A deity or god is a
supernatural
Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
being who is considered
divine
Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.[divine ...](_blank)
or
sacred
Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...
.
The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a
god
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
or
goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...
, or anything revered as divine.
C. Scott Littleton
Covington Scott Littleton (July 1, 1933 – November 25, 2010) was an American anthropologist who was Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at Occidental College. A co-founder of the ''Journal of Indo-European Studies'', Littleto ...
defines a deity as "a being with powers greater than those of ordinary humans, but who interacts with humans, positively or negatively, in ways that carry humans to new
levels of consciousness, beyond the grounded preoccupations of ordinary life".
Religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
s can be categorized by how many deities they worship.
Monotheistic
Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford ...
religions accept only one deity (predominantly referred to as "
God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
"), whereas
polytheistic
Polytheism is the belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, the ...
religions accept multiple deities.
Henotheistic
Henotheism is the worship of a single, supreme god that does not deny the existence or possible existence of other deities. Friedrich Schelling (1775–1854) coined the word, and Friedrich Welcker (1784–1868) used it to depict primi ...
religions accept one
supreme deity without denying other deities, considering them as aspects of the same divine principle.
Nontheistic religion
Nontheistic religions are traditions of thought within a religious context—some otherwise aligned with theism, others not—in which nontheism informs religious beliefs or practices. Nontheism has been applied and plays significant roles in ...
s deny any supreme eternal
creator deity
A creator deity or creator god (often called the Creator) is a deity responsible for the creation of the Earth, world, and universe in human religion and mythology. In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator. A number of monolatris ...
, but may accept a
pantheon
Pantheon may refer to:
* Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building
Arts and entertainment Comics
*Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization
* ''Pantheon'' (Lone S ...
of deities which live, die and may be reborn like any other being.
Although most monotheistic religions traditionally envision their god as
omnipotent
Omnipotence is the quality of having unlimited power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence only to the deity of their faith. In the monotheistic religious philosophy of Abrahamic religions, omnipotence is often listed as one of ...
,
omnipresent
Omnipresence or ubiquity is the property of being present anywhere and everywhere. The term omnipresence is most often used in a religious context as an attribute of a deity or supreme being, while the term ubiquity is generally used to descri ...
,
omniscient
Omniscience () is the capacity to know everything. In Hinduism, Sikhism and the Abrahamic religions, this is an attribute of God. In Jainism, omniscience is an attribute that any individual can eventually attain. In Buddhism, there are diffe ...
,
omnibenevolent
Omnibenevolence (from Latin ''omni-'' meaning "all", ''bene-'' meaning "good" and ''volens'' meaning "willing") is defined by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as "unlimited or infinite benevolence". Some philosophers have argued that it is impo ...
, and
eternal
Eternal(s) or The Eternal may refer to:
* Eternity, an infinite amount of time, or a timeless state
* Immortality or eternal life
* God, the supreme being, creator deity, and principal object of faith in monotheism
Comics, film and television
* ...
,
none of
these qualities are essential to the definition of a "deity"
and various cultures have conceptualized their deities differently.
[ Monotheistic religions typically refer to their god in masculine terms,] while other religions refer to their deities in a variety of ways—male, female, hermaphroditic
In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes.
Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have separ ...
, or genderless.
Historically, many ancient cultures—including the ancient
Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian language, Sumerian c ...
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
ns, Egyptians
Egyptians ( arz, المَصرِيُون, translit=al-Maṣriyyūn, ; arz, المَصرِيِين, translit=al-Maṣriyyīn, ; cop, ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, remenkhēmi) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian ...
, Greeks
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
, Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
, and Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...
—personified natural phenomena
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are p ...
, variously as either deliberate causes or effects. Some Avesta
The Avesta () is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language.
The Avesta texts fall into several different categories, arranged either by dialect, or by usage. The principal text in the litu ...
n and Vedic
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...
deities were viewed as ethical concepts. In Indian religions
Indian religions, sometimes also termed Dharmic religions or Indic religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. These religions, which include Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism,Adams, C. J."Classification of ...
, deities were envisioned as manifesting within the temple of every living being's body, as sensory organs and mind. Deities were envisioned as a form of existence (Saṃsāra
''Saṃsāra'' (Devanagari: संसार) is a Pali/Sanskrit word that means "world". It is also the concept of rebirth and "cyclicality of all life, matter, existence", a fundamental belief of most Indian religions. Popularly, it is the c ...
) after rebirth
Rebirth may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Film
* ''Rebirth'' (2011 film), a 2011 Japanese drama film
* ''Rebirth'' (2016 film), a 2016 American thriller film
* ''Rebirth'', a documentary film produced by Project Rebirth
* ''The Re ...
, for human beings who gain merit through an ethical life, where they become guardian deities and live blissfully in heaven
Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
, but are also subject to death when their merit is lost.
Etymology
The English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
word ''deity'' derives from Old French
Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligib ...
''deité,'' the Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''deitatem'' or "divine nature", coined by Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...
from ' ("god"). Deus is related through a common Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo-E ...
(PIE) origin to '' *deiwos''. This root yields the ancient Indian word ''Deva
Deva may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film
* ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film
* ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film
* Deva (2007 Telugu film)
* ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film
* Deva ...
'' meaning "to gleam, a shining one", from *div- "to shine", as well as Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
' "divine
Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.[divine ...](_blank)
" and Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D ...
; and Latin ' "god" (Old Latin
Old Latin, also known as Early Latin or Archaic Latin (Classical la, prīsca Latīnitās, lit=ancient Latinity), was the Latin language in the period before 75 BC, i.e. before the age of Classical Latin. It descends from a common Proto-Italic ...
''deivos''). Deva is masculine, and the related feminine equivalent is devi
Devī (; Sanskrit: देवी) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism.
The conce ...
. Etymologically, the cognates of ''Devi'' are Latin ' and Greek '. In Old Persian
Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan language, Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native ...
, '' daiva-'' means "demon
A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, ani ...
, evil god", while in Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
it means the opposite, referring to the "heavenly, divine, terrestrial things of high excellence, exalted, shining ones".
The closely linked term "god
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
" refers to "supreme being, deity", according to Douglas Harper, and is derived from Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages.
Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic branc ...
