Gods & Demigods

The existence of many Gods was assumed by most people in antiquity

Gods and Lords in the Greco-Roman World

In ancient polytheism "divinity" was not restricted to one God or a group of gods. People believed that there were different degrees of divinity.

In Greek-Roman Mythology there was a complex hierarchy of "divine beings." Everyone who had "super-human" powers was labeled "divine."

At the top there were the "gods" (THEOI), the highest twelve gods who were believed to live on Mount Olympus, lead by their king Zeus.

See also Twelve Olympians

Then there were many demigods (or "Lords" [KYRIOI]), the superheroes of antiquity.

Usually, they were children of gods and humans, like Orpheus, Perseus or Aesculapius:

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Or were "adopted" by a god as "sons of God" (Alexander the Great, Augustus, Nero)

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In recent times the demigods have become popular iv TV series and videogames:

God and Lords in Judaism

For Jews (and early Christians) there is only one God (THEOS) in heaven: the Father and Maker of Everything. They also believed, however, in a complex hierarchy of "divine" beings.

Below God are other "divine" beings, i.e. the Angels (LORDS) :

or a few humans who have become angels (Enoch and Elijah):

The "divine" Jesus

Where is the risen Jesus? As the Messiah, the Forgiver and the future Judge, he was understood as a "divine" being, but to which degree?

The first Christians, like Paul, never called Jesus "God" (or THEOS). They preferred to use the term "KYRIOS" (or "son of God").

" We know that no idol in the world really exists, and that "there is no God but one. 5 Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth--as in fact there are many gods and many lords-- 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. (1 Corinthians 8:4-6).

At the end, the term "God" (THEOS) would be applied to Jesus for the first time only at the end of the first century in the Gospel of John. The discussion about the relationship between Jesus, God the Father and the other "divine" beings would remain at the center of the Christian theological debate for centuries.

The first Christians represented Jesus as a "demigod" and the ancient representations of pagan "demigods" (in particular, Orpheus and Hermes) provided the first models to early Christian iconography:

See First Letter to the Corinthians and then the Letter to the Hebrews