity Press International|isbn=978-1-56338-395-3|page=38|access-date=16 October 2020|archive-date=31 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831002219/https://books.google.com/books?id=0WvgLlSKW7oC&q=Origen+Trinity&pg=PA37|url-status=live}}</ref> Although most early Christian theologians (including [[Biography:Origen|Origen]]) were [[Religion:Subordinationism|Subordinationists]],<ref name="Badcock">{{citation|last=Badcock|first=Gary D.|date=1997|title=Light of Truth and Fire of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qnDyjaXPwooC&q=Origen+Subordinationist&pg=PA43|location=GrandRapids, MI|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|isbn=978-0-8028-4288-6|page=43|access-date=16 October 2020|archive-date=31 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831002231/https://books.google.com/books?id=qnDyjaXPwooC&q=Origen+Subordinationist&pg=PA43|url-status=live}}</ref> who believed that the Father was superior to the Son and the Son superior to the Holy Spirit,<ref name="La Due"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Olson|first=Roger E.|date=1999|title=The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition & Reform|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zexBAwAAQBAJ&q=Origen+Father+of+Theology&pg=PA100|location=Downers Grove, IL|publisher=InterVarsity Press|isbn=978-0-8308-1505-0|page=25|access-date=16 October 2020|archive-date=31 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831002228/https://books.google.com/books?id=zexBAwAAQBAJ&q=Origen+Father+of+Theology&pg=PA100|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Greggs|first=Tom|date=2009|title=Barth, Origen, and Universal Salvation: Restoring Particularity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=etQjYHmwiv4C&q=Origen+preexistence+of+souls&pg=PA55|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-956048-6|page=161|access-date=16 October 2020|archive-date=31 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831002207/https://books.google.com/books?id=etQjYHmwiv4C&q=Origen+preexistence+of+souls&pg=PA55|url-status=live}}</ref> this belief was condemned as heretical by the [[Religion:First Council of Nicaea|First Council of Nicaea]] in the fourth century, which declared that all three persons of the Trinity are equal.<ref name="Badcock"/> Christians regard the universe as an element in God's actualization<ref name="Emery"/>{{rp|273}} and the Holy Spirit is seen as the divine essence that is "the unity and relation of the [[Religion:God the Father|Father]] and the Son".<ref name="Emery"/>{{rp|273}} According to George Hunsinger, the doctrine of the Trinity justifies worship in a Church, wherein Jesus Christ is deemed to be a full deity with the [[Religion:Christian cross|Christian cross]] as his icon.<ref name="Emery"/>{{rp|296}}

The theological examination of Jesus Christ, of divine grace in incarnation, his non-transferability and completeness has been a historic topic. For example, the [[Organization:Council of Chalcedon|Council of Chalcedon]] in 451 CE declared that in "one person Jesus Christ, fullness of deity and fullness of humanity are united, the union of the natures being such that they can neither be divided nor confused".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Larsen|first1=Timothy|last2=Treier|first2=Daniel J.|title=The Cambridge Companion to Evangelical Theology|date=2007|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-82750-8|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=vlmXBe0RPxYC|page=51}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> Jesus Christ, according to the [[Religion:New Testament|New Testament]], is the self-disclosure of the one, true God, both in his teaching and in his person; Christ, in Christian faith, is considered the incarnation of God.<ref name="Owen"/>{{rp|4, 29}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Aslanoff|first1=Catherine|title=The Incarnate God: The Feasts and the life of Jesus Christ|date=1995|publisher=St. Vladimir's Seminary Press|location=Crestwood, NY|isbn=978-0-88141-130-0|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=QpVNuPwnIIcC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Inbody|first1=Tyron|title=The Faith of the Christian Church: An Introduction to Theology|date=2005|publisher=William B. Eerdmans Publishing|location=Grand Rapids, MI|isbn=978-0-8028-4151-3|pages=205–232|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=cHvF2SiBn-kC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref>

====Islam====
{{Main|Religion:Allah|Religion:Ilah|Religion:God in Islam|Names of Religion:God in Islam}}

