Who are thy Gods

[Fuzzy]

http://www.asa3.org/ASA/resources/Wiens.html#page%2010

 

[Tytan]

To often i hear people just say "the gods". I would like to know who these gods really are. I mean the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob is so well described. We know his nature and just a lot about who He is. This question is aimed at pagan gods and mabye wicca if you wanna. How many of them are there? What do they do?

Another question. I recently had a talk with a pagan and they said the Christian God exist but lied about every thing and Christianity is underly false, but the relationship with Him is real. Does this make all the Gods of every religion exist? Why would God(Christian God) and every other one lie and make up a religion. Are they like competing with each other to see who gets the most followers. I just seems like such odd logic. And why would God have a relationship with you and do all the things he said in the bible, then you say the bible is false. I dont get it.

I don’t know how this thread came from the OP’s question, to radiometric dating, but after much study of the radio metric methods, I would say it’s the best we have. Carbon dating can only be used on something that was once alive and now dead. Various radiometric methods are not limited by this, as it utilizes the “estimated” (yes…estimated) measurement of decay rate in the radioactive material of rocks and other various minerals from the time they have solidified, including Uranium (the most trust worthy method), Lead, Potassium, and Argon. While estimations may or may not give a 100% accurate, to the year, age of the earth, it does blow the young-earth theory right out of the water. Of course, those who zealously wish to hold onto the young-earth theory can pick and point, as critic always will. The problem is that it’s much easier to criticize then to uphold, for the burden of proof always falls upon those making the claim. To date, a very old earth (billions of years) is “out scoring” the young-earth (thousands of years) theory by a crushing defeat.



Anyway, back to the OP…when referring to “the gods” there are basically two kinds of people. Those who believe in a pantheon of gods and goddesses that are each individual of themselves, and those who feel that each name is merely different manifestations, or personas, to the same God and Goddess. And in turn, the God and Goddess is merely two manifestation of The One ultimate being, the source of all things, which is neither male nor female, and without name.



“God_of_Mercy”, For those that connect with the pantheon of gods and goddesses, you may find the site below interesting. While they do not have all the names of all known god and goddess names, they do carry an extensive list. This may help you answer how many there are, and what they do, but from a pure polytheist view. Much of the mythological stories associated with the gods and goddesses on the site below do not reflect every religious sect. Such as the sites description of Diana does not coincide with the mythology and tales I have grown up with.



godchecker .com



Others, who see them merely as manifestations of the same, may use different names based on the “persona” they wish to invoke or evoke, to coincide with a specific spell work or ritual celebration. In my religion, for instance, it is Diana and Dianus that I feel closest too. But in the celebrations my family and I will also speak their names Fauna and Faunus, Hecate and Dis, and some others.





Your second question requires an explanation longer than I am willing to attempt here. The pagans who believe that the Christian god lied in order to gain followers, is an observation and conclusion resulting from the belief of a pantheon of gods and goddesses, of individual entities. Their belief in that has already made all the gods of every religion exist, as you queried, but only for them. Others who do not share that view in reference to the many gods and goddesses, tend to see things quite differently. As you pointed out, the idea of the Christian God lying to make up a religion, and all the gods and goddesses “competing” for followers, makes no sense. But for those who believe in many gods, it is the only way to explain and justify what they see.

 

[Ojuice5001]

I As you pointed out, the idea of the Christian God lying to make up a religion, and all the gods and goddesses “competing” for followers, makes no sense. But for those who believe in many gods, it is the only way to explain and justify what they see.

I'm a proponent of this view, and I think it does make sense. You are right in your appraisal of how it's arrived at. We start with certain assumptions, including polytheism. And any theory must be made to fit the facts. And the theory that best fits the facts of Christian history is that Yahweh is competing with the other gods, and his strategy involves telling humans that he created the universe, is the only god, etc.--lying, in other words.

I said I think it makes sense, and here's how. The gods have connections to particular cultures. An important principle here is "as above, so below"; things and events in the supernatural world have a corresponding effect in the natural world, and vice versa. So the things that happen to our cultures correspond to things that happen among the gods.

An important trend in cultural history is globalization. Cultures are drawn into contact with each other, and tend to cover greater and greater amounts of territories. By the law of AASB, the same must be happening among the gods. Now one consequence of globalization is increased competition. To be a local news reporter, I just have to be the best applicant in my city, but to be on CNN, I have to be the best in the US. Mythology tells us that the gods have some degree of competition anyway, so it would get more intense if there were more rivals to compete with.

That's a general explanation of why you should expect to see competition among the gods, and I consider it to make sense. It's just as profitable to focus on Yahweh's particular character, his traits that led him to come up with such a strategy. In the negative, there's jealousy and megalomania, and in the positive, he does have a genuine passion (like many other gods, but Yahweh especially) to remake the world into a more benign place, for both our sake and his. No doubt it's clear that these tendencies both have effects on the realms Yahweh rules, and in divergent directions. I have a lot of respect for Yahweh; don't get any idea to the contrary.

As for his strategy of creating a religion that misleads its followers, I think it unarguably made sense. As the saying goes, if it's stupid but it works, it isn't stupid. If you ask why one should prefer the "lies to gain followers" theory to the Christian theory, the simplest answer is the very concept of the Jews being Yahweh's "chosen people." This is essentially similar to other gods who formed an alliance with particular human societies, but what's even more telling is that he was for the most part unknown among the Gentiles. His religions spread by human word-of-mouth just like other religions. In other words, he claims to be the god of the whole world, but the method he used to prove it is one that any localized god could have accomplished just as easily! Interesting, isn't it?