False god

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Nergal Gate in Nineveh, Iraq

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][2][3][4][5] 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][6]

The term false god is often used throughout the Abrahamic scriptures (

exclusive monotheism,[3] based on the sole veneration of Yahweh,[8][9][10] the predecessor to the Abrahamic conception of God.[Note 1]

The vast majority of religions in history have been and/or are still polytheistic, worshipping many diverse deities.[14] 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,[3][14][15][16] whereas virtually all the other religions in the world have been and/or are still animistic and polytheistic.[14]

In the Hebrew Bible

The

shedu referred to a spirit which could be either protective or malevolent.[18][19][20] 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.[21] When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek, the Hebrew term shedim was translated as daimones, with implied negativity.[17] This gave rise to a dualism between native spirits of the own religion's God, and the spirits of foreign origin as demons.[22]

In Gnosticism

In

creator god, identified with the Hebrew God of the Old Testament.[23][24]

Gnostic Christians considered the Hebrew God of the Old Testament as the evil, false god and creator of the material universe, and the

Jesus Christ and creator of the spiritual world, as the true, good God.[23][24][25][26] 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.[27][28][29]

However, not all Gnostic movements regarded the creator of the material universe as inherently evil or malevolent.

In Islam

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.[35]

Alternatively, ṭāġūt may refer to idols, sometimes thought to be inhabited by one or more demons.[36]: 210  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 (c. 737–819 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 (c. 945/946–991 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.[37]

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.[38]: 41 

See also

Notes

References

  1. ^ .
  2. ^ .
  3. ^ (PDF) from the original on 23 September 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  4. ^ .
  5. ^ from the original on 4 May 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  6. 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  7. ^ .
  8. ^ .
  9. .
  10. .
  11. ^ .
  12. ^ .
  13. .
  14. ^ a b c Smart, Ninian (10 November 2020) [26 July 1999]. "Polytheism". Encyclopædia Britannica. Edinburgh: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  15. .
  16. .
  17. ^ .
  18. .
  19. ^ Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses. Judika Illes. HarperCollins, Jan 2009. p. 902.
  20. ^ The Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonology. Rosemary Guiley. Infobase Publishing, May 12, 2010. p. 21.
  21. ^ 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.
  22. JSTOR 25765960
    .
  23. ^ .
  24. ^ .
  25. ^ .
  26. ^ a b c Bousset, Wilhelm (1911). "Valentinus and the Valentinians" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). pp. 852–857.
  27. OCLC 966607824
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  28. .
  29. ^  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainArendzen, John Peter (1908). "Demiurge". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  30. ^ .
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  34. .
  35. . Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  36. .
  37. ^ Elias, J. J. (2014). Key Themes for the Study of Islam. Vereinigtes Königreich: Oneworld Publications
  38. .

External links