[[Religion:Ilah|Ilah]], ''{{transl|ar|DIN|ʾIlāh}}'' ({{lang-ar|إله}}; plural: {{lang|ar|آلهة}} ''{{transl|ar|DIN|ʾālihah}}''), is an [[Social:Arabic|Arabic]] word meaning "god".<ref name="Saritoprak">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=isDgI0-0Ip4C&q=ilah|author=Zeki Saritoprak|title=Allah|editor=Oliver Leaman|encyclopedia=The Qur'an: An Encyclopedia|publisher=Routledge|year=2006|page=34|isbn=978-0-4153-2639-1|access-date=16 October 2020|archive-date=4 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004005837/https://books.google.com/books?id=isDgI0-0Ip4C&q=ilah|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Cornell">{{cite encyclopedia|author=Vincent J. Cornell|title=God: God in Islam|editor=Lindsay Jones|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Religion|edition=2nd|publisher=MacMillan Reference|volume=5|year=2005|page=724}}</ref> It appears in the name of the monotheistic god of Islam as [[Religion:Allah|Allah]] (''{{transl|ar|DIN|[[Religion:Allah|al-Lāh]]}}'').<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/empires/islam/faithgod.html |title=God |work=Islam: Empire of Faith |publisher=PBS|access-date=18 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327034958/http://www.pbs.org/empires/islam/faithgod.html|archive-date=27 March 2014}}</ref><ref>"Islam and Christianity", ''Encyclopedia of Christianity'' (2001): Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews also refer to God as ''Allāh''.</ref><ref name="gardet-allah">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/allah-COM_0047|title=Allah|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam Online|first=L.|last=Gardet|access-date=2 May 2007|editor1-first=P.|editor1-last=Bearman|editor2-first=Th.|editor2-last=Bianquis|editor3-first=C.E.|editor3-last=Bosworth|editor4-first=E.|editor4-last=van Donzel|editor5-first=W.P.|editor5-last=Heinrichs|publisher=Brill Online|archive-date=3 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403114258/https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/allah-COM_0047|url-status=live}}</ref> which literally means "the god" in Arabic.<ref name="Saritoprak"/><ref name="Cornell"/> Islam is strictly monotheistic<ref name="Hammer">{{cite book|last1=Hammer|first1=Juliane|last2=Safi|first2=Omid|title=The Cambridge Companion to American Islam|date=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-1-107-00241-8|page=213|edition=1st|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=OBPKKFUyZaUC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> and the first statement of the ''[[Religion:Shahada|shahada]]'', or Muslim confession of faith, is that "there is no ''{{transl|ar|DIN|ʾilāh}}'' (deity) but ''{{transl|ar|DIN|al-Lāh}}'' (God)",<ref name="Yust">{{cite book|last1=Yust|first1=Karen Marie|last4=Johnson|first4=Aostre N.|last5=Sasso|first5=Sandy Eisenberg|last6=Roehlkepartain|first6=Eugene C.|title=Nurturing Child and Adolescent Spirituality: Perspectives from the World's Religious Traditions|date=2006|isbn=978-1-4616-6590-8|page=300|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=adMkAgAAQBAJ}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> who is perfectly unified and utterly indivisible.<ref name="Hammer"/><ref name="Yust"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Piamenta|first1=Moshe|title=The Muslim Conception of God and Human Welfare: As Reflected in Everyday Arabic Speech|date=1983|publisher=Brill Archive|pages=16–17|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=FOIUAAAAIAAJ}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref>

The term [[Religion:Allah|Allah]] is used by Muslims for God. The [[Social:Persian language|Persian]] word ''[[Religion:Khuda|Khuda]]'' (Persian: خدا) can be translated as god, lord or king, and is also used today to refer to [[Religion:God in Islam|God in Islam]] by [[Social:Persian language|Persian]], [[Social:Urdu|Urdu]], [[Social:Tat language (Caucasus)|Tat]] and [[Social:Kurdish languages|Kurdish]] speakers. The [[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic]] word for god is [[Religion:Tengri|Tengri]]; it exists as ''Tanrı'' in [[Social:Turkish language|Turkish]].

====Judaism====
[[File:Tetragrammaton scripts.svg|thumb|The tetragrammaton in [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]] (12th century BCE to 150&nbsp;BCE), Paleo-Hebrew (10th century BCE to 135&nbsp;CE), and square Hebrew (3rd century BCE to present) scripts]]

Judaism affirms the existence of one God (Yahweh, or YHWH), who is not abstract, but He who revealed himself throughout Jewish history particularly during the Exodus and the Exile.<ref name="Owen"/>{{rp|4}} Judaism reflects a monotheism that gradually arose, was affirmed with certainty in the sixth century "Second Isaiah", and has ever since been the axiomatic basis of its theology.<ref name="Owen"/>{{rp|4}}

The classical presentation of Judaism has been as a monotheistic faith that rejected deities and related idolatry.<ref name="Terry">{{cite book|last1=Terry|first1=Michael|title=Reader's Guide to Judaism|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-94150-5|pages=287–288|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=Aw5EAgAAQBAJ}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref> However, states Breslauer, modern scholarship suggests that idolatry was not absent in biblical faith, and it resurfaced multiple times in Jewish religious life.<ref name="Terry"/> The rabbinic texts and other secondary Jewish literature suggest worship of material objects and natural phenomena through the medieval era, while the core teachings of Judaism maintained monotheism.<ref name="Terry"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Kochan|first1=Lionel|title=Jews, Idols, and Messiahs: The Challenge from History|date=1990|publisher=B. Blackwell|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-631-15477-8|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=fWVsQgAACAAJ}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=June 2017}}

According to Aryeh Kaplan, God is always referred to as "He" in Judaism, "not to imply that the concept of sex or gender applies to God", but because "there is no neuter in the Hebrew language, and the Hebrew word for God is a masculine noun" as he "is an active rather than a passive creative force".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kaplan|first1=Aryeh|title=The Aryeh Kaplan Reader: The Gift He Left Behind : Collected Essays on Jewish Themes from the Noted Writer and Thinker|date=1983|publisher=Mesorah Publications|location=Brooklyn, NY|isbn=978-0-89906-173-3|pages=144–145|edition=1st|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=bv5lmlmRmbwC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref>

