as in paganism
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Recent Examples of polytheism
Both discoveries date to the period when the Roman Empire was transitioning from polytheism to Christianity.
—
Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Dec. 2024
Religious history Fascinating finds related to religious history tell a story of diverse belief systems from the polytheism of the ancient Greeks and Romans to Buddhism and Christianity.
—Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Dec. 2024
Also, Akhenaten’s successor tried to steer religion back to polytheism, which is contrary to Nefertiti’s earlier views.
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 1 May 2024
Nor does the divide between Mesopotamian polytheism and Jewish monotheism pose a problem.
—Esther Brownsmith, The Conversation, 21 Mar. 2024
Religious history Fascinating finds related to religious history tell a story of diverse, competing yet sometimes complementary worldviews, from the polytheism of the ancient Greeks and Romans to Buddhism to Christianity.
—Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Dec. 2023
Pagan polytheism in ancient Rome was dizzyingly complicated, the gods seen as constant companions who hovered over the city’s mortal residents from birth to death, communicating with them incessantly but obliquely from their temples and shrines.
—David Laskin Martin Pauer, New York Times, 1 May 2023
Fascinating finds related to religious history tell a story of diverse, competing yet sometimes complementary worldviews, from the polytheism of the ancient Greeks and Romans to Buddhism to Christianity.
—Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 Dec. 2022
In any case, in Mesopotamia outside forces can not account from the shift from institutional polytheism to monotheistic universalist religion.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 10 Aug. 2012
Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Dec. 2024
Religious history Fascinating finds related to religious history tell a story of diverse belief systems from the polytheism of the ancient Greeks and Romans to Buddhism and Christianity.
—Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Dec. 2024
Also, Akhenaten’s successor tried to steer religion back to polytheism, which is contrary to Nefertiti’s earlier views.
—Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 1 May 2024
Nor does the divide between Mesopotamian polytheism and Jewish monotheism pose a problem.
—Esther Brownsmith, The Conversation, 21 Mar. 2024
Religious history Fascinating finds related to religious history tell a story of diverse, competing yet sometimes complementary worldviews, from the polytheism of the ancient Greeks and Romans to Buddhism to Christianity.
—Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Dec. 2023
Pagan polytheism in ancient Rome was dizzyingly complicated, the gods seen as constant companions who hovered over the city’s mortal residents from birth to death, communicating with them incessantly but obliquely from their temples and shrines.
—David Laskin Martin Pauer, New York Times, 1 May 2023
Fascinating finds related to religious history tell a story of diverse, competing yet sometimes complementary worldviews, from the polytheism of the ancient Greeks and Romans to Buddhism to Christianity.
—Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 Dec. 2022
In any case, in Mesopotamia outside forces can not account from the shift from institutional polytheism to monotheistic universalist religion.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 10 Aug. 2012
Recent Examples of Synonyms for polytheism
Noun
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In addition to communicating language, some runes also had a mythological connection, being linked with deities in Germanic paganism.—
Jack Knudson,
Discover Magazine,
3 Feb. 2025
-
All across Central Europe, a fascination with runes and folk magic aligns with both right-wing xenophobia and left-wing paganism.—
Anne Applebaum,
The Atlantic,
7 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Freud, too, proposed that Moses was an Egyptian prince who invented monotheism (or stole it from Akhenaten).—
Louis Menand,
The New Yorker,
13 Jan. 2025
-
Through it all, the rabbis and imam maintain faith in the ties that bound Judaism and Islam together: a common origin in the Middle East through Abraham; a tradition of strict monotheism emphasizing the oneness of God; a reverence for biblical and Quranic shared prophets from Isaac to Moses.—
Jenny Jarvie,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Apr. 2024
Noun
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In 1809, Friedrich’s budding pantheism landed him in hot water.—
Zachary Fine,
The New Yorker,
28 June 2024
-
Spinoza was infamous for his sometimes inscrutable variety of pantheism, in which God no longer sits outside Nature, paring his fingernails (James Joyce’s joke), but effectively is Nature, inextricable from it.—
James Wood,
The New Yorker,
4 Sep. 2023
Noun
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Vance invoked Catholic theology (erroneously, according to Pope Francis) to justify a hierarchy of concern that places caring for U.S. citizens ahead of the rest of the world.—
Michael Schuman,
The Atlantic,
19 Feb. 2025
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In 1975, Elijah Muhammad’s son, Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, or W.D. Mohammed, took over the Nation of Islam and transitioned the theology to be based on the Quran and sunnah, Islamic customs and practices based on the words and deeds of the seventh century Prophet Muhammad.—
Ahmed Ali Akbar,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
While most of the Empire was being immersed in a religion which was a synthesis of Roman institutions, Greek philosophy and Hebrew theism, a subset of the population of philosophical inclination was being drawn into a religious system descended from Hellenistic paganism.—
Razib Khan,
Discover Magazine,
10 Aug. 2012
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Another frequent topic of disbelief among Edge responders was theism and its anti-science offshoots---in particular the belief in intelligent design, and the belief that the Earth is only a few thousand years old.—
Jennifer Welsh,
Discover Magazine,
23 Nov. 2010
Noun
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Francis’s promise to reconsider the doctrine of priestly celibacy had gone nowhere . . .—
Paul Elie,
The New Yorker,
26 Feb. 2025
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The case also argues that the DOGE access violates federal administrative law and the U.S. Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine.—
Anthony Izaguirre,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Feb. 2025
Noun
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This vague gesture in the direction of deism has no antecedent in the book, no moral or theological trajectory to make Bambi’s insight meaningful or satisfying.—
Kathryn Schulz,
The New Yorker,
17 Jan. 2022
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Those intuitions usually commended a staid deism and scorn for those whose beliefs extended any further.—
Jeffrey Collins,
WSJ,
12 Mar. 2021
Cite this Entry
“Polytheism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/polytheism. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.
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