The purpose of this article is to briefly discuss the absence of the concept of a deity in the Shona traditional religion or spiritual system. It will consider the Shona grammar, and argue that, to combat misinformation and religious dishonesty, religious scholars ought to focus less on the concept of a deity, and to stop assuming that belief in the existence of a deity is the essential characteristic of a religion or spiritual system. In Shona today, a deity is referred to as Mwari, a concept and word which is absent in traditional Shona culture, and which was probably imported by missionaries in an effort to convert local people to Christianity.