====Mandaeism====
{{Main|Religion:Hayyi Rabbi}}
{{Further|Unsolved:Mandaeism}}
In [[Unsolved:Mandaeism|Mandaeism]], ''[[Religion:Hayyi Rabbi|Hayyi Rabbi]]'' (lit=The Great Life), or 'The Great Living God',<ref name=Nashmi>{{Citation|last=Nashmi|first=Yuhana|title=Contemporary Issues for the Mandaean Faith|website=Mandaean Associations Union|date=24 April 2013|url=http://www.mandaeanunion.com/history-english/item/488-mandaean-faith|access-date=8 October 2021|archive-date=31 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031155605/http://www.mandaeanunion.com/history-english/item/488-mandaean-faith|url-status=live}}</ref> is the supreme God from which all things [[Philosophy:Emanationism|emanate]]. He is also known as 'The First Life', since during the creation of the material world, [[Unsolved:Yushamin|Yushamin]] emanated from Hayyi Rabbi as the "Second Life."<ref name="Buckley 2002">{{cite book|last=Buckley|first=Jorunn Jacobsen|title=The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people|publisher=Oxford University Press|publication-place=New York|year=2002|isbn=0-19-515385-5|oclc=65198443}}</ref> "The principles of the Mandaean doctrine: the belief of the only one great God, Hayyi Rabbi, to whom all absolute properties belong; He created all the worlds, formed the soul through his power, and placed it by means of angels into the human body. So He created [[Religion:Adam and Eve|Adam and Eve]], the first man and woman."<ref>{{Citation|last=Al-Saadi|first=Qais|title=Ginza Rabba "The Great Treasure" The Holy Book of the Mandaeans in English|website=Mandaean Associations Union|date=27 September 2014|url=http://www.mandaeanunion.com/component/k2/itemlist/category/45-mandaean-identity|access-date=8 October 2021|archive-date=16 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716214027/http://www.mandaeanunion.com/component/k2/itemlist/category/45-mandaean-identity|url-status=live}}</ref> Mandaeans recognize God to be the eternal, creator of all, the one and only in domination who has no partner.<ref name=Routledge>Hanish, Shak (2019). The Mandaeans In Iraq. In {{cite book|last=Rowe|first=Paul S.|title=Routledge Handbook of Minorities in the Middle East|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bOF1DwAAQBAJ&q=Routledge+Handbook+of+Minorities+in+the+Middle+East|page=163|year=2019|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-3172-3379-4|place=London and New York|access-date=20 May 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730071808/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Routledge_Handbook_of_Minorities_in_the/bOF1DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Routledge+Handbook+of+Minorities+in+the+Middle+East&printsec=frontcover|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Asian===

====Anitism====
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Anitism, composed of a diverse array of indigenous religions from the Philippines, has multiple pantheon of deities, with each ethnic group having their own. The most notable deities are almost always the deity or deities considered by specific ethnic groups as their supreme deity or deities.<ref name="ReferenceA">''Anitism: a survey of religious beliefs native to the Philippines'', SK Hislop – Asian Studies, 1971 {{ISBN?}}</ref>

[[Religion:Bathala|Bathala]] is the Tagalog supreme deity,<ref>F. Landa Jocano: Outline of Philippine Mythology (1969)</ref> while Mangechay is the Kapampangan supreme deity.<ref>"Pampangan Folklore",Alfredo Nicdao, (1917)</ref> The Sambal supreme deity is [[Religion:Mayari|Malayari]],<ref>Jean Karl Gaverza ''The Myths of the Philippines'' (2014) {{ISBN?}}</ref> the Blaan supreme deity is Melu,<ref>Mabel Cook Cole, ''Philippine Folk Tales'' (Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Company, 1916), pp. 141–142.</ref> the Bisaya supreme deity is Kaptan,<ref>John Maurice Miller in his 1904 collection ''Philippine Folklore Stories''</ref> and so on. There are more than a hundred different ethnic groups in the Philippines, each having their own supreme deity or deities. Each supreme deity or deities normally rules over a pantheon of deities, contributing to the sheer diversity of deities in Anitism.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

====Buddhism====
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| footer = Left: Buddhist deity in Ssangbongsa in South Korea; Right: Chinese deity adopted into Buddhism
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{{Further|Philosophy:Creator in Buddhism|Religion:Buddhist deities}}

Buddhists do not believe in a [[Religion:Creator deity|creator deity]].<ref name="McClelland">{{cite book|last1=McClelland|first1=Norman C.|title=Encyclopedia of Reincarnation and Karma|date=2010|publisher=McFarland & Company|location=Jefferson, NC|isbn=978-0-7864-5675-8|page=136}}</ref> However, deities are an essential part of Buddhist teachings about cosmology, [[Philosophy:Rebirth (Buddhism)|rebirth]], and [[Philosophy:Saṃsāra (Buddhism)|saṃsāra]].<ref name="McClelland"/> Buddhist deities (such as ''[[Religion:Deva (Buddhism)|devas]]'' and ''[[Philosophy:Bodhisattva|bodhisattva]]s'') are believed to reside in a pleasant, heavenly realm within [[Philosophy:Buddhist cosmology|Buddhist cosmology]], which is typically subdivided into twenty six sub-realms.<ref name="Trainor">{{cite book|last1=Trainor|first1=Kevin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PrloTKuAjwC|title=Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide|date=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-517398-7|location=New York|page=62|language=en|access-date=4 October 2017|archive-date=11 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111060833/https://books.google.com/books?id=_PrloTKuAjwC|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="McClelland" /><ref name="Keown" />{{rp|35}}

