Theism

Theism is the belief that all finite things/existence are dependent on an ultimate reality in a personal way. Its view of god (or supreme power/reality) is differentiated from deism in that deism sees god as being removed from this reality which exists now on its own. (Deism is therefore easier to work with because current existence does not rely on god, even though it was originally created by god.) Theisms generally see current existence as immediately dependent on god. It is differentiated from pantheisms and monisms which see god and the world as coexistant, in comparison to the separation to which theisms subscribe. Theism sees the world as distinct from its god/supreme being, which, nevertheless, may be involved in the world. Mysticism is similar to theism, except that mysticsm repudiates a finite reality, whereas theism makes no attempt to do so.

Perhaps the most intricate presentation that the human concept of existence is dependent upon a reality beyond comprehension is the Old Testament, which influenced Hebrew history, Christianity and Islam. The sequence of stories depict a situation in which people look for signs of god (in this case the only god) but may never experience the reality of god, only the reality of human perception, symbols suposedly from god.

A key problem of theism is how such an other worldly being could be known at all and, if known, how this entity can be discussed in specific or personal ways. The main sources of reasoning are:

Platonic and Aristotelean arguments reasoning that goodness is indicative of god and that some phenomena are observed but not explained and thus must come from god.
The causal argument evolved from Platonic and Aristotelean ideas and was first argued by St. Thomas Aquinas. This proposes that movement implies an unmoved mover. This begs the question "who made the mover?" or "who created god?". The conclusion to this line of thought appears to be that definition of the cause is impossible. Existence was caused by something. Theists believe it was god that caused existence, but even this in itself does not present any support for proof or definition of god.
The ontological argument, that the idea of god implies its existence.
The telelogical argument that there is value, worth and design in the world therefore there must be a designer. But it has difficulty explaining the negative aspects of design or even proving that existence is accidental rather than purposeful. (However, its advantage is that analysis of the design of things can be used as a direct explanation of the nature of god.)
Evidence of revelation or of divine disclosure is used for proof of god. In the end, it appears necessary to have this kind of proof to support theism. (The problem of a finite mind understanding an infinite entity remains.) A similar rationale of seeking an authority (book, institution, person etc) has a similar problem of initially justifying the authority. And similarly religious experience (even paranormal phenomena) used as proof, can not explain the source of the phenomenon - it is either the infinite being or an accident or merely not yet understood, but no more weight can be given to one rationale over another.
Modern thought uses other disciplines, such as anthropology, to further the discussion, but they do not necessarily support the hypothesis of theism.
A serious alternative is that the god of theism is not infinite but limited in power, though not goodness. (Whether this is a form of thesim appears undecided.) This is convenient because it allows for evil and wrongdoing, which god would prevent if it had infinite power. Many paradoxes remain and it is not clear that the dificulties associated with even a finite god can be overcome.

Spiritual Systems				Main Religions
Agnosticism	Atheism	Monotheism	Polytheism	Buddhism	Islam
Ancestor	Deism	Naturism	Theism	Christianity	Judaism
Atheism	Dualism	Pantheism	Totemism	Hinduism