Polytheism

{{Short description|Worship of or belief in multiple deities}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}} {{God}} '''Polytheism''' is the belief in or worship of more than one deity, a type of theism; it contrasts with monotheism, the belief in only one deity that is, in most cases, transcendent.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Polytheism |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100336156 |access-date=3 February 2023 |website=Oxford Reference |publisher=Oxford University Press |language= }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Polytheism |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/polytheism |access-date=3 February 2023 |website=Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Polytheism |url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/polytheism |access-date=3 February 2023 |website=Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> The term was coined by Jewish writer Philo of Alexandria as a compound of the Greek words πολύ (lit: "''many''") and θεός (lit: "''god''") to argue with the Greeks, though was in modern times re-popularised by Jean Bodin in 1850 and then by Samuel Purchas in 1614.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Inconceivable Polytheism: Studies in Religious Historiography |last= Schmidt|first= Francis |year=1987 |publisher= Gordon & Breach Science Publishers |location=New York |isbn= 978-3718603671 |page=10}}</ref>

Oftentimes, polytheistic religions reflect belief in a pantheon of deities that may themselves have religious sects and rituals dedicated to them. These deities can also be representations of natural forces or ancestral principles; they can be viewed either as autonomous, or as emanations of a greater deity or transcendental absolute being (such as in monistic theology), in either case manifesting immanently in nature (such as in panentheistic and pantheistic theology).<ref>Ulrich Libbrecht. ''Within the Four Seas...: Introduction to Comparative Philosophy''. Peeters Publishers, 2007. {{ISBN|9042918128}}. p. 42.</ref>

Polytheists do not exclusively worship all deities equally. Another position, identified as monolatry, kathenotheism, or henotheism (though the last one is controversial), recognises the existence of multiple deities while focusing worship to one deity or a specific group of deities, perhaps at certain times or in specific contexts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Monotheism - Polytheism, Dualism, Henotheism |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/monotheism/The-spectrum-of-views-monotheisms-and-quasi-monotheisms |access-date=2023-12-26 |website=Britannica |language=en}}</ref> Moreover, according to Oxford Reference, "''it is not easy to count gods, and so not always obvious whether an apparently polytheistic religion is really so, or whether the apparent different objects of worship are to be thought of as manifestations [of a singular divinity].''"<ref name=":1" />

Polytheism was common in the time and place of the Abrahamic religions, namely Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The Quran, central to Islam, quite explicitly denounces polytheism, though there is certainly evidence to suggest that the Hebrew Bible, which Judaism and Christianity are established upon, may have originally been polytheistic to some extent.{{Citation needed|date=April 2026}}

Otherwise, there are still some dualistic{{Relevance inline|date=October 2025|reason=Is this relevant, given that dualism and polytheism are not mutually inclusive?}} aspects, such as Satan{{Clarify|reason=Which religious denominations' concepts of "Satan" are being referenced here?|date=October 2025}}, and polytheistic aspects, such as saints.{{Clarify|reason=Is this sentence claiming that belief in saints is a form of polytheism, or is it just identifying parallels between worshipping multiple deities and venerating multiple saints?|date=October 2025}} Saint Brigid is in fact Brigit, the main goddess of Celtic Ireland.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}} It is well documented{{By whom|date=October 2025}} throughout history, from prehistory and the earliest records of ancient Egyptian religion and ancient Mesopotamian religion to the religions prevalent during classical antiquity, such as ancient Greek religion and ancient Roman religion, and in ethnic religions such as Germanic, Slavic, and Baltic paganism and Native American religions.

Notable polytheistic religions practiced today include Taoism, Chinese folk religion, Shinto, Santería, most Traditional African religions,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kimmerle|first=Heinz|date=2006-04-11|title=The world of spirits and the respect for nature: towards a new appreciation of animism|journal=The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa|language=en-US|volume=2|issue=2|pages=15|doi=10.4102/td.v2i2.277|issn=2415-2005|doi-access=free}}</ref> and various neopagan faiths such as Wicca and Hellenism.

Hinduism, while popularly held as polytheistic by many scholars, cannot be exclusively categorised as such. Some Hindus consider their beliefs to be pantheistic, panentheistic, henotheistic, monotheistic or monistic. There is no single book representative of a standardised "Hindu" belief; "Hinduism" is better described as an umbrella term for a collection of ideologies found within several Hindu texts.

Vedanta, the most dominant school of Hinduism, offers a combination of pantheism/panentheism and polytheism, holding that Brahman is the sole, ultimate reality of the universe, yet unity with it can be reached by worshipping the innumerable deities that represent the ''Supreme Absolute Truth''. Hindus who practice ''Bhakti'' ultimately believe in one deity, known by many titles, such as ''Paramatman'', ''Parabrahman'', ''Bhagavan'', ''Ishvara'', and so on, who transcends all categories (e.g. both of form and formless), with those unaware of these concepts worshipping their own deities each as the ultimate god.

==Soft Polytheism vs. Hard Polytheism== {{See also|Interpretatio graeca}} A major division in modern polytheistic practices is between so-called "soft" polytheism and "hard" polytheism.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://digilib.phil.muni.cz/handle/11222.digilib/138049|title=Modern Pagan religious conversion revisited|last=Galtsin|first=Dmitry|date=2018-06-21|journal=Sacra|volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=7–17 |access-date=2019-02-05}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite book|title=Seeking the mystery : an introduction to Pagan theologies|last=Hoff|first=Kraemer, Christine|date=2012|publisher=Patheos Press|isbn=9781939221186|location=Englewood, CO|oclc=855412257}}</ref>

"Soft" polytheism is the belief that different gods may either be psychological archetypes, personifications of natural forces, or as being one essential god interpreted through the lenses of different cultures (e.g. Odin, Zeus, and Indra all being the same god as interpreted by Germanic, Greek, and Indic peoples respectively) – known as omnitheism.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Negedu|first=I. A.|date=2014-01-01|title=The Igala traditional religious belief system: Between monotheism and polytheism|url=https://www.ajol.info/index.php/og/article/view/109609|journal=OGIRISI: A New Journal of African Studies|language=en|volume=10|issue=1|pages=116–129|issn=1597-474X|doi=10.4314/og.v10i1.7|doi-access=free}}</ref> In this way, gods may be interchangeable for one another across cultures.<ref name=":0" />

"Hard" polytheism is the belief that gods are distinct, separate, real divine beings, rather than psychological archetypes or personifications of natural forces. Hard polytheists reject the idea that "all gods are one essential god" and may also reject the existence of gods outside their own pantheon altogether.<ref name=":0" />

==Gods and Divinity== The deities of polytheism are often portrayed as complex personages of greater or lesser status, with individual skills, needs, desires and histories, in many ways similar to humans (anthropomorphic) in their personality traits, but with additional individual powers, abilities, knowledge or perceptions. Polytheism cannot be cleanly separated from the animist beliefs prevalent in most folk religions. The gods of polytheism are in many cases the highest order of a continuum of supernatural beings or spirits, which may include ancestors, demons, wights, and others. In some cases, these spirits are divided into celestial or chthonic classes, and belief in the existence of all these beings does not imply that all are worshipped.