''*guthan'', from PIE ', which means "that which is invoked". ''Guth'' in the Irish language
Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...
means "voice". The term ' is also the source of Old Church Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language.
Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with Standard language, standardizing the lan ...
("to call"), Sanskrit ' ("invoked", an epithet of Indra
Indra (; Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is the king of the devas (god-like deities) and Svarga (heaven) in Hindu mythology. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes/ref> I ...
), from the root ("to call, invoke."),
An alternate etymology for the term "god" comes from the Proto-Germanic Gaut
is an early Germanic name, from a Proto-Germanic ''gautaz'', which represents a mythical ancestor or national god in the origin myth of the Geats.
Etymology
''Gautaz'' may be connected to the name of the Swedish river Göta älv at the city ...
, which traces it to the PIE root ' ("poured"), derived from the root ' ("to pour, pour a libation
A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid, or grains such as rice, as an offering to a deity or spirit, or in memory of the dead. It was common in many religions of antiquity and continues to be offered in cultures today.
Various substa ...
"). The term ' is also the source of the Greek ' "to pour". Originally the German root was a neuter noun. The gender of the monotheistic God shifted to masculine under the influence of Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
. In contrast, all ancient Indo-European cultures and mythologies
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
recognized both masculine and feminine deities.
Definitions
There is no universally accepted consensus on what a deity is, and concepts of deities vary considerably across cultures. Huw Owen
Huw Parri Owen (30 December 1926 – 26 October 1996) was a Welsh theologian, writer and academic.
Life
Owen was born on 30 December 1926 in Cardiff and was educated at Cardiff High School and Jesus College, Oxford, where he studied Literae ...
states that the term "deity or god or its equivalent in other languages" has a bewildering range of meanings and significance. It has ranged from "infinite transcendent being who created and lords over the universe" (God), to a "finite entity or experience, with special significance or which evokes a special feeling" (god), to "a concept in religious or philosophical context that relates to nature or magnified beings or a supra-mundane realm", to "numerous other usages".
A deity is typically conceptualized as a supernatural or divine concept, manifesting in ideas and knowledge, in a form that combines excellence in some or all aspects, wrestling with weakness and questions in other aspects, hero
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...
ic in outlook and actions, yet tied up with emotions and desires. In other cases, the deity is a principle or reality such as the idea of "soul". The Upanishad
The Upanishads (; sa, उपनिषद् ) are late Vedic Sanskrit texts that supplied the basis of later Hindu philosophy.Wendy Doniger (1990), ''Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism'', 1st Edition, University of Chicago Press, , ...
s of Hinduism, for example, characterize Atman Atman or Ātman may refer to:
Film
* ''Ātman'' (1975 film), a Japanese experimental short film directed by Toshio Matsumoto
* ''Atman'' (1997 film), a documentary film directed by Pirjo Honkasalo
People
* Pavel Atman (born 1987), Russian hand ...
(soul, self) as ''deva'' (deity), thereby asserting that the ''deva'' and eternal supreme principle (Brahman
In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' ( sa, ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part X ...
) is part of every living creature, that this soul is spiritual and divine, and that to realize self-knowledge is to know the supreme.
Theism
Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of a supreme being or deities. In common parlance, or when contrasted with ''deism'', the term often describes the classical conception of God that is found in monotheism (also referred to ...
is the belief in the existence of one or more deities. Polytheism
Polytheism is the belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, the ...
is the belief in and worship of multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon
Pantheon may refer to:
* Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building
Arts and entertainment Comics
*Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization
* ''Pantheon'' (Lone S ...
of gods and goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...
es, with accompanying ritual
A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...
s. In most polytheistic religions, the different gods and goddesses are representations of forces of nature or ancestral principles, and can be viewed either as autonomous or as aspects or emanations of a creator God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
or transcendental absolute principle (monistic
Monism attributes oneness or singleness (Greek: μόνος) to a concept e.g., existence. Various kinds of monism can be distinguished:
* Priority monism states that all existing things go back to a source that is distinct from them; e.g., i ...
theologies), which manifests immanently in nature. Henotheism
Henotheism is the worship of a single, supreme god that does not deny the existence or possible existence of other deities. Friedrich Schelling (1775–1854) coined the word, and Friedrich Welcker (1784–1868) used it to depict primiti ...
accepts the existence of more than one deity, but considers all deities as equivalent representations or aspects of the same divine principle, the highest.[ ]Monolatry
Monolatry ( grc, μόνος, monos, single, and grc, λατρεία, latreia, worship, label=none) is the belief in the existence of many gods, but with the consistent worship of only one deity. The term ''monolatry'' was perhaps first used by Ju ...
is the belief that many deities exist, but that only one of these deities may be validly worshipped.
Monotheism
Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford ...
is the belief that only one deity exists.[Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: ]Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
. A monotheistic deity, known as "God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
", is usually described as omnipotent
Omnipotence is the quality of having unlimited power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence only to the deity of their faith. In the monotheistic religious philosophy of Abrahamic religions, omnipotence is often listed as one of ...
, omnipresent
Omnipresence or ubiquity is the property of being present anywhere and everywhere. The term omnipresence is most often used in a religious context as an attribute of a deity or supreme being, while the term ubiquity is generally used to descri ...
, omniscient
Omniscience () is the capacity to know everything. In Hinduism, Sikhism and the Abrahamic religions, this is an attribute of God. In Jainism, omniscience is an attribute that any individual can eventually attain. In Buddhism, there are diffe ...
, omnibenevolent
Omnibenevolence (from Latin ''omni-'' meaning "all", ''bene-'' meaning "good" and ''volens'' meaning "willing") is defined by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as "unlimited or infinite benevolence". Some philosophers have argued that it is impo ...
and eternal
Eternal(s) or The Eternal may refer to:
* Eternity, an infinite amount of time, or a timeless state
* Immortality or eternal life
* God, the supreme being, creator deity, and principal object of faith in monotheism
Comics, film and television
* ...
. However, not all deities have been regarded this way and an entity does not need to be almighty, omnipresent, omniscient, omnibenevolent or eternal to qualify as a deity.
