Monotheism has been defined as the belief in the existence of one
god or in the oneness of
God. The
Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church gives a more restricted definition: "belief in one
personal and
transcendent God", as opposed to
polytheism and
pantheism. A distinction may be made between exclusive monotheism, and both inclusive monotheism and pluriform (panentheistic) monotheism which, while recognising many distinct gods, postulate some underlying unity. Monotheism is distinguished from
henotheism, a religious system in which the believer worships one god without denying that others may worship different gods with equal validity, and
monolatrism, the recognition of the existence of many gods but with the consistent worship of only one deity.