Pandeism: copied Deus from wikipedia

2008-12-17T12:29:58Z

copied Deus from wikipedia

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'''''Deus''''' ([[Latin spelling and pronunciation|pronounced]] ['deËus]) is the [[Latin]] word for "[[god]]" or "[[deity]]". The Latin words ''deus'' and ''dÄ«vus'', and Greek Î´Î¹ÏÎ¿Ï‚ = "divine", are descended from [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] *''deiwos'' = "divine", from the same [[root (linguistics)|root]] as [[Dyeus|DyÄ“us]], the reconstructed chief god of the [[Proto-Indo-European religion|Proto-Indo-European pantheon]], also a cognate of the Greek Î–ÎµÏ…Ï‚ ([[Zeus]]). By the era of Classical Latin it was a general noun referring to any number of divine figures. The word continues to refer directly to God in the [[Portuguese language]]. It is also incorporated into a number of phrases and slogans. For example, '''nobiscum deus''' ("God with us") was a [[battle cry]] of the late [[Roman Empire]] and of the [[Byzantine Empire]].

'''''Dei''''' is an [[inflection|inflected form]] of ''deus'', used in such phrases as Roman Catholic organization ''[[Opus Dei]]'' (work of God), ''[[Agnus Dei]]'' ([[Lamb of God]]) and ''[[Dei Gratia]]'' ([[By the Grace of God]]). It is most often the [[genitive case]] ("of god"), but is also the primary [[plural]] form in addition to the variant ''[[di]]''. There is another plural sometimes used, ''dii'', and a feminine form ''deae'' ("goddesses").

The word "''Deus''," through "''Dei''," is the root of [[deism]], [[pandeism]], [[wiktionary:panendeism|panendeism]], and [[polydeism]], ironically all of which are theories in which any divine figure is ''absent'' from intervening in human affairs. This curious circumstance originates from the use of the word "deism" in the 17th and 18th centuries as a contrast to the prevailing "[[theism]]", belief in an actively intervening God:

{{quotation|The new religion of reason would be known as Deism. It had no time for the imaginative disciplines of [[mysticism]] and [[mythology]]. It turned its back on the myth of revelation and on such traditional "mysteries" as the Trinity, which had for so long held people in the thrall of [[superstition]]. Instead it declared allegiance to the impersonal "Deus".|Karen Armstrong, ''A History of God'' (1993), page 310.}}

Followers of these theories, and occasionally followers of [[pantheism]], may sometimes refer to God as "Deus" or "the Deus" to make clear that the entity being discussed is not a theistic "God". [[Arthur C. Clarke]] used this in his novel, [[3001: The Final Odyssey]]. There, the term ''Deus'' has replaced God in the 31st Century, the word God being associated with religious fanaticism. The prevailing religious view in Clarke's story is [[Deism]].

[[Jerome|St. Jerome]] translated the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew word]] [[Elohim]] (×Ö±×œ×•Ö¹×”Ö´×™× , ××œ×”×™×) into Latin as ''Deus''.

Some uses of the word have negative connotations. In [[RenÃ© Descartes|Cartesian]] [[philosophy]], the phrase ''deus deceptor'' is sometimes used to discuss the possibility of an evil God that seeks to deceive us. This character is related to a [[skepticism|skeptical]] argument as to how much we can really know if an [[evil daemon]] were attempting to thwart our knowledge. Another is the ''[[deus otiosus]]'' ("idle god"), a theological concept used to describe the belief in a creator god who largely retires from the world and is no longer involved in its daily operation. A similar concept is that of the ''deus absconditus'' ("hidden god") of [[Thomas Aquinas]]. Both refer to a deity whose existence is not readily knowable by humans through either contemplation or examination of divine actions. The concept of ''deus otiosus'' often suggests a god who has grown weary from involvement in this world and who has been replaced by younger, more active gods, whereas ''deus absconditus'' suggests a god who has consciously left this world to hide elsewhere.

==Common expressions==
*''[[Agnus Dei]]''
*''[[Deus ex machina]]''
*''[[Deus otiosus]]''/''[[Deus absconditus]]''
*''[[Munificentissimus Deus]]''
*''[[Opus Dei]]''
*''[[Providentissimus Deus]]''
*''[[Rector Potens, Verax Deus]]''
*''[[Regnator omnium deus]]''
*''[[Rerum Deus Tenax Vigor]]''
*''[[Rex Deus]]''
*''[[Sublimus Dei]]''
*''[[Te Deum]]''

{{Wikipedia}}

[[Category:Religion]]

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Pandeism: copied Deus from wikipedia