Old and New Testament References to a Plurality of God’s

Note: The following does not imply that we will worship a plurality of Gods.  This only means that there are others that have reached the status of a God.

 Genesis 1: 26 – 27

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…

Genesis 3: 5, 22

5- For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

22- And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

Genesis 11: 7

7- Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.

Now Judaism has an interesting explanation for verse 26, of Genesis 1.  That explanation runs into trouble in verse 22 of Genesis 3, as you can see by reading the text.  As far as Christianity is concerned, I’m not quite sure why God would be talking to himself as he is creating the earth. We believe that we were there in heaven along with Jesus Christ as our Heavenly Father set forth this plan for His children to become like Him. Could we have been “gods” children of God, just trying to become like God our Father. One thing is certain in the text; God is addressing someone else and the one he is addressing is subordinate and acting under His direction. This resembles the way that Jesus Christ acted while on this earth.

As to our divine nature, it was not necessarily man that was made to stay a little lower than the angels, but Christ for a season in order to carry out the atonement for our sins, as confirmed by Paul in the epistle to the Hebrews. (See Below)

Psalms 8:5

5- For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor.

Hebrews 2:9

9- But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

A couple of scriptures given below will speak of us as being the offspring and children of Deity.

Acts 17:29.

29- Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.

 Romans 8: 16 – 17

16- The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God

17- And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified together.

While we notice the fact that we are truly our Heavenly Father’s children, we can also see the if that is bold in verse 17.  This implies a condition that is in place in order for us to be glorified with him.  A definite work, indeed.  The point here, though, is that if we are to become heirs then we are to inherit all that the Father hath. What Father would keep his children from becoming all that they could possibly be?

Here now are some scriptures that will mention a plurality of gods.  Notice that “gods” is not capitalized and Paul explains that best: (There are many interpretations of this scripture in the world today. Some subsequent scripts may give further insight into what Paul meant.)

1 Corinthians 8:5

5 –for though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth as there be gods many and lords many.

6 –but to us, there is but one God, the Father of whom are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things and we buy him.

Psalms 82:1,6

1– God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.

6– I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

Then we look into the future and see Christ asking the Pharisee’s why they are going to stone him. They say, not because of blasphemy but because he, being a man, “maketh himself God.” He then quotes the above scripture in Psalm 82:6.

John 10: 33-37

33- The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.

34- Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?

35- If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;

36- Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?

Again, notice the lowercase “gods” in verse 35.

Psalms 86:8

8– Among the gods there is none like unto thee (We agree!), O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works.

Psalms 136:2

2- O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth forever.

Exodus 15:11

11- Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

Deut 10:17

17 For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:

When Isaiah was going to be called as a prophet, there were two conversing:

Isaiah 6:7-8

7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

The Father says: “Whom shall [I] send”. It is the Father’s plan and Christ carries out instructions under the direction of the Father. (See Hebrews 1:1-3)

 Hebrews 1:1-3 will also show that they have created other worlds besides our own.

Hebrews 1:1-3

1-  GOD, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

2- Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

3- Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

There are hundreds of other scriptures concerning the nature of the Godhead that brings validity to the above mentioned scriptures, but that is an age old debate that has been going on ever since Constantine invited Arius, Athanasius, some bishops, and some philosophers to that famous 325 A.D. Nicene Council to figure out something that should have already been known. Thus began the endless search for God!

I do not believe that God created us so that he could have someone to worship him any more than I would create a child for him or her to worship me. I want the best for my children. I want them to be parents as I am and have any glory that I have. Remember that God has all power, all glory, and all knowledge and does not need our worship in order to help him stay God. I feel that our creation was more for our benefit instead of for the sole reason of God receiving more praise. True worship is emulation, and becoming like Him will not take any glory or praise away from him in my mind. I will praise him forever and even more so for being so concerned with my eternal progression and not his amount of praise. A true servant leader lifts those that he is leading to the level that he is at and never impairs their ability to reach their true potential.