Deism
Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin ''deus'', meaning "god") is the Philosophy, philosophical position and Rationalism, rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge, and asserts that Empirical evi ...
is the belief that only one deity exists, who created the universe, but does not usually intervene in the resulting world. Deism was particularly popular among western intellectuals during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Pantheism
Pantheism is the belief that reality, the universe and the cosmos are identical with divinity and a supreme supernatural being or entity, pointing to the universe as being an immanent creator deity still expanding and creating, which has ex ...
is the belief that the universe itself is God or that everything composes an all-encompassing, immanent
The doctrine or theory of immanence holds that the divine encompasses or is manifested in the material world. It is held by some philosophical and metaphysical theories of divine presence. Immanence is usually applied in monotheistic, pantheis ...
deity. Pandeism
Pandeism (or pan-deism), is a theological doctrine that combines aspects of pantheism with aspects of deism. Unlike classical deism, which holds that God does not interfere with the universe after its creation, pandeism holds that a creator de ...
is an intermediate position between these, proposing that the creator became a pantheistic universe. Panentheism
Panentheism ("all in God", from the Greek language, Greek grc, πᾶν, pân, all, label=none, grc, ἐν, en, in, label=none and grc, Θεός, Theós, God, label=none) is the belief that the Divinity, divine intersects every part of Univers ...
is the belief that divinity
Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.[divine ...](_blank)
pervades the universe, but that it also transcends the universe. Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...
is the position that it is impossible to know for certain whether a deity of any kind exists. Atheism
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...
is the non-belief in the existence of any deity.
Prehistoric
Scholars infer the probable existence of deities in the prehistoric period from inscriptions and prehistoric arts such as cave drawings, but it is unclear what these sketches and paintings are and why they were made. Some engravings or sketches show animals, hunters or rituals. It was once common for archaeologists to interpret virtually every prehistoric female figurine as a representation of a single, primordial goddess, the ancestor of historically attested goddesses such as Inanna
Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, Divine law, divine justice, and political p ...
, Ishtar
Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, divine justice, and political power. She was originally worshiped in S ...
, Astarte
Astarte (; , ) is the Hellenized form of the Ancient Near Eastern goddess Ashtart or Athtart (Northwest Semitic), a deity closely related to Ishtar (East Semitic), who was worshipped from the Bronze Age through classical antiquity. The name i ...
, Cybele
Cybele ( ; Phrygian: ''Matar Kubileya/Kubeleya'' "Kubileya/Kubeleya Mother", perhaps "Mountain Mother"; Lydian ''Kuvava''; el, Κυβέλη ''Kybele'', ''Kybebe'', ''Kybelis'') is an Anatolian mother goddess; she may have a possible forer ...
, and Aphrodite
Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols include ...
; this approach has now generally been discredited. Modern archaeologists now generally recognize that it is impossible to conclusively identify any prehistoric figurines as representations of any kind of deities, let alone goddesses. Nonetheless, it is possible to evaluate ancient representations on a case-by-case basis and rate them on how likely they are to represent deities. The Venus of Willendorf
The Venus of Willendorf is an Venus figurine estimated to have been made around 25,000-30,000 years ago. It was found on August 7, 1908, by a workman named Johann Veran or Josef Veram during excavations conducted by archaeologists Josef Szomba ...
, a female figurine found in Europe and dated to about 25,000 BCE has been interpreted by some as an exemplar of a prehistoric female deity. A number of probable representations of deities have been discovered at 'Ain Ghazal
El Ain ( ar, العين), Al Ain, or Ain is a village at an elevation of on a foothill of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains in the Baalbek District of the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate, Lebanon.
It is famous for agriculture and trade, located on the highwa ...
and the works of art uncovered at Çatalhöyük
Çatalhöyük (; also ''Çatal Höyük'' and ''Çatal Hüyük''; from Turkish ''çatal'' "fork" + ''höyük'' "tumulus") is a tell of a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic proto-city settlement in southern Anatolia, which existed from appr ...
reveal references to what is probably a complex mythology.
Religions and cultures
Sub-Saharan African
Diverse African cultures developed theology and concepts of deities over their history. In Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
and neighboring West African countries
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...
, for example, two prominent deities (locally called '' Òrìṣà'') are found in the Yoruba religion
The Yoruba religion (Yoruba: Ìṣẹ̀ṣe), or Isese, comprises the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practice of the Yoruba people. Its homeland is in present-day Southwestern Nigeria, which comprises the majority of Oyo, Ogu ...
, namely the god Ogun
Ogun or Ogoun (Yoruba: Ògún, Portuguese: Ogum, Gu; also spelled Oggun or Ogou; known as Ogún or Ogum in Latin America) is a spirit that appears in several African religions. He attempted to seize the throne after the demise of Obatala, who re ...
and the goddess Osun
Ọṣun, is an orisha, a spirit, a deity, or a goddess that reflects one of the manifestations of the Yorùbá Supreme Being in the Ifá oral tradition and Yoruba-based religions of West Africa. She is one of the most popular and venerated ...
. Ogun is the primordial masculine deity as well as the archdivinity and guardian of occupations such as tools making and use, metal working, hunting, war, protection and ascertaining equity and justice. Osun is an equally powerful primordial feminine deity and a multidimensional guardian of fertility, water, maternal, health, social relations, love and peace. Ogun and Osun traditions were brought into the Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
on slave ship
Slave ships were large cargo ships specially built or converted from the 17th to the 19th century for transporting slaves. Such ships were also known as "Guineamen" because the trade involved human trafficking to and from the Guinea coast ...
s. They were preserved by the Africans in their plantation communities, and their festivals continue to be observed.
In Southern African cultures, a similar masculine-feminine deity combination has appeared in other forms, particularly as the Moon and Sun deities. One Southern African cosmology consists of ''Hieseba'' or ''Xuba'' (deity, god), ''Gaune'' (evil spirits) and ''Khuene'' (people). The ''Hieseba'' includes ''Nladiba'' (male, creator sky god) and ''Nladisara'' (females, Nladiba's two wives). The Sun (female) and the Moon (male) deities are viewed as offspring of ''Nladiba'' and two ''Nladisara''. The Sun and Moon are viewed as manifestations of the supreme deity, and worship is timed and directed to them. In other African cultures the Sun is seen as male, while the Moon is female, both symbols of the godhead. In Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
, the supreme deity is androgynous
Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex, gender identity, or gender expression.
When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics i ...
with male-female aspects, envisioned as the giver of rain, treated simultaneously as the god of darkness and light and is called ''Mwari Shona''. In the Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...
region, the term for a deity is ''Lubaale'', or alternatively ''Jok''.
