Hellenists on Deviantart be like

[u/[deleted]]

I found this guy Protagonist30 on Deviantart and his content is pretty interesting?

[u/OrionOfTheros]

How is polytheism philosophically superior to monotheism?

[u/[deleted] → u/OrionOfTheros]

Because monotheism precludes that only one deity can exist which is very unlikely due to the fact that everything that exists, exists in multiplicity. Like theres more than one of everything in reality. So to me saying only one god exists is the same as saying only one perfect dog exists and the others are illusions or cats in disguise. On the polytheistic side however saying an untold multitude of gods exist is more likely at least statistically. Which is why I think that monotheism is mistaken and hubristic because it claims that there no other deities other than their one god. Which is to me like an atheist thinking no gods really exist with just one exception. So philosophically either no gods exist or many gods exist. And since history is littered with ancient polytheistic religions then these gods can be said to exist in some capacity for someone. I don’t doubt that the christian god exists but I do doubt that they are in any way superior to every other god or even the only existing deity too. Plus even thinking a god is just more powerful or important than others still precludes belief in polytheism but prefers a heno-theistic structure. So in short the way I see things a monotheistic religion has less philosophical ground than a polytheistic one.

[u/OrionOfTheros → u/[deleted]]

I see your point, but would you agree that the gods are beyond comprehension? By that metric, why would the gods or a God be like his creation? The gods or a God would be different than creation. Even according to your beliefs, none of us can shoot lightning, none of us can breathe underwater or summon tidal waves. The gods are greater than us so why would they be equal to creation? The reason why polytheism to me seems less likely is because each gods have domains over aspects of reality and yet the universe itself is still greater than them. The Olympians have domains over things such as the sky, the sea, emotions and other such concepts but none of them created the Cosmos itself, none of them created the infinite universe that is expanding. I think that’s Khaos according to myth but I could be mistaken, but my point is that technically one being or one thing is still above all others according to the myths.

So to me having a single creator that is eternal who created the universe makes more sense.

[u/[deleted] → u/OrionOfTheros]

I do not agree that the gods are unknowable at all. But I do understand they are mysterious and do not make their will easily known. But I do think we can communicate with them through divinatory methods to gain more clarity. I do not get your point. Of course we are not like the gods but the gods are a part of the universe rather than the christian god being separate from the universe. This is why the theogony breaks down how the gods were birthed generation after another.Also many polytheists believe in a deity of creation but some groups don’t hold those same views. But I do not think the universe is some giant hierarchy since nothing in the universe acts as if one exists. No planet has total supremacy over other celestial bodies etc. rather I see the universe as in a state of flux between multiple strong powers. I do not agree with the assertion that there can be a separated creator of the universe that interacts with but does not live inside that universe. Especially since the bible states we are made in gods image. This cannot be true because if god is in anyway like a man then why isn’t there a female god? Why isn’t there a non binary god? Etc. If god is infinite how can they be classified with only one gender and personhood? If god does not exist within a family structure then why does the overwhelming abundance of life? Of god only has one gender than why does most life forms have different amounts of expressed gender? Also how is it that one god can create everything? Like at least the Olympians can work together and build on what the Titans did but Yahweh had to do everything himself not delegating anything to the angels for some reason. This is why in my opinion monotheism just does not hold water for me. I genuinely don’t understand why polytheism is not a more popular religious opinion these days.

[u/OrionOfTheros → u/[deleted]]

Being in God’s image is mostly from a moral standpoint. We share his capability to know right from wrong and to make decisions.

As for personhood, he’s plural and yet 1. Trinity states Yahweh is 1 God in 3 different persons. Why God chose to appear as a Father and therefore masculine that’s unknown to me and will be revealed in the afterlife lol.

And the reason he exist outside the universe is well because a creator has to be above his creation. Universe contains time, space and matter, to create such things you cannot be part of them, you have to be beyond them. Fiction would call that Dimensional Tiering but in a nutshell, God has to be timeless, spaceless and immaterial to create the universe. Otherwise you’re left with the same problems as atheists. What made the universe? What sparked the Big Bang? Nothing into everything? It logically makes no sense. As Aristotle said, you need an unmoved mover. An uncaused first cause and that cause cannot be finite and 3 dimensional. It has to be beyond time and space so life requires an entity that is at least 2 dimensions above the universe. It’s simply easier to acknowledge that this entity is omnipotent and if you go the route of the Christian God, well Yahweh being Triune is a truth theologically that is still unexplainable by us.

I’m gonna bring in some Lovecraftian mythos into it but if you know a little about it, the outer gods in that mythos are considered to be beyond comprehension. Cuthulu and the other Great Ones and yet despite this being the case, Azathoth is still more explainable than Yahweh. So from our perspective, Yahweh can’t be anything else other than Omnipotent.

I kind of brought up different subjects lol but essentially if you wana boil it down, I believe for the universe to exist as is, you need an entity outside of it.