Changes

'''''Dei''''' is an [[inflection|inflected form]] of ''deus'', used in such phrases as Roman Catholic organization ''[[Opus Dei]]'' (work of God), ''[[Agnus Dei]]'' ([[Lamb of God]]) and ''[[Dei Gratia]]'' ([[By the Grace of God]]). It is most often the [[genitive case]] ("of god"), but can also be a variant of the [[plural]] form, ''[[di]]''. There is another plural sometimes used, ''dii'', and a feminine form ''deae'' ("goddesses").

'''''Dei''''' is an [[inflection|inflected form]] of ''deus'', used in such phrases as Roman Catholic organization ''[[Opus Dei]]'' (work of God), ''[[Agnus Dei]]'' ([[Lamb of God]]) and ''[[Dei Gratia]]'' ([[By the Grace of God]]). It is most often the [[genitive case]] ("of god"), but can also be a variant of the [[plural]] form, ''[[di]]''. There is another plural sometimes used, ''dii'', and a feminine form ''deae'' ("goddesses").

The word "''Deus''," through "''Dei''," is the root of [[deism]], [[pandeism]], [[panendeism]], and [[polydeism]], theories in which any divine figure is, ironically, ''absent'' from intervening in human affairs. This curiousity originates from use of "deism" in the 17th and 18th centuries as a contrast to "[[theism]]", then the prevailing word for the belief in an actively intervening God:

The word "''Deus''," through "''Dei''," is the root of [[deism]], [[pandeism]], [[panendeism]], and [[polydeism]], theories in which any divine figure is, ironically, ''absent'' from intervening in human affairs. This curiosity originates from use of "deism" in the 17th and 18th centuries as a contrast to "[[theism]]", then the prevailing word for the belief in an actively intervening God:

Followers of these theories, and occasionally of [[pantheism]], sometimes name God "Deus" or "the Deus" to make clear that the entity being discussed is not a theistic "God". Some uses of the word are negative. [[René Descartes]] used the phrase ''deus deceptor'' to discuss skeptic's argument that an evil God might deceives us. Another, ''deus otiosus'' ("idle god"), is a theological concept describing belief in a creator god who largely retires from the world and is no longer involved in its daily operation. Like the ''deus absconditus'' ("hidden god") of [[Thomas Aquinas]], it refers to a deity with an existence is not readily knowable to humans through either contemplation or examination of divine actions. ''Deus otiosus'' suggests a god grown weary from involvement in this world, replaced by younger, more active gods (as in Sumerian and Greek [[myth]]), while ''deus absonditus'' suggests a god who consciously left the world to hide elsewhere.  

Followers of these theories, and occasionally of [[pantheism]], sometimes name God "Deus" or "the Deus" to make clear that the entity being discussed is not a theistic "God". Some uses of the word are negative. [[René Descartes]] used the phrase ''deus deceptor'' to discuss skeptic's argument that an evil God might deceives us. Another, ''deus otiosus'' ("idle god"), is a theological concept describing belief in a creator god who largely retires from the world and is no longer involved in its daily operation. Like the ''deus absconditus'' ("hidden god") of [[Thomas Aquinas]], it refers to a deity with an existence is not readily knowable to humans through either contemplation or examination of divine actions. ''Deus otiosus'' suggests a god grown weary from involvement in this world, replaced by younger, more active gods (as in Sumerian and Greek [[myth]]), while ''deus absonditus'' suggests a god who consciously left the world to hide elsewhere.