I was just reading the article on demons on the UM homepage and noticied how the various demons have attributes assigned to them. I have also read about angels having attributes similarly assigned to them. It reminded me a similar occurence for the various demigods of Greek and Roman mythology. Is this practice for angels and demons a form of polytheism in the Abrahamic religions which are monotheistic?

Calling it a form of polytheism would imply that people give respect or worship to these entities, which, in my understanding, they are not supposed to do.
The Catholic church DID add many elements of pagan faiths around at the time, and its funny that you should mention greek-roman gods because that was where the majority of the pagan ideas came from. All those heavily defined angels and demons are either not in the bible, or presented in a vague fashion.

I only have a passing familiarity with the bible and the catholic churches history, so i may not be entirely accurate.

Many demons take on names according to their function. Common demon names would be Murder, Pride, Hate, Blasphemy or Fear.

I see the Abrahamic religions as polytheistic. Shhh, don't tell them I said that. LOL They have a lot of polytheistic things going on in them. On top of angels and demons Christianity has the holy trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Catholics have their saints. Muslims have angels, jinns and Satan. The Jews have Satan. All of these beings are given attributes of Gods to effect mankind. I know religious tolerance.org used to have Satan listed as a Christian demi God, but they change it cause there was to much up roar about it from the Christians. When Christians tell me I worship Satan I delight in telling them " No, he is not a part of my pantheon he is a Christian demi God." Makes their jaw drop every time. LOL If you give a being God attributes you are in effect making him or her a God.

Satan is not any god. In Christ, myself along with all other Christians have authority over Satan and his fallen angels. That's probably why Christian's look at you funny when you call him a demi-god. You can't really call something a god to someone when they have authority over it.

You'll have difficulty getting that through their heads. I tried, but of course they use the old "They are the same person" - which STILL means it's polytheism, whether they're one god or many gods. But, don't hold your breath here...

Polytheism is about two or more gods, and is unaffected by how many supernatural beings, other than gods, there might be.

As the original poster notes, angels and demons have attributes, and as WalkingWithFire puts it, functions. Gods have personalities, rather than mere attributes or functions.

For example, Zeus is the thunder god. By this, we do not mean that he is the elemental force "thunder." He is a fully drawn three-dimensional character who uses thunder as one tool to get his way in matters of sex, love, arguments, possessions... Zeus has a life.

Gods need not be the top beings among the supernaturals. Zeus is less powerful than the Fates, and subject to them, but the Fates have no lives, only their function. Zeus does have a life. He is a god, and the Fates are not gods.

The Trinity is an interesting case, Darkwind and Chokmah. Do either of you suppose that you have any fewer than three personalities apiece? How sad if the answer is yes.

Are you the same person with your spouse as you are with your children; are you the same person among your co-workers as within your family? Are any of these the person you are when you are utterly alone?

The alternative ought to have a name: Single Personality Disorder, perhaps.

Each of the persons in the triune god stands in a distinct and defining realtionship with the believer. Three hardly exhausts the possible relationships, of course, but the Trinity is a marvelous literary creation all the same, and an advance within monotheism, rather than a rejection of it - and even less any kind of turn toward polytheism.

God, as Father, Son, and Spirit, counts as one god, just as you, as parent, spouse, co-worker, and ... count as one person.

That's why you can't get your objection through their heads, Chokmah. Reject their belief if you like (I am rarely mistaken for a believer), but in this case, it is coherent, psychologically realistic, and respects both the language and the meaning of its words.

Great posts from everyone. Really healthy discussion. Sepet Dalv, I agree with your comment. I think I shouldn't have identified this issue with angels and demons as polytheism, as they are not worshipped by monotheists, eg Jews, Christians and Muslims. However I do know that Catholics pray to Saints, and this to me suggests worships of these deities, which is in breach of one of their commandments. Maybe that is a discussion for a separate topic. But I do see similarities between the Graeco-Roman Pagan system, for example, and the modern angels-demons system.

WalkingWithFire made a good point, "Many demons take on names according to their function. Common demon names would be Murder, Pride, Hate, Blasphemy or Fear." This is similar to the Pagan Pantheon of Gods, where some minor deities had names like Discord, which reflect that being's purpose. Thanks again for all the great posts. I hope the posts continue to be honest and expressive, but not offensive, and that this thread doesn't degenerate into a vehicle for hate. Peace.

