I'm not sure why you seem so upset and offended. Of course we're not going to recognize pagan gods as deities. Just like you don't accept our God or Christ. That's just how it is. We don't agree.
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What is a deity?
- Thread starter VoidCat
- Start date
Bear Wild
Well-Known Member
I see the implication that when you say the god of the Abrahamic religion made the world which created the pagan gods, one can clearly see the creation that the Abrahamic god is above or superior and certainly not equal and then you then imply that the gods and goddesses are only equal to angels. Given that is pure nonsense and decisive. I have no problem with you believing in your god and do not compare your god to a dwarf or Jesus was just a human no better or worse than any other which would be just as accurate to you I would suspect as comparing any pagan god to an angel. The comment was inaccurate and unnecessary.
QuestioningMind
Well-Known Member
As someone whom lacks any belief in any deity, I don't define what a deity is. I lack belief in any deity that has ever been proposed to me simply because I have yet to be presented with sufficient evidence to warrant my belief.
Ponder This
Well-Known Member
In many ways, the creations within the mind of various deities is the idolization of various images. Which is to say that the deity which you create in your mind is your own creation. The deity which you observe through your mind (your non-physical awareness) is the reality of a deity.
The properties of a deity that you create are whatever properties that you have created for that deity that you have imagined. The properties of a deity that you have observed are as you have subjectively observed them to be.
The collective understanding of what a deity is is as we have come to understand it through our collective observations and imaginings, which is an entity or force of divine nature.
Often times deities cannot be described in the sense that you can't make a picture or statue of one as an accurate representation of who or what that deity is without attaching forms and attributes to them which do not belong. Thus, where representations are used, they tend to be used symbolically or not at all.
There is also the process of using an image or idol, which in some religions would be taboo and in other religions encouraged.
stvdv
Veteran Member
Thou Art That (Sanskrit: Tat Tvam Asi)
It was to illustrate one way we'd view it. Of course you're not going to agree with it or like it.
Bear Wild
Well-Known Member
So the question what is a deity and instead of just defining yours there had to be an inaccurate comparisons of gods and goddesses to angels. Thus angels are also deities in this analogy is that correct?
I was describing how it's viewed from the perspective of the Abrahamic religions. That's all. I'm moving on from this.
I think that’s monism.
IMO, a deity is an anthropomorphism of an aspect or aspects of the natural world, or - especially in the case of monotheistic gods - of the believer's ideas of perfection and virtue.
IOW, a deity is a relatable, personal face put on the otherwise unrelatable and impersonal.
Yes - there's no similarity at all between the divine messeger Gabriel/Jibreel and the divine messenger Mercury/Hermes.
For me, a deity is a divine anthropomorphic being that is assigned qualities. This differs from my understanding of divinity. I have no practical use for deities.
stvdv
Veteran Member
As long as we use definitions we place ourselves in Dualism.
So I think "Tat Tvam Asi" is just "Tat Tvam Asi", not monism nor monotheism nor polytheism. Beyond the duality feeling the need to label everything
Erebus
Well-Known Member
I think it's impossible to come up with a universally applicable definition of deity other than perhaps to say something completely circular like, "a deity is that which is called a deity." Any other definition you come up with will either exclude some things that are seen as deities or include things that aren't.
I personally tend to view the words deity or god as essentially being honorifics applied to something deemed to be awe-inspiring and of tremendous value. I generally condense that as, "a deity is something deemed to be worthy of worship."
While I think that's broad enough to include most gods without also being completely useless as a definition, it isn't without its faults. For a start, some people feel that it's too broad and that some things should just never be thought of as gods at all. It also creates friction in cases where something is deemed worthy of worship but isn't seen as a god (such as some forms of ancestor worship). Then of course it runs into issues with various forms of misotheism and henotheism wherein something might be considered to be a god but also deemed unworthy of worship.
Hey, at least I tried!
As for pure monotheism and pure polytheism, I would say it's simply a case of how many things are deemed to be gods in their own right. If there is only one God, even if that deity has multiple forms, aspects or manifestations,* then you have monotheism. If there's more than one thing that can be thought of as a god in its own right, then you have polytheism.
*I tend to think of things like the trinity as somewhat analogous to a Portuguese man o' war. Lots of individual organisms that form a larger colonial organism. Apologies to believers in the trinity if that analogy made you wince a bit but I hope it at least makes some sort of sense.
Samael_Khan
Qigong / Yang Style Taijiquan / 7 Star Mantis
I think that at the very least a deity has to have sentience. It must either be alive or considered to be alive.
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
There's the simple fact a deity never actually appeared to anybody.
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
Also magical. Otherwise it's probably super advanced aliens.
Samael_Khan
Qigong / Yang Style Taijiquan / 7 Star Mantis
Magical is such vague word to use though. One persons magic might be another persons advanced alien technology.