The relationship between God or Gods and people stands at the center of the concepts of religion. For many religious people, it is highly important to understand their Gods in order to understand themselves and see their role in the world. Various cultures have their own religions and myths that come with them. For people who want to understand more about the world, it is essential to attempt to understand different cultures’ views on God and divinity.
The purpose of a deity is to govern or at least interfere with the lives of common people. In Greek mythology, the interference aspect is the most prominent, as various Gods and entities infringe upon human lives, often for their own benefit or petty grievances. The notion of God in the Old Testament is quite different from the Greek approach. The role of God in the Old Testament is guidance, and the role of the human is submission.
God creates its beings in a different way than the rest of the world, setting them apart in their importance (Genesis, 2:7). In addition, He goes to great lengths to test them and their faith. This shows that for the Old Testament writers, the essence of guidance of support played a major role. Yahweh is similar to both the Old Testament and Greek Gods. He is believed to be the most important God among other deities and is worshipped accordingly. However, He is capable of emotion in a rather Greek-mythos way (Heath). The role of humans, in this case, is also of submission, while in Greek mythology, humans could challenge or harm Gods.
In conclusion, the Gods of various cultures have different influences on people; however, certain similarities could be traced. The non-universal nature of the human relationship with Gods shows that for different cultures, a person’s place in the world and what they expect from it can differ greatly. Certain people seek complete guidance, certain people aim to be a whirlwind of life, and certain people look for a place in between.
Works Cited
Genesis. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Web.
Heath, John. (2019). “Yahweh or Zeus? Where Western Culture Went Wrong.” Santa Carla University. Web.