Devas are numerous, but they are still mortal;<ref name="Trainor" /> they live in the heavenly realm, then die and are reborn like all other beings.<ref name="Trainor" /> A rebirth in the heavenly realm is believed to be the result of leading an ethical life and accumulating very good [[Philosophy:Karma|karma]].<ref name="Trainor" /> A ''deva'' does not need to work, and is able to enjoy in the heavenly realm all pleasures found on Earth. However, the pleasures of this realm lead to attachment (''[[Philosophy:Upādāna|upādāna]]''), lack of spiritual pursuits, and therefore no [[Philosophy:Nirvana|nirvana]].<ref name="Keown" />{{rp|37}} The vast majority of Buddhist [[Religion:Laity|lay people]] in countries practicing [[Philosophy:Theravada|Theravada]], states Kevin Trainor, have historically pursued Buddhist rituals and practices because they are motivated by their potential rebirth into the ''deva'' realm.<ref name="Trainor" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Fowler|first1=Merv|title=Buddhism: Beliefs and Practices|date=1999|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|location=Brighton|isbn=978-1-898723-66-0|page=65|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=A7UKjtA0QDwC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en|quote=For a vast majority of Buddhists in Theravadin countries, however, the order of monks is seen by lay Buddhists as a means of gaining the most merit in the hope of accumulating good karma for a better rebirth.}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Gowans|first1=Christopher|title=Philosophy of the Buddha: An Introduction|date=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-46973-4|page=169|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EbU4Hd5lro0C|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en|archive-date=11 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111060836/https://books.google.com/books?id=EbU4Hd5lro0C|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''deva'' realm in Buddhist practice in Southeast Asia and East Asia, states Keown, include gods found in Hindu traditions such as [[Religion:Indra|Indra]] and [[Religion:Brahma|Brahma]], and concepts in [[Unsolved:Hindu cosmology|Hindu cosmology]] such as Mount Meru.<ref name="Keown" />{{rp|37–38}}

[[Philosophy:Mahayana|Mahayana]] Buddhism also includes different kinds of deities, such as numerous [[Philosophy:Buddhahood|Buddhas]], [[Philosophy:Bodhisattva|bodhisattva]]s and [[Religion:Fierce deities|fierce deities]].

====Hinduism====
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| footer            = Left: [[Biology:Ganesha|Ganesha]] god of new beginnings, remover of obstacle; Right: [[Religion:Saraswati|Saraswati]], goddess of knowledge and music
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The concept of God varies in [[Religion:Hinduism|Hinduism]], it being a diverse system of thought with beliefs spanning [[Philosophy:Henotheism|henotheism]], [[Philosophy:Monotheism|monotheism]], polytheism, [[Religion:Panentheism|panentheism]], [[Philosophy:Pantheism|pantheism]] and [[Philosophy:Monism|monism]] among others.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lipner|first1=Julius|title=Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices|date=2010|publisher=Routledge|location=Abingdon, Oxon|isbn=978-0-415-45677-7|page=8|edition=2nd|quote=(...) one need not be religious in the minimal sense described to be accepted as a Hindu by Hindus, or describe oneself perfectly validly as Hindu. One may be polytheistic or monotheistic, monistic or pantheistic, even an agnostic, humanist or atheist, and still be considered a Hindu.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Chakravarti|first1=Sitansu S.|title=Hinduism, a Way of Life|date=1992|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishing|location=Delhi|isbn=978-81-208-0899-7|pages=71|edition=1st|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=J_-rASTgw8wC|page=71}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref>

In the ancient [[Religion:Vedas|Vedic]] texts of Hinduism, a deity is often referred to as [[Religion:Deva (Hinduism)|Deva]] (god) or [[Religion:Devi|Devi]] (goddess).<ref name="Monier-Williams"/>{{rp|496}}<ref name="Klostermaier"/> The root of these terms mean "heavenly, divine, anything of excellence".<ref name="Monier-Williams"/>{{rp|492}}<ref name="Klostermaier"/> Deva is masculine, and the related feminine equivalent is [[Religion:Devi|devi]]. In the earliest Vedic literature, all supernatural beings are called [[Astronomy:Asura|Asura]]s.<ref name=Hale/>{{rp|5–11, 22, 99–102}}<ref name="Monier-Williams"/>{{rp|121}} Over time, those with a benevolent nature become deities and are referred to as ''Sura'', Deva or Devi.<ref name=Hale/>{{rp|2–6}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gier|first1=Nicholas F.|title=Spiritual Titanism: Indian, Chinese, and Western Perspectives|date=2000|publisher=State University of New York Press|location=Albany, NY|isbn=978-0-7914-4528-0|pages=59–76}}</ref>

