By Pastor Nick Bibile
Theism
comes from theist one who believes in the existence of God. Atheist
oppose the existence of God.
Jews, Islam and Christians believe in theism, the existence of God.
This
is an attempt to explain the foreknowledge of God in relationship to the free
will of man. They believe human beings are absolutely free and God doesn’t know
the absolute future, so the future is not really knowable. They believe that
God can change his mind due to circumstances.
Deism
believe in God but not personal, he is not involve
with our lives. They believe that God created the world but he will not
interfere anymore. They also denies the trinity, deity
of Christ, supernatural events of the Bible, acts of redemption.
Dualism
believes there is good and evil. They believe in two powerful forces of good
and evil, they can be both equal. But Christianity believes God is the most
powerful Almighty God and Satan is a created being under the power of God and
Satan will be totally defeated.
Pantheism
believe God is everything and everyone and that
everyone and everything is God. For them everything what you see is god.
Pantheists love the natural world.
Christians believe God is everywhere, but He is not everything. Everything
is created by God.
Polytheism
is the belief that there are many gods. Breaking the word
down, “poly” comes from the Greek word for “many,” and “theism” from the Greek
word for “God.”
The most dangerous heresy which the apostles had to
confront during their time. They
believed everything is evil and our bodies are prison and need to escape this
body and the material world. Gnostics claim to possess an elevated knowledge, a
“higher truth” known only to a certain few. Gnosticism comes from the Greek
word gnosis which means “to know.” Gnostics claim to possess a higher
knowledge, not from the Bible. That knowledge was the secret key to salvation.
Gnostics believe originally God never intended to create a material world but
all spiritual but there was error in God’s part and the results were material,
evil things came upon. Apostle Paul and apostle John
proclaimed the deity of Christ.
The
word “monotheism” comes from two words, “mono” meaning “single” and “theism”
meaning “belief in God.” Specifically, monotheism is the belief in one true God
who is the only creator, redeemer, sustainer, and judge of all creation.