==Types of deities== {{Further|List of deities}} Types of deities often found in polytheism may include: * Creator deity * Culture hero * Death deity (chthonic) * Life-death-rebirth deity * Love deity * Mother goddess * Political deity (such as a king or emperor) * Sky deity (celestial) * Solar deity * Trickster deity * Water deity * Lunar deity * Deities of music, arts, science, farming, or other endeavors

==Religion and Mythology== {{Main|Religion and mythology}}

In the Classical era, 4th century CE Neoplatonist Sallustius categorized mythology into five types:<ref>Sallustius, ''On the Gods and the World'', 4</ref> # Theological: myths that contemplate the essence of the gods, such as Cronus swallowing his children, which Sallustius regarded as expressing in allegory the essence of divinity # Physical: expressing the activities of gods in the world # Psychological: myths as allegories of the activities of the soul itself or the soul's acts of thought # Material: regarding material objects as gods, for example: to call the earth Gaia, the ocean Okeanos, or heat Typhon # Mixed

The beliefs of many historical polytheistic religions are commonly referred to as "mythology",<ref>Eugenie C. Scott, ''Evolution Vs. Creationism: An Introduction'' (2009), p. 58.</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=July 2022}} though the stories cultures tell about their gods should be distinguished{{according to whom|date=July 2022}} from their worship or religious practice. For instance, deities portrayed in conflict in mythology were often nonetheless worshipped side by side, illustrating the distinction within the religion between belief and practice.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} Scholars such as Jaan Puhvel, J. P. Mallory, and Douglas Q. Adams have reconstructed aspects of the ancient Proto-Indo-European religion from which the religions of the various Indo-European peoples are thought to derive, which is believed to have been an essentially naturalist numenistic religion.{{Citation needed|reason=develop, how are they "essentialy naturalist numenistic religions"?|date=April 2021}} An example of a religious notion from this shared past is the concept of ''*dyēws'', which is attested in several Indo-European religious systems.

==Ancient and historical religions== [[File:Human artifacts at CMNH - 37.JPG|thumb|Egyptian gods in the Carnegie Museum of Natural History]] Well-known historical polytheistic pantheons include the Sumerian gods, the Egyptian gods, the pantheon attested in classical antiquity (in ancient Greek and Roman religion), the Norse Æsir and Vanir, the Yoruba Orisha,{{efn|Yoruba religion has been variously described as henotheistic, polytheistic or as diffused monotheism.}} and the Aztec gods.

In many civilizations, pantheons tended to grow over time. Deities first worshipped as the patrons of cities or other places came to be collected together as empires extended over larger territories. Conquests could lead to the subordination of a culture's pantheon to that of the invaders, as in the Greek Titanomachia, and possibly also the Æsir–Vanir War in the Norse mythos. Cultural exchange could lead to "the same" deity being revered in two places under different names, as seen with the Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans, and also to the cultural transmission of elements of an extraneous religion, as with the ancient Egyptian deity Osiris, who was later worshipped in ancient Greece.

Most ancient belief systems held that gods influenced human lives. However, the Greek philosopher Epicurus held that the gods were incorruptible but material, blissful beings who inhabited the empty spaces between worlds and did not trouble themselves with the affairs of mortals, but could be perceived by the mind, especially during sleep.

===Ancient Greece=== {{Main|Religion in ancient Greece}}

thumb|Procession of the Twelve Olympians The classical scheme in Ancient Greece of the Twelve Olympians (the Canonical Twelve of art and poetry) were:<ref name="EnAm1993">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Greek mythology |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Americana |year=1993 |volume=13 |page=431}}</ref><ref name="EnPLB2007">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Dodekatheon |trans-title=Twelve Olympians |encyclopedia=Papyrus Larousse Britannica |year=2007 |language=el}}</ref> Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Ares, Demeter, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hermes, and Hestia. Though it is suggested that Hestia stepped down when Dionysus was invited to Mount Olympus, this is a matter of controversy. Robert Graves' ''The Greek Myths'' cites two sources<ref>{{cite web|title=Apollodorus, Library, book 3, chapter 5, section 3|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+3.5.3&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Pausanias, Description of Greece|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+2.31.2&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160}}</ref> that obviously do not suggest Hestia surrendered her seat, though he suggests she did. Hades<ref name="EnAm1919">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Encyclopedia Americana Vol. 13 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PWYMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA408 |volume=13 |year=1919 |editor=George Edward Rines |publisher=Americana Corp |pages=408–411}}</ref> was often excluded because he dwelt in the underworld. All of the gods had a power. There was, however, a great deal of fluidity as to who was counted among their number in antiquity.<ref name="Stoll1852">{{cite book|author=Stoll, Heinrich Wilhelm (R.B. Paul trans.) |title=Handbook of the religion and mythology of the Greeks |publisher=Francis and John Rivington |year=1852 |page=8 |quote=The limitation [of the number of Olympians] to twelve seems to have been a comparatively modern idea}}</ref> Different cities often worshipped the same deities, sometimes with epithets that distinguished them and specified their local nature.

Hellenic Polytheism extended beyond mainland Greece, to the islands and coasts of Ionia in Asia Minor, to Magna Graecia (Sicily and southern Italy), and to scattered Greek colonies in the Western Mediterranean, such as Massalia (Marseille). Greek religion tempered Etruscan cult and belief to form much of the later Roman religion. During the Hellenistic Era, philosophical schools like Epicureanism developed distinct theologies.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmO-s9qkrgA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/pmO-s9qkrgA |archive-date=2021-12-15 |url-status=live|title=On the Epicurean Gods|date=2020|publisher=Society of Friends of Epicurus}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Hellenism is, in practice, primarily centered around polytheistic and animistic worship.

