Theism. Definition of

Darwinism isn't the belief that Darwin exists and Buddhism isn't the belief that Buddha exists
so why is Theism universally declared to be the belief that God exists?The bible itself says:

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James 2:19 (New International Version)

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19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe thatand shudder.

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The dictionary defines 'ism' as:

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Doctrine; theory; system of principles: Darwinism.

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One can believe in the principles of Buddhism or Darwinism and even consider oneself to be a Buddhist or Darwinist and yet not believe that Buddha or Darwin ever existed.
Is there any reason one could not believe in the system of principles of theism without believing in the existence of any magical beings?Edited by granpa, : No reason given.

From the top 3 Google "theism" finds:Theism - Wikipedia -

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Theism, in the broadest sense, is the belief that at least one deity exists. In a more specific sense, theism refers to a doctrine concerning the nature of a monotheistic God and God's relationship to the universe.

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Theism Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com -

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1 - the belief in one god as the creator and ruler of the universe, without rejection of revelation (distinguished from deism).

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2 - belief in the existence of a god or gods (opposed to atheism).

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http://www.theism.info/ -

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Theism is the belief in a god or gods. Classical theism affirms the existence of one god, and ascribes to this god certain attributes, e.g. omnipotence, omniscience, immutability, and impassibility.

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Case closed?So in which I believe you meant to say (striking the "not") becomes Presuming that "deity/god" and "magical being" is the same thing to you, does that question make sense to you?AdminnemooseusEdited by Adminnemooseus, : Change a couple of "deity" to "deity/god".

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by that definition a satanist could be considered a theist.Does that make sense to you?

Makes sense to me. A matter of choice of deity.Adminnemooseus

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that depends on whether or not you regard the principles of theism to be whatever God says they are
or whether you think God says them because they are the principles of theism.Does one accept that right and wrong is whatever God says
or does one accept that right and wrong already exist
and would exist whether God did or not
and God, if he existed, would therefore be limited to these already existing principles.Edited by granpa, : No reason given.Edited by granpa, : No reason given.Edited by granpa, : No reason given.Edited by granpa, : No reason given.

...the definition of "theism". That's the topic title.In message 1 you ask: To which I supplied a number of sources and "theism" definitions that answered that question. The philosophy of theism is a philosophy that at least 1 deity/god exists.I find the rest of your input to be pretty muddled. You seem to be wanting to explore theistic philosophy while excluding considerations of a god existing. Which, to me, makes absolutely no sense.Adminnemooseus

That is the topic and the question was

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Is there any reason one could not believe in the system of principles of theism without believing in the existence of any magical beings?

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in the same way that one can believe in buddhism without believing that buddha existed
and one can believe in darwinism without believing that darwin existed.quoting dictionary definitions doesnt explain anything.
It merely proves my point, that 'theism' is generally and inexplicably, regarded as merely the belief that God exists even though no other 'ism' is similarly defined.
It doesnt explain why this one single 'ism' is defined differently than all other isms. Edited by granpa, : No reason given.Edited by granpa, : No reason given.Edited by granpa, : combine consecutive posts

deletedEdited by granpa, : combined with previous post

As I see it, there is a significant ambiguity in your using "not" in that question (I had previously suggested that your question's intent would be clearer by excluding that "not").If you indeed want that "not" in there, are you intending "one could not (couldn't) believe in" or "one could not believe in"? To me, there is a subtle but significant difference. In the Judaic/Christian/Islamic theism/theology, there is the belief in a god (God or Allah). More so, there is a belief in a creator god. So I turn your statement into... ...which makes no sense to me.By the way, "Darwinism" is not a philosophy. It is a name attached to the theory of biological evolution, named after Charles Darwin."Buddhism" seems to fall into a sort of grey area between non-theistic and theistic philosophy, attributed to someone known as the Buddha. This Buddha may or may not actually have been a real person.Likewise to "Buddhism", one might consider "Christism", the philosophy attributed to someone known as Jesus Christ. This Jesus Christ may or may not actually have been a real person, but that philosophy still exists.AdminnemooseusAdded by edit: Granpa's message was edited while I was preparing the above.Edited by Adminnemooseus, : See above.

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Satanism is a variety of Theism

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How many theists do you think would agree with that?For that matter, how many theists do you think define God as a magical being?Edited by granpa, : No reason given.

Theism is a philosophy based on the existence of god(s). It, at the minimum, STRONGLY implies a belief that said god(s) exists, regardless of whether that belief is correct or not.Theist = Godist - One who believe in God.

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Theist - 1660's, from Gk. theos "god" (see Thea) + -ist. The original senses was that later reserved to deist: "one who believes in a transcendant god but denies revelation." Later in 18c. theist was contrasted with deist, as allowing the possibility of revelation.

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SourceSuch is my opinion. I may be wrong, but I fail to see how it's a relevant part of this topic (see "second added by edit", below).How many theists do you think there are, who don't have some variety of belief in God's existence?Added by edit, regarding your added by edit: You seem to be one. Or, what would you define God to be?AdminnemooseusSecond added by edit:

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The Church of Satan does not worship or support a belief in the Devil or other supernatural entities. "My real feeling is that anybody who believes in supernatural entities on some level is insane. Whether they believe in The Devil or God, they are abdicating reason," said Peter Gilmore. Gilmore defines the word Satan: "Satan is a model or a mode of behavior. Satan in Hebrew means 'adversary' or 'opposer'; one who questions.

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SourceThis indeed indicates that I was wrong - Satanists don't view Satan as being a deity.Edited by Adminnemooseus, : See above.Edited by Adminnemooseus, : See above.

Are you still interested in working with Adminnemooseus to have this thread promoted, or should this proposal be closed?

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

the point that I was trying to make was made better here:
EvC Forum: death driveAdminnemooseus is so far off base that there is no hope of bridging the gap.