Ancient Near Eastern
Egyptian
Ancient Egyptian culture revered numerous deities. Egyptian records and inscriptions list the names of many whose nature is unknown and make vague references to other unnamed deities. Egyptologist
Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...
James P. Allen
James Peter Allen (born 1945) is an American Egyptologist, specializing in language and religion. He was curator of Egyptian Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1990 to 2006. In 2007, he became the Charles Edwin Wilbour Professor of Egypt ...
estimates that more than 1,400 deities are named in Egyptian texts, whereas Christian Leitz offers an estimate of "thousands upon thousands" of Egyptian deities. Their terms for deities were ''nṯr'' (god), and feminine ''nṯrt'' (goddess); however, these terms may also have applied to any being – spirits and deceased human beings, but not demons – who in some way were outside the sphere of everyday life. Egyptian deities typically had an associated cult, role and mythologies.
Around 200 deities are prominent in the Pyramid texts
The Pyramid Texts are the oldest ancient Egyptian funerary texts, dating to the late Old Kingdom. They are the earliest known corpus of ancient Egyptian religious texts. Written in Old Egyptian, the pyramid texts were carved onto the subterranea ...
and ancient temples of Egypt, many zoomorphic
The word ''zoomorphism'' derives from the Greek ζωον (''zōon''), meaning "animal", and μορφη (''morphē''), meaning "shape" or "form". In the context of art, zoomorphism could describe art that imagines humans as non-human animals. It c ...
. Among these, were ''Min'' (fertility god), ''Neith'' (creator goddess), ''Anubis'', ''Atum'', ''Bes'', ''Horus'', ''Isis'', ''Ra'', ''Meretseger'', ''Nut'', ''Osiris'', ''Shu'', ''Sia'' and ''Thoth''. Most Egyptian deities represented natural phenomenon, physical objects or social aspects of life, as hidden immanent forces within these phenomena. The deity ''Shu'', for example represented air; the goddess ''Meretseger'' represented parts of the earth, and the god ''Sia'' represented the abstract powers of perception. Deities such as ''Ra'' and ''Osiris'' were associated with the judgement of the dead and their care during the afterlife. Major gods often had multiple roles and were involved in multiple phenomena.
The first written evidence of deities are from early 3rd millennium BCE, likely emerging from prehistoric beliefs. However, deities became systematized and sophisticated after the formation of an Egyptian state under the Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...
s and their treatment as sacred king
In many historical societies, the position of kingship carries a sacral meaning; that is, it is identical with that of a high priest
The term "high priest" usually refers either to an individual who holds the office of ruler-priest, or to one ...
s who had exclusive rights to interact with the gods, in the later part of the 3rd millennium BCE. Through the early centuries of the common era, as Egyptians interacted and traded with neighboring cultures, foreign deities were adopted and venerated.
Levantine
The ancient Canaanites
{{Cat main, Canaan
See also:
* :Ancient Israel and Judah
Ancient Levant
Hebrew Bible nations
Ancient Lebanon
0050
Ancient Syria
Wikipedia categories named after regions
0050
Phoenicia
Amarna Age civilizations ...
were polytheists who believed in a pantheon of deities, the chief of whom was the god El, who ruled alongside his consort Asherah
Asherah (; he, אֲשֵׁרָה, translit=Ăšērā; uga, 𐎀𐎘𐎗𐎚, translit=ʾAṯiratu; akk, 𒀀𒅆𒋥, translit=Aširat; Qatabanian language, Qatabanian: ') in ancient Semitic religion, is a fertility goddess who appears in a ...
and their seventy sons. Baal
Baal (), or Baal,; phn, , baʿl; hbo, , baʿal, ). ( ''baʿal'') was a title and honorific meaning "owner", "lord" in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during Ancient Near East, antiquity. From its use among people, it cam ...
was the god of storm, rain, vegetation and fertility, while his consort Anat
Anat (, ), Anatu, classically Anath (; uga, 𐎓𐎐𐎚 ''ʿnt''; he, עֲנָת ''ʿĂnāṯ''; ; el, Αναθ, translit=Anath; Egyptian: '' ꜥntjt'') was a goddess associated with warfare and hunting, best known from the Ugaritic texts. ...
was the goddess of war and Astarte
Astarte (; , ) is the Hellenized form of the Ancient Near Eastern goddess Ashtart or Athtart (Northwest Semitic), a deity closely related to Ishtar (East Semitic), who was worshipped from the Bronze Age through classical antiquity. The name i ...
, the West Semitic
The West Semitic languages are a proposed major sub-grouping of ancient Semitic languages. The term was first coined in 1883 by Fritz Hommel.[Ishtar
Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, divine justice, and political power. She was originally worshiped in S ...]
, was the goddess of love. The people of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah originally believed in these deities, alongside their own national god
A national god is a Tutelary deity, guardian divinity whose special concern is the safety and well-being of an ethnic group (''nation''), and of that group's leaders. This is contrasted with other guardian figures such as family gods responsible ...
Yahweh
Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he posse ...
. El later became syncretized with Yahweh, who took over El's role as the head of the pantheon, with Asherah as his divine consort and the "sons of El" as his offspring. During the later years of the Kingdom of Judah
The Kingdom of Judah ( he, , ''Yəhūdā''; akk, 𒅀𒌑𒁕𒀀𒀀 ''Ya'údâ'' 'ia-ú-da-a-a'' arc, 𐤁𐤉𐤕𐤃𐤅𐤃 ''Bēyt Dāwīḏ'', " House of David") was an Israelite kingdom of the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. Ce ...
, a monolatristic
Monolatry ( grc, μόνος, monos, single, and grc, λατρεία, latreia, worship, label=none) is the belief in the existence of many gods, but with the consistent worship of only one deity. The term ''monolatry'' was perhaps first used by J ...
faction rose to power insisting that only Yahweh was fit to be worshipped by the people of Judah. Monolatry became enforced during the reforms of Josiah, King Josiah in 621 BCE. Finally, during the national crisis of the Babylonian captivity, some Ioudaios, Judahites began to teach that deities aside from Yahweh were not just unfit to be worshipped, but did not exist. The "sons of El" were demoted from deities to Angels in Judaism, angels.
