“God”, “Gods”, & “Angels”

Introduction

All Christians and even non-Christians are familiar with the terms “God”, “gods” and “angels”.

In our modern every day understanding, the word “God” means “a deity”, an eternally uncreated all powerful being. When referring to the word “God” as Christians we mean the Almighty being who was uncreated, “gods” are typically seen as “false gods”, such as the pagan Roman “gods”, whilst any other spirit being from Heaven that is not God are called “angels”, and we may also commonly refer to “fallen” or evil angels as “demons”, who often pose themselves to be “gods” or “deities”.

However, you may be surprised to learn that this is not the Biblical definition of these terms, nor is it how they are used in the Bible….

“God”, “gods” and “false gods”

Definition & Grammar

The term “god” in general, stems from the words “theos” (Θεός), theou” (θεοῦ), theoi (Θεοί) and “theon” (Θεὸν) in Greek, and “El” (אֵל), “Eloah” (אֱלוֹהַּ) or “Elohim” (אֱלהִים) in Hebrew, meaning “divine person”, “mighty one”, “powerful one”.

“Theos: a deity, figuratively, a magistrate. Especially when used with the definite article “Ho”: the supreme Divinity; by Hebraism, very God”. – Strong’s concordance

“Θεός is used of whatever can in any respect be likened to God, or resembles him in any way: Hebraistically, equivalent to God’s representative or vicegerent, of magistrates and judges…”. – Thayer’s Greek Lexicon

“Elohim: Divine, divine being, exceedingly, God, god, God’s, goddess, godly, gods, great, judges, mighty, rulers, shrine“. – NAS Exhaustive Concordance

“…every Hebrew knows that the term Elohim” is a homonym, and denotes God, angels, judges, and the rulers of countries“. – Maimonides and Jewish Philosophy, pt. 1, chapter II

The variations of these words have many different grammatical functions. Specifically in these terms; Accusative, Nominative, Genitive, Plural, Singular. Of the above listed words, the grammatic functions they each employ are:

• Theos = Nominative and singular
• Theon = Accusative and Singular
• Theou = Genitive
• Theoi = Plural
• El = Singular
• Eloah = Singular or Singular of a Plural
• Elohim = Plural or Singular Majestic

Accusative:

“Accusative” function means to “label” or “accuse” the object, in other words, giving it a type of “name” or “identity” via the word. For example, in a conversation about a person, someone might say; “Oh you mean Fred? Yeah, man is crazy”. This phrase was used in an “accusative way”, for “man” is being used as the title or name of the person being spoken about, as opposed to speaking about “a man” in general, or “mankind” plurally.

Nominative

“Nominative”, is the subject of a sentence or phrase. For example “tall is man”, the man is the subject of the tallness, meaning “tall is that man” or “that man is tall”. So a word written in this grammatic case is being made subject to being something that came before it. This word case can also be extremly neutral in its usage, and can mean a generalisation of something, as a noun or pronoun.

Genitive

“Genitive” is a possesive case, meaning something “belongs to it”. In modern English we simply use an Apostrophe (‘), to signify ownership. For example; “James’ house” or “Ben’s ball”. In ancient language there were no Apostrophes, and so a “Genitive” version of a word filled that function.

Singular & Plural

Singular cases are to denote that an object is just “one thing”. For example “man” is singular. But plural cases are denoting a group of things, e.g; “men”. Sometimes plural words are also thought to be used to denote the power or majesty of a singular object.

Many “Gods“

Most of the time, the word “god” refers to ‘any’ kind of spirit or celestial being that originates from the Heavenly realms. The word does not at all refer solely to God Himself who we worship by definition, in fact throughout the whole Bible, there is no single definition that means “God” or “deity” as we would refer today.

