Divinity

Divinityorthe divineare things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from adeity.What is or is not divine may be loosely defined, as it is used by differentbelief systems. Undermonotheismandpolytheismthis is clearly delineated. However, inpantheismandanimismthis becomes synonymous with concepts ofsacrednessandtranscendence.
The root of the worddivinityis the Latindivusmeaning of or belonging to a God (deus). The word entered English fromMedieval Latinin the 14th century.
Divinity as a quality has two distinct usages:
Overlap occurs between these usages becausedeitiesor godly entities are often identical with or identified by the powers and forces that are credited to them—in many cases, a deity is merely a power or force personified—and these powers and forces may then be extended or granted tomortalindividuals. For instance,Jehovahis closely associated with storms and thunder throughout much of theOld Testament. He is said to speak in thunder, and thunder is seen as a token of his anger. This power was then extended toprophetslikeMosesandSamuel, who caused thunderous storms to rain down on their enemies.Divinity always carries connotations ofgoodness,beauty, beneficence,justice, and other positive, pro-social attributes. Inmonotheisticfaiths there is an equivalent cohort of maleficsupernaturalbeings and powers, such asdemons,devils,afreet, etc., which are not conventionally referred to as divine;demonicis often used instead.Polytheisticandanimisticsystems of belief make no such distinction; gods and other beings oftranscendentpower often have complex, ignoble, or even incomprehensible motivations for their acts. Note that while the termsdemonanddemonicare used inmonotheisticfaiths asantonymstodivine, they are in fact derived from theGreekworddaimón(δαίμων), which itself translates asdivinity.
There are three distinct usages ofdivinityanddivinein religiousdiscourse:
In monotheistic faiths, the worddivinityis often used to refer to thesingular Godcentral to that faith. Often the word takes thedefinite articleand is capitalized—"the Divinity"—as though it were aproper nameor definitive honorific.Divine—capitalized—may be used as an adjective to refer to the manifestations of such a Divinity or its powers: e.g. "basking in the Divine presence..."
The termsdivinityanddivine—uncapitalized, and lacking the definite article—are sometimes used to denote 'god(s)or certain other beings and entities which fall short of absolute Godhood but lie outside the human realm.
As previously noted, divinities are closely related to the transcendent force(s) or power(s) credited to them,so much so that in some cases the powers or forces may themselves be invoked independently. This leads to the second usage of the worddivine(and less common usage ofdivinity): to refer to the operation of transcendent power in the world.
In its most direct form, the operation of transcendent power implies some form ofdivine intervention. For monotheistic and polytheistic faiths this usually implies the direct action of one god or another on the course of human events. In Greeklegend, for instance, it wasPoseidon(god of the sea) who raised the storms that blewOdysseus's craft off course on his return journey, andJapanesetradition holds that agod-sent windsaved them from Mongol invasion.Prayersor propitiations are often offered to specific gods to garner favorable interventions in particular enterprises: e.g. safe journeys, success in war, or a season of bountiful crops. Many faiths around the world—from JapaneseShintoand Chinese traditional religion, to certain African practices and the faiths derived from those in the Caribbean, to Native American beliefs—hold thatancestralorhousehold deitiesoffer daily protection andblessings. In monotheistic religions, divine intervention may take very direct forms:miracles,visions, orintercessionsby blessed figures.
Transcendent force or power may also operate through more subtle and indirect paths. Monotheistic faiths generally support some version ofdivine providence, which acknowledges that the divinity of the faith has a profound but unknowable plan always unfolding in the world. Unforeseeable, overwhelming, or seemingly unjust events are often thrown on 'the will of the Divine', in deferences like theMusliminshallah('as God wills it') and Christian 'God works in mysterious ways'. Often such faiths hold out the possibility ofdivine retributionas well, where the divinity will unexpectedly bringevil-doers to justice through the conventional workings of the world; from the subtle redressing of minor personalwrongsto such large-scale havoc as the destruction ofSodom and Gomorrahor the biblicalGreat Flood. Other faiths are even more subtle: the doctrine ofkarmashared byBuddhismandHinduismis adivine lawsimilar todivine retributionbut without the connotation of punishment: our acts, good or bad, intentional or unintentional, reflect back on us as part of the natural working of theuniverse. PhilosophicalTaoismalso proposes a transcendent operant principle—transliterated in English astaoordao, meaning 'the way'—which is neither an entity nor a being per se, but reflects the natural ongoing process of the world. Modernwestern mysticismandnew agephilosophy often use the term 'the Divine' as a noun in this latter sense: a non-specificprincipleor being that gives rise to the world, and acts as the source orwellspring of life. In these latter cases, the faiths do not promote deference, as happens in monotheisms; rather each suggests a path of action that will bring the practitioner into conformance with the divine law:ahimsa—'no harm'—for Buddhist and Hindu faiths;deorte—'virtuous action'—in Taoism; and any of numerous practices of peace and love in new age thinking.
