Other gods

As opposed to g-d, other gods have been proposed throughout the history of mankind. The term g-d is applied in a general sense to any deity that is worshiped as part of a theistic belief system.

Other G-ds in the so-called "Holy Bible"

The Jewish and Christian Bibles contain references to more than just the Jewish and Christian G-d(Hereafter referred to as G-d with a large G to avoid confusion).

Genesis

Early translations of the opening text of Genesis use a distinctly different word to describe the being responsible for enacting Creation than G-d, who first appears in the Garden of Eden with Adam. Attempts to translate the word literally get little more than a word approximately meaning 'The Power'.

G-d in the Garden of Eden often uses the plural, (Genesis 1:26) 'And G-d said, let us make man in our image.', (Genesis 3:22) 'And the Lord G-d said, Behold, then man is become as one of us, to know good and evil.' (Genesis 11:7) 'Let us go down, and there confound their language.'. This is occasionally explained as use of the 'Royal We'.

Exodus

The Eygptian gods are referred to several times, never as nonexistent. (Exodus 12:12) 'And against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment.' (Exodus 15:11) 'Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods?' (Exodus 18:11) 'Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods.'. The implication is that G-d is greater than any single member of the Eygptian pantheon, not that the gods worshipped by the ancient Eygptians don't exist. Furthermore, the Magi, empowered by those gods, are able to produce plagues of their own.

The Commandments are the clearest: (Exodus 20:3, 5) 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me. ... Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.' G-d makes it clear while other g-ds may or may not exist, the Israelites are not to worship them before Him, or to serve them.

Other laws also make it clear that other g-ds may or may not exist, but the penalties for worshipping them are harsh: (Exodus 22:20) 'He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed.' (Exodus 23:13) 'Make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.' (Exodus 23:24) 'Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.' (Exodus 23:32) 'Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.' (Exodus 34:14) 'For thou shalt worship no other g-d: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous G-d.'

The strangest section on multiple gods in Exodus is this law: (Exodus 22:28) 'Thou shalt not revile the gods.'. Despite strong prohibitions on the worship, naming, or serving of other gods, one is not to revile them.

Psalms

(Psalm 82:1) 'G-d standeth in the congregation of the mighty, he judgeth among the g-ds.' (Psalm 86:8) 'Among the g-ds there is none like unto thee, O Lord.' (Psalm 96:4) 'For the Lord ... is to be feared above all g-ds.' (Psalm 97:7) 'Worship him, all ye g-ds.'

Notes

It is claimed that Christianity, Islam, and Judaism worship the same G-d in different ways. This claim is regarded by some as a way to convert Jews, Christians and Muslims to Mormonism, since it supports the idea that Abrahamic religion has "grown" from Judaism to Christianity to Islam to Mormonism. However, many are skeptical of this idea.

Regardless of the lack of historical data regarding the origins of any of these religions, the mythological links between them are clear. It is a tenet of the Jewish religion that all Jews descended from Abraham (indeed, in order to convert to Judaism one must complete an 'adoption' ritual for the house of Israel); as Jesus is regarded as Jewish, the growth of Christianity as an offshoot of the Jewish religion is clear. In a similar fashion, Muslims claim to be descended from Abraham by way of Ishmael.

Short Story

Horror writer H.P. Lovecraft once wrote a short story called "The Other Gods."