Devas or deities in Hindu texts differ from Greek or Roman [[Philosophy:Theodicy|theodicy]], states Ray Billington, because many Hindu traditions believe that a human being has the potential to be reborn as a ''deva'' (or ''devi''), by living an ethical life and building up saintly ''[[Philosophy:Karma|karma]]''.<ref name="Billington">{{cite book|last1=Billington|first1=Ray|title=Understanding Eastern Philosophy|date=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-79348-8|pages=42|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dACFAgAAQBAJ|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en|archive-date=11 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111055833/https://books.google.com/books?id=dACFAgAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Such a ''deva'' enjoys heavenly bliss, till the merit runs out, and then the [[Philosophy:Soul|soul]] (atma = gender female) is reborn again into [[Philosophy:Saṃsāra|Saṃsāra]]. Thus deities are henotheistic manifestations, embodiments and consequence of the virtuous, the noble, the saint-like living in many Hindu traditions.<ref name="Billington"/>

==== Shinto ====

{{Main|Philosophy:Shinto}}

Shinto is polytheistic, involving the veneration of many deities known as {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}},{{sfnm|1a1=Littleton|1y=2002|1p=23|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2p=13}} or sometimes as {{lang|ja-Latn|jingi}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Bocking|1y=1997|1p=70|2a1=Hardacre|2y=2017|2p=31}} In Japanese, no distinction is made here between singular and plural, and hence the term {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} refers both to individual {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} and the collective group of {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Boyd|1a2=Williams|1y=2005|1p=35|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2p=13}} Although lacking a direct English translation,{{sfn|Earhart|2004|p=8}} the term {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} has sometimes been rendered as "god" or "spirit".{{sfnm|1a1=Earhart|1y=2004|1p=2|2a1=Cali|2a2=Dougill|2y=2013|2p=13}} The historian of religion Joseph Kitagawa deemed these English translations "quite unsatisfactory and misleading",{{sfn|Kitagawa|1987|p=36}} and various scholars urge against translating {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}} into English.{{sfnm|1a1=Offner|1y=1979|1p=194|2a1=Bocking|2y=1997|2p=84}} In Japanese, it is often said that there are [[Indefinite and fictitious numbers#Specific values used as indefinite|eight million]] {{lang|ja-Latn|kami}}, a term which connotes an infinite number,{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1y=1996|1p=29|2a1=Littleton|2y=2002|2p=24}} and Shinto practitioners believe that they are present everywhere.{{sfn|Hardacre|2017|p=1}} They are not regarded as [[Philosophy:Omnipotence|omnipotent]], [[Philosophy:Omniscience|omniscient]], or necessarily [[Unsolved:Immortality|immortal]].{{sfnm|1a1=Boyd|1a2=Williams|1y=2005|1p=35|2a1=Hardacre|2y=2017|2p=52}}

==== Taoism ====

Taoism is polytheistic religion. The gods believed in by Taoism can be roughly divided into two categories, namely "God" and "Xian". "God" is congenital god, that is, God of heaven（天神）, God of earth（地祇）, Wuling（物灵）, God of underworld（地府神灵）, God of human ghost（人鬼之神）etc. "Xian" includes Xianren and Zhenren, is acquired the cultivation of the Tao, the vast, unpredictable and immortal person.<ref>{{cite web |last1=武当山道教协会 |first1=武当山道教协会 |title=道教神仙分类 |url=http://www.wdsdjxh.com/detail.php?id=51}}</ref>

====Jainism====
[[File:Padmavati.JPG|thumb|upright=0.6|Padmavati, a Jain guardian deity]]

Like many ancient Indian traditions, [[Philosophy:Jainism|Jainism]] does not believe in a creator, omnipotent, omniscient, eternal God; however, the cosmology of Jainism incorporates a meaningful [[Causality|causality]]-driven reality, and includes four realms of existence (''gati''), and one of them for ''deva'' (celestial beings, gods).<ref name="Bullivant"/>{{rp|351–357}} A human being can choose and live an ethical life ([[Philosophy:Karma|karma]]), such as being non-violent ([[Philosophy:Ahimsa|ahimsa]]) against all living beings, thereby gain merit and be reborn as ''deva''.<ref name="Bullivant"/>{{rp|357–358}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wiley|first1=Kristi L.|title=The A to Z of Jainism|date=2004|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-6337-8|page=186|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=cIhCCwAAQBAJ}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref>

Jain texts reject a trans-cosmic God, one who stands outside of the universe and lords over it, but they state that the world is full of ''devas'' who are in human-image with sensory organs, with the power of reason, conscious, compassionate and with finite life.<ref name="Bullivant"/>{{rp|356–357}} Jainism believes in the existence of the [[Philosophy:Soul|soul]] (Self, [[Philosophy:Jīva (Jainism)|atman]]) and considers it to have "god-quality", whose knowledge and liberation is the ultimate spiritual goal in both religions. Jains also believe that the spiritual nobleness of perfected souls ([[Religion:Arihant (Jainism)|Jina]]) and ''devas'' make them worship-worthy beings, with powers of guardianship and guidance to better ''[[Unsolved:Karma in Jainism|karma]]''. In Jain temples or festivals, the Jinas and Devas are revered.<ref name="Bullivant"/>{{rp|356–357}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kelting|first1=M. Whitney|title=Heroic Wives Rituals, Stories and the Virtues of Jain Wifehood |date=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-973679-9|pages=44–48|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=-txAd-dK0tEC}}|access-date=28 June 2017|language=en}}</ref>