In the third usage, extensions of divinity and divine power are credited to living, mortal individuals. Political leaders are known to have claimed actual divinity in certain early societies—the ancientEgyptian Pharaohsbeing the premier case—taking a role as objects of worship and being credited with superhuman status and powers. More commonly, and more pertinent to recent history, leaders merely claim some form of divinemandate, suggesting that their rule is in accordance with the will of God. The doctrine of thedivine right of kingswas introduced as late as the 17th century, proposing thatkingsrule by divine decree; Japanese Emperors ruled by divine mandate until the inception of theJapanese constitutionafterWorld War II.
Less politically, most faiths have any number of people that are believed to have been touched by divine forces:saints,prophets,heroes,oracles,martyrs, and enlightened beings, among others.Saint Francis of Assisi, in Catholicism, is said to have received instruction directly fromGodand it is believed that he grantsplenary indulgenceto all who confess their sins and visit his chapel on the appropriate day. In Greek mythology,Achilles' mother bathed him in theriver Styxto give him immortality, andHercules—as the son ofZeus—inherited near-godly powers. In religiousTaoism,Laoziis venerated as a saint with his own powers. Various individuals in the Buddhist faith, beginning withSiddhartha, are considered to be enlightened, and in religious forms of Buddhism they are credited with divine powers. Christ in the Bible is said to be God's Son and is said to have performed divine miracles.
In general, mortals with divine qualities are carefully distinguished from the deity or deities in their religion's mainpantheon.Even the Christian faith, which generally holds Christ to be identical to God, distinguishes between God the Father and Christ the begotten Son.There are, however, certain esoteric and mystical schools of thought, present in many faiths—Sufisin Islam,Gnosticsin Christianity, Advaitan Hindus,Zen Buddhists, as well as several non-specific perspectives developed in new age philosophy—which hold that all humans are inessencedivine, or unified with the Divine in a non-trivial way. Such divinity, in these faiths, would express itself naturally if it were not obscured by the social and physical worlds we live in; it needs to be brought to the fore through appropriatespiritual practices.
In theNew Testamentthe Greek word θεῖον (theion) in theDouay Version, is translated as "divinity". Examples are below:
The word translated as either "deity", "Godhead", or "divinity" in the Greek New Testament is also the Greek word θεότητος (theotētos), and the one verse that contains it is this:
Colossians 2:9
The word "divine" in the New Testament is the Greek word θείας (theias), and is the adjective form of "divinity". Biblical examples from theKing James Bibleare below:
The most prominent conception of divine entities inthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints(LDS Church) is theGodhead, a divine council of three distinct beings:Elohim(the Father),Jehovah(the Son, orJesus), and theHoly Spirit.Joseph Smithdescribed anontrinitarianGodhead, with God the Father and Jesus Christ each having individual physical bodies, and the Holy Spirit as a distinct personage with aspirit body.Smith also introduced the existence of aHeavenly Motherin theKing Follett Discourse, but very little is acknowledged or known beyond her existence.
Mormonshold a belief in the divine potential of humanity; Smith taught a form ofdivinizationwhere mortal men and women can become like god throughsalvationandexaltation.Lorenzo Snowsuccinctly summarized this using acouplet, which is often repeated within the LDS Church: "As man now is, God once was: As God now is, man may be."
Wiccanviews of divinity are generallytheistic, and revolve around aGoddessand aHorned God, thereby being generallydualistic. In traditional Wicca, as expressed in the writings ofGerald GardnerandDoreen Valiente, the emphasis is on the theme of divine gender polarity, and the God and Goddess are regarded as equal and opposite divine cosmic forces. In some newer forms of Wicca, such as feminist orDianic Wicca, the Goddess is given primacy or even exclusivity. In some forms oftraditional witchcraftthat share a similar duotheistic theology, the Horned God is given precedence over the Goddess.