Deity

This article is about gods and goddesses. See also God.

Many people believe that a deity is a powerful spirit that controls events and the nature of things. Deities are also called gods. A female god is often called a goddess. "Divine" is the adjective of deity.

Different religions believe in different deities. Since there are many religions in the world there are many different ideas about how many deities there are, what they are, and what they can do. Followers of many ancient religions and some modern religions believe in many deities. The belief in more than one deity is called polytheism. The two largest religions on earth, Christianity and Islam, believe in only one God, which is called monotheism. Deism is the belief that a deity exists, but that the deity seldom or never intervenes in the universe. Pantheism is the belief that the universe is the deity.

In most religions, a deity is believed to be immortal (cannot die), and to have powers far beyond those of humans.

Examples

Some of the deities of different religions are:

• From the Ancient Greek religion: Zeus, Apollo, Athena, Ares, Aphrodite, Poseidon, Hades, Dionysus, Hera, Artemis, Hephaestus, Hermes aphrodite
• From the Ancient Norse religion: Thor, Odin
• From the Ancient Roman religion: Jupiter, Mars, Venus
• From the Ancient Egyptian religion: Isis, Osiris, Horus, Thoth, Ra, Hathor
• From Ayyavazhi: Ekam, Ayya Vaikundar, Narayana, Sivan, Vethan, Thirumal
• From Christianity: Jesus, Yahweh, the Holy Spirit (Considered to Christians as the three parts of one God)
• From Judaism: Hashem
• From Hinduism: Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Krishna, Durga, Ganesha
• From Islam: Allah
• From Shinto: Amaterasu the Sun goddess, Inari the Fox god, Izanagi the first human, Ryuujin the Sea god, Susanoo the Storm god.