Mesopotamian
Ancient Mesopotamia, Mesopotamian culture in southern Iraq had numerous ''dingir'' (deities, gods and goddesses). Mesopotamian deities were almost exclusively anthropomorphic. They were thought to possess extraordinary powers and were often envisioned as being of tremendous physical size. They were generally immortal, but a few of them, particularly Dumuzid the Shepherd, Dumuzid, Geshtinanna, and Gugalanna were said to have either died or visited the underworld. Both male and female deities were widely venerated.
In the Sumerian pantheon, deities had multiple functions, which included presiding over procreation, rains, irrigation, agriculture, destiny, and justice. The gods were fed, clothed, entertained, and worshipped to prevent natural catastrophes as well as to prevent social chaos such as pillaging, rape, or atrocities. Many of the Sumerian deities were Tutelary deity, patron guardians of city-states.
The most important deities in the Sumerian pantheon were known as the Anunnaki, and included deities known as the "seven gods who decree": Anu, An, Enlil, Enki, Ninhursag, Sin (mythology), Nanna, Utu and Inanna
Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, Divine law, divine justice, and political p ...
. After the conquest of Sumer by Sargon of Akkad, many Sumerian deities were syncretized with East Semitic ones. The goddess Inanna, syncretized with the East Semitic Ishtar, became popular, with temples across Mesopotamia.
The Mesopotamian mythology of the first millennium BCE treated Anshar, Anšar (later Ashur (god), Aššur) and Kishar, Kišar as primordial deities. Marduk was a significant god among the Babylonians. He rose from an obscure deity of the third millennium BCE to become one of the most important deities in the Mesopotamian pantheon of the first millennium BCE. The Babylonians worshipped Marduk as creator of heaven, earth and humankind, and as their national god
A national god is a Tutelary deity, guardian divinity whose special concern is the safety and well-being of an ethnic group (''nation''), and of that group's leaders. This is contrasted with other guardian figures such as family gods responsible ...
. Marduk's iconography is zoomorphic and is most often found in Middle Eastern archaeological remains depicted as a "snake-dragon" or a "human-animal hybrid".
Indo-European
Germanic
In Germanic languages, the terms cognate with 'god' such as ang, god and non, guð were originally neuter but became masculine, as in modern Germanic languages, after Christianisation of the Germanic peoples, Christianisation due their use in referring to the Christian god.
In Norse mythology, (singular or ) are the principal group of gods, while the term (singular ) refers specifically to the female . These terms, states John Lindow, may be ultimately rooted in the Indo-European root for "breath" (as in "life giving force"), and are cognate with ang, os (a Anglo-Saxon paganism, heathen god) and Gothic language, Gothic: ''anses''.
Another group of deities found in Norse mythology are termed as ''Vanir'', and are associated with fertility. The ''Æsir'' and the ''Vanir'' Æsir–Vanir War, went to war, according to the Nordic sources. The account in ''Ynglinga saga'' describes the Æsir–Vanir War ending in truce and ultimate reconciliation of the two into a single group of gods, after both sides chose peace, exchanged ambassadors (hostages), and intermarried.
The Norse mythology describes the cooperation after the war, as well as differences between the ''Æsir'' and the ''Vanir'' which were considered scandalous by the other side. The goddess Freyja of the ''Vanir'' taught magic to the ''Æsir'', while the two sides discover that while ''Æsir'' forbid Incest between siblings, mating between siblings, ''Vanir'' accepted such mating.
Temples hosting images of Germanic deities (such as Thor, Odin and Freyr), as well as pagan worship rituals, continued in Nordic countries into the 12th century, according to historical records. It has been proposed that over time, Christian equivalents were substituted for the Germanic deities to help suppress Old Nordic religion, paganism, during Christianisation of the Germanic peoples, Christianisation. Worship of the Germanic gods has been revived in the modern period as part of the new religious movement of Heathenry (new religious movement), Heathenry.
Greek
The Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks revered both gods and goddesses. These continued to be revered through the early centuries of the common era, and many of the Greek deities inspired and were adopted as part of much larger pantheon of Roman deities. The Greek religion was polytheistic, but had no centralized church, nor any sacred texts. The deities were largely associated with myths and they represented natural phenomena or aspects of human behavior.
Several Greek deities probably trace back to more ancient Indo-European traditions, since the gods and goddesses found in distant cultures are mythologically comparable and are cognates. Eos, the Greek goddess of the dawn, for instance, is cognate to Indic ''Ushas'', Roman ''Aurora (mythology), Aurora'' and Latvian ''Auseklis''. Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D ...
, the Greek king of gods, is cognate to Latin ''Jupiter (mythology), Iūpiter'', Old German ''Týr, Ziu'', and Indic ''Dyaus Pita, Dyaus'', with whom he shares similar mythologies. Other deities, such as Aphrodite
Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols include ...
, originated from the Near East.
Greek deities varied locally, but many shared panhellenic themes, celebrated similar festivals, rites, and ritual grammar. The most important deities in the Greek pantheon were the Twelve Olympians: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hermes, Demeter, Dionysus, Hephaestus, and Ares. Other important Greek deities included Hestia, Hades and Heracles. These deities later inspired the ''Dii Consentes'' galaxy of Roman deities.
Besides the Olympians, the Greeks also worshipped various local deities. Among these were the goat-legged god Pan (mythology), Pan (the guardian of shepherds and their flocks), Nymphs (List of nature deities, nature spirits associated with particular landforms), Naiads (who dwelled in springs), Dryads (who were spirits of the trees), Nereids (who inhabited the sea), river gods, satyrs (a class of lustful male nature spirits), and others. The dark powers of the underworld were represented by the Erinyes (or Furies), said to pursue those guilty of crimes against blood-relatives.
The Greek deities, like those in many other Indo-European traditions, were anthropomorphic. Walter Burkert describes them as "persons, not abstractions, ideas or concepts". They had fantastic abilities and powers; each had some unique expertise and, in some aspects, a specific and flawed personality. They were not omnipotent and could be injured in some circumstances. Greek deities led to cults, were used politically and inspired votive offerings for favors such as bountiful crops, healthy family, victory in war, or peace for a loved one recently deceased.