==Folk religions== {{Main|Folk religion}}

{{Further|Saint|Angel|Folk Catholicism|Shamanism}} [[File:Anitos of Northern tribes (c. 1900, Philippines).jpg|thumb|Bulul statues serve as avatars of rice deities in the Anitist beliefs of the Ifugao in the Philippines.]] The majority of so-called "folk religions" in the world today (distinguished from traditional ethnic religions) are found in the Asia-Pacific region.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-folk/ |title=Folk Religionists |author= |date=2012-12-18 |website=Pew Forum |publisher=Pew Research Center |access-date=2021-03-31}}</ref> This fact conforms to the trend of the majority of polytheist religions being found outside the western world.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gries |first1=P. |last2=Su |first2=J. |last3= Schak |first3= D. |date=December 2012 |title=Toward the scientific study of polytheism: beyond forced-choice measures of religious belief |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2012.01683.x |journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion |volume=51 |issue=4 |pages=623–637 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-5906.2012.01683.x |access-date=2021-03-31|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Folk religions are often closely tied to animism. Animistic beliefs are found in historical and modern cultures. Folk beliefs are often labeled superstitions when they are present in monotheistic societies.<ref name="van Baaren">{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/monotheism/The-spectrum-of-views-monotheisms-and-quasi-monotheisms |title=Monotheism |last=van Baaren |first=Theodorus P. |website=Britannica |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica |access-date=2021-04-12}}</ref> Folk religions often do not have organized authorities, also known as priesthoods, or any formal sacred texts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-folk/ |title=Folk Religionists |author= |date=2012-12-18 |website=Pew Forum |publisher=Pew Research Center |access-date=2021-03-31}}</ref> They often coincide with other religions as well. Abrahamic monotheistic religions, which dominate the western world, typically do not approve of practicing parts of multiple religions, but folk religions often overlap with others.<ref name="van Baaren"/> Followers of polytheistic religions do not often problematize following practices and beliefs from multiple religions.

==Modern religions== {{Further|Theology|Pantheon (gods)|Euhemerism|Interpretatio graeca|Demigod|Apotheosis}}

===Buddhism=== {{Further|God in Buddhism|Deva (Buddhism)|Nontheism#Buddhism}} Depending on the tradition practiced, Buddhism may be seen as polytheistic as it at least acknowledges the existence of multiple gods. The Buddha is a leader figure but is not meant to be worshipped as a god. Devas, a Sanskrit word for ''gods'', are also not meant to be worshipped. They are not immortal and have limited powers. A deva may have been human with positive karma in previous lives and was reborn as a deva.<ref>{{cite book |last=Trainor |first=Kevin |date=2004 |title=Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=62}}</ref> A common Buddhist practice is tantra: the use of rituals to achieve enlightenment. Tantra focuses on seeing oneself as a deity and the use of deities as symbols rather than supernatural agents.<ref name="O'Brien">{{cite web |url=https://www.learnreligions.com/gods-in-buddhism-449762 |title=The Role of Gods and Deities in Buddhism |last=O'Brien |first=Barbara |date= |website=Learn Religions |access-date=2021-03-31}}</ref> Buddhism is most closely aligned with polytheism when it is linked with other religions, often folk religions. For example, the Japanese Shinto religion, in which deities called kami are worshipped, is sometimes syncretized with Buddhism.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://japanology.org/2016/06/buddhism-and-shinto-the-two-pillars-of-japanese-culture |title=Buddhism and Shinto: The Two Pillars of Japanese Culture |author= |date=2016-06-20 |website=Japanology |access-date=2021-04-14 |archive-date=2021-04-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415203649/https://japanology.org/2016/06/buddhism-and-shinto-the-two-pillars-of-japanese-culture/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Christianity=== {{See also|God in Christianity|Trinity}}

Although Christianity is usually described as monotheistic,<ref>{{cite book |title= Christianity: A Very Short Introduction|last= Woodhead|first= Linda |year= 2004|publisher= Oxford University Press |location= Oxford|pages= n.p.}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/monotheism#ref38222 |title = Monotheism | Definition, Types, Examples, & Facts| encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica | date=24 May 2023 }}</ref> it is sometimes claimed that the doctrine of the Trinity, upheld by most Christian traditions since late antiquity, precludes pure monotheism.<ref>''Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'' (1974) art. "Monotheism"</ref> The doctrine posits that God consists of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Because the deity is three distinct persons, some believe Christianity should be considered a form of tritheism, a form of polytheism.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.ccjr.us/dialogika-resources/educational-and-liturgical-materials/classic-articles/966-fisher2010/./|title= Typical Jewish Misunderstandings of Christianity|website= Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations|access-date= June 8, 2018|archive-date= June 12, 2018|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180612135846/http://www.ccjr.us/dialogika-resources/educational-and-liturgical-materials/classic-articles/966-fisher2010/|url-status= dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://thedebateinitiative.com/2014/12/08/muslims-reject-the-trinity-because-they-do-understand-it/./|title=Muslims reject the Trinity because they do understand it|website=thedebateinitiative|access-date= June 8, 2018}}</ref> Christianity contends that "one God exists in Three Persons and One Substance,"<ref name="odcc-trin">''Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'' (1974) art. "Trinity, Doctrine of the"</ref> but that the deity cannot be a unitary person with an individual identity. Christianity inherited the idea of "one God" from Judaism and maintains that its monotheistic doctrine is central to the faith. [[File:Llanbeblig_Hours_(f._4v.)_God,_The_Holy_Spirit,_and_Christ_Crucified.jpg|thumb|It is sometimes claimed that Christianity is not truly monotheistic because of its idea of the Trinity]] Jordan Paper, a Western scholar and self-described polytheist, considers polytheism the normal state of human culture. He argues that "Even the Catholic Church shows polytheistic aspects with the 'veneration' of the saints." On the other hand, he asserts, monotheistic missionaries and scholars were eager to see a proto-monotheism or at least henotheism in polytheistic religions, for example, when taking from the Chinese pair of Sky and Earth only one part and calling it the ''King of Heaven'', as Matteo Ricci did.<ref>Jordan Paper: The Deities are Many. A Polytheistic Theology. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2005, pp. 112 and 133.</ref> In 1508, a London Lollard named William Pottier was accused of believing in six gods.<ref name="Royal Milton 2020 p. 44">{{cite book | last1=Royal | first1=S. | last2=Milton | first2=A. | title=Lollards in the English Reformation: History, radicalism, and John Foxe | publisher=Manchester University Press | series=Politics, Culture and Society in Early Modern Britain | year=2020 | isbn=978-1-5261-2882-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CNDKDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT44 | access-date=2023-02-23 | page=44}}</ref>

