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A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. [1] [2] The Oxford Dictionary of English defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. [3]
Deus (Classical Latin:, Ecclesiastical Latin: [ˈd̪ɛː.us]) is the Latin word for 'god' or 'deity'. Latin deus and dīvus ('divine') are in turn descended from Proto-Indo-European *deiwos, 'celestial' or 'shining', from the same root as *Dyēus, the reconstructed chief god of the Proto-Indo-European pantheon.
In general, mortals with divine qualities are carefully distinguished from the deity or deities in their religion's main pantheon. [9] Even the Christian faith, which generally holds Christ to be identical to God, distinguishes between God the Father and Christ the begotten Son. [10]
In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. [1] In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the universe or life, for which such a deity is often worshipped". [2]
A basic classification of the types of gods as based on the Motif-Index of Folk-Literature, by Stith Thompson: [1] A0 Creator; A100—A199. The gods in general A101. Supreme God; A104. The Making of the Gods; A107. Gods of Darkness and Light (darkness thought of as evil and light as good). A109.1. Triple deity; A116. Triplet gods; A111.1 ...
Conceptions of God in classical theist, monotheist, pantheist, and panentheist traditions – or of the supreme deity in henotheistic religions – can extend to various levels of abstraction: as a powerful, personal, supernatural being, or as the deification of an esoteric, mystical or philosophical entity or category;
Monotheism—the belief that there is only one deity—is the focus of the Abrahamic religions, which like-mindedly conceive God as the all-powerful and all-knowing deity [1] from whom Abraham received a divine revelation, according to their respective narratives. [2] The most prominent Abrahamic religions are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. [3]
The Trinity is the Christian belief that God is one God in essence but three persons: God the Father, God the Son , and God the Holy Spirit. [ 113 ] Among early Christians , there was considerable debate over the nature of the Godhead , with some denying the incarnation but not the deity of Jesus ( Docetism ) and others later calling for an ...