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Polytheism is the belief in or worship of more than one god. [1] [2] [3] According to Oxford Reference, it is not easy to count gods, and so not always obvious whether an apparently polytheistic religion, such as Chinese Folk Religions, is really so, or whether the apparent different objects of worship are to be thought of as manifestations of a singular divinity. [1]
Monolatry is distinguished from monotheism, which asserts the existence of only one god, and henotheism, a religious system in which the believer worships one god while accepting that others, for example in different areas, may worship different gods with equal validity [clarify]. [3]
One modern academic theory of religion, social constructionism, says that religion is a modern concept that suggests all spiritual practice and worship follows a model similar to the Abrahamic religions as an orientation system that helps to interpret reality and define human beings, [6] and thus believes that religion, as a concept, has been ...
In some religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, those who hold to an exclusivist understanding of religion see multiple religious belonging as problematic. This is in contrast with countries such as China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, whose cultures have a long history of being influenced by different religions. [6]
Some well-known historical polytheistic pantheons include the Sumerian gods and the Egyptian gods, and the classical-attested pantheon which includes the ancient Greek religion and Roman religion. [citation needed] Post-classical polytheistic religions include Norse Æsir and Vanir, the Yoruba Orisha, the Aztec gods, and many others.
"Wide monotheism" is a religion that believes in only one supreme deity, allowing the possibility of there being other lesser deities. A narrow monotheistic religion will often regard other monotheistic religions as worshipping its own specific deity under a different name or form (hence the Abrahamic religions believe they worship the same one ...
Religions can be categorized by how many deities they worship. Monotheistic religions accept only one deity (predominantly referred to as "God"), [5] [6] whereas polytheistic religions accept multiple deities. [7] Henotheistic religions accept one supreme deity without denying other deities, considering them as aspects of the same divine principle.
Anglo-Saxon deities List of Norse gods and goddesses Greek deities (see also Ancient Greek religion , Twelve Olympians , Greek hero cult , Family tree of the Greek gods , Mycenaean gods , Hellenismos )