Divinity

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"Divine" redirects here. For other uses, see Divinity (disambiguation) and Divine (disambiguation).
Elizabeth I and the Three Goddesses (Juno, Minerva, and Venus), by Isaac Oliver, c. 1558

Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a

sacredness and transcendence.[3][4]

Etymology

The root of the word divinity is the Latin divus meaning of or belonging to a God (deus). The word entered English from Medieval Latin in the 14th century.[5]

Usages

Divinity as a quality has two distinct usages:

  • Divine force or power – Powers or forces that are universal, or transcend human capacities
  • Divinity applied to mortals – Qualities of individuals who are considered to have some special access or relationship to the divine.

Overlap occurs between these usages because

daimón
(δαίμων), which itself translates as divinity.

Uses in religious discourse

There are three distinct usages of divinity and divine in religious discourse:

Entity

Main article: Deity

In monotheistic faiths, the word divinity is often used to refer to the

proper name
or definitive honorific. Divine — capitalized — may be used as an adjective to refer to the manifestations of such a Divinity or its powers: e.g. "basking in the Divine presence..."

The terms divinity and divine — uncapitalized, and lacking the definite article — are sometimes used to denote 'god(s)[7] or certain other beings and entities which fall short of absolute Godhood but lie outside the human realm.

Divine force or power

As previously noted, divinities are closely related to the transcendent force(s) or power(s) credited to them,[8] so much so that in some cases the powers or forces may themselves be invoked independently. This leads to the second usage of the word divine (and less common usage of divinity): to refer to the operation of transcendent power in the world.

In its most direct form, the operation of transcendent power implies some form of

miracles, visions, or intercessions by blessed figures.[citation needed
]

Transcendent force or power may also operate through more subtle and indirect paths. Monotheistic faiths generally support some version of

new age philosophy often use the term 'the Divine' as a noun in this latter sense: a non-specific principle or being that gives rise to the world, and acts as the source or wellspring of life. In these latter cases, the faiths do not promote deference, as happens in monotheisms; rather each suggests a path of action that will bring the practitioner into conformance with the divine law: ahimsa — 'no harm' — for Buddhist and Hindu faiths; de or te — 'virtuous action' — in Taoism; and any of numerous practices of peace and love in new age thinking.[citation needed
]

Mortal

Main article: Apotheosis

In the third usage, extensions of divinity and divine power are credited to living, mortal individuals. Political leaders are known to have claimed actual divinity in certain early societies — the ancient

Japanese constitution after World War II
.

Less politically, most faiths have any number of people that are believed to have been touched by divine forces:

Siddhartha
, are considered to be enlightened, and in religious forms of Buddhism they are credited with divine powers. Christ in the Bible is said to be God's Son and is said to have performed divine miracles.

In general, mortals with divine qualities are carefully distinguished from the deity or deities in their religion's main

Zen Buddhists, as well as several non-specific perspectives developed in new age philosophy — which hold that all humans are in essence divine, or unified with the Divine in a non-trivial way. Such divinity, in these faiths, would express itself naturally if it were not obscured by the social and physical worlds we live in; it needs to be brought to the fore through appropriate spiritual practices.[11]

In religions

Christianity

In the New Testament the Greek word θεῖον (theion) in the Douay Version, is translated as "divinity". Examples are below:

  • Acts 17:29
"Being therefore the offspring of God, we must not suppose the divinity to be like unto gold, or silver, or stone, the graving of art, and device of man."
  • Romans 1:20
"For the invisible things of him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made; his eternal power also, and divinity: so that they are inexcusable."
  • Revelation 5:12
"Saying with a loud voice: The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power, and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and benediction."

The word translated as either "deity", "Godhead", or "divinity" in the Greek New Testament is also the Greek word θεότητος (theotētos), and the one verse that contains it is this: Colossians 2:9

"Quia in ipso inhabitat omnis plenitudo divinitatis [divinity] corporaliter." (Vulgate)
"For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." (KJV)
"Because it is in him that all the fullness of the divine quality dwells bodily." (NWT)
"For in him all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form." (NET)
"For the full content of divine nature lives in Christ." (TEV)

The word "divine" in the New Testament is the Greek word θείας (theias), and is the adjective form of "divinity". Biblical examples from the

King James Bible
are below:

  • 2 Peter 1:3
"According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue."
  • 2 Peter 1:4
"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."

Latter-day Saints

Main articles:
Plan of salvation (Latter Day Saints), and Mormon cosmology

The most prominent conception of divine entities in

King Follett Discourse, but very little is acknowledged or known beyond her existence.[14][15]

salvation and exaltation. Lorenzo Snow succinctly summarized this using a couplet, which is often repeated within the LDS Church: "As man now is, God once was: As God now is, man may be."[16][17]

Wicca

See also: Wiccan views of divinity

dualistic. In traditional Wicca, as expressed in the writings of Gerald Gardner and Doreen Valiente, the emphasis is on the theme of divine gender polarity, and the God and Goddess are regarded as equal and opposite divine cosmic forces. In some newer forms of Wicca, such as feminist or Dianic Wicca, the Goddess is given primacy or even exclusivity. In some forms of traditional witchcraft that share a similar duotheistic theology, the Horned God is given precedence over the Goddess.[18]

See also

References

  1. ^ divine Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine – Dictionary.com.
  2. ^ divine Archived 2020-10-13 at the Wayback Machine – Merriam Webster.
  3. ^ "Pantheism".
  4. ^ "The Matter with Pantheism: Race, Gender, Divinity, and Dirt". 22 September 2016.
  5. ^ "Divinity". Merriam-Wester. Archived from the original on 13 October 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  6. ^ see Exodus 9:23 and 1 Samuel 12:18
  7. ^ See, for example "The Great Stag: A Sumerian Divinity" Archived 2020-09-30 at the Wayback Machine by Bobula Ida (Yearbook of Ancient and Medieval History 1953)
  8. ^ note Augustine's argument that divinity is not a quality of God, but that "God is [...] Divinity itself" (Nature and Grace, part I, question 3, article 3) "Whether God is the Same as His Essence or Nature" Archived 2020-08-04 at the Wayback Machine
  9. controversial issue, however; see The Divinity of the Emperor, for example, for a discussion of the status of the Japanese
    emperor.
  10. ^ See, for example, "The Divinity of Alpha's Jesus" Archived 2020-10-22 at the Wayback Machine by Peterson & McDonald (Media Spotlight 25:4, 2002)
  11. ^ See, for example, "Twelve Signs of Your Awakening Divinity" Archived December 2, 2013, at the Wayback Machine by Geoffrey Hoppe and Tobias
  12. ^ D&C 130:22 Archived 2019-07-14 at the Wayback Machine "The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us."
  13. ^ "Godhead", True to the Faith, LDS Church, 2004. See also: "God the Father", True to the Faith, LDS Church, 2004
  14. ^ "Chapter 2: Our Heavenly Family". Gospel Principles. LDS Church. 2009. Archived from the original on 2019-10-15. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
  15. ^ Kimball, Spencer W. (May 1978). "The True Way of Life and Salvation". Ensign. LDS Church. Archived from the original on 2019-12-21. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  16. ^ Lund, Gerald N. (February 1982). "I Have a Question: Is President Lorenzo Snow's oft-repeated statement—"As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may be"—accepted as official doctrine by the Church?". Ensign. Archived from the original on 2019-09-02. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  17. OCLC 39732987
  18. ^ "Traditional Witchcraft Compared to Wicca".

External links

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