What is the policy of real life religions of imitating godhood?

[NotaNuffian]

So I'm on a CN binge and am fairly ehh on the cultivators being taoist and its variant, buddhist monks.

Their evolution path is also kind of expected as the taoist evolve into a taoist deity while the monk evolves into a variant of buddha (too many to actually list, but the standard is always Luohan).

And after awhile, I asked myself, what would be the case if placed in western style then?

Monotheistic religion is definitely a bust. Even worse if the end of the cultivation path is being an apostle/ angel, for the chinese cultivators it is like having a boss even when you transcend and you aren't a big G.

Slightly mitigated with polytheistics because a minor god is still a god. But can one really call themselves the Lord of Thunder when Thor and Zeus are still around?

 

[Deleted member 206441]

Hmm...

You can go... saint-> angel

Then go Greek?

Zeus chronos type shit and full on usurp?

 

[NotaNuffian]

Hmm...

You can go... saint-> angel

Then go Greek?

Zeus chronos type shit and full on usurp?

That can do.

I was going to say how the path doesn't fit but neither are the chinese examples.

All is just level up level up level up kill god take god place.

 

[miyoga]

Hercules is basically this. He "cultivates" his strength and body far better than Achilles did with his blessing. Even in Christianity, you've got what I would call demi-gods in the form of all the myriad Patron Saints. Patron Saints being a step above a regular saint in that they have a particular area in which they are the top most authority before God. The process to become a saint is super involved and actually takes years to complete and (to my knowledge) isn't actually completed until after the candidate has passed.

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

Christianity doesn't allow godhood, though it won't stop some preachers to claim godhood to abuse their members.

Nevertheless, Christians often look at those people with a mix of disdain and awkwardness.

 

[Deleted member 206441]

chinese examples.

yea... eastern stuff, there are a lot of... acceptance and uplifting. And more centred on self-instigated, no?

Like
Earth gods: What? You are a dog that got enlightenment? Now you are a god too! Kick ass!

In Western myth, a lot more stuff is dished out from above or stolen by mortals.

 

[NotaNuffian]

Christianity doesn't allow godhood, though it won't stop some preachers to claim godhood to abuse their members.

Nevertheless, Christians often look at those people with a mix of disdain and awkwardness.

I knew I would made some nerves twinge, maybe from the local Avatar of Avarice, but yours? I did not.

Hercules is basically this. He "cultivates" his strength and body far better than Achilles did with his blessing. Even in Christianity, you've got what I would call demi-gods in the form of all the myriad Patron Saints. Patron Saints being a step above a regular saint in that they have a particular area in which they are the top most authority before God. The process to become a saint is super involved and actually takes years to complete and (to my knowledge) isn't actually completed until after the candidate has passed.

Makes sense.

One singular main character who is born with all the goodies.

yea... eastern stuff, there are a lot of... acceptance and uplifting. And more centred on self-instigated, no?

Like
Earth gods: What? You are a dog that got enlightenment? Now you are a god too! Kick ass!

In Western myth, a lot more stuff is dished out from above or stolen by mortals.

All hail orientals randomly praying to whatever (yes I included the Shintoism in too) for me to have random idea on this random topic.

 

[Deleted member 206441]

All hail orientals randomly praying to whatever

Mountain God: Well, I died on the mountain, and I was a ghost for 50 years.... I just helped out a few guys who got lost on the mountains. Next thing you know, they build a shrine and BAM! I got divinity up the wazoo, and I became a god.

 

[NotaNuffian]

Mountain God: Well, I died on the mountain, and I was a ghost for 50 years.... I just helped out a few guys who got lost in the mountains. Next thing you know, they build a shrine and BAM! I got divinity up the wazoo, and I became a god.

Yeah.

But it is also localised.

So the OPness isn't that great.

That is, until the mountain learn how to grow legs like one in Sengoku Youko.

 

[Deleted member 206441]

Sengoku Youko

Ooofff, that was an age ago....

 

[miyoga]

Christianity doesn't allow godhood, though it won't stop some preachers to claim godhood to abuse their members.

Nevertheless, Christians often look at those people with a mix of disdain and awkwardness.

Boy do I understand that. Altar service and Sunday school really kinda hammers that in, along with some time in a religious school.

But I don't think you'd disagree with what I said about Patron Saints having a higher status than other saints.

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

But I don't think you'd disagree with what I said about Patron Saints having a higher status than other saints.

Ah, for that, I really don't know. I'm a Protestant Christian, so I'm not really that knowledgeable about saints like Orthodox and Catholics.

 

[miyoga]

Fair. I was raised Roman Catholic and ended up learning about a lot of the important ones and a few of the others. That saint-hood, though, does take literal years to complete and they can't be made saints until after they have passed.

Patron saints "oversee" a certain domain and may have some crossover with others, but it's limited crossover. For example, Isidore of Seville is the patron saint of knowledge and the internet (and the one I chose for my Confirmation name). Being the patron of the internet, he'd probably have some crossover with the patron of books and literature (for webnovels) and the one for video games (assuming there is one).

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

Fair. I was raised Roman Catholic and ended up learning about a lot of the important ones and a few of the others. That saint-hood, though, does take literal years to complete and they can't be made saints until after they have passed.

Patron saints "oversee" a certain domain and may have some crossover with others, but it's limited crossover. For example, Isidore of Seville is the patron saint of knowledge and the internet (and the one I chose for my Confirmation name). Being the patron of the internet, he'd probably have some crossover with the patron of books and literature (for webnovels) and the one for video games (assuming there is one).

Protestant dogma, or at least, mine (Evangelical) posits that all who accepted Christ as lord and savior are automatically qualified as saints. Even when alive.

So I'm the first saint with an OnlyHans Discord server.

 

[Arkus86]

With western religions, sure, Abrahamic religions are mostly out by their very nature (a single allmighty god and all that), but you have many possible choices, of which Norse/Germanic and Greek mythologies are only the more famous ones. But there were also Slavic and Celtic paganism, then notably Rome liked to integrate the different faiths of people they conquered, and along with Ancient Egypt tended to deify their rulers, so that would leave room for new deities popping up...

 

[Golden_Hyde]

I can present you Heathenry and Wicca. They're the modern neopagan religions in the 21st century.

Or you could resort in something like Hinduism, although it's something one must tread carefully.

 

[NotaNuffian]

I can present you Heathenry and Wicca. They're the modern neopagan religions in the 21st century.

Or you could resort in something like Hinduism, although it's something one must tread carefully.

Ima just use the chinese religions.

They don't seem to care so neither would I.

 

[laccoff_mawning]

, for the chinese cultivators it is like having a boss even when you transcend and you aren't a big G.

But even referring to eastern religions, don't they believe in an almighty, Shangdi?

They also have the Tiandao or "way of heaven" that's more normally present in cultivation novels, and doesn't this often restrict immortals in cultivation stories?

Not to mention, immortals can be killed by other immortals in most cultivation stories, so they never become a big G anyway.

If we wanted to make a Christian-based one, I'd guess we could either go the path of crusaders and make some sorta paladin, bishop, archpaladin, archbishop ranking, crusador, cardinal. ranking.

Or we could perhaps go angelology and do something like

angel -> archangel -> principalities -> powers -> virtues -> dominations -> thrones -> cherabim -> seraphim

as done in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierarchy_of_angels.

It's Bible mythos as opposed to actual biblical teaching, but eh.

 

[HisDivineShadow]

What about the gods of ancient Egypt?

 

[Deleted member 206441]

What about the gods of ancient Egypt?

Am I remembering wrong? or were they all sandwiches? or a god is made of 3 gods or something like that?