Definition
Theism is the belief in a personal God who created the universe and remains actively involved in it. As theists typically understand the term, this God is not merely a first cause but a being with mind and will — one who can answer prayer, work miracles, reveal moral law, and care about human conduct. The major monotheistic traditions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, are paradigmatic theistic religions.
Theism is usually contrasted with deism, which accepts a creator but denies ongoing intervention, and with atheism, which denies any deity at all. What distinguishes theism is the claim of continued, personal engagement between God and the world.
Why it matters
How it works
In a theistic framework, God is both transcendent — beyond and prior to the universe — and immanent, present and acting within it. This dual character lets theists explain the cosmos's existence (God created it) and ongoing religious experience (God still acts). Dawkins treats this interventionist God as a definite claim about reality, which he calls the God Hypothesis, and argues it can be examined like any other claim. Defenders reply that God, as creator of nature, is not one object within nature to be weighed by its methods.