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Exodus 20:3; ‘You shall have no other gods before me”
As someone who has never been a Christian I have always been under the impression that Christians believed that there was no other god apart from the Christian God. I was therefore surprised when I came across this article which suggests the idea that other gods exist ‘pervades’ the Bible. I’ve appended a relevant extract from the article at the bottom of this post so you can see the author’s argument. Based on this article, it would seem that the Bible clearly asserts the existence of ‘other gods’.
Over several years on CF I’ve come across different interpretations on the question of ‘other gods’:
Is there a cohesive Christian view on the existence and nature of any alternative deities?
Can Christianity explain why other believers believe in their gods?
OB
Article Extract
LInk: The Bible’s Many Gods | Gerald McDermott | First Things
The idea that there are other “gods” who exist as real supernatural beings, albeit infinitely inferior to the only Creator and Redeemer, pervades the Bible. The Psalms fairly explode with evidence. “There is none like you among the gods, O Lord” (86:8); “For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods” (96:4); “Our Lord is above all gods” (135:5); “Ascribe to Yahweh, [you] gods, ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength” (29:1, my trans.); “He is exalted above all gods” (97:7); “For Yahweh is a great god, and a great king above all gods” (95:3, my trans.). And so on.
But it’s not just the Psalms. In Exodus Yahweh predicts that he will execute judgments “on all the gods of Egypt” (12:12). The author of Numbers then declares that that is indeed what happened: “Yahweh executed judgments against their gods” (33:4). There is no hint that Yahweh is the only God. Instead it is clearly implied that Egypt has her own gods, and Yahweh will defeat them.
When Yahweh gives his people the Ten Commandments, the first commandment implies the existence of other gods: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exod. 20:3; see also Deut. 5:7). In Exodus 23:32–33 Israel is told not to covenant with or worship other gods; there is no suggestion that the gods of Israel’s neighbors do not exist.
(Gerald McDermott is the Jordan-Trexler Professor of Religion at Roanoke College. He is the co-author of A Trinitarian Theology of Religions (forthcoming from Oxford University Press).)
As someone who has never been a Christian I have always been under the impression that Christians believed that there was no other god apart from the Christian God. I was therefore surprised when I came across this article which suggests the idea that other gods exist ‘pervades’ the Bible. I’ve appended a relevant extract from the article at the bottom of this post so you can see the author’s argument. Based on this article, it would seem that the Bible clearly asserts the existence of ‘other gods’.
Over several years on CF I’ve come across different interpretations on the question of ‘other gods’:
- There are no other gods.
- There are other gods but they are really manifestations of ‘evil’ posing as gods, e.g., demons or fallen angels.
- There are (or perhaps, were) other gods but they are significantly lesser beings when compared with the Christian God.
Is there a cohesive Christian view on the existence and nature of any alternative deities?
Can Christianity explain why other believers believe in their gods?
OB
Article Extract
LInk: The Bible’s Many Gods | Gerald McDermott | First Things
The idea that there are other “gods” who exist as real supernatural beings, albeit infinitely inferior to the only Creator and Redeemer, pervades the Bible. The Psalms fairly explode with evidence. “There is none like you among the gods, O Lord” (86:8); “For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods” (96:4); “Our Lord is above all gods” (135:5); “Ascribe to Yahweh, [you] gods, ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength” (29:1, my trans.); “He is exalted above all gods” (97:7); “For Yahweh is a great god, and a great king above all gods” (95:3, my trans.). And so on.
But it’s not just the Psalms. In Exodus Yahweh predicts that he will execute judgments “on all the gods of Egypt” (12:12). The author of Numbers then declares that that is indeed what happened: “Yahweh executed judgments against their gods” (33:4). There is no hint that Yahweh is the only God. Instead it is clearly implied that Egypt has her own gods, and Yahweh will defeat them.
When Yahweh gives his people the Ten Commandments, the first commandment implies the existence of other gods: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exod. 20:3; see also Deut. 5:7). In Exodus 23:32–33 Israel is told not to covenant with or worship other gods; there is no suggestion that the gods of Israel’s neighbors do not exist.
(Gerald McDermott is the Jordan-Trexler Professor of Religion at Roanoke College. He is the co-author of A Trinitarian Theology of Religions (forthcoming from Oxford University Press).)