False god explained

The phrase false god is a derogatory term used in Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) to indicate cult images or deities of non-Abrahamic Pagan religions, as well as other competing entities or objects to which particular importance is attributed.[1] Conversely, followers of animistic and polytheistic religions may regard the gods of various monotheistic religions as "false gods", because they do not believe that any real deity possesses the properties ascribed by monotheists to their sole deity. Atheists, who do not believe in any deities, do not usually use the term false god even though that would encompass all deities from the atheist viewpoint. Usage of this term is generally limited to theists, who choose to worship some deity or deities, but not others.[2]

Overview

In Abrahamic religions, false god is used as a derogatory term to refer to a deity or object of worship besides the Abrahamic god that is regarded as either illegitimate or non-functioning in its professed authority or capability, and this characterization is further used as a definition of "idol".[2] [3] [4] [5]

The term false god is often used throughout the Abrahamic scriptures (Torah, Tanakh, Bible, and Quran) to compare Elohim/Yahweh[4] (interpreted by Jews, Samaritans, and Christians) or Alihat/Allah[3] (interpreted by Muslims) as the only true God.[2] Nevertheless, the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament itself recognizes and reports that on multiple occasions, the Israelites were not monotheists but actively engaged in idolatry and worshipped many foreign, non-Jewish Gods besides Yahweh and/or instead of Him,[6] (such as Baal, Astarte, Asherah, Chemosh, Dagon, Moloch, Tammuz, and more), and continued to do so until their return from the Babylonian exile[4] (see Ancient Hebrew religion).

Judaism, the oldest Abrahamic religion, eventually shifted into a strict, exclusive monotheism,[7] based on the sole veneration of Yahweh,[8] [9] [10] the predecessor to the Abrahamic conception of God. According to rabbinic tradition, the Evil Inclination for idolatry was eradicated in the early Second Temple period, and this is what lead to the shift away from earlier Israelite polytheism.[11]

The vast majority of religions in history have been and/or are still polytheistic, worshipping many diverse deities.[12] Moreover, the material depiction of a deity or more deities has always played an eminent role in all cultures of the world.[1] The claim to worship the "one and only true God" came to most of the world with the arrival of Abrahamic religions and is the distinguishing characteristic of their monotheistic worldview,[7] [12] [13] [14] whereas virtually all the other religions in the world have been and/or are still animistic and polytheistic.[12]

In the Hebrew Bible

The Tanakh refers to deities from other neighboring cultures as shedim (Hebrew: שֵׁדִים),[15] possibly a loan-word from Akkadian in which the word shedu referred to a spirit which could be either protective or malevolent.[16] [17] [18] They appear twice (always plural), at Psalm 106:37 and Deuteronomy 32:17. Both times it is mentioned in the context of sacrificing children or animals to them.[19] When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek, the Hebrew term shedim was translated as daimones, with implied negativity.[15] This gave rise to a dualism between native spirits of the own religion's God, and the spirits of foreign origin as demons.[20]

In Gnosticism

See main article: Gnosticism.

In Gnosticism, the biblical serpent in the Garden of Eden was praised and thanked for bringing knowledge (gnosis) to Adam and Eve and thereby freeing them from the malevolent Demiurge's control.[21] Gnostic Christian doctrines rely on a dualistic cosmology that implies the eternal conflict between good and evil, and a conception of the serpent as the liberating savior and bestower of knowledge to humankind opposed to the Demiurge or creator god, identified with the Hebrew God of the Old Testament.[21] [22]

Gnostic Christians considered the Hebrew God of the Old Testament as the evil, false god and creator of the material universe, and the Unknown God of the Gospel, the father of Jesus Christ and creator of the spiritual world, as the true, good God.[21] [22] [23] [24] In the Archontic, Sethian, and Ophite systems, Yaldabaoth (Yahweh) is regarded as the malevolent Demiurge and false god of the Old Testament who sinned by claiming divinity for himself and generated the material universe and keeps the souls trapped in physical bodies, imprisoned in the world full of pain and suffering that he created.[25] [26]

However, not all Gnostic movements regarded the creator of the material universe as inherently evil or malevolent.[24] [27] For instance, Valentinians believed that the Demiurge is merely an ignorant and incompetent creator, trying to fashion the world as good as he can, but lacking the proper power to maintain its goodness.[24] [27] All Gnostics were regarded as heretics by the proto-orthodox Early Church Fathers.[21] [22] [23] [28]

In Islam

See main article: Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia.