====Mormonism====  {{Further|God in Mormonism}} Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, believed in "the plurality of Gods", saying, "I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ a separate and distinct personage from God the Father, and that the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit: and these three constitute three distinct personages and three Gods."<ref>{{citation |contribution-url= http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Godhead |contribution= Godhead |last= Dahl |first= Paul E. |pages= 552–553 |editor-last= Ludlow |editor-first= Daniel H |editor-link= Daniel H. Ludlow |year= 1992 |title= Encyclopedia of Mormonism |location= New York |publisher= Macmillan Publishing |isbn= 0-02-879602-0 |oclc= 24502140 |title-link= Encyclopedia of Mormonism }}</ref> Mormonism, which emerged from Protestantism,<ref name="Bowen 2005 p. 26">{{cite book | last=Bowen | first=K. | title=Christians in a Secular World: The Canadian Experience | publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press | series=McGill-Queen's Studies in the History of Religion | year=2005 | isbn=978-0-7735-2712-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=__38sGZLrvYC&pg=PA26 | access-date=2022-11-13 | page=26}}</ref> teaches exaltation, which is defined as the hypothesis that people can, in all ways, become like God in the afterlife.<ref>{{citation |contribution-url= http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Exaltation |contribution= Exaltation |last= Pope |first= Margaret McConkie |page= 479 |title= Encyclopedia of Mormonism |title-link= Encyclopedia of Mormonism |access-date= 2014-11-12 |archive-date= 2017-10-19 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171019112135/http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Exaltation |url-status= dead }}</ref> Mormonism also affirms the existence of a Heavenly Mother,<ref>{{citation |contribution-url= http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Heavenly_Mother |contribution= Mother in Heaven |last= Cannon |first= Elaine Anderson |author-link= Elaine A. Cannon |page= 961 |title= Encyclopedia of Mormonism |title-link= Encyclopedia of Mormonism |access-date= 2014-03-26 |archive-date= 2017-10-19 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171019111714/http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Heavenly_Mother |url-status= dead }}</ref> and the prevailing view among Mormons is that God the Father was once a man who lived on a planet with his own higher God, and became perfect after following this higher God.<ref>{{citation |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/beliefs/god_1.shtml |title= Religions: An explanation of Mormon beliefs about God |work= BBC |date= October 2, 2009 |access-date= 2014-10-28 }}.</ref><ref>{{citation |last1= Riess |first1= Jana |author1-link= Jana Riess |first2= Christopher Kimball |last2= Bigelow |title= Mormonism for Dummies |publisher= John Wiley & Sons |year= 2005 |isbn= 978-0-7645-7195-4 |chapter= Chapter 3: Heavenly Parents, Savior, and Holy Ghost }}</ref> Some critics of Mormonism argue that statements in the Book of Mormon describe a trinitarian conception of God (e.g. {{Mormonverse|2 Nephi|31:21}}; {{Mormonverse|Alma|11:44}}), but were superseded by later revelations.<ref>{{citation |last= Hoekema |first= Anthony |author-link= Anthony A. Hoekema |title= The Four Major Cults: Christian Science, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormonism, Seventh-Day Adventism |publisher= Paternoster Press |place= Exeter, England |year= 1969 |orig-year= 1963 |page= 34 |isbn= 0853640947 |oclc= 12735425 }}{{unreliable source?|date=November 2014}}</ref> Due to teachings within Mormon cosmology, some theologians claim that it allows for an infinite number of gods.<ref name="Crane 2010 p. 63">{{cite book | last=Crane | first=S.A. | title=Is Mormonism Now Christian? | publisher=Wipf & Stock Pub. | year=2010 | isbn=978-1-60899-251-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ym5MAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA63 | access-date=2023-02-23 | page=63}}</ref><ref name="Haddad Groothuis 2011 p. 57">{{cite book | last1=Haddad | first1=J.F. | last2=Groothuis | first2=D. | title=Leaving Dirt Place: Love as an Apologetic for Christianity | publisher=Wipf & Stock Publishers | year=2011 | isbn=978-1-61097-217-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2PhMAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA57 | access-date=2023-02-23 | page=57}}</ref><ref name="Parrish 2019 p. 65">{{cite book | last=Parrish | first=S.E. | title=Atheism?: A Critical Analysis | publisher=Wipf & Stock Publishers | year=2019 | isbn=978-1-5326-7266-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d_CaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA65 | access-date=2023-02-23 | page=65}}</ref><ref name="Morley 2015 p. 277">{{cite book | last=Morley | first=B.K. | title=Mapping Apologetics: Comparing Contemporary Approaches | publisher=InterVarsity Press | year=2015 | isbn=978-0-8308-9704-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jz-jBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA277 | access-date=2023-02-23 | page=277}}</ref><ref name="Ankerberg Weldon 2019 p. 122">{{cite book | last1=Ankerberg | first1=J. | last2=Weldon | first2=J. | title=Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Mormonism | publisher=ATRI | year=2019 | isbn=978-1-937136-51-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r21HEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT122 | access-date=2023-02-23 | page=122}}</ref><ref name="Tsoukalas 2022 p. 37">{{cite book | last=Tsoukalas | first=S. | title=Knowing Christ in the Challenge of Heresy: A Christology of the Cults, A Christology of the Bible | publisher=Wipf & Stock Publishers | year=2022 | isbn=978-1-6667-3786-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sn9zEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA37 | access-date=2023-02-23 | page=37}}</ref>

