RUMC Ask me Anything Response 1

I asked the people of Rinn Church to ask me anything they wanted. Here is my response to one of their questions.  B-

Are there multiple gods?  (See Psalm 82 and John 10:34)

-from Dan Smith

Great question, Dan. Let’s start off with the scriptures references so we can all get on the same page:

Psalm 82

God has taken his place in the divine council;
    in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
² “How long will you judge unjustly
    and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
³ Give justice to the weak and the orphan;
    maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.
⁴ Rescue the weak and the needy;
    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

⁵ They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
    they walk around in darkness;
    all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

⁶ I say, “You are gods,
    children of the Most High, all of you;
⁷ nevertheless, you shall die like mortals,
    and fall like any prince.”^[a]

⁸ Rise up, O God, judge the earth;
    for all the nations belong to you

John 10:31b-38

[Then] the Jews took up stones again to stone him. ³² Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?” ³³ The Jews answered, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.” ³⁴ Jesus answered, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? ³⁵ If those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’—and the scripture cannot be annulled— ³⁶ can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? ³⁷ If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. ³⁸ But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” 

My Thoughts

So what’s the deal here? Is God really the leader of multiple deities? And are we gods like Jesus says?

There are several ways to interpret this passage. The first thing to consider, as with any scripture we read, is what it meant to its original audience. What dynamics and messages would ancient Jews see that elude our modern eyes? The scholarly term for this approach is exegesis, if you ever want a $10 word to impress people at dinner parties. But I digress. . .

Turning this perspective on Psalm 82, we find it is likely aimed at Jews/Hebrews living around the mid-10^th Century BCE. Their kingdom was surrounded by the giant empires of Assyria and Egypt as well as local powers like the Philistines, Hittites, Amalekites and several other varieties of ‘ite’ tribes. Each of these cultures had their own set of gods who ruled over every aspect of life, ranging from weather, agriculture, love, war, etc. Above them was a chief god, a fierce ruler who served as a chairperson for all divine activity on earth.  This god’s name differed from culture to culture, but there is a good chance you’ve heard of a few. Zeus, Marduk, and Ra, for example.

Since the Jews/Hebrews were small potatoes, they came under the influence of these more dominant cultures. This caused them to slowly form their own pantheon of gods as they conquered Canaan under Joshua. Specifically, they usurped the gods of their conquered foes, even going as far as to use the Canaanite chairperson god’s name, El, to refer to their God. These names still exist today, enshrined in the original Hebrew of the Old Testament as Elohim (God of Gods), Ēl Shaddāi,(God of Heaven) and Ēl ‘Elyôn (God Most High) among others.

Interesting, huh? We like to think of the Hebrews/Jews as solely dedicated to one God. But it seems the movement to a pure form of monotheism was a slow one.

They revered God above all, for sure. Yet, they were very easily distracted by God’s “conquered Canaanite minions” like Ba’al and Asherah (remember them from Sunday School?) This distraction is what our Psalmist is speaking against. He’s writing a hymn to remind people of the primacy of the One God over the others crowding the scene. He doesn’t even refer to the other heavenly beings by name, that’s how much awe the writer has for his Creator. The other gods aren’t worth anyone’s time since they are unable help. Instead, God unequivocally judges them for their shortcomings, and casts them down to death. Psalm 82 speaks to us this way as well. It shows us that our God is the one true source of justice who will outlast any other higher power we believe in!

              Ok, that sounds great, so why does Jesus reference this verse? Are we really gods since Jesus said it?           This requires a bit more interpretation:

              The Old Testament as we know it was compiled while the Jews were in Babylonian exile. During this time, religious scholars took time to purge or explain away the Jews polytheistic past. After all, not relying on the one God had gotten everyone into this exilic mess in the first place! So it was a form of repentance, more or less. A way for Jews to return to God by backdating their scripture to show what God had wanted them to do and be in the past.

              When it came to Psalm 82, the Rabbis had some work to do. What could it mean for them to be gods in their updated context? Eventually they decided the Psalmist was referring to the past rulers of Israel, who God had favorably blessed with power and authority, elevating them to a semi-divine status. Some Jewish kings may have even claimed to be the son of God as an honorific, symbolic element in their royal title (see Psalm 2, it may have been used as a hymn to enthrone rulers from David’s line before Jesus eventually fulfilled it). Obviously, these kings had fallen short. They had not benefitted the poor and oppressed, rendering them in need of Divine judgement. God had done this, and in turn led Jews to their current predicament. It all fit, and became the standard interpretation until Jesus time, when the reference of “gods” came to be associated with all Jews. They had faithfully received God’s word, thus they were elevated from the rest of humanity.

So this sets the scene for John 10, where Jesus uses Psalm 82 to show it being fulfilled on both a human and Divine level. Through his work on behalf of the marginalized, he shows himself to be a human ruler worthy to take up the old title “son of God.” While also being the God who is able to cast all other powers down through justice.

An answer to the question? What should we learn?

So are there multiple Gods? Are we gods?

My response: No and sort of.

The first Jewish readers of Psalm 82 might have thought there were many gods, which was proven wrong when they went into exile. As the Old Testament says time and time again, the Jews trusted in other deities and themselves more than God, and look where they ended up? Only when they were conquered did they realize God was the only God and interpret this section differently.

As for whether we are “gods” in the vein Psalm 82 says we are, I’d say we resemble the interpretation of the later Jews. God’s word does bring us up and sets us apart (remember, the Greek word for church in the Bible literally means “those called out”). Moreover, we believe by living into God’s word, God lives more fully into us through the Holy Spirit. The process is called incarnation, which is also the word theologians use to describes how God existed in Jesus. So in a way, having access to that same Spirit in a lesser capacity can make a sort of “god.” Although I hate thinking of myself in this way, don’t you? We are Spirit filled people, let’s leave it at that, shall we?

In this way, these verses are a reminder that we are imbued by God and called to live justly by “Rescuing the weak and the needy.” But we are not the God. One day, we will meet that God and see how the Divine judges those who didn’t live the way they should.   

          

            So this verses tell us one thing above all: be the ones live differently. Show the weak and oppressed what God filled “gods” can do. Now, let’s live it out!

            

  Thanks for reading folks, and thanks for the question Dan!