polytheism

Polytheism is the belief in or worship of more than one god. Polytheistic belief is usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, the belief in a singular god who is, in most cases, transcendent.

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Polytheism is the belief in and worship of multiple gods, typically organized into a pantheon with their own religious practices and rituals. It matters because it represents one of the major ways people organize their spiritual beliefs, standing in contrast to monotheism, which centers on worship of a single god.

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Commons category: Deities

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Article

27 sections

Contents

Terminology
Soft versus hard
Gods and divinity
Types of deities
Religion and mythology
Ancient and historical religions
Ancient Greece
Folk religions
Modern religions
Buddhism
Christianity
Mormonism
Hinduism
Judaism and Samaritanism
Zoroastrianism
Tengrism
Modern paganism
Reconstructionism
Wicca
Serer
Use as a term of abuse
Polydeism
See also
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links

In religions that accept polytheism, the different gods and goddesses may be representations of forces of nature or ancestral principles; they can be viewed either as autonomous or as aspects or emanations of a creator deity or transcendental absolute principle (monistic theologies), which manifests immanently in nature (panentheistic and pantheistic theologies). Polytheists do not always worship all the gods equally; they can be in monolatrists or kathenotheists, specializing in the worship of one particular deity only or at certain times (respectively)