Scripture distinguishes between what a thing actually is and what some people can call something. The thing that a thing actually is, is called "ontology"; its beingness, or kind of thing it is, or the category it belongs to. This is especially important when it comes to the word God. People have been called gods. Does that actually give them the nature of God? People sometimes view idols as gods. Does that make them actually divine or as having the nature of God?
What is “Divine”? Is it just a spiritual existence? Like angels, demons, principalities, and … God? Or does it refer to something about the “nature” of something? Can people be called “divine” if others call them “gods”? Was Pharaoh “divine”? Does that make their “nature” divine? Do angels have a divine nature, or an angelic nature? If people are called "gods" because of the power they have in society and over other people, does that mean that they no longer have a human nature, but now have a divine nature?
What are the attributes of divinity? We could say: being eternal or uncreated; having the power to create things (from nothing); performing miracles or breaking the laws of physics.
| Reference | Greek | NASB | NWT 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rom 1:20 | θειότης theiótēs, thi-'o-tace | For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. | For his invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world’s creation onward, because they are perceived by the
things made, even his eternal power and Godship, so that they are inexcusable. |
| Col 2:9 | θεότης theótēs, theh-'o-tace | For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, | because it is in him that all the fullness of the divine quality dwells bodily. |
| Acts 17:29 | θεῖος theîos, thi'-os | Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold
or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. |
Therefore, since we are the children of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is
like gold or silver or stone, like something sculptured by the art and design of humans. |
| 2Pe 1:3 | θεῖος theîos, thi'-os | seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. | for his divine power has granted us all the things that contribute to life and godly devotion through the accurate knowledge of the One who called us by his own glory and virtue. |
| 2Pe 1:4 | θεῖος theîos, thi'-os | For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. | Through these things he has granted us the precious and very grand promises, so that through these you may become sharers in divine nature, having escaped from the world’s corruption produced by wrong desire. |
| Gal 4:8 | φύσις phýsis, foo'-sis | However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature (φύσις) are no gods. | Nevertheless, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those who are not really gods. |
| James 3:7 | φύσις phýsis, foo'-sis | For every species (φύσις) of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race (φύσις ἀνθρώπινος). | For every kind of wild animal and bird and reptile and sea creature is to be tamed and has been tamed by humans. |
| 1Co 8:4 | idol is nothing; no God but one | Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one. | Now concerning the eating of food offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is no God but one. |
| 1Co 8:5 | mang so-called gods | For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, | For even though there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, just as there
are many “gods” and many “lords,” |
The OT affirms that there is only one God who can be called God. All other things do not deserve to be called God or gods.
| Reference | NASB | NWT 2013 |
|---|---|---|
| Deu 32:17 | They sacrificed to demons who were not God, to gods whom they have not known, new gods who came lately, whom your fathers did not dread. | They were sacrificing to demons, not to God, To gods that they had not known, New ones that came along recently, To gods that your forefathers did not know. |
| Deu 32:21 | They have made Me jealous with what is not God; They have provoked Me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation | They have incited me to fury with what is not a god; They have offended me with their worthless idols. So I will incite them to jealousy with what is not a people; I will offend them with a foolish nation. |
| 2Ch 13:9 | Have you not driven out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams, even he may become a priest of what are no gods. | Have you not driven out Jehovah’s priests, the descendants of Aaron, and the Levites, and have you not appointed your own priests just like the peoples of the other lands Anyone who came along with a young bull and seven rams could become a priest of what are not gods. |
| Jer 2:11 | Has a nation changed gods when they were not gods? But My people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. | Has a nation ever changed its gods for those that are not gods. But my own people have exchanged my glory for what is useless. |
| Jer 5:7 | Why should I pardon you? Your sons have forsaken Me and sworn by those who are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery and trooped to the harlot's house. | How can I forgive you for this Your sons have abandoned me, And they swear by what is no God. I satisfied their needs, But they kept committing adultery, And they flocked to the house of a prostitute. |
Yet, the NT calls Jesus “God.”
| Col 1:15 | He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. | |
| Col 2:9 | For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, | "all the fullness" is a redundancy, a superlative. Christ has the most complete attributes of God you can think of. |
| Heb 1:3 | And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, | nothing else is "exactly" like the Father. |
| 2Co 4:4 | in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. |