Mormon theology posits that scriptural statements on the unity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost represent a unity of purpose, not substance.<ref>{{citation |url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2007/11/the-only-true-god-and-jesus-christ-whom-he-hath-sent?lang=eng |title= The Only True God and Jesus Christ Whom He Hath Sent |last= Holland |first= Jeffrey R. |author-link= Jeffrey R. Holland |date= November 2007 |journal= Ensign }}</ref> They believe that the early Christian Church did not characterize divinity in terms of an immaterial, formless, shared substance until post-apostolic theologians began to incorporate Greek metaphysical philosophies (such as Neoplatonism) into Christian doctrine.<ref>{{citation |last= Bickmore |first= Barry R. |author-link= Barry R. Bickmore |year= 2001 |title= Does God Have a Body In Human Form? |url= http://www.fairmormon.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/bickmore-GodHaveBody.pdf |publisher= Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research }}</ref><ref>{{citation |url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1994/04/the-reality-of-the-resurrection?lang=eng |title= The Reality of the Resurrection |last= Draper |first= Richard R. |date= April 1994 |journal= Ensign }}</ref> Mormons believe that the truth about God's nature was restored through modern-day revelation, which reinstated the original Judeo-Christian concept of a natural, corporeal, immortal God,<ref>{{citation |last= Webb |first= Steven H. |author-link= Stephen H. Webb |title= Jesus Christ, Eternal God: Heavenly Flesh and the Metaphysics of Matter |publisher= Oxford University Press |year= 2012 |url= https://byustudies.byu.edu/content/byu-studies-volume-50-issue-3 |access-date= 2016-10-24 |archive-date= 2020-02-14 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200214141716/https://byustudies.byu.edu/content/byu-studies-volume-50-issue-3 |url-status= dead }}</ref> who is the literal father of the spirits of humans.<ref>{{citation |journal= Liahona |date= January 2010 |title= God Is Truly Our Father |url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2010/01/god-is-truly-our-father?lang=eng }}</ref> It is to this personage alone that Mormons pray, as he is and always will be their Heavenly Father, the supreme "God of gods" (Deuteronomy 10:17). In the sense that Mormons worship only God the Father, they consider themselves monotheists. Nevertheless, Mormons adhere to Jesus's teaching that those who receive God's Word can obtain the title of "gods" (John 10:33–36) because, as literal children of God, they can take upon themselves his divine attributes. Mormons teach that "The glory of God is intelligence" (Doctrine and Covenants 93:36), and that it is by sharing the Father's perfect comprehension of all things that both Jesus and the Holy Spirit are also divine.<ref>{{citation |title= Doctrine and Covenants Instructor's Guide: Religion 324–325 |year= 1981 |chapter= 'The Glory of God is Intelligence' – Lesson 37: Section 93 |publisher= Institutes of Religion, Church Educational System |chapter-url= https://www.lds.org/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-instructors-guide-religion-324-325/the-glory-of-god-is-intelligence-lesson-37-section-93?lang=eng |url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/language-materials/32494_eng.pdf }}</ref>

===Hinduism=== {{Further|Hindu views on monotheism}} Hinduism is neither a monolithic religion nor an organized religion: a wide variety of religious traditions and practices are grouped under this umbrella term, and some modern scholars have questioned the legitimacy of unifying them artificially and suggest that one should speak of "Hinduisms" in the plural.<ref>Smith, Brian. "Hinduism." New Dictionary of the History of Ideas. 2005. Retrieved May 22, 2013 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3424300342.html</ref> Theistic Hinduism encompasses both monotheistic and polytheistic tendencies and variations on or mixes of both structures.

Hindus venerate deities in the form of the ''pratima'', or idol. The ''puja'' (worship) of the ''pratima'' is like a way to communicate with the formless, abstract divinity (Brahman in Hinduism) which creates, sustains and dissolves creation. However, some sects have advocated that there is no need to give a shape to God and that it is omnipresent and beyond what humans can see or feel tangibly. These gods were not worshipped without a proper consecration ritual.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is Consecration? |url=https://isha.sadhguru.org/en/wisdom/article/what-is-consecration |access-date=2024-09-07 |website=isha.sadhguru.org |language=en}}</ref> It was believed that after the consecration ritual, the idol no longer remained as stone or metal and attained a temporary or permanent state of divinity.

Some Hindu philosophers and theologians argue for a transcendent metaphysical structure with a single divine essence.{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}} This divine essence is usually referred to as Brahman or Atman, but the understanding of the nature of this absolute divine essence is the line which defines many Hindu philosophical traditions such as Vedanta.

Among lay Hindus, some believe in different deities emanating from Brahman, while others practice more traditional polytheism and henotheism. These practices focus worship on one or more personal deities while granting the existence of others.

Academically speaking, the ancient Vedic scriptures, upon which Hinduism is derived, describe four authorized disciplic lines of teaching coming down over thousands of years. (Padma Purana). Four propound that the Absolute Truth is Fully Personal, as in Judeo-Christian theology. They say that the Primal Original God is Personal, both transcendent and immanent throughout creation. He can be and is often approached through worship of Prathimas, called "Archa-Vigraha", described in the Vedas as identical to his various dynamic, spiritual Forms. This is the Vaisnava theology.

The fifth disciplic line of Vedic spirituality, founded by Adi Shankaracharya, promotes the concept that the Absolute is Brahman, without clear differentiations, will, thought, or intelligence.

In the Smarta denomination of Hinduism, the philosophy of Advaita expounded by Shankara allows veneration of numerous deities {{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} with the understanding that all of them are but manifestations of one impersonal divine power, Brahman. Therefore, according to various schools of Vedanta including Shankara, which is the most influential and important Hindu theological tradition, there are a great number of deities in Hinduism, such as Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesha, Hanuman, Lakshmi, Kali, Parvati, Durga, Rama, Krishna but they are essentially different forms of the same "Being".{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}} However, many Vedantic philosophers also argue that the same impersonal, divine power united all individuals in the form of the Atman.

Many other Hindus, however, view polytheism as far preferable to monotheism. Ram Swarup, for example, points to the Vedas as being specifically polytheistic,<ref>{{cite book|last=Goel|first=Sita Ram|title=Defence of Hindu Society|year=1987|publisher=Voice of India|location=New Delhi, India|url=http://voi.org/books/hindusoc/ch5.htm|quote="In the Vedic approach, there is no single God. This is bad enough. But the Hindus do not have even a supreme God, a fuhrer-God who presides over a multiplicity of Gods." – Ram Swarup|access-date=2011-08-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303181337/http://voi.org/books/hindusoc/ch5.htm|archive-date=2016-03-03|url-status=dead}}</ref> and states that, "only some form of polytheism alone can do justice to this variety and richness."<ref>{{cite book|last=Goel|first=Sita Ram|title=Defence of Hindu Society|year=1987|publisher=Voice of India|location=New Delhi, India|url=http://voi.org/books/hindusoc/ch5.htm|access-date=2011-08-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303181337/http://voi.org/books/hindusoc/ch5.htm|archive-date=2016-03-03|url-status=dead}}</ref> <blockquote>Nasadiya Sukta (Hymn of non-Eternity, origin of universe):

There was neither non-existence nor existence then;

Neither the realm of space, nor the sky which is beyond;

What stirred? Where? In whose protection?

