belief and trust in a deity or other spiritual force seen as setting standards of conduct, responding to prayer, and (typically) assuring the ultimate triumph of good over evil. Religious faith may be intensely private in some of its aspects but usually involves the believer’s adherence to a particular religious body and an organized system of ceremonies and doctrines. Most theologians in monotheistic traditions insist that faith involves an orientation of the entire personality toward God rather than merely intellectual acceptance of certain teachings. See mysticism; religion; spirituality. See also psychology of religion.