The Quran refers to jinn as entities who had a similar status to that of lesser deities in the pre-Islamic Arabian religion.[29] Although the Quran doesn't equate the jinn to the rank of demons,[30] it reduces them to the same status as human beings.[31] Due to their mortality and dependence on fate (ḳadar), they would also be subjected to the final judgment by Allāh. Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī, the 10th-century Persian Muslim scholar, Ḥanafī jurist, and Sunnī theologian who founded the eponymous school of Islamic theology, considered the jinn to be weaker than humans, and asserted that whenever humans act upon the jinn, they humiliate themselves.[32]

Alternatively, ṭāġūt may refer to idols, sometimes thought to be inhabited by one or more demons.[33] Muslims don't necessarily deny the power of demons within the idol, but deny that they are worthy of worship. In the Kitāb al-ʾAṣnām ("Book of the Idols"), the Arab Muslim historian Ibn al-Kalbī (CE) tells how Muhammad ordered Khālid ibn al-Walīd to kill the pre-Islamic Arabian goddess al-ʿUzzā, who was supposed to inhabit three trees. After cutting down all the trees, a woman with wild hair appears, identified with al-ʿUzzā. After battle, she is killed, and thus al-ʿUzzā considered to be defeated.

Similarly, the Arab Muslim geographer al-Maqdisī (CE) wrote about Indian deities (known in Middle Eastern folklore as dīv), asserting that they have the power to enchant people, even Muslims, to worship them. A Muslim is said to have visited them and abandoned Islam. When he reached Muslim land again, he returned to his Islamic faith. The power of idols is not limited to enchantment alone, they could even grant wishes.[34]

Other similar entities are the shurakāʼ ("partners [of God]"), whose existence is not denied, however their relation to God is. They are regarded as powerless beings, who will be cast into Hell after the Day of Judgment, along with evil jinn and fallen angels turned devils (shayāṭīn), for usurping the divine nature.[35]