Humans and a singular God are the requirements for a monotheistic religion. If a religion has any other type of being it is a polytheistic religion, examples of this would be djinn, angels, demons, the devil, sons of god, and hybrid creatures. All Abrahmic religions would be(are) polytheistic if believers realized this, instead they attempt to argue various points and usually end up looking foolish. Scripture is filled with flawed arguements.

Monotheism is a two tier operation if one realizes we are here and all powerfull God is up there! If another tier is inserted (angel, demi god...) they would be placed above us, god like but not neccesarily God's equal. Yet by being god like one can easily reckon they would be part of a polytheistic panthenon.

No because demons and angels are not gods. The Abrahamic religions are monotheistic because you are intended to worship only one god. They would be polytheistic if there was another entity on the same level as God and was also meant
to be worshiped. Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, etc. were all meant to be worshiped. Angels and demons our my like tools...minions if you will.

The Bible does teach of only two tiers. Angels are not above humans, they have no authority over us. They are nothing more than servants. Is a monarchy no longer a monarchy because the castle has dedicated royal servants working in it's halls? If the king has a royal servant deliver a letter to a farmer does that make the servant greater than the farmer? We all have our roles and the authority is God's alone.

Prayer does not imply worship. I have often heard Christians say "Satan, get thee behind me." That is a prayer, but I doubt that these Christians are devil worshippers.

Catholics direct requests for supernatural help through saints, because they believe that the saints are near to God and may have some special sympathy for the petitioner, not because they believe that saints are gods.

When somebody hires a lawyer, they don't think they have hired the judge .

The typical Protestant objection is not so much based on any commandment, but rather Jesus' holding that he is the only way to the Father god.

On the other hand, it seems likely that the early church did venerate its matyrs (a category of saint), so it seems that there wouldn't be Protestants to decry Catholics today, except that there were once undifferentiated Christians who did, indeed, venerate but not worship selected dead people who had lived lives of conspicuous religious achievement.

"Satan, get thee behind me", i don't think that's a prayer..!!Actually i'm pretty sure that's not a prayer...!!I'm an orthodox christian (even though i'm not that religious),and i've heard that a lot of times from older ppl...!!I'm just not so sure what it means exactly..!! I guess sth like satan get behind me meaning go away..!!

Anything we think or say can be a prayer to God. yes that is what that saying means.

I used to pray, still do, Get the bad out and keep the good. that is a prayer.

Love Omnaka

From Luke, the temptation in the desert (King James Version):

4:6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

4:7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

4:8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.


Jesus also uses the phrase to Peter, when Peter disputes something, in Matthew 16:23 and Mark 8:33

I think with the phrase "Get thee behind me, Satan," you are saying it with God's authority, making a kind of supplication to God for Him to assist you with His will.

Thank you, avs76. My point was that the utterance is facially a request for a supernatural being, directly addressed, to act according to the speaker's will.

It has the same form as a prayer. That does not imply worship of the being who is addressed.

You made a critical remark about some people who request other supernatural beings, dead people believed to be in Heaven, directly addressed, to act according to the speaker's will.

That does not imply worship of the beings who are addressed, either.

Indeed, your own formula, "making a kind of supplication to God for Him to assist you with His will," nicely describes the state of mind of the people doing the praying.

It was not my purpose to inhibit your crticism of Roman Catholic and Orthodox spirituality. I did think it productive, however, to begin with a fair characterization of what it was that you are criticizing. No offense to you was intended.

No offence taken, eight bits. However I disagree with your comment. I feel that a prayer does imply worship, in fact it is defined as such. I realise of course that this is open to interpretation, and that it is a point that we may debate ad infinitum. So I am willing say, now, that we agree to disagree, and leave it at that. If you wish to have the last word on the matter, please feel free to do so, and know that I will not debate you further on this point. Thank you for your eloquent reply.

EDIT: Made reply non-gender specific.

in the grand scheme

demons and angels serve god [ ergo equals]
angels encourage while demons challenge

a form of system that gauruntees spiritual evolution

a system to make strong children for god

if not for light would we know it was dark