====Zoroastrianism====
[[File:Taq-e Bostan - High-relief of Ardeshir II investiture.jpg|right|thumb|Investiture of Sassanid emperor Shapur II (center) with Mithra (left) and Ahura Mazda (right) at Taq-e Bostan, Iran]]
{{Main|Religion:Ahura Mazda}}
[[Religion:Ahura Mazda|Ahura Mazda]] ({{IPAc-en|ə|ˌ|h|ʊ|r|ə|ˌ|m|æ|z|d|ə}});<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ahura%20mazda |title=Ahura Mazda |publisher=Merriam-Webster |access-date=11 June 2017 |archive-date=7 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707153613/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Ahura%20Mazda |url-status=live }}</ref> is the Avestan name for the creator and sole God of [[Religion:Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrianism]].<ref name="Boyce">{{citation|last=Boyce|first=Mary|chapter=Ahura Mazdā|title=Encyclopaedia Iranica|location=New York|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul|year=1983|volume=1|pages=684–687}}</ref> The literal meaning of the word ''Ahura'' is "mighty" or "lord" and '' Mazda'' is ''[[Philosophy:Wisdom|wisdom]]''.<ref name="Boyce"/> [[Biography:Zoroaster|Zoroaster]], the founder of Zoroastrianism, taught that Ahura Mazda is the most powerful being in all of the existence<ref name="Andrea">{{citation|last=Andrea|first=Alfred|author2=James H. Overfield|title=The Human Record: Sources of Global History : To 1700|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|year=2000|edition=Illustrated|volume=4|page=86|isbn=978-0-618-04245-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tiz6jbjgSjEC&q=ahura+mazda&pg=PA87|access-date=16 October 2020|archive-date=31 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831002212/https://books.google.com/books?id=tiz6jbjgSjEC&q=ahura+mazda&pg=PA87|url-status=live}}</ref> and the only deity who is worthy of the highest veneration.<ref name="Andrea"/> Nonetheless, Ahura Mazda is not omnipotent because his evil twin brother [[Religion:Angra Mainyu|Angra Mainyu]] is nearly as powerful as him.<ref name="Andrea"/> Zoroaster taught that the ''[[Unsolved:Daeva|daeva]]s'' were evil spirits created by Angra Mainyu to sow evil in the world<ref name="Andrea"/> and that all people must choose between the goodness of Ahura Mazda and the evil of Angra Mainyu.<ref name="Andrea"/> According to Zoroaster, Ahura Mazda will eventually defeat Angra Mainyu and good will triumph over evil once and for all.<ref name="Andrea"/> Ahura Mazda was the most important deity in the ancient [[Place:Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid Empire]].<ref>{{citation|last=Bromiley|first=Geoffrey|title=The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Q-Z|year=1995|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-0-8028-3784-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6OJvO2jMCr8C|access-date=16 October 2020|archive-date=30 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830091414/https://books.google.com/books?id=6OJvO2jMCr8C|url-status=live}}</ref> He was originally represented anthropomorphically,<ref name="Boyce"/> but, by the end of the Sasanian Empire, Zoroastrianism had become fully aniconic.<ref name="Boyce"/>

==Skeptical interpretations==
[[File:Lightning cloud to cloud (aka).jpg|thumb|The Greek philosopher Democritus argued that belief in deities arose when humans observed natural phenomena such as lightning and attributed such phenomena to supernatural beings.]]

Attempts to rationally explain belief in deities extend all the way back to ancient Greece.<ref name="Burkert"/>{{rp|311–317}} The Greek philosopher [[Biography:Democritus|Democritus]] argued that the concept of deities arose when human beings observed natural phenomena such as lightning, [[Earth:Solar eclipse|solar eclipse]]s, and the changing of the seasons.<ref name="Burkert"/>{{rp|311–317}} Later, in the third century BCE, the scholar [[Biography:Euhemerus|Euhemerus]] argued in his book ''Sacred History'' that the gods were originally flesh-and-blood mortal kings who were [[Religion:Apotheosis|posthumously deified]], and that religion was therefore the continuation of these kings' mortal reigns, a view now known as [[Religion:Euhemerism|Euhemerism]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Winiarczyk|first1=Marek|title=The "Sacred History" of Euhemerus of Messene|date=2013|translator-last=Zbirohowski-Kościa|translator-first=Witold|publisher=Walther de Gruyter|location=Berlin|isbn=978-3-11-029488-0|pages=27–68|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OWS8TUTWLvAC&q=Sacred+History|access-date=16 October 2020|archive-date=31 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831002219/https://books.google.com/books?id=OWS8TUTWLvAC&q=Sacred+History|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Biography:Sigmund Freud|Sigmund Freud]] suggested that God concepts are a projection of one's father.<ref name="Barrett">{{cite journal|last1=Barrett|first1=Justin L.|last2=Keil|first2=Frank C.|title=Conceptualizing a Nonnatural Entity: Anthropomorphism in God Concepts|journal=Cognitive Psychology|date=December 1996|volume=31|issue=3|pages=219–247|doi=10.1006/cogp.1996.0017|pmid=8975683|url=http://www.yale.edu/cogdevlab/aarticles/conceptualizingnonnaturalentity.pdf|access-date=28 June 2017|citeseerx=10.1.1.397.5026|s2cid=7646340|archive-date=27 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327024245/http://www.yale.edu/cogdevlab/aarticles/conceptualizingnonnaturalentity.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