This is shown in several examples:

• “God (Elohim) also told Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘YHWH God (Elohim) of your fathers—God (Elohim) of Abraham….” – Exodus 3:15
• “You should never speak badly of your gods (elohim/theoi) or say bad things about the rulers of your people”. – Exodus 22:28
• “Get two bulls for us. Let the prophets of Baal (Lord) choose one bull for themselves, cut it into pieces, and place it on the wood but not light the fire. And I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood but not light the fire. Then you may call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of YHWH. The god (Elohim) who answers by fire, He is God (Elohim)“. – 1 Kings 18:23-24
• “And again the Israelites did evil in the sight of YHWH. They served the Baals (Lords), the Ashtoreths, the gods (Elohim) of Aram, Sidon, and Moab, and the gods (Elohim) of the Ammonites and Philistines. Thus they forsook YHWH and did not serve Him”. – Judges 10:16
• “I said, ‘You are gods (Elohim); you are all sons of the Most High”.’ – Psalm 82:6
• “A Psalm of Asaph. God (Elohim) presides in the divine assembly; He renders judgment among the gods (Elohim)“. – Psalm 82:1
• “For YHWH your God (Elohim) is God (Elohim) of gods (Elohim) and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God (El), showing no partiality and accepting no bribe”. – Deuteronomy 10:17
• “So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you, and do not let him mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god (Eloah) of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God (Elohim) deliver you from my hand!” – 2 Chronicles 32:15
• “Do not tremble or fear. Have I not told you and declared it long ago? You are My witnesses! Is there any God (Eloah) but me? There is no other Rock; I know not one.”” – Isaiah 44:8
• “He will show no regard for the gods (Elohim) of his fathers, nor for the one desired by women, nor for any other god (Eloah), because he will magnify himself above them all“. – Daniel 11:37
• “‘You are my witnesses’, declares YHWH, ‘and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe me and understand that I am He’. Before me no God (El) was formed, and after me none will come”. – Isaiah 43:10
• “Yeshua answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods’ (Theoi)?”. – John 10:34
• “The god (Theos) of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of the Anointed One, who is The God’s (Theou) image”. – 2 Corinthians 4:4
• “What agreement is there between God’s (Theou) Temple and idols? For we are the living God’s (Theou) temple. As the God (Theos) has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God (Theos), and they will be my people.” – 2 Corinthians 6:16

Because of this, the Hebrews and later the Greeks, often had to combine different words together to indicate who they were talking about, especially if they were talking about more than one “god” (spirit being) at once in a single passage.

The specific term uniquely attributed for the true God is “El Shaddai” (אֵל שַׁדַּי‎) in Hebrew, whilst in Greek it is spelled “Theos Pantokratór” (Θεός παντοκράτωρ).

“El” is god, “Shaddai” is almighty. Thefore, El-Shaddai is “god almighty”, and is the unique phrase to refer to the “One true God” we all worship, the One with no beginning and no end who created all other things (including the other “gods”). This still in itself is not a “word” but a combination of two words in order to inform which “god” they are speaking about. The same can be said for “Theos (god) Pantokratór” (Almighty).

In a similar stead, he is also uniquely called “El”-“Elyon”, which means “God”-“Most High”.

• When Abram was ninety-nine years old, YHWH appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty (El Shaddai); walk before me faithfully and be blameless”. – Genesis 17:1
• “I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty (El Shaddai), but by my name the YHWH I did not make myself known to them”. – Exodus 6:3
• “Fear YHWH, for He’s the Most High (Elyon); Yes, He’s the King of the earth!” – Psalm 47:2
• “But Abram said to the king of Sodom: ‘I swear by YHWH the Most High God (El Elyon) who made the heavens and the earth…”. – Genesis 14:22

In Greek, they also often use the terms “Ho Theos”, “Ton Theon”, and “Tou Theou” in the form of what could almost be said to be a pronoun, to contextually define or bring special attention to which “theos” or “God” they are speaking about (be this YHWH, Satan, or otherwise). A similar practice is also sometimes done in Hebrew, via the the term “Ha“.

“Ha/Ho/Ton/Tou” – “El/Elohim/Eloah/Theos/Theon/Theou” means “the” – “god” respectively. “The” being a defining pronoun in accordance to the context of a scriptural passage, to be “the” (thee) something in contrast to all other things of that category within the context of the passage of text.

These are known as “definite articles”. At times, the writers even appear use multiple forms of the these articles at once within a passage if bringing attention to more than one special being at once, in order to not confuse the native reader into thinking they are talking about the same individual.

