Which best describes Buddhism?

[DNS]

As an off-shoot to the current topic on atheism and the fastest growing religion of "nones" here is this topic to see where Buddhism falls on the various theological positions.

In terms of theology and types of theism / atheism, which best describes Buddhism?

monotheism - is the belief in theology that only one deity exists.
atheism - is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.
agnosticism - is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable.
polytheism - is the belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon.
pantheism - is the philosophical religious belief that reality, the universe and the cosmos are identical to divinity.
panentheism - the universal spirit is present everywhere, which at the same time "transcends" all things created. While pantheism asserts that "all is God", panentheism claims that God is greater than the universe. Some versions of panentheism suggest that the universe is nothing more than the manifestation of God.
transtheism - refers to a system of thought or religious philosophy that is neither theistic nor atheistic, but is beyond them.
non-theism - is a range of both religious and non-religious attitudes characterized by the absence of espoused belief in the existence of god or gods. nontheism has generally been used to describe apathy or silence towards the subject of God and differs from atheism.

You might feel that Buddhism fits to more than one (or none of the above), but you can still pick the one that best describes it, by picking the one that is most accurate.

[cappuccino]

Buddhism is the teaching of stress and the cessation of stress


By the way the heavens and hells are real

[Sha Bac]

I always thought panentheism meant God was IN reality, so I chose that. How else do we understand karmic retribution?

[SarathW]

I voted.
[quotetranstheism - refers to a system of thought or religious philosophy that is neither theistic nor atheistic, but is beyond them.][/quote]

[Mahabrahma]

Polytheism, I think Buddhas, as well, are worthy of our homage, not only the Gods.

[DNS]

In my opinion, the best choices are either polytheism, non-theism, or transtheism.

There are a multitude of gods (devas) in the deva realms.

Non-theism and transtheism are also good choices, imo, since there is no creator-god, no one all-powerful deity and Buddhism might be best described as being beyond that (the theistic views), which could be transtheism.

[SecretSage]

Early Buddhism is the comprehensive teaching, perhaps the only comprehensive teachings that exists.

Both atheistic and theistic views are mentioned as Wrong Views so perhaps transtheism and non-theism more match.

Gautama is the Sammāsambuddha being both fully enlightened and the teacher so the early Buddhist teachings are like a comprehensive teaching not some vague stories and vague ideas.

[Sha Bac]

I'm not sure transtheism is actually real. It sounds like a semantics game. What does it mean, BEYOND theism?

[DNS]

I'm not sure transtheism is actually real. It sounds like a semantics game. What does it mean, BEYOND theism?

That theism / atheism labels don't really apply. It is beyond them, because the goal is not to become a god or angel, but rather liberation from samsara. An arahant is higher, the better goal than becoming a deva (god).

Here is the full article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transtheism

[Bundokji]

I voted non-theism as i believe it to be the highest as it is the closest to apatheism. The problem with transtheism is that the "beyond" aspect is still rooted in theism by definition.

Polytheism is an antidote to the dogma of monotheism, which has rebirth as its shadow as with one life is the shadow of monotheism.

[dharmacorps]

Nontheism. Gods exist, but are not worshipped. An idea which is simple, but challenging to grasp.

[Dhammapardon1]

I always thought panentheism meant God was IN reality, so I chose that. How else do we understand karmic retribution?

I wanted to pick panentheism too because that is how it feels to me and helps to engage what I understand as heart-mind. Though I think the Buddha never answered this question? Possibly not discernible to the human mind beyond conceptual hypothesis, or no true answer sufficient to be spoken aloud to which everyone would find agreeable, or just that it was not necessary for practice to know such a thing.

[Bundokji]

How else do we understand karmic retribution?

Confirmation bias?

[Sha Bac]

I always thought panentheism meant God was IN reality, so I chose that. How else do we understand karmic retribution?

I wanted to pick panentheism too because that is how it feels to me and helps to engage what I understand as heart-mind. Though I think the Buddha never answered this question? Possibly not discernible to the human mind beyond conceptual hypothesis, or no true answer sufficient to be spoken aloud to which everyone would find agreeable, or just that it was not necessary for practice to know such a thing.

Yeah. There may be an issue in the philosophy of question and answer. Just because you can ask a question doesn't mean it's necessarily intelligible, especially across different religions. What the Christians call GOD, is basically applied to everyone in Buddhism. Like, loving kindness and powers. Its just that it's attributed to the potentiality of man within himself.

[SarathW]

I'm not sure transtheism is actually real. It sounds like a semantics game. What does it mean, BEYOND theism?

That theism / atheism labels don't really apply. It is beyond them, because the goal is not to become a god or angel, but rather liberation from samsara. An arahant is higher, the better goal than becoming a deva (god).

Here is the full article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transtheism

In Buddhism, we believe in rebirth and the existence of other worlds. (32 Planes of existence)
Buddhism does not talk about a creator God but talk about various Brahma worlds.
Buddha said that the creator Brahma is a wrong view.

Buddha taught something transcending the 32 planes.
So I chose transtheism.

I do not think Buddha talked about the Abrahamic God ever.
Christianity and Islam post-date Buddhism.