Roman
The Roman pantheon had numerous deities, both Greek and non-Greek. The more famed deities, found in the mythologies and the 2nd millennium CE European arts, have been the anthropomorphic deities syncretized with the Greek deities. These include the six gods and six goddesses: Venus, Apollo, Mars, Diana, Minerva, Ceres, Vulcan, Juno, Mercury, Vesta, Neptune, Jupiter (Jove, Zeus); as well Bacchus, Pluto and Hercules. The non-Greek major deities include Janus, Fortuna, Vesta, Quirinus and Tellus (mother goddess, probably most ancient). Some of the non-Greek deities had likely origins in more ancient European culture such as the ancient Germanic religion, while others may have been borrowed, for political reasons, from neighboring trade centers such as those in the Minoan civilization, Minoan or ancient Egyptian civilization.
The Roman deities, in a manner similar to the ancient Greeks, inspired community festivals, rituals and sacrifices led by ''flamines'' (priests, pontifs), but priestesses (Vestal Virgins) were also held in high esteem for maintaining sacred fire used in the votive rituals for deities. Deities were also maintained in home shrines (''lararium''), such as Hestia honored in homes as the goddess of fire hearth. This Roman religion held reverence for sacred fire, and this is also found in Hebrew culture (Leviticus 6), Vedic culture's Homa, ancient Greeks and other cultures.
Ancient Roman scholars such as Varro and Cicero wrote treatises on the nature of gods of their times. Varro stated, in his ''Antiquitates Rerum Divinarum'', that it is the superstitious man who fears the gods, while the truly religious person venerates them as parents. Cicero, in his ''Academica (Cicero), Academica'', praised Varro for this and other insights. According to Varro, there have been three accounts of deities in the Roman society: the mythical account created by poets for theatre and entertainment, the civil account used by people for veneration as well as by the city, and the natural account created by the philosophers. The best state is, adds Varro, where the civil theology combines the poetic mythical account with the philosopher's. The Roman deities continued to be revered in Europe through the era of Constantine, and past 313 CE when he issued the Edict of Toleration.
Native American
Inca
The Inca Empire, Inca culture has believed in ''Viracocha'' (also called ''Pachacutec'') as the creator deity
A creator deity or creator god (often called the Creator) is a deity responsible for the creation of the Earth, world, and universe in human religion and mythology. In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator. A number of monolatris ...
. ''Viracocha'' has been an abstract deity to Inca culture, one who existed before he created space and time. All other deities of the Inca people have corresponded to elements of nature. Of these, the most important ones have been ''Inti'' (Solar deity, sun deity) responsible for agricultural prosperity and as the father of the first Inca king, and ''Mama Qucha'' the goddess of the sea, lakes, rivers and waters. ''Inti'' in some mythologies is the son of ''Viracocha'' and ''Mama Qucha''.
Inca people have revered many male and female deities. Among the feminine deities have been ''Mama Kuka'' (goddess of joy), ''Mama Ch'aska'' (goddess of dawn), ''Mama Allpa'' (goddess of harvest and earth, sometimes called ''Mama Pacha'' or ''Pachamama''), Mama Killa (List of lunar deities, moon goddess) and ''Mama Sara'' (goddess of grain). During and after the imposition of Christianity during Spanish Empire, Spanish colonialism, the Inca people retained their original beliefs in deities through syncretism, where they overlay the Christian God and teachings over their original beliefs and practices. The male deity ''Inti'' became accepted as the Christian God, but the Andean rituals centered around Inca deities have been retained and continued thereafter into the modern era by the Inca people.
Maya and Aztec
In Maya civilization, Maya culture, ''Kukulkan'' has been the supreme creator deity
A creator deity or creator god (often called the Creator) is a deity responsible for the creation of the Earth, world, and universe in human religion and mythology. In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator. A number of monolatris ...
, also revered as the god of reincarnation, water, fertility and wind. The Maya people built Mesoamerican pyramids, step pyramid temples to honor ''Kukulkan'', aligning them to the Sun's position on the spring equinox. Other deities found at Maya archaeological sites include ''Chac-Xib-Chac, Xib Chac'' – the benevolent male rain deity, and ''Ixchel'' – the benevolent female earth, weaving and pregnancy goddess. The Maya calendar had 18 months, each with 20 days (and five unlucky days of ''Uayeb''); each month had a presiding deity, who inspired social rituals, special trading markets and community festivals.
A deity with aspects similar to ''Kulkulkan'' in the Aztec culture has been called ''Quetzalcoatl''. However, states Timothy Insoll, the Aztec ideas of deity remain poorly understood. What has been assumed is based on what was constructed by Christian missionaries. The deity concept was likely more complex than these historical records. In Aztec culture, there were hundred of deities, but many were henotheistic incarnations of one another (similar to the avatar concept of Hinduism). Unlike Hinduism and other cultures, Aztec deities were usually not anthropomorphic, and were instead zoomorphic or hybrid icons associated with spirits, natural phenomena or forces. The Aztec deities were often represented through ceramic figurines, revered in home shrines.
Polynesian
The Polynesians, Polynesian people developed a theology centered on numerous deities, with clusters of islands having different names for the same idea. There are great deities found across the Pacific Ocean. Some deities are found widely, and there are many local deities whose worship is limited to one or a few islands or sometimes to isolated villages on the same island.
The Māori people, of what is now New Zealand, called the supreme being as ''Io Matua Kore, Io'', who is also referred elsewhere as ''Iho-Iho'', ''Io-Mataaho'', ''Io Nui'', ''Te Io Ora'', ''Io Matua Te Kora'' among other names. The ''Io'' deity has been revered as the original uncreated creator, with power of life, with nothing outside or beyond him.Other deities in the Polynesian pantheon include ''Tangaroa, Tangaloa'' (god who created men), ''La'a Maomao'' (god of winds), ''Tūmatauenga, Tu-Matauenga'' or ''Kū, Ku'' (god of war), ''Tu-metua, Tu-Metua'' (mother goddess), ''Kāne, Kane'' (god of procreation) and ''Rangi and Papa, Rangi'' (sky god father).
The Polynesian deities have been part of a sophisticated theology, addressing questions of creation, the nature of existence, guardians in daily lives as well as during wars, natural phenomena, good and evil spirits, priestly rituals, as well as linked to the journey of the souls of the dead.
