if there is a cleric spell that has a god's name in parenthesis next to it such as ..

Smite Abomination

School evocation; Level cleric/oracle 5 (Pharasma)
CASTING

Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, F (a holy symbol of Pharasma)/DF
EFFECT

Does that mean you have to worship that god, or at just have the holy symbol as a focus? I'm not talking about RAI, i'm talking about RAW. is this spelled out somewhere?

Im pretty certain that Cleric spells that have a deities name by them are just most commonly used by Clerics of that deity but other Clerics can still learn and use them.

Deities also switch out some spel levels for their Clerics or offer a few nonCleric spells to their Clerics (like Sarenrae offers her Clerics Flame Blade @ 2nd) which only applies to Clerics of that deity, and unless specified does not apply to Oracles, Inquisitors, Druids, Paladins, etc. . .

alright, where can i find stuff like people getting to use flame blade for worshiping Sarenrae

School evocation; Level cleric/oracle 5 (Pharasma)

It means you have to be a cleric/oracle of Pharasma to be able to cast the spell. It's specific to that faith.

According to Faiths of Purity spells with a Deity name next to them can be used by anyone of any faith.

The following spells are available to other faiths, but are most common among the followers of the gods noted next to their names.

With that said, the source of Smite Abomination is different and might restrict it to worshippers of that Deity.

- Gauss

According to Faiths of Purity spells with a Deity name next to them can be used by anyone of any faith.

Well, I didn't have anything to do with FoP, and that wasn't my intent when I started using that terminology in my god articles 5 years ago.

I far prefer your take Sean. I like the niche protection in this case. I've had to refuse players from taking Infernal Healing a couple of times since it's only for Asmodeus followers.

I agree with Sean, but I also think other things that are written for specific faiths/races/etc should be exclusive to them rather than being open to everyone (like many of the options in the Advanced Race Guide; if they're for everyone, why are they placed in a specific race section?).

Sean, I was not trying to contradict you. Only to state that one reference said yes but that other references may say otherwise.

- Gauss

Thanks so much sean, it's nice to have a firm answer. And grimmy, I'm not sure infernal healing applies in this situation..

Infernal Healing

School conjuration (healing) [evil]; Level cleric/oracle 1, magus 1, sorcerer/wizard 1, summoner 1, witch 1
CASTING

Casting Time 1 round
Components V, S, M (1 drop of devil blood or 1 dose of unholy water)

I dont see where it says you have to worship asmodeus. it can also be cast by non divine casters, which would muddy the waters up in that case anyway.

The infernal healing spell was originally written this way in the Asmodeus article in AP #29:

Level cleric 1, sorcerer/wizard 1 (Asmodeus)

Apparently the deity-name was removed when the spell was reprinted in The Inner Sea World Guide.

***

The fact that non-divine casters have access to the spell doesn't matter, since these articles originally said such spells could be cast by any priest who worshipped the deity in question. Priests can be of many classes, not only divine caster classes, as is also mentioned in several of these articles.

true, but since it was removed during the reprinting in ISWG, that removes the requirement, yes?

Yes.

(although one could naturally argue if it should have been removed)

If the 'deity tag' is only a comment on who it is most popular with then removing it when moving from AP #29 to ISWG makes sense.

On the other hand if the 'deity tag' is a restriction as to who can use it then it is a significant change to remove it when it was moved to ISWG.

I respect SKRs intent on making 'deity tags' a limitation as to who can cast the spell. However, it appears this is not what has actually made it to print.

- Gauss

I agree, regardless of developer intent, it appears the meaning of the rule has changed to be a suggestion, not a rule. Each DM may handle it differently, but it appears anyone can take those spells.

At least anyone who doesn't mind casting evil spells :)