Polydeism: Encyclopedia II - Polydeism - Etymologically disjunctive uses of the term

Polydeism - Etymologically disjunctive uses of the term

The term, polydeism, has occasionally been misused as a direct substitute for polytheism - a usage which fails to consider the distinctions between the root words, deism and theism. The above description of polydeism would be a distinct subset of polytheism.

Sociologist Susan Starr Sered used the term in her 1994 book, Priestess, Mother, Sacred Sister : Religions Dominated by Women, which includes a chapter titled, "No Father in Heaven: Androgyny and Polydeism". Sered states therein that she has "chosen to gloss on "polydeism" a range of beliefs in more than one supernatural entity". Id. at 169. Sered used this term in a way that would encompass polytheism, rather than exclude much of it, as she intended to capture both polytheistic systems and non-theistic systems that assert the influence of "spirits or ancestors". Id. This use of the term, however, does not accord with the historical use of deism as a concept to describe an absent creator god.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Etymologically disjunctive uses of the term", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki