Theism
Theism, in the broadest sense, is the belief that at least one deity exists. In a more specific sense,
theism is commonly a monotheistic doctrine concerning the nature of a deity, and that deity's relationship to the universe.
Theism, in this specific sense, conceives of God as personal, present and active in the governance and organization of the world and the universe. As such
theism describes the classical conception of God that is found in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism. The use of the word
theism to indicate this classical form of monotheism began during the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century in order to distinguish it from the then-emerging deism which contended that God, though transcendent and supreme, did not intervene in the natural world and could be known rationally but not via revelation. The term
theism derives from the Greek
theos meaning "god". The term
theism was first used by Ralph Cudworth.