A tendency to believe in deities and other supernatural beings may be an integral part of the human consciousness.<ref name="AtranNorensayan">{{cite journal|last1=Atran|first1=Scott|last2=Norensayan|first2=Ara|title=Religion's evolutionary landscape: Counterintuition, commitment, compassion, communion|journal=Behavioral and Brain Sciences|date=2005|volume=27|issue=6|pages=713–770|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|url=http://www2.psych.ubc.ca/~ara/Manuscripts/AtranNorenzayanBBS.pdf|doi=10.1017/S0140525X04000172|pmid=16035401|s2cid=1177255|access-date=24 January 2018|archive-date=31 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180131185248/http://www2.psych.ubc.ca/~ara/Manuscripts/AtranNorenzayanBBS.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Spiegel">{{cite news|last1=Spiegel|first1=Alex|title=Is Believing In God Evolutionarily Advantageous?|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129528196|work=NPR|agency=National Public Radio|publisher=National Public Radio, Inc.|date=30 August 2010|access-date=24 January 2018|archive-date=25 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125134546/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129528196|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Alleyne|first1=Richard|title=Humans 'evolved' to believe in God: Humans may have evolved to believe in God and superstitions because it helps them co-ordinate group action better, scientists claim.|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/richard-alleyne/6146411/Humans-evolved-to-believe-in-God.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090910070521/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/richard-alleyne/6146411/Humans-evolved-to-believe-in-God.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 September 2009|work=The Daily Telegraph|agency=The Daily Telegraph|date=7 September 2009}}</ref><ref name="Barrett2012">{{cite book|last1=Barrett|first1=Justin L.|title=Born Believers: The Science of Children's Religious Belief|date=2012|publisher=Free Press|location=New York City|isbn=978-1-4391-9657-1|pages=15|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JVJsakBCGGQC&q=Why+did+humans+evolve+to+believe+in+deities%3F|ref=Barrett|access-date=16 October 2020|archive-date=31 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831002237/https://books.google.com/books?id=JVJsakBCGGQC&q=Why+did+humans+evolve+to+believe+in+deities%3F|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|2–11}} Children are naturally inclined to believe in supernatural entities such as gods, spirits, and demons, even without being introduced into a particular religious tradition.<ref name="Barrett2012"/>{{rp|2–11}} Humans have an overactive agency detection system,<ref name="AtranNorensayan"/><ref name="Guthrie">{{cite book|last=Guthrie|first=Stewart Elliot|title=Faces in the Clouds: A New Theory of Religion |publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1995|isbn=978-0-19-506901-3}}</ref><ref name="Barrett2012"/>{{rp|25–27}} which has a tendency to conclude that events are caused by intelligent entities, even if they really are not.<ref name="AtranNorensayan"/><ref name="Guthrie"/> This is a system which may have evolved to cope with threats to the survival of human ancestors:<ref name="AtranNorensayan"/> in the wild, a person who perceived intelligent and potentially dangerous beings everywhere was more likely to survive than a person who failed to perceive actual threats, such as wild animals or human enemies.<ref name="AtranNorensayan"/><ref name="Barrett2012"/>{{rp|2–11}} Humans are also inclined to think teleologically and ascribe meaning and significance to their surroundings, a trait which may lead people to believe in a creator-deity.<ref name="Keleman">{{cite journal|last1=Keleman|first1=Deborah|title=The scope of teleological thinking in preschool children|journal=Cognition|date=1999|volume=70|issue=3|pages=241–272|url=https://www.bu.edu/cdl/files/2013/08/1999_Kelemen_Scope.pdf|doi=10.1016/S0010-0277(99)00010-4|pmid=10384737|s2cid=29785222|access-date=25 January 2018|archive-date=24 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180324191533/http://www.bu.edu/cdl/files/2013/08/1999_Kelemen_Scope.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> This may have developed as a side effect of human social intelligence, the ability to discern what other people are thinking.<ref name="Keleman"/>

Stories of encounters with supernatural beings are especially likely to be retold, passed on, and embellished due to their descriptions of standard ontological categories (person, artifact, animal, plant, natural object) with counterintuitive properties (humans that are invisible, houses that remember what happened in them, etc.).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/anthro/bec/papers/boyer_religious_concepts.htm|title=Functional Origins of Religious concepts|last=Boyer|first=Pascal|access-date=19 December 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091010010146/http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/anthro/bec/papers/boyer_religious_concepts.htm|archive-date=10 October 2009}}</ref> As belief in deities spread, humans may have attributed anthropomorphic thought processes to them,<ref name="boyer">{{cite book|last=Boyer|first=Pascal|title=Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought|publisher=Basic Books|year=2001|author-link=Pascal Boyer|isbn=978-0-465-00695-3|url=https://archive.org/details/religionexplaine00boye}}</ref> leading to the idea of leaving offerings to the gods and praying to them for assistance,<ref name="boyer"/> ideas which are seen in all cultures around the world.<ref name="AtranNorensayan"/>

