The big guy in the sky

Mono-, Heno-, Dei-, Poly-, Pan-, Panen- or Agnostic Theism.

So you believe in god, but which kind? How many? How big is he? Does he listen to you? The answers are as varied as there are ideas. Here is a breakdown for you of the major schools of thought on the big guy/s:

Monotheism: Mono (one) + theos (god) = one god. These are the guys who believes in one god and one god only, Christianity, Islam etc.

Henotheism: Henos (one) + theos (god) = one god. A case of my god is better than yours. Maybe Christians, Muslims or others who accepts that there are other gods, but only their god deserves worship.


Deism: A.K.A. The Watchmaker God. This is a god from this universe, a personable god who created us and all that is around us, but then cut the cord and now only observes and contemplates. So according to this we are specs of dust in a mad scientist’s cosmic petri dish.





Polytheism: Poly (many) + theos (god) = many gods. This is where wicca and Neo-paganism resides. This is a belief in multiple gods, where one god would be a part of a pantheon of gods representing a culture. So the Greeks had multiple gods, each representing a facet of their culture or a value or an aspect of humanity. Prayer and worship would according to purpose, if Greeks wanted wisdom they’d pray to Athena, strength Zeus, healing, Apollo etc.

Pantheism: Pan (all/everything) + theos (god) = god in everything. Omnipotence is the word. Two views; that the universe is god and should be worshipped as a whole or that everything around us is a manifestation of god and that if we add up everything in the universe the total would be equal to god.

Panentheism: Similar to Pantheism, but Panentheism states that though god is penetrates everything in nature and the universe, he is still an independent identity and is larger than the sum total of our universe. So he is bigger and more independent than the Pantheistic god.

Agnostic Theism: These are borderline atheists who want to play it safe. “Gnosis” means knowledge and agnostic is to be without knowledge. Two types here. One Agnostic says “I can’t know for sure if there is a god.” ; the other Agnostic says “One can never know for sure if there is a god.”

Hope it helps, though you might have more questions than answers at this point.

Blessed Be,

Huge