=6. Theism; Atheism, etc.=--According to current usage, _Theism_ signifies a belief in God,--the acceptance of one living and eternal Being who has revealed Himself to man. _Deism_ implies a professed belief in God, but denies to Deity the power to reveal Himself, and asserts a disbelief in Christianity; the term is used in different senses, prominent among which are:--(1) belief in God as an intelligent and eternal Being, with a denial of all providential care: (2) belief in God, with denial of a future state of the soul: (3) as advocated by Kant, denial of a personal God, while asserting belief in an infinite force, inseparably associated with matter, and operating as the first great cause. _Pantheism_ regards matter and mind as one, embracing everything finite and infinite, and calls this universal existence God. In its philosophical aspect, pantheism "has three generic forms with variations: (1) _one-substance pantheism_ which ascribes to the universal being the attributes of both mind and matter, thought and extension, as in Spinoza's system: (2) _materialistic pantheism_ which ascribes to it only the attributes of matter, as in the system of Strauss: (3) _idealistic pantheism_ which ascribes to it only the existence of mind as in Hegel's system." In its doctrinal aspect, pantheism comprises "the worship of nature and humanity founded on the doctrine that the entire phenomenal universe, including man and nature, is the ever-changing manifestation of God." _Polytheism_ is the doctrine of a plurality of gods, who are usually regarded as personifications of forces or phenomena of nature. _Monotheism_ is the doctrine that there is but one God. _Atheism_ signifies disbelief in God, or the denial of God's existence; _dogmatic atheism_ denies, while _negative atheism_ ignores, the existence of a God. _Infidelity_ is sometimes used as synonymous with atheism, though specifically the term signifies a milder form of unbelief, manifesting itself in scepticism on matters religious, a disbelief in the religion of the Bible, and of course a rejection of the doctrines of Christianity. _Agnosticism_ holds that God is unknown and unknowable; that His existence can neither be proved nor disproved; it neither affirms nor denies the existence of a personal God; it is the doctrine of "We do not know."--_See Standard Dictionary._