What is Deity?
{{redirect|Gods|the deity in Monotheistic religions|God}} [[File:Tor's Fight with the Giants (Mårten Winge) - Nationalmuseum - 18253.tif|thumb|''Thor's Battle Against the [[Jötunn|Jötnar]]'' (1872) by [[Mårten Eskil Winge]]]] [[File:Kobayashi Izanami and Izanagi.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|''Searching the Seas with the [[Amenonuhoko|Tenkei]]'' (ca. 1885) by [[Kobayashi Eitaku]], with the god [[Izanagi]] (right) and [[Izanami]], a goddess of [[creation]] and death in [[Japanese mythology]]]] A '''deity''' is thought to be a powerful [[spirit]] that controls events and the [[nature]] of things. Deities are also called '''gods'''. A female god is often called a '''goddess'''. The [[adjective]] of deity is ‘[[divine]]’. This word comes from the [[Latin]] ''deus'' (female: ''dea''). Different religions believe in different deities. Since there are many religions in the [[world]] there are many different ideas about how many deities there are, what they are, and what they can do. <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://atheism.wikia.com/wiki/How_many_gods |title=How many gods |access-date=2014-05-21 |archive-date=2014-10-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141004224623/http://atheism.wikia.com/wiki/How_many_gods |url-status=dead }}</ref> Followers of many ancient religions and some modern religions believe in many deities, which is called [[polytheism]]. The two largest religions on earth, [[Christianity]] and [[Islam]], believe in only one [[God]], which is called [[monotheism]]. [[Deism]] is the belief that a deity exists, but that the deity does not very often change or never changes things in the [[universe]]. [[Pantheism]] is the belief that the universe is the deity, while [[atheism]] is the belief that there are no deities. In most religions, believers think deities are [[immortal]] (cannot die), and have powers far beyond human powers. == Examples == {{further|List of gods and goddesses}} Some of the deities of different religions are: *From the [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek]] religion: [[Zeus]], [[Apollo]], [[At