Polytheism—A False Doctrine
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, August 7, 2026 (Donate)
In today's culture, many Christians assume that polytheism—a
common false belief throughout both the Old and New Testaments—has largely
disappeared. After all, how many people today openly worship Baal, Molech,
Ashtoreth, Zeus, or other ancient pagan gods?
While the religions of the ancient Canaanites, Babylonians,
Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans have largely faded from history, it would be a
mistake to conclude that polytheism is gone. In reality, hundreds of millions
of people around the world still embrace religions with many gods, and many of
these adherents live in the United States. Some may even come knocking on your
door.
Would you recognize polytheism if it presented itself in a
modern form? More importantly, would you know how to answer it biblically?
What Is Polytheism?
Polytheism is the belief that there are multiple gods.
These gods may be viewed as equal, as members of a divine family, or as
powerful beings with different areas of authority.
Throughout history, countless civilizations embraced
polytheism. Ancient Greece worshiped Zeus, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Poseidon,
and many others. Rome, in parallel, worshipped many of these same gods under
different names. The Norse worshiped Odin, Thor, Loki, and Freyja. Egypt had
Ra, Osiris, Isis, Horus, and numerous others. The Canaanites worshiped Baal,
Ashtoreth, Molech, Dagon, and many local deities.
The Bible repeatedly records Israel's temptation to abandon
the one true God in favor of these false gods. Far too often, the Israelites
fell into idolatry by adopting the religious practices of the surrounding
nations, despite God's repeated warnings. Even the great King Solomon the wise
fell into false pagan worship due to some of his pagan wives.
“Did not Solomon king of Israel sin
by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, who was
beloved of his God; and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless pagan
women caused even him to sin. (Nehemiah 13:26, NKJV)
Modern Forms Of Polytheism
Although ancient mythology is no longer the dominant
religion of the Western world, polytheism certainly survives. Shinto, the
traditional religion of Japan, recognizes countless spiritual beings known as “kami”.
Hinduism includes an enormous number of deities associated
with various aspects of life and nature. Although many Hindus explain these
gods as manifestations of the impersonal ultimate reality called “Brahman”.
This reflects the philosophy of monism—the belief that all reality is
ultimately one and everything is part of the same divine essence.
While this differs philosophically from classical polytheism
and paganism (often denoted uniquely as “Indian Paganism”), it still rejects
the biblical doctrine of the one personal Creator who is distinct from
His creation. Recall that Hinduism has
an impersonal god.
Other religious systems openly teach multiple gods.
Mormonism, for example, presents itself as “Christian” but teaches a radically
different doctrine of God. Rather than one eternal God existing as three
distinct persons, Mormon theology teaches that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
are three separate gods. They changed 4,000 verses in their Bible “translation”
of their version of the KJV of 1833 (also called the Joseph Smith
Translation or JST)
Furthermore, faithful people to the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) may eventually become gods themselves, just as
their Heavenly Father allegedly progressed to godhood.
This is fundamentally different from biblical Christianity. The
God of Scripture is the eternal, uncreated Creator of everything that exists.
Nothing existed before Him, nothing brought Him into existence, and nothing is
equal to Him. By contrast, the gods of Mormonism exist within an
already-existing universe and are therefore finite beings, not the infinite
Creator revealed in Scripture.
Many Polytheists Accept Jesus—But Not The Biblical Jesus
One deceptive characteristic of many polytheistic religions
is their willingness to acknowledge Jesus. At first, this sounds encouraging.
However, they aren’t accepting Jesus as the eternal Creator, the second Person
of the Trinity, or the only Savior. They essentially reject who Christ is
according to the Bible. Instead, they simply add and errant version of Jesus
alongside their other gods or reduce Him to merely another low-level divine
being.
This isn’t honoring Christ—it is demoting Him. Jesus
cannot simply become another member of a divine council or another
manifestation of deity. Scripture presents Him as the eternal Word who was with
God and was God (John 1:1), the Creator of all things (John 1:3; Colossians
1:16-17), and the One before whom every knee will bow (Philippians 2:9-11).
Adding Jesus to a collection of gods is just another form of idolatry.
Is Atheism a Form of Polytheism?
At first glance, atheism appears to be the exact opposite of
polytheism because it denies the existence of any god. Yet Scripture teaches
that fallen mankind continually seeks to replace God with something else
(Romans 1:18-25). Many atheists reject the Creator while placing ultimate
authority in themselves, humanity, or otherwise, autonomous human reason
(i.e., ultimate self-authority).
