monotheist (s) (noun)
, monotheists (pl)
Someone who believes that there is only one God and no other gods.
A reference to the belief that there is only one God; the opposite of polytheism.
multipletheism (s) (noun)
, multipletheisms (pl)
The belief in the existence of various gods or of many gods.
myriotheism (s) (noun)
, myriotheisms (pl)
The worshiping of or believing in more than one deity (god), usually many deities: "Myriotheism and polytheism both refer to the worship of many gods."
myriotheist (s) (noun)
, myriotheists (pl)
Someone who believes in, or maintains the doctrine of, a multitude of gods.
mythotheology (s) (noun)
, mythotheologies (pl)
Theology or a belief in a god that is based on an ancient story dealing with supernatural beings.
A reference to the concept that within the brain are neural structures which provide a potential for religious experiences: "Some neurotheological experiences suggest that there are people who have a better understanding about their existence in the world, and how everything suddenly becomes filled with divine significance and meaning."
neurotheology, neuro-theology (s) (noun)
, neurotheologies, neuro-theologies (pl)
1. The search for the place, or places, in the brain where religious beliefs originate: "Neurotheology mixes terms and methods from science and religion in an attempt to confer the authority of science upon religion."
"In neurotheology, psychologists and neurologists try to determine which regions turn on, and which areas turn off, during experiences that seem to exist outside time and space."
2. The scientific study of religious or spiritual feelings by using the tools of psychology and neuroscience to probe the neural basis of religious experience: "Neurotheology is said to be a passion for uncovering the neurological evidence of spiritual and mystical experiences; for discovering, in short, what happens in people's brains when they sense that they "have encountered a reality different from—and, in some crucial sense, higher than—the reality of everyday experiences."
"Research in this field of neurotheology roughly divides into two types: (1) either stimulating spiritual experience with drugs, or (2) studying brain activity during such experiences using imaging techniques to see which regions of the brain are changing; and for some researchers, 'these moments of calm or absence of mental stress are little more than common deviations or variations in brain chemistry'."
ochlotheocracy (s) (noun)
, ochlotheocracies (pl)
The rule of a "mob" or crowd of gods.
Related to the philosophical study of the nature of God or the theology of being, existence, or reality; as well as, the basic categories of being and their relationships.
ontotheology (s) (noun)
, ontotheologies (pl)
The cognition or knowing, perceiving, reasoning, and judging of a Supreme Being from bare conceptions: "Ontotheology is a tradition of philosophical theology which was prominent among medieval scholastics; in other words, the study of the nature of being, existence, or reality."
panentheism (s) (noun)
, panentheisms (pl)
1. A philosophy founded on the notion that all things are in God: Panentheism is a doctrine that the universe is part of God, but that God nevertheless transcends or has some existence separate from the universe.
2. A belief that God is all reality, but not all reality is God.
panentheist (s) (noun)
, panentheists (pl)
1. A person who believes that all things are in God: A panentheist maintains that God and the world are inter-related with the world being in God and God being in the world.
2. Etymology: from the Greek elements pan, "all" + en, "in" + theist, "God".
pantheism (s) (noun)
, pantheisms (pl)
1. The belief that God and the material world are one and the same thing and that God is present in everything and every where.
2. The belief in and worship of all or many deities.
pantheist (s) (noun)
, pantheists (pl)
Anyone who believes that God is present in everything or someone who believes in many gods.
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