Gods of the Pagans

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Are the pagan gods demons or are they just personifications of natural forces?
 
Psalm 96:5 (Douay-Rheims Bible):
“For all the gods of the Gentiles are devils: but the Lord made the heavens.”
 
eelpis said:
Are the pagan gods demons or are they just personifications of natural forces?
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The pre-Christian religions of the Roman world had the concept of a category of spirit called a daimon, that was considered to be much more wise and powerful than a common mortal, but much less so than a God or Goddess. The daimons interacted with humankind more directly, and were more materially oriented, than the deities - they were said to carry the spirit of the sacrifices to the Gods, and bring the blessings of the Gods to mortals.

Daemons were understood to be morally ambivalent, like humans - some were good, some ill, some brought wisdom, other delighted in depravity. Pagans were advised to be careful what spirits they associated with, on this ground.

The Christian philosophers decided to describe all the Pagan deities as mere daemons, demoting them from their divine status, and since those daemons didn’t acknowledge the claims of the Christian God they must all be evil, as well. So we find Paul suggesting that all the Gods are mere demons.
 
eelpis said:
Are the pagan gods demons or are they just personifications of natural forces?
Click to expand...

Those are two possibilities - others include:​

  • angels
  • God
    The Psalm quoted that calls them demons, which St. Paul quotes, are the opinions of their authors, but it is not clear that they are anything more; because neither author is interested in comparative religion - & your question is about an element in the comparative study of religion.
Many of the gods of Mesopotamia (which the Psalmist, but possibly not St. Paul, may have included in his remarks) are very largely personifications of natural forces - this maybe how JHWH began; he has many features in common with the storm-god Hadad, who is more familiar under his West Semitic form Baal. The god of Israel also has some aspects of the supreme god El, whose name means “god”. Forms of Baal were worshipped at Rome. Zeus is a more familiar storm-god.

As for the Psalmist’s words in Psa 96:5:
  • For all the gods of the nations [are] idols: but the LORD made the heavens.
    The word translated “idols” is used for “false gods” when they are called “things of naught” by the Prophets. To call them “demons” is not a translation of the Hebrew of the Psalm, but an interpretation of their relation to the God of the Jews. These “gods” are reduced to “ciphers”; as the word is translated in H.-J. Kraus’ commentary on the verse.
It is not the only possible interpretation, for there are also indications in the OT that the gods are seen in a more benign way: as the “sons of God”, for instance, & as His heavenly court; their “demonisation” comes from a later, post-Exilic stage, when acceptance of JHWH as the only God with any reality at all had become active rejection of any other god. Between St. Paul & the Psalmist was the Exile (perhaps), & certainly the attack upon the Jewish people & religion by Antiochus IV which led to the Maccabean revolt; as well as the experience of subjection to the Romans. And most of all, there was the Christian faith of the Apostle himself, & his understanding of what Christ was & had done. All this plays a part in what this first-century Christian writer “made of” the text he quotes 🙂

Hope that helps
 
eelpis said:
Are the pagan gods demons or are they just personifications of natural forces?
Click to expand...
they do not exist, they are the work of collective imagination and creative explanations of the forces of nature and the evil and dramatic events of life.
 

BTW:​

FWIW, the Septuagint of Psalm 95.5 - the reference is different, but the passage is the same one - translates the Hebrew as daimonia.

It would be interesting to know what other sources may have influenced St. Paul.
 
I think some of the gods of the pagans were actually evil spirits. Surely the Aztecs who sacrificed thousands of captives in a one day period (some scientists have estimated that they could rip out the hearts of three men each minute with the knives they had!) were not appeasing a good god.
 
Gottle_of_Geer said:

Those are two possibilities -​

Another possibility is that they are myths which are attempts to find God.

Chesterton explores this and concludes that not all Pagan Gods are demonic, but some are legitimate attempts to find God.
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Dear eelpis - You may have few idols in your life such as your t.v., your car, your this or your that. Do your things own you or do you own them?

Peace

Gail
 
eelpis said:
Are the pagan gods demons or are they just personifications of natural forces?
Click to expand...
That depends. And it depends on the culture. Certainly gods that were worshipped by pagans who sacrificed human beings or demanded torture in any way were demonic. Some gods were considered natural forces but worshipped as beings because that it how they were viewed.
 
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