See also

References

  1. Encyclopedia: Frohn . Elke Sophie . Lützenkirchen . H.-Georg . Idol . 2007 . The Brill Dictionary of Religion . von Stuckrad . Kocku . Kocku von Stuckrad . . . 10.1163/1872-5287_bdr_SIM_00041 . 9789004124332. 240180055 .
  2. Book: Angelini . Anna . 2021 . Les dieux des autres: entre «démons» et «idoles» . L'imaginaire du démoniaque dans la Septante: Une analyse comparée de la notion de "démon" dans la Septante et dans la Bible Hébraïque . . . fr . Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism . 197 . 184–224 . 10.1163/9789004468474_008 . free . 978-90-04-46847-4.
  3. Encyclopedia: 1971 . Idol, Idolatry . Bosworth . C. E. . Clifford Edmund Bosworth . van Donzel . E. J. . Emeri Johannes van Donzel . Heinrichs . W. P. . Wolfhart Heinrichs . Lewis . B. . Pellat . Ch. . Schacht . J. . Joseph Schacht . . . . 3 . 10.1163/1573-3912_islam_DUM_1900 . 978-90-04-16121-4.
  4. Encyclopedia: Idol-Worship . Kohler . Kaufmann . Blau . Ludwig . Kaufmann Kohler . Ludwig Blau . . . 1906 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130504235442/https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/15027-worship-idol . 4 May 2013 . live . 18 April 2021.
  5. Web site: Definition of idol . 2021 . . . . 18 April 2021.
  6. Book: Stahl, Michael J. . 2021 . https://books.google.com/books?id=drMlEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA52 . The "God of Israel" and the Politics of Divinity in Ancient Israel . The "God of Israel" in History and Tradition . . . . 187 . 52–144 . 10.1163/9789004447721_003 . 978-90-04-44772-1. 236752143 .
  7. Leone . Massimo . Spring 2016 . Smashing Idols: A Paradoxical Semiotics . Asif . Agha . Signs and Society . . . 4 . 1 . 30–56 . 10.1086/684586 . free . 2318/1561609 . 2326-4497 . 2326-4489 . 53408911 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170923020328/https://iris.unito.it/retrieve/handle/2318/1561609/136254/Massimo%20Leone%202016%20-%20Smashing%20Idols.pdf . 23 September 2017 . 28 July 2021.
  8. Book: Van der Toorn, Karel . Karel van der Toorn . 1999 . God (I) . https://books.google.com/books?id=yCkRz5pfxz0C&pg=PA352 . Van der Toorn . Karel . Becking . Bob . Van der Horst . Pieter W. . . . . 352–365 . 2nd . 10.1163/2589-7802_DDDO_DDDO_Godi . 90-04-11119-0.
  9. Book: Betz, Arnold Gottfried . 2000 . Monotheism . https://books.google.com/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&pg=PA916 . Freedman . David Noel . Myer . Allen C. . Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible . . . 916–917 . 9053565035.
  10. Book: Gruber, Mayer I. . 2013 . Israel . https://books.google.com/books?id=Q1xbAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA76 . Spaeth . Barbette Stanley . Barbette Spaeth . The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Mediterranean Religions . . . 76–94 . 10.1017/CCO9781139047784.007 . 978-0-521-11396-0 . 2012049271.
  11. Book: Klein, Reuven Chaim . 2018 . The End of an Age: Idolatry as Obsolete Superstition . https://books.google.co.il/books?id=Dx9xDwAAQBAJ&lpg=PR4&pg=PA244 . God versus Gods: Judasim in the Age of Idolatry . Mosaica Press. 244-276 . 978-1946351463 . 27322748M.
  12. Encyclopedia: Smart . Ninian . . Polytheism . 10 November 2020 . 26 July 1999 . . . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism . 11 November 2020 . 25 April 2021.
  13. Book: Hayes, Christine . Christine Hayes . 2012 . Understanding Biblical Monotheism . Introduction to the Bible . . . The Open Yale Courses Series . 15–28 . 9780300181791 . j.ctt32bxpm.6.
  14. Book: Bernard, David K. . David K. Bernard . 2019 . 2016 . Monotheism in Paul's Rhetorical World . https://books.google.com/books?id=0AD1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA53 . The Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ: Deification of Jesus in Early Christian Discourse . . . Journal of Pentecostal Theology: Supplement Series . 45 . 53–82 . 978-90-04-39721-7 . 0966-7393.
  15. Book: Greenbaum, Dorian G. . 2015 . Part 1: Daimon and Fortune – Hie Thee to Hell: The Place of the Bad Daimon . https://books.google.com/books?id=BnLsCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA128 . The Daimon in Hellenistic Astrology: Origins and Influence . . . Ancient Magic and Divination . 11 . 128–129 . 10.1163/9789004306219_006 . 978-90-04-30621-9 . 1566-7952 . 2015028673.
  16. Book: Rachel Elior. Peter Schäfer. על בריאה ועל יצירה במחשבה היהודית: ספר היובל לכבודו של יוסף דן במלאת לו שבעים שנה. 2005. Mohr Siebeck. 978-3-16-148714-9. 29.
  17. Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses. Judika Illes. HarperCollins, Jan 2009. p. 902.