There was neither death nor immortality then;

No distinguishing sign of night nor of day;

That One breathed, windless, by its own impulse;

Other than that there was nothing beyond.

Darkness there was at first, by darkness hidden;

Without distinctive marks, this all was water;

That which, becoming, by the void was covered;

That One by force of heat came into being;

Who really knows? Who will here proclaim it?

Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation?

Gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe.

Who then knows whence it has arisen?

Whether God's will created it, or whether He was mute;

Perhaps it formed itself, or perhaps it did not;

The Supreme Brahman of the world, all pervasive and all knowing

He indeed knows, if not, no one knows

-Rig Veda 10.129 (Abridged, Tr: Kramer / Christian) </blockquote>Some Hindus construe this notion of polytheism in the sense of polymorphism—one God with many forms or names. The Rig Veda, the primary Hindu scripture, elucidates this as follows: <blockquote> They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, and he is heavenly nobly-winged Garutman. ''To what is One'', sages give many a title they call it Agni, Yama, Matarisvan. '''Book I, Hymn 164, Verse 46 Rigveda''' </blockquote>

===Judaism and Samaritanism=== {{Main|Yahwism#Transition to Judaism and Samaritanism|Monolatry#In ancient Israel|Henotheism#Canaanite religion and Yahwism}}

===Zoroastrianism=== {{See also|Criticism of Zoroastrianism#Polytheism}} Ahura Mazda is the supreme god, but Zoroastrianism does not deny other deities. Ahura Mazda has yazatas ("good agents"), some of which include Anahita, Sraosha, Mithra, Rashnu, and Tishtrya. Richard Foltz has put forth evidence that Iranians of Pre-Islamic era worshiped all these figures, especially Mithra and Anahita.<ref>Richard Foltz, "Religions of Iran: From Prehistory to the Present", Oneworld Publications, 2013, p. xiv</ref>

Prods Oktor Skjærvø states Zoroastrianism is henotheistic and "a dualistic and polytheistic religion, but with one supreme god, who is the father of the ordered cosmos".<ref>Prods Oktor Skjærvø (2006), ''[http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~iranian/Zoroastrianism/Zoroastrianism1_Intro.pdf Introduction to Zoroastrianism]'', 2005, Harvard University Archives, p. 15 with footnote 1</ref> Other scholars state that this is unclear, because historic texts present a conflicting picture, ranging from Zoroastrianism's belief in "one god, two gods, or a best god henotheism".<ref>{{cite book|author=Brian Arthur Brown|title=Four Testaments: Tao Te Ching, Analects, Dhammapada, Bhagavad Gita: Sacred Scriptures of Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_MsvDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA347|year=2016|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4422-6578-3|pages=347–349}}</ref>

===Tengrism=== {{See also|Turkic mythology|Mongol mythology|Mongolian shamanism}} The nature of Tengrism remains debatable. According to many scholars, Tengrism was originally polytheistic, but a monotheistic branch with the sky god Kök-Tengri as the supreme being evolved as a dynastical legitimation. It is at least agreed that Tengrism formed from the diverse folk religions of the local people and may have had diverse branches.<ref>{{cite book |surname=Schmidt |given=Wilhelm |author-link=Wilhelm Schmidt (linguist) |year=1949–52 |title=Der Ursprung der Gottes |trans-title=The Origin of the Idea of God |volume=9–10 |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |surname=Doerfer |given=Gerhard |author-link=Gerhard Doerfer |year=1965 |title=Turkische und Mongolische Elemente im Neupersischen |volume=2 |place=Wiesbaden |language=de |page=580}}</ref>{{sfnm|1a1=Pettazzoni|1y=1956|1p=261f|2a1=Gumilyov|2y=1967|2loc=ch. 7|3a1=Tanyu|3y=1980|3p=|4a1=Alici|4y=2011|4p=}}

It is suggested that Tengrism was a monotheistic religion only at the imperial level in aristocratic circles,{{Sfnm|1a1=Roux|1y=1956|1p=|2a1=Roux|2y=1984|2p=|3a1=Róna-Tas|3y=1987|3pp=33–45|4a1=Kodar|4y=2009|4p=}}<ref>Meserve, R., ''Religions in the central Asian environment''. In: [http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001204/120455e.pdf History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol. 4] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221846/http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001204/120455e.pdf |date=2016-03-03}}, The age of achievement: A.D. 750 to the end of the fifteenth century, Part Two: The achievements, p. 68: * "The 'imperial' religion was more monotheistic, centred around the all-powerful god Tengri, the sky god."</ref><ref name="PolyMono">Fergus, Michael; Jandosova, Janar. [{{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=jAu9ttUqiJoC |page=91}} Kazakhstan: Coming of Age], Stacey International, 2003, p. 91: * "... a profound combination of monotheism and polytheism that has come to be known as Tengrism."</ref> and, perhaps, only by the 12th–13th centuries (a late form of development of ancient animistic shamanism in the era of the Mongol empire).{{sfn|Bira|2011|p=14}}

According to Jean-Paul Roux, the monotheistic concept evolved from a polytheistic system and was not the original form of Tengrism. The monotheistic concept helped to legitimate the rule of the dynasty: "As there is only one God in Heaven, there can only be one ruler on the earth ...".{{sfn|Roux|1956|p=242}}

Others point out that Tengri itself was never an Absolute, but only one of many gods of the upper world, the sky deity, of polytheistic shamanism, later known as Tengrism.{{sfnm|1a1=Stebleva|1y=1971|1p=|2a1=Klyashtornyj|2y=2008|2p=}}

The term also describes several contemporary Turko-Mongolic native religious movements and teachings. All modern adherents of "political" Tengrism are monotheists.{{sfn|Laruelle|2006|pp=3–4}}

===Modern paganism=== '''Modern paganism''', also known as '''neopaganism''' and '''contemporary paganism''',{{Sfn|Adler|2006|p=xiii}} is a group of contemporary religious movements influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various historical pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe.{{Sfn|Lewis|2004|p=13}}{{Sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|p=84}} Although they have commonalities, contemporary pagan religious movements are diverse, and no single set of beliefs, practices, or texts are shared by them all.{{Sfn|Carpenter|1996|p=40}}

