theo-, the-, -theism, -theist, -theistic

(Greek: God, god, deity, divinity, divine)

theophany (s) (noun), theophanies (pl)
1. A visible (but not necessarily material) manifestation or appearance of a deity in a form that can be seen by a human: " A visible manifestation of God to humans; such as, the story of Moses at the burning bush, is called a theophany." 2. The temporal and spatial revelations of God or the divine in some tangible or physical form: "In Psalms (in the Old Testament of the Bible) and in prophetic texts the theophany is often so drastic as to overwhelm the human observer; because when God comes, since humans are sinful, often His purpose in coming is to punish."
theophilanthropic (adjective)
A reference to the doctrines or beliefs of a deistic society in post-Revolutionary Paris that hoped to replace the outlawed Christian religion with a new religion based on belief in God, the immortality of the soul, and personal virtue."
theophilanthropism (s) (noun)
The love of or fondness for both God and man: "The philosophy of theophilanthropism was established during the French revolution as a new religion to replace Christianity and to be pure deism, which is based on a God who created the universe and then abandoned it, assuming no control over life, exerting no influence on natural phenomena, and providing no supernatural revelation."
theophilanthropist (s) (noun), theophilanthropists (pl)
A person who is said to love both God and human beings: "Theophilanthropists were members of a deistical society established in Paris during the French revolution, or Directory, that aimed to institute in place of Christianity, which had been officially abolished, a new religion, affirming belief in the existence of God, in the immortality of the soul, and in virtue."
theophilanthropy (s) (noun), theophilanthropies (pl)
A belief that expresses a love for God and mankind.
theophile (s) (noun), theophiles (pl)
A person who is loved by God or who loves God.
theophilist (s) (noun), theophilists (pl)
A person who is dear to the gods or someone who is beloved of God; also, one who loves God.
theophilous (adjective)
A reference to the love of God.
Theophilus (s) (noun)
A masculine name meaning, "Loved of God" or "Loving God".
theophily (s) (noun), theophilies (pl)
The love of God or loving God.
theophobia (s) (noun), theophobias (pl)
1. The dislike of gods or religion: Since Judy got along with her life without going to church and listening to the preacher, she had no connection to any devine being or to any confession and her friends thought that she had theophobia!
2. An abnormal angst of the wrath of the Supreme Being: Sam tried to live a religious life because, suffering from theophobia, he was very fearful of God's punishment for sin.

Man fears the wrath of God for his criminal act.

This bank robber is contemplating the wrath of God because he believes that his sins could result in eternal damnation in Hell.

Word Info image © Copyright, 2006.
theophoric (adjective)
Literally, "carrying god", a term used to describe names that contain a divine name; such as, Amaziah, priest of Bethel; "Yah is mighty" ("Yah" is a common abbreviation of the personal name of Israel's God).
theophorous (adjective)
1. Having the name of a god or a name that is derived for a god’s name.
2. Bearing (carrying) or containing the name of a god.
theopneustia (s) (noun), theopneustias (pl)
The force or process of divine inspiration from God for people.
theopneustian (s) (noun), theopneustians (pl)
The power by which the Holy Spirit reveals truth or God's divine inspiration to humans.

If you would like to take self-scoring quizzes over many of the words in this section, then click on these Theo Quizzes so you can see how much you know about the following "theo-, -theism" words.


Related religious-word units: church; dei-, div-; ecclesi-; fanati-; hiero-; idol-;-olatry; zelo-.