  18. The Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonology. Rosemary Guiley. Infobase Publishing, May 12, 2010. p. 21.
  19. W. Gunther Plaut, The Torah: A Modern Commentary (Union for Reform Judaism, 2005), p. 1403 online; Dan Burton and David Grandy, Magic, Mystery, and Science: The Occult in Western Civilization (Indiana University Press, 2003), p. 120 online.
  20. Martin . Dale Basil . Winter 2010 . When Did Angels Become Demons? . . . 129 . 4 . 657–677 . 10.2307/25765960 . 25765960 . 0021-9231.
  21. Book: Kvam . Kristen E. . Schearing . Linda S. . Ziegler . Valarie H. . 1999 . Early Christian Interpretations (50–450 CE) . https://books.google.com/books?id=Ux3bSDa2rHkC&pg=PA108 . Eve and Adam: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Readings on Genesis and Gender . . . 108–155 . 10.2307/j.ctt2050vqm.8 . 9780253212719 . j.ctt2050vqm.8.
  22. Book: Ehrman, Bart D. . Bart D. Ehrman . 2005 . 2003 . Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew . Christians "In The Know": The Worlds of Early Christian Gnosticism . https://books.google.com/books?id=URdACxKubDIC&pg=PA113 . . . 113–134 . 10.1017/s0009640700110273 . 978-0-19-518249-1 . 2003053097 . 152458823.
  23. Book: May . Gerhard . 2008 . Part V: The Shaping of Christian Theology - Monotheism and creation . https://books.google.com/books?id=6UTfmw_zStsC&pg=PA434 . Mitchell . Margaret M. . Margaret M. Mitchell . Young . Frances M. . Frances Young . The Cambridge History of Christianity, Volume 1: Origins to Constantine . . . 434–451, 452–456 . 10.1017/CHOL9780521812399.026 . 9781139054836.
  24. Valentinus and the Valentinians. Bousset, Wilhelm. Wilhelm Bousset. 27. 852-857. x.
  25. Book: Litwa . M. David . 2016 . 2015 . Part I: The Self-deifying Rebel – “I Am God and There is No Other!”: The Boast of Yaldabaoth . https://books.google.com/books?id=HwcBDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA47 . Desiring Divinity: Self-deification in Early Jewish and Christian Mythmaking . . . 47–65 . 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190467166.003.0004 . 9780199967728 . 2015051032 . 966607824.
  26. Fischer-Mueller . E. Aydeet . January 1990 . Yaldabaoth: The Gnostic Female Principle in Its Fallenness . . 32 . 1 . . . 79–95 . 10.1163/156853690X00205 . 1568-5365 . 0048-1009 . 1560677.
  27. Book: Logan . Alastair H. B. . 2002 . 2000 . Part IX: Internal Challenges – Gnosticism . https://books.google.com/books?id=6fyCAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA923 . Esler . Philip F. . The Early Christian World . . . 1st . Routledge Worlds . 923–925 . 9781032199344.
  28. Book: Brakke, David . 2010 . The Gnostics: Myth, Ritual, and Diversity in Early Christianity . . . 18–51 . 9780674066038 . j.ctvjnrvhh.6 . 169308502.
  29. Book: al-Azmeh . Aziz . 2017 . 2014 . Chapter 5 – Allāh . https://books.google.com/books?id=xnU3DgAAQBAJ&pg=PA294 . The Emergence of Islam in Late Antiquity: Allāh and His People . . . 294–295 . 10.1017/CBO9781139410854.007 . 9781139410854 . 2013023226.
  30. Book: el-Zein, Amira . 2009 . Beings of Light and of Fire . https://books.google.com/books?id=JjTctEZXHCQC&pg=PA52 . Islam, Arabs, and Intelligent World of the Jinn . . . Contemporary Issues in the Middle East . 52 . 9780815650706 . j.ctt1j5d836.6 . 2009026745 . 785782984.
  31. Book: Fee . Christopher R. . Webb . Jeffrey B. . 2016 . Jinn . https://books.google.com/books?id=kXnEDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA526 . American Myths, Legends, and Tall Tales: An Encyclopedia of American Folklore . . . 526–527 . 9781610695671 . 2015050529 . 954734705.
  32. Düzgün . Şaban Ali . July 2012 . Dinsel ve Mitolojik Yönleriyle Cin ve Şeytan Algımız (Our Conception of Djin and Satan with Their Religious and Mythological Dimensions) . PDF . KADER: Kelam Araştırmaları Dergisi . tr . 10 . 2 . 11–30 . 1309-2030 . 8 February 2022.
  33. Book: Nünlist . Tobias . 2015 . Zur Liminalität: Die Dämonen als Grenzwesen . Nünlist . Tobias . Dämonenglaube im Islam . . . Studies in the History and Culture of the Middle East . 28 . de . 192–246 . 10.1515/9783110331684-007 . 978-3-110-33168-4.
  34. Elias, J. J. (2014). Key Themes for the Study of Islam. Vereinigtes Königreich: Oneworld Publications
  35. Book: Henninger . Joseph . 2021 . 2004 . Beliefs in Spirits Among the Pre-Islamic Arabs . Savage-Smith . Emilie . Magic and Divination in Early Islam . . . 1st . 10.4324/9781315250090 . 9781315250090.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "False god".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.