Made with Xara Human nature, being what it is, attempts to categorise most things including what we believe.  Even simply ‘believing’ places you in one box, while ‘non-believing’ places you in another.  Philosophers attempt to define more clearly what we actually believe, and have established numerous ‘boxes’ into which they would place us.  It can be confusing, - it was to me, so I thought it may be helpful to explain what some of the labels on the boxes actually meant in layman terms.  The following is not intended to be a defining work of knowledge, just an attempt to simplify.  I am sure however there will be those who will say that I have over-simplified. Almost all the content is taken from, or is a précis of Wikipedia articles. Theists in the broadest sense believe in at least one deity, or supreme power or intelligence.  The term theism derives from the Greek ‘theos’ meaning god.  ‘God’ is simply a label which people apply to ‘their’ deity. Monotheism is the belief in theology that only one deity exists. The concept of "monotheism" tends to be dominated by the concept of God in the Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Druze, also the Platonic concept of God, as well as the Advaita, Dvaita and Vishishtadvaita philosophies of Hinduism, although the latter philosophies admit the existence of a plethora of divine beings including less-powerful deities such as devas. Sikhism on the other hand, is a monotheistic Indian religion, in contrast to many schools of Hinduism and the other Indian religions.  The concept of monotheism in Islam and Judaism however, is far more direct, their god's oneness (’God’) being understood as absolutely unquestionable. Polytheism is the belief that there is more than one deity. In practice, polytheism is not just the belief that there are multiple gods; it usually includes belief in the existence of a specific pantheon of distinct deities.  Within polytheism there are hard and soft varieties:   Hard polytheism views the gods as being distinct and separate beings; an example of this would be the Egyptian and Greek Religions; along with certain schools of Hinduism.  Soft polytheism views the gods as being subsumed into a greater whole. Some forms of Hinduism such as Smartism/Advaita Vedanta serve as examples of soft polytheism. Pantheism: The belief that the physical universe is equivalent to a god or gods, and that there is no division between a Creator and the substance of its creation.  God does not exist, God is. Atheists, in a broad sense, reject any belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. The term atheism originated from the Greek ‘atheos’, meaning "without gods"   For most people, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which in its most general form is the belief that at least one deity exists.  However, atheism also figures in certain religious and spiritual belief systems, such as some forms of Buddhism that do not advocate belief in gods.  A chart showing the relationship between the definitions of weak/strong and implicit/explicit atheism. Explicit strong/positive/hard atheists (in purple on the right) assert that "at least one deity exists" is a false statement. Explicit weak/negative/soft atheists (in blue on the right) reject or eschew belief that any deities exist without actually asserting that "at least one deity exists" is a false statement. Implicit weak atheists (in blue on the left) would include people (such as young children and some agnostics) who do not believe in a deity, but have not explicitly rejected such belief. Agnostics are absent of belief, where theism and atheism require faith that there is or is not a deity or deities. An Agnostic would say, "I neither have a belief in a deity nor do I have a belief in the absence of such a deity." In his 1953 essay, What Is An Agnostic? Bertrand Russell states:  An agnostic thinks it impossible to know the truth in matters such as God and the future life with which Christianity and other religions are concerned. Or, if not impossible, at least impossible at the present time. What may seem like dissonance is the position of Agnostic theism, this is the view of those who do not claim to know of the existence of any deity, but still believe in such an existence. wedding blessings on ibiza Site Map Beautiful Ibiza weddings, blessings and other ceremonies blessings-on-ibiza.com