Abrahamic
Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
is a monotheistic religion in which most mainstream congregations and denominations accept the concept of the Holy Trinity. Modern orthodox Christians believe that the Trinity is composed of three equal, Consubstantiality, cosubstantial persons: God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The first person to describe the persons of the Trinity as ''homooúsios'' (ὁμοούσιος; "of the same substance") was the Church Fathers, Church Father Origen. Although most early Christian theologians (including Origen) were Subordinationism, Subordinationists, who believed that the Father was superior to the Son and the Son superior to the Holy Spirit, this belief was condemned as heretical by the First Council of Nicaea in the fourth century, which declared that all three persons of the Trinity are equal. Christians regard the universe as an element in God's actualization and the Holy Spirit is seen as the divine essence that is "the unity and relation of the God the Father, Father and the Son". According to George Hunsinger, the doctrine of the Trinity justifies worship in a Church, wherein Jesus Christ is deemed to be a full deity with the Christian cross as his icon.
The theological examination of Jesus Christ, of divine grace in incarnation, his non-transferability and completeness has been a historic topic. For example, the Council of Chalcedon in 451 CE declared that in "one person Jesus Christ, fullness of deity and fullness of humanity are united, the union of the natures being such that they can neither be divided nor confused". Jesus Christ, according to the New Testament, is the self-disclosure of the one, true God, both in his teaching and in his person; Christ, in Christian faith, is considered the incarnation of God.
Islam
Ilah, ' ( ar, إله; plural: '), is an Arabic word meaning "god". It appears in the name of the monotheistic god of Islam as Allah ('). which literally means "the god" in Arabic. Islam is strictly monotheistic and the first statement of the ''shahada'', or Muslim confession of faith, is that "there is no ' (deity) but ' (God)", who is perfectly unified and utterly indivisible.
The term Allah is used by Muslims for God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
. The Persian language, Persian word ''Khuda'' (Persian: خدا) can be translated as god, lord or king, and is also used today to refer to God in Islam by Persian language, Persian, Urdu, Tat language (Caucasus), Tat and Kurdish languages, Kurdish speakers. The Turkic languages, Turkic word for god is Tengri; it exists as ''Tanrı'' in Turkish language, Turkish.
Judaism
Judaism affirms the existence of one God (Yahweh, or YHWH), who is not abstract, but He who revealed himself throughout Jewish history particularly during the Exodus and the Exile. Judaism reflects a monotheism that gradually arose, was affirmed with certainty in the sixth century "Second Isaiah", and has ever since been the axiomatic basis of its theology.
The classical presentation of Judaism has been as a monotheistic faith that rejected deities and related idolatry. However, states Breslauer, modern scholarship suggests that idolatry was not absent in biblical faith, and it resurfaced multiple times in Jewish religious life. The rabbinic texts and other secondary Jewish literature suggest worship of material objects and natural phenomena through the medieval era, while the core teachings of Judaism maintained monotheism.
According to Aryeh Kaplan, God is always referred to as "He" in Judaism, "not to imply that the concept of sex or gender applies to God", but because "there is no neuter in the Hebrew language, and the Hebrew word for God is a masculine noun" as he "is an active rather than a passive creative force".
Mandaeism
In Mandaeism, ''Hayyi Rabbi'' (lit=The Great Life), or 'The Great Living God', is the supreme God from which all things Emanationism, emanate. He is also known as 'The First Life', since during the creation of the material world, Yushamin emanated from Hayyi Rabbi as the "Second Life." "The principles of the Mandaean doctrine: the belief of the only one great God, Hayyi Rabbi, to whom all absolute properties belong; He created all the worlds, formed the soul through his power, and placed it by means of angels into the human body. So He created Adam and Eve, the first man and woman." Mandaeans recognize God to be the eternal, creator of all, the one and only in domination who has no partner.[Hanish, Shak (2019). The Mandaeans In Iraq. In ]
Asian
Anitism
Indigenous Philippine folk religions, Anitism, composed of a diverse array of indigenous religions from the Philippines, has multiple pantheon of deities, with each ethnic group having their own. The most notable deities are almost always the deity or deities considered by specific ethnic groups as their supreme deity or deities.[Anitism: a survey of religious beliefs native to the Philippines, SK Hislop - Asian Studies, 1971]
Bathala is the Tagalog supreme deity, while Mangechay is the Kapampangan supreme deity. The Sambal supreme deity is Mayari, Malayari, the Blaan supreme deity is Melu, the Bisaya supreme deity is Kaptan, and so on. There are more than a hundred different ethnic groups in the Philippines, each having their own supreme deity or deities. Each supreme deity or deities normally rules over a pantheon of deities, contributing to the sheer diversity of deities in Anitism.
Buddhism
Buddhists do not believe in a creator deity
A creator deity or creator god (often called the Creator) is a deity responsible for the creation of the Earth, world, and universe in human religion and mythology. In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator. A number of monolatris ...
. However, deities are an essential part of Buddhist teachings about cosmology, Rebirth (Buddhism), rebirth, and Saṃsāra (Buddhism), saṃsāra. Buddhist deities (such as ''Deva (Buddhism), devas'' and ''Bodhisattva, bodhisattvas'') are believed to reside in a pleasant, heavenly realm within Buddhist cosmology, which is typically subdivided into twenty six sub-realms.
Devas are numerous, but they are still mortal; they live in the heavenly realm, then die and are reborn like all other beings. A rebirth in the heavenly realm is believed to be the result of leading an ethical life and accumulating very good karma. A ''deva'' does not need to work, and is able to enjoy in the heavenly realm all pleasures found on Earth. However, the pleasures of this realm lead to attachment (''upādāna''), lack of spiritual pursuits, and therefore no nirvana. The vast majority of Buddhist Laity, lay people in countries practicing Theravada, states Kevin Trainor, have historically pursued Buddhist rituals and practices because they are motivated by their potential rebirth into the ''deva'' realm. The ''deva'' realm in Buddhist practice in Southeast Asia and East Asia, states Keown, include gods found in Hindu traditions such as Indra
Indra (; Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is the king of the devas (god-like deities) and Svarga (heaven) in Hindu mythology. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes/ref> I ...
and Brahma, and concepts in Hindu cosmology such as Mount Meru.
