According to the traditional conception of God, there is omnipotent entity that created the universe including humans. Furthermore, there is nothing that lies outside the power of this Supreme Being. Moreover, this entity possesses other important properties that should not be overlooked. Among them, one can distinguish omniscience or the knowledge everything that has ever taken place in the universe.
Moreover, God is supposed to be totally benevolent. These are the main assumptions that theism incorporates. Yet, this ideology also implies that human beings cannot fully understand the motives or intentions of the Supreme Being. These are the main aspects that should be singled out because they can be relevant to various epistemological or ethical questions.
Overall, theism has significant implications for various controversial areas in philosophy. For instance, one can speak about the mind-body problem which is critical for describing the behavior of an individual. To a great extent, theism implies that there may be an immaterial soul that governs the body of a human being and determines every step that a person can take.
Therefore, the theistic view contradicts materialist perspectives according to which the behavior of a person can be explained only by physiological processes. This is one of the assumptions that can be made. Admittedly, theism does not fully identify the relations between material and immaterial realms. This approach is not helpful for illustrating the causal relations between body and mind.
This is one of the limitations that can be identified. However, if an individual accepts the main premises of theism, one can also conjecture that some Supreme Being could create some links between material and immaterial worlds. This is one of the points that can be made.
Apart from that, one can focus on the questions related to free will. The principles of theism do not show whether an individual act independently. In this case, several possible scenarios can be identified. For example, one can assume that God controls every aspect of human life, and in this case, the notion of free will becomes completely irrelevant.
According to this scenario, every action of a person can eventually lead to the outcome that was presupposed by God. Yet, the Supreme Being may also endow a human being with the capacity to evaluate various decisions and choose the most rational and ethical option.
From this perspective, the universe is not deterministic or predictable. However, it is important to bear in mind that theism does not enable a person to determine whether free will exists, and this question still remains open to debate. This is one of the details that should be taken into account.
Furthermore, it is important to speak about the external world skepticism or the belief that sensory perceptions do not enable a person to learn the truth about the outside world. This issue has been discussed by various philosophers such as Plato or Rene Descartes.
To a great extent, the main premises of theism can be used to defend the idea that people may not know anything about their external environment. In particular, one can say that the universe, which was created by an all-powerful and all-knowing entity, may not be fully comprehensible or knowable to a human because he/she does not possess the qualities of the Supreme Being.
This is one of the arguments that can be put forward. Furthermore, theism may also give rise to the assumption that the information derived through sensory perception is nothing, but an illusion.
Thus, theism can be used to support the external world skepticism and lays stress on the limitations of human knowledge. Yet, one should not suppose that theism proves the external world skepticism. It is quite possible that God gave a human being the ability to understand the nature of the universe.
Additionally, it is important to speak about the objectivity of ethics. As it has been said before, the Supreme Being possesses such a quality as complete benevolence. Hence, the existence of God implies that there can be certain moral ideals that a person should try to achieve or at least emulate.
Nevertheless, theism cannot explain why moral and behavioral norms are often shaped by cultural norms. Thus, even by using the principles of theism, one cannot determine whether ethics can be objective or not. These are the main aspects that should be considered.
Overall, these examples suggest that that the main premises of theism can be used in various philosophical debates. They can be used to argue that the materialistic perception of the world may not be fully accurate or complete. For instance, one can mention mind-body problem or external world skepticism.
Nevertheless, it is important to remember that by positing the existence of God, one cannot give unequivocal answers to various epistemological or ethical questions. The problem is that even by accepting theism, people cannot fully understand the actions or motives of the Supreme Being. Thus, this ideology should not be viewed as the universal solution to various ethical or epistemological problems.