• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

What is a deity

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
I know what a god is: object/person/idea of worship, nature, consciousness, jesus christ, mythological beings, creator, cosmos, universe, and so forth. However you name it.

I know what the definition says
a god or goddess (in a polytheistic religion).
"a deity of ancient Greece"
synonyms: god, goddess, divine being, supreme being, divinity, immortal; Mor
  • divine status, quality, or nature.
    "a ruler driven by delusions of deity"
  • the creator and supreme being (in a monotheistic religion such as Christianity).
    noun: Deity; noun: the Deity

I ask because I don't understand and want to hear others opinions, not because I haven't searched for myself.

What is a deity (or being)?​
 

bobhikes

Nondetermined
Premium Member
I know what a god is: object/person/idea of worship, nature, consciousness, jesus christ, mythological beings, creator, cosmos, universe, and so forth. However you name it.

What is a deity (or being)?​

First off every person is going to have there own understanding. So if debating you need to get a feel of how the person understands it or give your own definition.

For me
God is the supreme being the top or master of the domain. For example Venus was the God of love, Mars the God of war, The Abraham God is master of all
Deity is a supreme being, one of a group of masters in a domain. The fates were deities. The Greek and Roman gods as a whole ruled everything but as individuals where deities.
Being is an individual, any human or animal that understands individuality.
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
First off every person is going to have there own understanding. So if debating you need to get a feel of how the person understands it or give your own definition.

For me
God is the supreme being the top or master of the domain. For example Venus was the God of love, Mars the God of war, The Abraham God is master of all
Deity is a supreme being, one of a group of masters in a domain. The fates were deities. The Greek and Roman gods as a whole ruled everything but as individuals where deities.
Being is an individual, any human or animal that understands individuality.

Is the supreme being a spirit?
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
For me a spirit isn't the supreme being but it could be there is no hard rule I just identified as the unique master of the domain.

What does that mean "master" and "being"? Some people use cosmos and consciousness. If master and being are, quote on quote, "tangible" deities or beings, what is the nature of them?
 

bobhikes

Nondetermined
Premium Member
Master would mean there is no way to appeal to a higher authority.
Being is a thing that can understand its individuality. I previously said human or animal but if a plant or conscious or cosmos understands its individuality it is a being.

For me.

I think of God as the cosmos being a living entity and earth is similar to the left toe.
 

buddhist

Well-Known Member
It's all relative.

A "deity" is a consciousness which exists in place of greater power and/or blissful circumstances than a lesser consciousness.

E.g. Humans are deities in comparison to many animals, for example.
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
I know what a god is: object/person/idea of worship, nature, consciousness, jesus christ, mythological beings, creator, cosmos, universe, and so forth. However you name it.

I know what the definition says


I ask because I don't understand and want to hear others opinions, not because I haven't searched for myself.

What is a deity (or being)?​
I took deity as the classification of a group of supernatural beings in folklore.
 

interminable

منتظر
God is unlike everything that we imagine
Can u imagine universe???
How can u imagine his creator??
A limited existence will never reach an unlimited existence
That's why everything u imagine about God is an illusion

It's interesting that God isn't matter or substance so how can we have notion of him???

الشورى
فَاطِرُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ جَعَلَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا وَمِنَ الْأَنْعَامِ أَزْوَاجًا يَذْرَؤُكُمْ فِيهِ لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ
[He is] Creator of the heavens and the earth. He has made for you from yourselves, mates, and among the cattle, mates; He multiplies you thereby. There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing. (11)
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
What is a deity (or being)?

Whatever one feels like worshipping.

Often, but not necessarily always, it will be in some sense a transcendental, supernatural entity. Someone whose nature is inherently separate from our own.

Or, on a less questionable ground, a deity may be some entity that symbolizes ideas and virtues for purposes of inspiration and worship.

There are those who think it makes much of a difference if a deity exists in a literal sense. I am not among those.
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
Master would mean there is no way to appeal to a higher authority.
Being is a thing that can understand its individuality. I previously said human or animal but if a plant or conscious or cosmos understands its individuality it is a being.

