History Main / PhysicalReligion

* The three golden goddesses and various other deities of the Zelda universe.

-->'''Durkon:''' Ma... Pa's in Valhalla.\\

'''Durkon:''' It's na, like, a metaphor. It's a giant ale house wit spires an' stuff. I saw it wit me own eyes.

Academically speaking, the distinction would be that of an ''unobservable agent'' VS. an ''observable agent''. To crudely boil down a very complicated topic: that which is ''unobservable'', like many of the deities of real-life faiths which tend to be defined as immaterial entities, for the most part cannot be directly experienced or sensed. Believers may infer their existence via some sort of reason or religious experience, while skeptics may not. By contrast, an agent which is defined as ''observable'' can be directly experienced through the senses, and the existential status of such agents is much easier to determine. [[RuleOfCautiousEditing Obviously, such matters should be approached carefully.]]

Academically speaking, the distinction would be that of an ''unobservable agent'' VS. an ''observable agent''. To crudely boil down a very complicated topic: that which is ''unobservable'', like many of the deities of real-life faiths which tend to be defined as immaterial entities, for the most part. cannot be directly experienced or sensed. Believers may infer their existence via some sort of reason or religious experience, while skeptics may not. By contrast, an agent which is defined as ''observable'' can be directly experienced through the senses, and the existential status of such agents is much easier to determine. [[RuleOfCautiousEditing Obviously, such matters should be approached carefully.]]

Academically speaking, the distinction would be that of an ''unobservable agent'' VS. an ''observable agent''. That which is ''unobservable'', like the deities of real-life faiths which tend to be defined as immaterial entities, cannot be directly experienced or sensed. Believers may infer their existence via some sort of reason or religious experience, while skeptics may not. By contrast, an agent which is ''observable'' is directly experienced through the senses, and is thus on much firmer epistemic ground.

Among the academic world, the distinction would be that of an ''unobservable agent'' VS. an ''observable agent''. That which is ''unobservable'', like the deities of real-life faiths, tend to be defined as immaterial entities, and thus cannot be seen directly sensed. Believers may infer their existence via some sort of reason or religious experience, while skeptics may not. Hence the role of faith. By contrast, an agent which is ''observable'' is directly experienced through the senses, and is thus on much firmer epistemic ground.

If someone still refuses to believe in God, they're a FlatEarthAtheist. If someone is not a member of this church, they are a NayTheist. Compare ReligionIsRight, where the religion came first, then the entity believed in is proven to be true.[[note]]Though presumably any instance of that trope started out as this one, but was forgotten over time.[[/note]] GodsNeedPrayerBadly is rather common. If ReligionIsMagic, then God will grant spells those who worship Them. They may say ''StopWorshippingMe!'' if They are bugged with that, though. A GodEmperor usually has both a PhysicalReligion ''and'' openly rules their worshipers, making for a "real" theocracy.

* ''Series/TheElderScrolls'':
** Some groups who worship Daedra use this as their justification. The other deities, the Aedra, are more classical creator deities, but are rather aloof and indirect in how they affect the mortal plane, to the point that one could reasonably ask if they're actually there. The Daedra are a related but distinct group who vary massively in alginment with plenty of [[JerkassGenie Jerkass Genies]] and outright demonic characters among their line-up, but at least they actually ''do stuff''. Heck, you can go to one of their shrines, perform the right ritual, and talk to them in person! [[DealWithTheDevil Then get cast into Coldharbour to be tortured for eternity...]]

** ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'' plays with this slightly. You meet them again, but the Six Human Gods are treated as ''human'' gods, and are dismissed in various ways by the other playable races. The main method is through the asura's SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic, which has done a lot for DoingInTheWizard, scientifically explaining and proving the cosmology of the universe, and more or less proof that the gods are actually [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]] (at least the ones that aren't [[DeityOfHumanOrigin ascended humans]]).

* ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' has something that's not a religion but a philosophy: Path of Light -- [[ReligionIsMagic it grants spells]]. Night Elves worship Elune, who most certainly exists as well. Draenei have a sort of a cult dedicated to Naaru. Dragons are kind of godlike as well, and they give quests in Wyrmrest Accord. Not sure whether people worship Titans, but they most certainly existed.

* Creator/AnnLeckie's ''Literature/TheRavenTower'' has an abundance of {{Physical God}}s great and small who can grant prayers, so religious observance usually has an element of negotiation to it. The smallest gods provide minor miracles to individuals in exchange for worship, while the greatest ones have formal contracts with entire nations and might even outsource some duties to lesser gods.

There ''is'' a PhysicalGod, everyone ''knows'' there is one, everyone's belief is out of question -- not believing in him is like [[DoubleEntendre not believing in your neighbors]]. More than that: the fact that it exists is the reason the religion has been started in the first place! Yet there is a religion that worships it -- there is less mysticism and theology and more requests and glorification.

If someone still refuses to believe in God, he's a FlatEarthAtheist. If someone is not a member of this church, he is a NayTheist. Compare ReligionIsRight, where the religion came first, then the entity believed in is proven to be true.[[note]]Though presumably any instance of that trope started out as this one, but was forgotten over time.[[/note]] GodsNeedPrayerBadly is rather common. If ReligionIsMagic, then God will grant spells those who worship Him. He may say ''StopWorshippingMe!'' if He is bugged with that, though. A GodEmperor usually has both a PhysicalReligion ''and'' openly rules his worshipers, making for a "real" theocracy.

So let us assume we have a CrystalDragonJesus cult which worships a certain god. Except it's not your standard, realistic religion, which relies on belief and hope.

* Creator/PhilipKDick's ''A Maze of Death'' features such a religion.

* In ''Creator/AGnosis''' comics on [[ClassicalMythology Greek Mythology]], the pantheon are {{Physical God}}s who often interact directly with humankind, such that Zeus sends a young Athena to be RaisedByHumans for a time. At one point in ''Anthesteria'', a priestess is [[http://a-gnosis.deviantart.com/art/Anthesteria-12-671372314 quite nonplussed]] to realize that the Dionysos impersonator arriving at the titular festival is actually the deity in the flesh.

* In ''{{Exalted}}'', most religions are like this. However, the more powerful the god worshipped is, the less likely it is to show up in person - the Celestial Gods are [[TheGodsMustBeLazy addicted to the Games of Divinity]], the Elemental Dragons are asleep, and the [[EldritchAbomination Yozis]] are SealedEvilInACan.

If someone still refuses to believe in God, he's a FlatEarthAtheist. If someone is not a member of this church, he is a NayTheist. Compare ReligionIsRight, where the religion came first, then the entity believed in is proven to be true.[[note]]Though presumably any instance of that trope started out as this one, but was forgotten over time.[[/note]] GodsNeedPrayerBadly is rather common. If ReligionIsMagic, then God will grant spells those who worship him. He may say ''StopWorshippingMe!'' if he is bugged with that, though. A GodEmperor usually has both a PhysicalReligion ''and'' openly rules his worshipers, making for a "real" theocracy.