Sociologists of religion have proposed that the personality and characteristics of deities may reflect a culture's sense of self-esteem and that a culture projects its revered values into deities and in spiritual terms. The cherished, desired or sought human personality is congruent with the personality it defines to be gods.<ref name="Barrett"/> Lonely and fearful societies tend to invent wrathful, violent, submission-seeking deities, while happier and secure societies tend to invent loving, non-violent, compassionate deities.<ref name="Barrett"/> [[Biography:Émile Durkheim|Émile Durkheim]] states that gods represent an extension of human social life to include supernatural beings. According to Matt Rossano, God concepts may be a means of enforcing [[Philosophy:Morality|morality]] and building more cooperative community groups.<ref name=supernature>{{cite journal |last=Rossano |first=Matt |title=Supernaturalizing Social Life: Religion and the Evolution of Human Cooperation |journal=Human Nature (Hawthorne, NY) |year=2007 |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=272–294 |doi=10.1007/s12110-007-9002-4 |pmid=26181064 |s2cid=1585551 |url=http://www2.selu.edu/Academics/Faculty/mrossano/recentpubs/Supernaturalizing.pdf |access-date=21 June 2009 |archive-date=3 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303101304/http://www2.selu.edu/Academics/Faculty/mrossano/recentpubs/Supernaturalizing.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

==See also==
{{col div|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Religion:Aeon (Gnosticism)|Aeon (Gnosticism)]]
* [[Religion:Apotheosis|Apotheosis]]
* [[Philosophy:Deicide|Deicide]]
* [[Philosophy:Existence of God|Existence of God]]
* Hero cult
* Imperial cult
* List of deities
* List of deities in fiction
* Odinism
{{colend}}

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<ref name=Hale>{{cite book|last1=Hale|first1=Wash Edward|title=Ásura in Early Vedic Religion|year=1986|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|location=Delhi|isbn=978-81-208-0061-8|edition=1st}}</ref>
<ref name="VDT">{{cite book|last1=van der Toorn|first1=Karel|last2=Becking|first2=Bob|last3=van der Horst|first3=Pieter W.|title=Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible |year=1999|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden|isbn=978-0-8028-2491-2|pages=543–549|edition=2nd}}</ref>
<ref name="Niehr">{{cite book |last = Niehr |first = Herbert |chapter = The Rise of YHWH in Judahite and Israelite Religion |editor1-last = Edelman |editor1-first = Diana Vikander |title = The Triumph of Elohim: From Yahwisms to Judaisms|publisher = Peeters Publishers|year = 1995|chapter-url = {{google books |plainurl=y |id=bua2dMa9fJ4C}} |isbn = 978-90-5356-503-2 }}</ref>
<ref name="Pinch">{{cite book |last = Pinch |first = Geraldine |title = Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt |year=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-517024-5 |url = {{google books |plainurl=y |id=3hgGNb6wM2kC}}|access-date=22 June 2017 |language=en }}</ref>
}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book |last=Bocking |first=Brian |title=A Popular Dictionary of Shinto |edition=revised |location=Richmond |publisher=Curzon |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-7007-1051-5 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Boyd |first1=James W. |last2=Williams |first2=Ron G. |title=Japanese Shinto: An Interpretation of a Priestly Perspective |journal=Philosophy East and West |year=2005 |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=33–63 |doi=10.1353/pew.2004.0039 |s2cid=144550475 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Cali |first1=Joseph |last2=Dougill |first2=John |title=Shinto Shrines: A Guide to the Sacred Sites of Japan's Ancient Religion |location=Honolulu |publisher=University of Hawai'i Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-8248-3713-6 }}
* {{cite book |last=Earhart |first=H. Byron |year=2004 |title=Japanese Religion: Unity and Diversity |edition=fourth |location=Belmont, CA |publisher=Wadsworth |isbn=978-0-534-17694-5 }}
* {{cite book |last=Hardacre |first=Helen |title=Shinto: A History |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-19-062171-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Kitagawa |first=Joseph M. |title=On Understanding Japanese Religion |year=1987 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, New Jersey |isbn=978-0-691-10229-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/onunderstandingj0000kita }}
* {{cite book |last=Littleton |first=C. Scott|title=Shinto: Origins, Rituals, Festivals, Spirits, Sacred Places |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, NY | year=2002 |isbn=978-0-19-521886-2 |oclc=49664424}}
* {{cite book |last=Nelson |first=John K. |title=A Year in the Life of a Shinto Shrine |url=https://archive.org/details/yearinlifeofs00nels |url-access=registration |location=Seattle and London |publisher=University of Washington Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-295-97500-9 }}
* {{cite book |last=Offner |first=Clark B. |chapter=Shinto |title=The World's Religions |edition=fourth |year=1979 |pages=191–218 |editor=Norman Anderson |location=Leicester |publisher=Inter-Varsity Press }}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last = Baines |first = John |title=Fecundity Figures: Egyptian Personification and the Iconology of a Genre |year=2001 |publisher=Griffith Institute |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-900416-78-1 |edition=Reprint |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mBw8MQAACAAJ }}

{{Clear}}
{{Theism}}
{{Theology}}

[[Category:Deities| ]]

{{Sourceattribution|Deity}}