Nontheistic religions (not to be confused with atheism) are traditions of thought within a religious context—some otherwise aligned with theism, others not—in which nontheism informs religious beliefs or practices. Nontheism has been applied and plays significant roles in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. While many approaches to religion exclude nontheism by definition, some inclusive definitions of religion show how religious practice and belief do not depend on the presence of a god or gods. For example, Paul James and Peter Mandaville distinguish between religion and spirituality, but provide a definition of the term that avoids the usual reduction to "religions of the book":
Religion can be defined as a relatively-bounded system of beliefs, symbols and practices that addresses the nature of existence, and in which communion with others and Otherness is lived as if it both takes in and spiritually transcends socially-grounded ontologies of time, space, embodiment and knowing.
Buddhism
Existence of gods The Buddha said that devas (translated as "gods") do exist, but they were regarded as still being trapped in samsara, and are not necessarily wiser than humans. In fact, the Buddha is often portrayed as a teacher of the gods, and superior to them. Except gods who are considered as manifestations of Buddhas such as the five Jambhalas and the devas who reside in Pure Abodes and other deities such as Tara based on some Buddhist traditions. Since the time of the Buddha, the denial of the existence of a creator deity has been seen as a key point in distinguishing Buddhist from non-Buddhist views. The question of an independent creator deity was answered by the Buddha in the Brahmajala Sutta. The Buddha denounced the view of a creator and sees that such notions are related to the false view of eternalism, and like the 61 other views, this belief causes suffering when one is attached to it and states these views may lead to desire, aversion and delusion. At the end of the Sutta the Buddha says he knows these 62 views and he also knows the truth that surpasses them. Later Buddhist philosophers also extensively criticized the idea of an eternal creator deity concerned with humanity.
Metaphysical questions On one occasion, when presented with a problem of metaphysics by the monk Malunkyaputta, the Buddha responded with the Parable of the Poisoned Arrow. When a man is shot with an arrow thickly smeared with poison, his family summons a doctor to have the poison removed, and the doctor gives an antidote:
But the man refuses to let the doctor do anything before certain questions can be answered. The wounded man demands to know who shot the arrow, what his caste and job is, and why he shot him. He wants to know what kind of bow the man used and how he acquired the ingredients used in preparing the poison. Malunkyaputta, such a man will die before getting the answers to his questions. It is no different for one who follows the Way. I teach only those things necessary to realize the Way. Things which are not helpful or necessary, I do not teach.
Christianity
A few liberal Christian theologians define a "nontheistic God" as "the ground of all being" rather than as a personal divine being. Many of them owe much of their theology to the work of Christian existentialist philosopher Paul Tillich, including the phrase "the ground of all being". Another quotation from Tillich is, "God does not exist. He is being itself beyond essence and existence. Therefore to argue that God exists is to deny him." This Tillich quotation summarizes his conception of God. He does not think of God as a being that exists in time and space, because that constrains God, and makes God finite. But all beings are finite, and if God is the Creator of all beings, God cannot logically be finite since a finite being cannot be the sustainer of an infinite variety of finite things. Thus God is considered beyond being, above finitude and limitation, the power or essence of being itself. Tillich saw God more as a symbol. He appreciated using symbols to envision God, something meaningful and abstract, and appreciated using a personal God's image to relate to the "ground of being." He believed that major Christian themes remained meaningful through re-envisioning Christian stories that were accepted literally. He also perceived the root of atheism as a rejection of God's traditional image. From a nontheistic, naturalist, and rationalist perspective, the concept of divine grace appears to be the same concept as luck.
Nontheist Quakers
A nontheist Friend or an atheist Quaker is someone who affiliates with, identifies with, engages in and/or affirms Quaker practices and processes, but who does not accept a belief in a theistic understanding of God, a Supreme Being, the divine, the soul or the supernatural. Like theistic Friends, nontheist Friends are actively interested in realizing centered peace, simplicity, integrity, community, equality, and social justice in the Society of Friends and beyond.
Unitarian Universalists
Originating from Christian Unitarianism and Universalism, already two liberal strands of Christianity, Unitarian Universalism developed into a religious non-creedal movement that encompasses a wide range of theological perspectives, including atheism, agnosticism, humanism, and other forms of nontheism. Nontheistic Unitarian Universalists generally emphasize ethical values such as human dignity, compassion, reason, freedom of conscience, equality, and social responsibility rather than belief in a supernatural deity. Religious practice may therefore focus on communal worship, meditation, reflection, music, ritual, and social action, with these practices understood as ways of cultivating meaning, community, and ethical commitment rather than as acts of devotion to a supernatural being.
Hinduism
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