Monotheism: The Nature And Characteristics Of Polytheism

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Polytheism
Polytheism is the doctrine of multiple deities, often assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses. The word originates from two Greek words ‘Poly’ meaning more than one ‘theism’ meaning God in contrast to monotheism which is ‘mono’ meaning single or one and ‘theism’ meaning God. There are many religions that fall under the category of polytheism. It has been a dominant religious view all through history, a few examples include the Sumerian religion, the ancient Egyptian religion as well as the Canaanite religion. Polytheism is currently still a common view of religion as seen in Hinduism. In the polytheistic view, Gods have similar characteristics to humans which is quite opposite of the monotheistic view. The purpose of this essay is to thoroughly discuss the nature and characteristics of polytheism.
The primary characteristic is that gods do not reign supreme. Fate or Miora is believed to be a super divine force that is superior to God. Not only does it predetermine the destiny of man, but also the destiny of Gods. This characteristic is evident in the Greek mythologies. For example, Zues was known to be a powerful leader and his power was greater than any God. However, he stated that he was nothing against the powerful ‘fate’. An example of his ‘weakness’ is seen when he could not save his son
In other words, it is known as apotheosis. Similar to the other characteristics of polytheism, this once also shows that Gods have human like features. According the polytheistic view, Gods and human are both trying to get to the highest position in the same hierarchy. This is degrading the position and lessens the value of Gods as it is believed that anybody can reach this position. The last characteristic is that Gods represent two independent domains. There is good and evil, light and dark, happiness and sadness. This, once again is a human

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