For me.

I think of God as the cosmos being a living entity and earth is similar to the left toe.

That actually confuses me. What is the higher authority? Being is something that can understand itself?
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
Hmm.
Or, on a less questionable ground, a deity may be some entity that symbolizes ideas and virtues for purposes of inspiration and worship.
I understand that as symbolism though that begs the question of what is an entity. Why not just say symbols or the ideas and virtues themselves? Unless it's a collective term for whatever ideas and virtues that person defines an entity as.

There are those who think it makes much of a difference if a deity exists in a literal sense. I am not among those.

How can a deity be made literal?

EDIT

I know. You just posted this 3 mins ago.
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
God is unlike everything that we imagine
Can u imagine universe???
How can u imagine his creator??
A limited existence will never reach an unlimited existence
That's why everything u imagine about God is an illusion

It's interesting that God isn't matter or substance so how can we have notion of him???

الشورى
فَاطِرُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ جَعَلَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا وَمِنَ الْأَنْعَامِ أَزْوَاجًا يَذْرَؤُكُمْ فِيهِ لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ
[He is] Creator of the heavens and the earth. He has made for you from yourselves, mates, and among the cattle, mates; He multiplies you thereby. There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing. (11)

Not god. Not creator.

What is a deity?
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
Hmm.

I understand that as symbolism though that begs the question of what is an entity. Why not just say symbols or the ideas and virtues themselves? Unless it's a collective term for whatever ideas and virtues that person defines an entity as.

Deities are defined for the convenience of the believer, of course.

How can a deity be made literal?

As I understand it, by expecting / finding it to have an independent existence, one that does not depend on the doctrine that defines it.

An odd and perhaps unhealthy thing to expect of a deity, IMO. But somehow also one that is frequently perceived as Very Important.
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
I took deity as the classification of a group of supernatural beings in folklore.
Some people see deities as part of reality. So the supernatural beings (however defined?) are real life beings. That begs the question what is a being? Unless folklore is part of real life rather than stories of morals rather than their literal content.
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
It's all relative.

A "deity" is a consciousness which exists in place of greater power and/or blissful circumstances than a lesser consciousness.

E.g. Humans are deities in comparison to many animals, for example.

This went over my head. I'm not familiar with consciousness.
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
Odd that a deity would be expected to exist without the dependence on doctrine? (I don't quite understand what you said)

There are people who insist that their deities are "real" and should be acknowledged as such.

Every time I hear that I wonder why that would be so.

A deity is supposed to be inspiring, not "real". I'm not sure it even makes sense to say that a deity is real.
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
There are people who insist that their deities are "real" and should be acknowledged as such.

Every time I hear that I wonder why that would be so.

A deity is supposed to be inspiring, not "real". I'm not sure it even makes sense to say that a deity is real.

If a deity is ideas etc, then I agree, it doesn't make sense. I guess I can think of it as my being a human being. Human beings have tangible characteristics. However, if we asked what Jane is, we wouldn't say "she is love" or Bob is evil. We'd say they are human being or people. We can define human beings even if love and evil did not exist.

However, with a deity seen as literal, I would kind of expect the same thing. If made literal there would have to be some characteristics that define the deity without depending on attributes such as love and evil that any person can attribute to anything and anyone supernatural or not.
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
If a deity is ideas etc, then I agree, it doesn't make sense. I guess I can think of it as my being a human being. Human beings have tangible characteristics. However, if we asked what Jane is, we wouldn't say "she is love" or Bob is evil. We'd say they are human being or people. We can define human beings even if love and evil did not exist.

However, with a deity seen as literal, I would kind of expect the same thing. If made literal there would have to be some characteristics that define the deity without depending on attributes such as love and evil that any person can attribute to anything and anyone supernatural or not.
I don't see why a transcendental being would even want, let alone need, a literal existence.
 
Top