Why so many gods?
Publisher: In-Sight Publishing
Publisher Founding: March 1, 2014
Web Domain: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com
Location: Fort Langley, Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada
Journal: In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal
Journal Founding: August 2, 2012
Frequency: Three (3) Times Per Year
Review Status: Non-Peer-Reviewed
Access: Electronic/Digital & Open Access
Fees: None (Free)
Volume Numbering: 12
Issue Numbering: 2
Section: B
Theme Type: Idea
Theme Premise: “Outliers and Outsiders”
Theme Part: 30
Formal Sub-Theme: None
Individual Publication Date: April 22, 2024
Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2024
Author(s): James Haught
Author(s) Bio: James A. Haught, syndicated by PeaceVoice, was the longtime editor at the Charleston Gazette and had been the editor emeritus since 2015. He was thought to have been the first investigative reporter in West Virginia. He won two dozen national newswriting awards and was author of 12 books and 150 magazine essays. He was also a senior editor of Free Inquiry magazine and was writer-in-residence for the United Coalition of Reason. He died on Sunday, July 23 (2023), at the age of 91.
Word Count: 511
Image Credit: None.
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN): 2369-6885
*Please see the footnotes, bibliography, and citations, after the publication.*
Keywords: Aztecs, Christianity, Gerald Larue, gods, Hinduism, II Kings, Incas, invisible spirits, Library Journal, Mayans, Michel de Montaigne, Norse gods, Peter De Vries, Phoenicia, polytheism, priest class, Ramses III, Sumer, supernatural, Voltaire.
Why so many gods?
“Man is certainly stark mad; he cannot make a worm, yet he will make gods by the dozen.” — Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592), creator of the essay.
But Montaigne spoke too modestly. Instead of dozens, the human imagination has created innumerable gods.
Hinduism’s ancient Vedas declared that 33 gods exist. But later the number somewhat inexplicably ballooned to 330 million. Names are known for only a few hundred of these deities.
Scholar Gerald Larue listed more than 100 gods of ancient Sumer, Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Assyria, Greece, Rome and other early cultures. He also said Egypt had 80 different deities. Norse gods likewise were numerous. All of them vanished.
The Aztecs, Incas and Mayans in the Americas a millennium ago had a stunning array of invisible gods, including a magical feathered serpent, to whom thousands of people were sacrificed. Various Celtic gods also required human sacrifice.
The number of gods who are worshiped, or were, is too vast to count. Library Journal comments: “The gods of Haiti, for example, are described as being in excess of 10,000, and there are at least as many Japanese and Chinese gods.”
Even the bible expresses bafflement about god-making. II Kings 17:29 asks: “Howbeit every nation made gods of their own?”
Clearly, when humans evolved large brains, they acquired an ability to imagine a huge array of unseen spirits.
In pretty much every prehistoric culture, a priest class arose, seizing enormous power by claiming to appease and invoke invisible gods. Priests gained privileged status and lived in luxury, lording it over common serfs. One report on Ancient Egypt says: “Thirty-two centuries ago, during the reign of Ramses III, Egypt’s great temple of the supreme god Amun-Re — supposed creator of the world and father of the pharaoh — owned 420,000 head of livestock, 65 villages, 83 ships, 433 orchards, vast farmland, and 81,000 workers, all obeying the ruler priests.”
Was deliberate chicanery involved? Voltaire stated: “The first divine was the first rogue who met the first fool.” But nobody can prove hidden motives.
Counting the number of gods is difficult. Christianity supposedly has three — father, son and Holy Ghost — but what about Satan? Is he a god? What about the Virgin Mary? If she hovers over humanity, miraculously appearing to the faithful, doesn’t that make her a supernatural spirit? What about angels and demons and the “heavenly host”? Are they godlets? What about saints, to whom believers pray? If they exist and receive prayers, they must be supernatural personages.
The Catholic Church reveres around 11,000 saints, all canonized upon alleged evidence of miracles. If all 11,000 remain today in the spirit world answering prayers, are they 11,000 semi-gods?
If you’re mentally honest, you might see a simple answer: The number of gods and invisible spirits is zero. They’re all figments of the imagination.
In The Blood of the Lamb, novelist Peter De Vries describes a cynical Jew being confronted by a gushy Christian woman who praises Jews for reducing polytheism to monotheism.
He replies: “Which is just a step from the truth.”
This article is adapted from a piece that originally appeared in the January 2018 United Coalition of Reason newsletter.
Bibliography
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Footnotes
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Citations
American Medical Association (AMA 11th Edition): Haught J. Why so many gods?. April 2024; 12(2). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/Haught-gods
American Psychological Association (APA 7th Edition): Haught, J. (2024, April 22). Why so many gods?. In-Sight Publishing. 12(2).
Brazilian National Standards (ABNT): HAUGHT, S. Why so many gods?. In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, Fort Langley, v. 12, n. 2, 2024.
Chicago/Turabian, Author-Date (17th Edition): Haught, James. 2024. “Why so many gods?.” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal 12, no. 2 (Spring). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/Haught-gods.
Chicago/Turabian, Notes & Bibliography (17th Edition): Haught, J “Why so many gods?.” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal 12, no. 2 (April 2024).http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/Haught-gods.
Harvard: Haught, J. (2024) ‘Why so many gods?’, In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, 12(2). <http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/Haught-gods>.
Harvard (Australian): Haught, J 2024, ‘Why so many gods?’, In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, vol. 12, no. 2, <http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/Haught-gods>.
Modern Language Association (MLA, 9th Edition): Haught, James. “Why so many gods?.” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, vo.12, no. 2, 2024, http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/Haught-gods.
Vancouver/ICMJE: James H. Why so many gods? [Internet]. 2024 Apr; 12(2). Available from: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/Haught-gods.
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