Various Views Of God Quiz
● dynamism:
There is in all things a force that can be tapped for either good or evil
purposes. This is an impersonal force that is stronger than man
● Modern representation of Dynamism:
Cosmic Humanism(new age, Transcendentalism and Christian
science) Plato, Hegel, and Emerson.STAR WARS
● Spiritual contrast for dynamism:
God is personal as well as transcendent
from God
Man is naturally alienated
● Animism:
All of nature has spirits that are personal and responsive to the
worshiper. The spirit will do good or evil according to the worshipers
activities. Help or injury can come from these spirits at the will of the
spirit. Animism views all material things as being and existing due to
the spiritual part of the object. The immaterial is inseparable from the
matter and gives matter form of life.
● modern representation of animism:
Primitive tribes all over the world
● Spiritual contrast to animism:
Material items such as wood and stone do not have life
● Polytheism:
It is greek for many Gods. These gods are usually well defined in the
person's mind. They may live in mountains or in other objects of
nature. In Greek thought they were well defined gods of supernatural
nature. The Greek gods all lived on Mount Olympus. Quite often there
will be one god that is over the other gods or more powerful than the
other gods. There is indication in the OT that many of the peoples of
the earth were polytheistic. They all felt that each god had different
levels of power. When they ran into a god more powerful than their
god they would add a new god to the list of gods.
● Modern representation of polytheism:
Hinduism, Zen Buddhism, and Mormonism
● Spiritual contrast of Polytheism:
There is only one God
● Dualism:
This thought comes from the latin Duo or two. Dualism is a belief in
two equal gods of opposing character. One is good and one is evil.
(Zoroastrianism) Many of the concepts of creation are based on two
gods, one good and one evil. They quite often are the products of one
set of parents.
● Modern representation of Dualism:
Some misguided Christian teaching that ascribes to Satan power
being equal to God's power
● Spiritual contrast of Dualism:
There is only one God
● Pantheism:
All there is, is god and there ain't no more. God is all and all is god
and all you see is the manifestation of that god. There is no
matter-only god. God is everything or everything is God
● Modern Representation of Pantheism:
Hinduism and Philosopher Spinoza
● Spiritual contrast of pantheism:
God is personal and transcendent. Man is a real entity and a limites
free moral agent.
● Deism:
Deism comes from the Latin Dei or God. There is one supreme god
that is personal, but he is far off from mankind and as a result is very
seldom worshipped or heard from. God is known from reason and
nature but not from scripture. He is the creator but not the sustainer.
He is the maker but not the keeper.
● Modern Representation of Deism:
theistic evolution Voltaire Hobbes Jefferson
● Spiritual contrast of Deism:
God is eminent and man is inherently depraved and needs grace to
be saved. Man is not autonomous
● Monotheism:
From the Greek words monos (one) and theos Monotheism presents
a perfectly ethical God that is in the world yet distant from the world.
We believe in one God only
● Modern Representation of monotheism
● Christianity, Islam, Judaism,
● Biblical of Monotheism:
there is only one true God
● Theism:
Theism is the same as Monotheism with the added idea of self
revelation. God has revealed himself via our nature and the
Scriptures. Theism is belief in the existence of a personal God
● Atheism:
Atheism is the denial of God's existence. Indeed the atheist tries to
prove that god does not exist
● Modern representation of atheism:
Dawkins and Gould
● Agnosticism:
It is the denial that god or His creation can be known. It comes from
Greek and Latin. It is basically the belief that God cannot be known
even if there is one God
● Modern representation of agnosticism:
most self proclaimed atheist
● spiritual contrast to agnosticism:
the scriptures assume the existence of God. Jesus came to tell us of
the existence of God.