Founder of Wicca Gerald Gardner helped to revive ancient polytheism.<ref name="BBC News 2014">{{cite web | title=Gerald Gardner: Blue plaque for 'father of witchcraft' – BBC News | website=BBC News | date=2014-06-13 | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-dorset-27819164 | access-date=2023-02-22}}</ref><ref name="Hodge 2016 p. 183">{{cite book | last=Hodge | first=B. | title=World Religions and Cults Volume 2: Moralistic, Mythical and Mysticism Religions | publisher=New Leaf Publishing Group, Incorporated | series=World of Religions and Cults | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-61458-504-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mmAzDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA183 | access-date=2023-02-22 | page=183}}</ref> English occultist Dion Fortune was a major populiser of ''soft polytheism''. In her novel ''The Sea Priestess'', she wrote, "All gods are one god, and all goddesses are one goddess, and there is one initiator."<ref name="FortuneKnight2003">{{cite book|last1=Fortune |first1=Dion |author-link1=Dion Fortune |last2=Knight |first2=Gareth |title=The Sea Priestess |date=30 June 2003 |publisher=Weiser |isbn=978-1-57863-290-9 |page=169 |quote=All gods are one god, and all goddesses are one goddess, and there is one initiator.}}</ref>

====Reconstructionism==== {{main|Polytheistic reconstructionism}}

Reconstructionist polytheists apply scholarly disciplines such as history, archaeology, and language study to revive ancient, traditional religions that have been fragmented, damaged, or even destroyed, such as Norse paganism, Roman and Celtic. A reconstructionist endeavors to revive and reconstruct an authentic practice based on the ancestors' ways but workable in contemporary life. These polytheists sharply differ from neopagans in that they consider their religion not only as inspired by historical religions but, in many cases, as a continuation or revival of those religions.<ref name="google">{{cite book|title=Hellenismos Today|author=Alexander, T.J.|date=2007|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=9781430314271|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ie-aHv8rzHoC&pg=PA14|page=14|access-date=23 August 2015}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=February 2020}}

====Wicca==== {{main|Wicca}}

Wicca is a duotheistic faith created by Gerald Gardner that allows for polytheism.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gardner|first=Gerald|title=The Meaning of Witchcraft|year=1982|publisher=Llewellyn Pubns|isbn=0939708027|pages=165–166}}</ref><ref name="Hutton 2003">{{cite book|last=Hutton|first=Ronald|title=The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft|year=2003|publisher=Oxford Paperbacks|isbn=0192854496}}</ref><ref name="Lamond 2005">{{cite book|last=Lamond|first=Frederic|title=Fifty Years of Wicca|year=2005|publisher=Green Magic|isbn=0954723015}}</ref> Wiccans specifically worship the Lord and Lady of the Isles (their names are oathbound).<ref name="Hutton 2003"/><ref name="Lamond 2005"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Bracelin|first=J|title=Gerald Gardner: Witch|year=1999|publisher=Pentacle Enterprises|isbn=1872189083|page=199}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Gardner|first=Gerald|title=The Meaning of Witchcraft|year=1982|publisher=Llewellyn Pubns|isbn=0939708027|pages=260–261}}</ref> It is an orthopraxic mystery religion that requires initiation to the priesthood to consider oneself Wiccan.<ref name="Hutton 2003"/><ref name="Lamond 2005"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Gardner|first=Gerald|title=The Meaning of Witchcraft|year=1982|publisher=Llewellyn Pubns|isbn=0939708027|pages=21–22, 28–29, 69, 116}}</ref> Wicca emphasizes duality and the cycle of nature.<ref name="Hutton 2003"/><ref name="Lamond 2005"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Gardner|first=Gerald|title=The Meaning of Witchcraft|year=1982|publisher=Llewellyn Pubns|isbn=0939708027}}</ref>

===Serer=== {{main|Serer religion|Timeline of Serer history|States headed by ancient Serer Lamanes}}

In Africa, polytheism in Serer religion dates to the Neolithic Era or possibly earlier, when the ancient ancestors of the Serer people represented their ''Pangool'' on the Tassili n'Ajjer.<ref name="Serer religion">{{in lang|fr}} Gravrand, Henry, ''"La civilisation Sereer'' – ''Pangool"'', Les Nouvelles Editions Africaines du Senegal, (1990), {{ISBN|2-7236-1055-1}}. pp 9, 20, 77</ref> {{dubious|date=May 2024}} The supreme creator deity in the Serer religion is Roog. However, there are many deities<ref name="Serer deities">{{in lang|en}} Kellog, Day Otis, and Smith, William Robertson, "The Encyclopædia Britannica: latest edition. A dictionary of arts, sciences and general literature", Volume 25, p 64, Werner (1902)</ref> and Pangool (singular: ''Fangool'', the interceders with the divine) in the Serer religion.<ref name="Serer religion"/> Each has its own purpose and serves as Roog's agent on Earth.<ref name="Serer deities"/> Amongst the Cangin speakers, a sub-group of the Serers, Roog is known as Koox.<ref>{{in lang|fr}} Ndiaye, Ousmane Sémou, "Diversité et unicité sérères: l'example de la région de Thiès", Éthiopiques, no. 54, vol. 7, 2e semestre 1991 [http://ethiopiques.refer.sn/spip.php?page=imprimer-article&id_article=1253] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630093306/http://ethiopiques.refer.sn/spip.php?page=imprimer-article&id_article=1253|date=2020-06-30}}</ref>

==Use as a term of abuse== The term "polytheist" is sometimes used by Sunni Muslim extremist groups such as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as a derogatory reference to Shiite Muslims, whom they view as having "strayed from Islam's monotheistic creed because of the reverence they show for historical figures, like Imam Ali".<ref name=NYT2018-01-17a>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/17/world/middleeast/iraq-baghdad-isis-bombing.html|title=ISIS Claims Responsibility for Baghdad Bombings|last1=Callimachi|first1=Rukmini|date=2018|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-01-21|last2=Coker|first2=Margaret|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|quote=The second refers to the group's view that Shiites have strayed from Islam's monotheistic creed because of the reverence they show for historical figures, like Imam Ali.}}</ref>

Paul Vitz, an opponent of Selfism [sic], termed the United States a "most polytheistic nation".<ref name="Institute 2013 p. 58">{{cite book | last=Institute | first=T.P. | title=Newman and the Intellectual Tradition: Portsmouth Review | publisher=Sheed & Ward | year=2013 | isbn=978-1-58051-249-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qozPQqiGLxEC&pg=PA58 | access-date=2023-05-03 | page=58}}</ref>

The term has occasionally been used by Protestant thinkers, such as Samuel Purchas, as an anti-papist condemnation of worship of "Saints, Images, and the ''Host''".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Purchas |first=Samuel |url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A10228.0001.001/1:7.9?rgn=div2;view=fulltext |title=Purchas, His Pilgrimage |publisher=William Standby for Henrie Fetherstone |year=1613 |location=London |pages=43}}</ref>

==Polydeism== {{Deism sidebar |expanded=movements}} '''Polydeism''' is a portmanteau referencing a polytheistic form of deism, encompassing the belief that the universe was the collective creation of multiple gods, each of whom created a piece of the universe or multiverse and then ceased to intervene in its evolution. The term is a compound of the Greek πολύ ("''many''") and Latin deus ("''god''").

