Noun

(en noun)

One who believes in the existence of a god or gods.

* 1999 , Jeaneane D. Fowler, Humanism: Beliefs & Practices, page 66

The term stands in contradistinction to theism which, in its widest sense, means belief in a personal god, goddess, gods and /or goddesses.

* {{quote-book

, year = 1764 , author = Voltaire , title = Philosophical Dictionary , url = http://www.online-literature.com/voltaire/philosophical-dictionary/91/ , passage = The theist is a man firmly persuaded of the existence of a Supreme Being as good as He is powerful, who has formed all beings with extension, vegetating, sentient and reflecting; who perpetuates their species, who punishes crimes without cruelty, and rewards virtuous actions with kindness. }}

* {{quote-magazine

, year = 1854 , title = Speculative Atheism , first = Theodore , last = Parker , editors = Linton, W. J. , magazine = The English Republic , volume = 3 , page = 205 , passage = and I call him a theist who believes in any God. }}

* {{quote-book

, year = 1870 , title = An Essay in aid of a Grammar of Assent , first = John Henry , last = Newman , page = 119 , url = http://books.google.com/books?id=YEkXAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA119 , passage = No one is to be called a Theist , who does not believe in a Personal God, whatever difficulty there may be in defining the word "Personal." }}