In that sense, each individual becomes his or her own
highest authority, effectively functioning as their own "god." While
atheism isn’t technically polytheism, it, by reductio
ad absurdum, shows the same sinful desire found in all false religions:
replacing the Creator with the creature—in this case, themselves. The result is
still idolatry.
God Declares There Is Only One God
The Bible leaves no room for multiple gods existing
alongside the true God (e.g., Exodus 20:3, Deuteronomy 5:7). The very first
verse establishes this truth:
"In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1, NKJV)
Before anything else existed, God already was. He alone
created everything outside Himself. The Old Testament repeatedly emphasizes
God's uniqueness. Deuteronomy 6:4 declares:
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our
God, the LORD is one!" (NKJV)
Likewise, Malachi 2:10 asks:
"Have we not all one Father?
Has not one God created us?" (NKJV)
The prophets continually mocked idols because they are
lifeless creations of human hands, incapable of speaking, hearing, or saving (e.g.,
Isaiah 44:9-20; Jeremiah 10:1-16).
The New Testament Also Affirms One God
The New Testament never abandons Old Testament monotheism.
Instead, it reveals that the one God eternally exists as three persons of the
Godhead—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Several passages explicitly affirm
there is only one God:
· Mark 12:32
· 1 Corinthians 8:6
· Galatians 3:20
· Ephesians 4:6
· 1 Timothy 2:5
· James 2:19
Notice that James writes:
"You believe that there is one
God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!" (James 2:19, NKJV)
Even demons recognize there is only one true God.
Christianity is therefore neither polytheistic nor unitarian.
The Bible teaches one
God who eternally exists as three distinct
persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This doctrine
of the Trinity reveals both the absolute unity of God and the full deity of
each Person.
Why does this matter? Some people dismiss the doctrine of
God as merely a theological debate. The Bible doesn’t. The identity of God is
foundational to every other doctrine in Scripture. If we misunderstand who God
is, we will misunderstand creation, sin, salvation, worship, and eternity.
Likewise, if we misunderstand who Jesus is, we misunderstand the gospel itself.
Conclusion: A False Christ Cannot Save
One of Satan's
oldest strategies has been to substitute the true God with false gods and
false religions. Sometimes, he encourages people to worship many false gods.
Other times he encourages them to worship one false god.
In any case, the goal is the same: to keep people from the
true Creator and true Savior revealed in Scripture. This is why the identity of
Jesus Christ is so important. If Jesus is merely one god among many, He can’t
be the unique Savior of the world.
If He is a created being or an exalted man, He
cannot bear the infinite wrath deserved by sinners against the infinite God.
Only the eternal Son of God—the second Person of the triune God—could
accomplish redemption through His perfect life, substitutionary death, and
bodily resurrection.
A “false Christ” or “bar-Jesus” can’t save because that
person isn’t the Christ revealed in Scripture. The Bible calls everyone to
reject idols, turn from false gods, and place their faith in the one true God
who has revealed Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Salvation
is found in Christ alone, as he is Fully God and Fully Man and this allows
Him to be our perfect mediator. The Bible says:
"there is one God and one
Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5, NKJV).
Bodie Hodge, Ken
Ham's son in law, has been an apologist defending 6-day creation and opposing
evolution since 1998. He spent 21 years working at Answers in Genesis as
a speaker, writer, and researcher as well as a founding news anchor for Answers
News. He was also head of the Oversight Council.
Bodie
launched Biblical Authority Ministries in 2015 as a personal
website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a 501(c)(3). He has spoken
on multiple continents and hosts of US states in churches, colleges, and
universities. He is married with four children.
Mr. Hodge earned a
Bachelor and Master of Science degrees from Southern Illinois University at
Carbondale (SIUC). Then he taught at SIUC for a couple of years as a
Visiting Instructor teaching all levels of undergraduate engineering and
running a materials lab and a CAD lab. He did research on advanced ceramic
materials to develop a new method of production of titanium diboride with a
grant from Lockheed Martin. He worked as a Test Engineer for Caterpillar,
Inc., prior to entering full-time ministry.
His love of science
was coupled with a love of history, philosophy, and theology. For about one
year of his life, Bodie was editing and updating a theological, historical, and
scientific dictionary/encyclopedia for AI use and training. Mr. Hodge has over
25 years of experience in writing, speaking and researching in these fields.
*Image generated by
ChatGPT
