Monotheisms, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam tend to place divinity in a single, sovereign, supreme deity. In Western thought, only the Abrahamic religions were considered as monotheistic. However, in other cultures, other religions, such as Zoroastrianism and various Hindu denominations are also considered monotheistic by their adherents. Although it would appear simple, there are actually many types of monotheisms that one can choose from. For example, according to Wikipedia, some would argue that Theism, Deism, Monistic Theism, Pantheism, Panantheism, and Substance Monotheism could all be considered some form of monotheistic belief system.
Polytheisms tend to contemplate a divine heirarchy – each with varying ranks of ability and dominion – and is often incorporated into a system that either has gods with rather human attributes or else the deification of natural forces. Monotheistic and polytheistic elements appear to mingle in many religions. For example, many non-Christians mistakenly believe that denominations of Christianity blend into polytheism and envision the Godhead as a three different gods along with a heirarchy of angels. In Hinduism, a complicated polytheism is overarched by the pure unconditioned Absolute (or Brahman). In addition to this, henotheism is thought by some to charactierize the God of Judaism within the biblical era – with henotheism being the exclusive worship of one god without denying the existence of other gods. The belief in multiple gods is can be related to belief in spirits, demons and other supernatural forces. In a sense they are similar to animism, ancestor worship and totemism.