Mahayana Buddhism also includes different kinds of deities, such as numerous Buddhahood, Buddhas, Bodhisattva, bodhisattvas and fierce deities.
Hinduism
The concept of God varies in Hinduism, it being a diverse system of thought with beliefs spanning henotheism, monotheism, polytheism, panentheism, pantheism and monism among others.
In the ancient Vedic
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...
texts of Hinduism, a deity is often referred to as Deva
Deva may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film
* ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film
* ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film
* Deva (2007 Telugu film)
* ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film
* Deva ...
(god) or Devi (goddess). The root of these terms mean "heavenly, divine, anything of excellence". Deva is masculine, and the related feminine equivalent is devi
Devī (; Sanskrit: देवी) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism.
The conce ...
. In the earliest Vedic literature, all supernatural beings are called Asuras. Over time, those with a benevolent nature become deities and are referred to as ''Sura'', Deva or Devi.[
Devas or deities in Hindu texts differ from Greek or Roman theodicy, states Ray Billington, because many Hindu traditions believe that a human being has the potential to be reborn as a ''deva'' (or ''devi''), by living an ethical life and building up saintly ''karma''.] Such a ''deva'' enjoys heavenly bliss, till the merit runs out, and then the soul (gender neutral) is reborn again into Saṃsāra
''Saṃsāra'' (Devanagari: संसार) is a Pali/Sanskrit word that means "world". It is also the concept of rebirth and "cyclicality of all life, matter, existence", a fundamental belief of most Indian religions. Popularly, it is the c ...
. Thus deities are henotheistic manifestations, embodiments and consequence of the virtuous, the noble, the saint-like living in many Hindu traditions.
Jainism
Like many ancient Indian traditions, Jainism does not believe in a creator, omnipotent, omniscient, eternal God; however, the cosmology of Jainism incorporates a meaningful causality-driven reality, and includes four realms of existence (''gati''), and one of them for ''Deva (Jainism), deva'' (celestial beings, gods). A human being can choose and live an ethical life (karma), such as being non-violent (ahimsa) against all living beings, thereby gain merit and be reborn as ''deva''.
Jain texts reject a trans-cosmic God, one who stands outside of the universe and lords over it, but they state that the world is full of ''devas'' who are in human-image with sensory organs, with the power of reason, conscious, compassionate and with finite life. Jainism believes in the existence of the soul (Self, Jīva (Jainism), atman) and considers it to have "god-quality", whose knowledge and liberation is the ultimate spiritual goal in both religions. Jains also believe that the spiritual nobleness of perfected souls (Arihant (Jainism), Jina) and ''devas'' make them worship-worthy beings, with powers of guardianship and guidance to better ''Karma in Jainism, karma''. In Jain temples or festivals, the Jinas and Devas are revered.
Zoroastrianism
Ahura Mazda (); is the Avestan language, Avestan name for the creator and sole God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
of Zoroastrianism. The literal meaning of the word ''Wikt:Ahura, Ahura'' is "mighty" or "lord" and '' Wikt:Mazda, Mazda'' is ''wisdom''. Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastrianism, taught that Ahura Mazda is the most powerful being in all of the existence and the only deity who is worthy of the highest veneration. Nonetheless, Ahura Mazda is not omnipotent because his evil twin brother Angra Mainyu is nearly as powerful as him. Zoroaster taught that the ''daevas'' were evil spirits created by Angra Mainyu to sow evil in the world and that all people must choose between the goodness of Ahura Mazda and the evil of Angra Mainyu. According to Zoroaster, Ahura Mazda will eventually defeat Angra Mainyu and good will triumph over evil once and for all. Ahura Mazda was the most important deity in the ancient Achaemenid Empire. He was originally represented anthropomorphically, but, by the end of the Sasanian Empire, Zoroastrianism had become fully aniconic.
Skeptical interpretations
Attempts to rationally explain belief in deities extend all the way back to ancient Greece. The Greek philosopher Democritus argued that the concept of deities arose when human beings observed natural phenomena such as lightning, solar eclipses, and the changing of the seasons. Later, in the third century BCE, the scholar Euhemerus argued in his book ''Sacred History'' that the gods were originally flesh-and-blood mortal kings who were Apotheosis, posthumously deified, and that religion was therefore the continuation of these kings' mortal reigns, a view now known as Euhemerism. Sigmund Freud suggested that God concepts are a projection of one's father.
A tendency to believe in deities and other supernatural beings may be an integral part of the human consciousness. Children are naturally inclined to believe in supernatural entities such as gods, spirits, and demons, even without being introduced into a particular religious tradition. Humans have an overactive agency detection system, which has a tendency to conclude that events are caused by intelligent entities, even if they really are not. This is a system which may have evolved to cope with threats to the survival of human ancestors: in the wild, a person who perceived intelligent and potentially dangerous beings everywhere was more likely to survive than a person who failed to perceive actual threats, such as wild animals or human enemies. Humans are also inclined to think teleologically and ascribe meaning and significance to their surroundings, a trait which may lead people to believe in a creator-deity. This may have developed as a side effect of human social intelligence, the ability to discern what other people are thinking.
Stories of encounters with supernatural beings are especially likely to be retold, passed on, and embellished due to their descriptions of standard ontological categories (person, artifact, animal, plant, natural object) with counterintuitive properties (humans that are invisible, houses that remember what happened in them, etc.). As belief in deities spread, humans may have attributed anthropomorphic thought processes to them, leading to the idea of leaving offerings to the gods and praying to them for assistance, ideas which are seen in all cultures around the world.
Sociology of religion, Sociologists of religion have proposed that the personality and characteristics of deities may reflect a culture's sense of self-esteem and that a culture projects its revered values into deities and in spiritual terms. The cherished, desired or sought human personality is congruent with the personality it defines to be gods. Lonely and fearful societies tend to invent wrathful, violent, submission-seeking deities, while happier and secure societies tend to invent loving, non-violent, compassionate deities. Émile Durkheim states that gods represent an extension of human social life to include supernatural beings. According to Matt Rossano, God concepts may be a means of enforcing morality and building more cooperative community groups.
See also
* Aeon (Gnosticism)
* Apotheosis
* Deicide
* Hero cult
* Imperial cult
* List of deities
* List of deities in fiction
* Odinism
References
Further reading
*
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Deities,