Polytheism is the belief in or worship of more than one deity, a type of theism; it contrasts with monotheism, the belief in only one deity that is, in most cases, transcendent. The term was coined by Jewish writer Philo of Alexandria as a compound of the Greek words πολύ and θεός to argue with the Greeks, though was in modern times re-popularised by Jean Bodin in the 16th century and then by Samuel Purchas in 1614.