This concept addresses an apparent contradiction in deism, that a monotheistic God created the universe, but now expresses no apparent interest in it, by supposing that, if the universe is the construct of many gods, none of them would have an interest in the universe as a whole.

Creighton University Philosophy professor William O. Stephens,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://puffin.creighton.edu/phil/Bill.htm |title=Article on "Bill" Stephens |access-date=2018-07-07 |archive-date=2016-11-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161129102418/http://puffin.creighton.edu/phil/Bill.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> who has taught this concept, suggests that C. D. Broad projected this concept<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://puffin.creighton.edu/phil/Stephens/phl-323-Spr05-Revu-Q-4.htm |title=article on C. D. Broad's concept projection |access-date=2018-07-07 |archive-date=2006-06-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060621180119/http://puffin.creighton.edu/phil/Stephens/phl-323-Spr05-Revu-Q-4.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> in Broad's 1925 article, "The Validity of Belief in a Personal God".<ref>C. D. Broad, "The Validity of Belief in a Personal God", reprinted in C. D. Broad, ''Religion, Philosophy and Psychical Research'', (1953), 159–174.</ref> Broad noted that the arguments for the existence of God only tend to prove that "a designing mind ''had'' existed in the past, not that it ''does'' exist now. It is quite compatible with this argument that God should have died long ago, or that he should have turned his attention to other parts of the Universe", and notes in the same breath that "there is nothing in the facts to suggest that there is only one such being".<ref>Id. at 171.</ref> Stephens contends that Broad, in turn, derived the concept from David Hume. Stephens states:

{{Blockquote|David Hume's criticisms of the argument from design include the argument that, for all we know, a committee of very powerful, but not omnipotent, divine beings could have collaborated in creating the world, but then afterwards left it alone or even ceased to exist. This would be polydeism.}}

This use of the term appears to originate at least as early as Robert M. Bowman Jr.'s 1997 essay, ''Apologetics from Genesis to Revelation''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.atlantaapologist.org/GenesisToRevelation.PDF |title=Apologetics – From Genesis to Revelation |access-date=2018-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060831025947/http://www.atlantaapologist.org/GenesisToRevelation.PDF |archive-date=2006-08-31 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Bowman wrote:

{{Blockquote|Materialism (illustrated by the Epicureans), represented today by atheism, skepticism, and deism. The materialist may acknowledge superior beings, but they do not believe in a Supreme Being. Epicureanism was founded about 300 BC by Epicurus. Their world view might be called "polydeism:" there are many gods, but they are merely superhuman beings; they are remote, uninvolved in the world, posing no threat and offering no hope to human beings. Epicureans regarded traditional religion and idolatry as harmless enough as long as the gods were not feared or expected to do or say anything.}}

Sociologist Susan Starr Sered used the term in her 1994 book, ''Priestess, Mother, Sacred Sister: Religions Dominated by Women'', which includes a chapter titled, "No Father in Heaven: Androgyny and Polydeism". She writes that she has "chosen to gloss on 'polydeism' a range of beliefs in more than one supernatural entity".<ref name="Sered">Susan Starr Sered, ''Priestess, Mother, Sacred Sister: Religions Dominated by Women'' (1994), p. 169.</ref> Sered used this term in a way that would encompass polytheism, rather than exclude much of it, as she intended to capture both polytheistic systems and nontheistic systems that assert the influence of "spirits or ancestors".<ref name="Sered"/> This use of the term, however, does not accord with the historical misuse of ''deism'' as a concept to describe an absent creator god.

== See also == {{Portal|Mythology|Religion}} * Animism * Diffused monotheism * Ethnic religion * Hellenismos * Henotheism * Judgement of Paris * Kathenotheism * Monolatry * Panentheism * Pantheism * Polytheistic reconstructionism * Shirk (polytheism) * West African Vodun

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

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==Further reading== * Assmann, Jan, 'Monotheism and Polytheism' in: Sarah Iles Johnston (ed.), ''Religions of the Ancient World: A Guide'', Harvard University Press (2004), {{ISBN|0-674-01517-7}}, pp. 17–31. * Burkert, Walter, ''Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical'', Blackwell (1985), {{ISBN|0-631-15624-0}}.  * Greer, John Michael; ''A World Full of Gods: An Inquiry Into Polytheism'', ADF Publishing (2005), {{ISBN|0-9765681-0-1}} * Iles Johnston, Sarah; ''Ancient Religions'', Belknap Press (September 15, 2007), {{ISBN|0-674-02548-2}} * Paper, Jordan; ''The Deities are Many: A Polytheistic Theology'', State University of New York Press (March 3, 2005), {{ISBN|978-0-7914-6387-1}} * Penchansky, David, ''Twilight of the Gods: Polytheism in the Hebrew Bible'' (2005), {{ISBN|0-664-22885-2}}. * Swarup, Ram, & Frawley, David (2001). ''The word as revelation: Names of gods''. New Delhi: Voice of India. {{ISBN|978-8185990682}}

==External links== {{Wikiquote}} {{Wiktionary}} * {{Commons category-inline}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20150909120109/http://www.manygods.org.uk/ The Association of Polytheist Traditions] – APT, a UK-based community of Polytheists (archived 9 September 2015) * [https://web.archive.org/web/20150907083159/http://www.monochrom.at/polytheism/ International Year Of Polytheism] Philosophical project promoting polytheism by group monochrom (archived 7 September 2015) * {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080908020512/http://polytheism.org.uk/wordpress Integrational Polytheism]}} (archived 8 September 2008)

Category:Polytheism Category:Philosophy of religion