A. Livingstone’s Notes

God. The Gods. Greek Gods. Roman Gods. What’s the difference?

The Bible mentions that He who I’ll refer to as YHWH (no, I’m not Jewish, but since the Bible is my civilizations foundational text, I’ll follow the Old Testament’s lead here), is first among the Gods.

Gods and deities worshipped by competing tribes are mentioned, including Moloch and Baal as examples. But YHWH is different somehow. In their telling, He was there before anything else, and will outlast everything. How can this be?

If you read my about page, you’ll get a sense of where I’m coming from on this question, but I’m much more interested in what the other gods are.

And yes, I said ‘are’, not ‘were’, because like YHWH, I do believe the other gods are eternal. Because aren’t a who, but a what.

In ancient times, people personified nature, emotions, and everything that was seemingly outside of their control as ‘gods’ – powers beyond their control.

The Pantheon of mythological gods from both Rome and Greece included rage, lust, greed, pride, drunkeness, envy, and gluttony – all the Seven Deadly Sins and then some, into their roster of forces beyond human control.

When they fell into these states, they felt they were being possessed by a spirit, and while they may have to pay for their actions, essentially it wasn’t their fault.

Hmm, sounds familiar. But I digress:

What the Hebrews figured out was that while the basis for all these ‘spirits’ was a natural human impulse (anger, love, desire to acquire wealth, a sense of achievement and self esteem, the joys of fermented juices, the comparison of oneself to others, and hunger), the sin was in worshiping these ‘gods’ and allowing them to control you.

Worshiping the one, true God – YHWH – was a means of keeping our nature in check, becoming more like YHWH by following his rules, and therefore more holy (yes, I’m sure that I’m mixing my metaphorical concepts here, and that the concept of holiness may not be a Jewish thing. I don’t care, I’m not Jewish.)

To be against the rules of YHWH would be to regress away from him, to be un-holy, more animalistic. Animals do not, by and large, plan for the future, at least not in the ways that humans are capable of. The live based on their base emotions, the emotions that when served become Deadly Sins.

So when I read the Bible and wrap my head around the early references to the ‘gods’, and see how disdainfully the Hebrews refer to those who fall under the influence of Baal or Moloch, what I’m hearing is that these peoples are allowing their animalistic desires for earthly (animal) delights – food, wine, money, power, revenge, bloodlust, and sex – to take over their lives.

These momentary pleasures, when they overshadow the law in an individual’s life, lead to pain and suffering for someone now, and eventually for everyone.

YHWH, on the other hand, is king of all these other gods. Only he can control them, by following Him. His path is the Truth, the Truth will set you free. Free from serving the false gods who promise pleasure but lead to pain.

Don’t take my word for it. There are entire industries built upon helping people both engage in and curtail the 7 Deadlies. The junk food industry and Weight Watchers (gluttony); the liquor/beer/wine industry and AlAnon/NarAnon (drunkeness); the global economy and charities (greed); the porn industry and sex addict support groups(lust); gangster rap and prison (rage, revenge); and the United Nations – which manages to be both the best hope to diffuse and the most effective way to create conflict among nations (pride).

Imagine what would be possible if we all embraced YHWH as our Father, both as individuals and as nations. Imagine what we could accomplish if we choose, at the micro and the macro, to stop serving these false gods.