(For example, if I said, “the god of this world” in reference to Satan by means of “Ho Theos”, and then I followed up with, “but God will save us” I might say “Ton Theon” will save us, in order to make that definitive differentiation).

• “And so we know and rely on the love The God (Ho Theos) has for us. The God (Ho Theos) is love. Whoever lives in love lives in The God (Ho Theos), and The God (Ho Theos) in them”. – 1 John 4:16
• “No one has ever yet seen God (Theon). The only begotten god (theos), the One being in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known”. – John 1:18
• “He will oppose and exalt himself above everyone called God (Theon) or object of worship. So he will seat himself in The God’s (Ho Theou) Temple, proclaiming himself to be a god (Theos)“. – 2 Thessalonians 2:4
• “The god (Ho Theos) of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is The God‘s (Tou Theou) image”. – 2 Corinthians 4:4

It should be known that often God is referred to as “el” and “theos” without any additional phrase or defining pronoun in the Bible (as shown in the examples above). This of course does not make the word by definition a term that means “God” as we use the word today, but writers would often use the general non-defining term casually when referring to God, simply because he is a “spirit” or “heavenly being”.

Throughout the ancient world, many neighbouring cultures have used these terms or variations of these terms. For example the Canaanites referred to their gods as “el”, which today has been misrepresented as a “name” of a deity, and in turn has caused some people to mistake the God of the Bible as the Canaanite “el”, purely because of using a common term of the time, culture and local.

Many Lords

Likewise, the term for “Lord” (also used for many different people or beings) in Hebrew and Aramaic, which is known by several different words; “Adonai”, “Adon”, “Adoni” and “Baal”, whilst in Greek the term used is “kyrios”.

Just as it is with God being called “el”, people have mistaken God being called “baal” in the Old Testament as to refer to the Canaanite baal, not realising they were simply using the general term of the time meaning “Lord” in their language to refer to their false god, just as much as the Israelites would call the true God “Lord”.

An example of this that most Christians know can be seen in the New Testament when Yeshua is accused of being in league with “Beelzebul” at Matthew 12:27, which comes from Hebrew “Baal-Zebub”, meaning “Lord Zebub”, a deity of the Philistines (2 Kings 1:16).

Likewise, we see several humans appropriately call “lords” in scripture also:

• “When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off the donkey… She fell at his feet and said, “My lord (adoni/kurios)…”. – 1 Samuel 25:24
• “…just as Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord (kyrios). And you are her children if you do what is right and refuse to give way to fear.” – 1 Peter 3:6

Hence, we are told, just as there are “many gods”, there are “many lords”, be they of Earth or Heaven, spirits or idols, but ‘to us’ Christians, we answer ultimately to but one God, and likewise to one Lord (1 Corinthians 8:5-6).

Biblical “Monotheism“

Thus far, we have come to an understanding that “god” in the Bible doesn’t actually mean “God” as we know it today, but actually is better described to mean a “spirit”, “celestial”, or “strong being” in general, and that YHWH is “the strongest” of “strong beings”, hence being the “Almighty God”, and the “Most High”.

This is where things can get confusing for people. Since people reason “if one is not the true God, isn’t he a false god? Isn’t that believing in polytheism? Isn’t the Bible monotheistic?”.

The answer to this is both yes and no.

Biblically, a polytheist is someone who worships or obeys more than one “god” (spirit being) without the permission of God Almighty, YHWH. “False gods” are spirit beings who either demand worship that does not belong to them, falsely represent themselves as God Almighty, or claim to be “eternal gods” or “uncreated gods” in the manner that the One Almighty God YHWH is.

This is one of the reasons Satan is called the “god of this age (or world)” at 2 Corinthians 4:4, because “god” isn’t limited to the meaning of “the supreme being”, “creator”, “deity”, or “ruler” by definition. Satan is called the god that currently rules this world because as far as ancient Hebrew thought goes, that’s exactly what he is as a “species”.

It is also why God is called “God of the gods”, and that he rules a “divine council” which consist of “gods” whom are called the “sons of God”, and likewise human rulers are sometimes called gods.

• “For YHWH your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, showing no partiality and accepting no bribe”. – Deuteronomy 10:17
• “God presides in the divine assembly; He renders judgment among the gods… I have said, ‘You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High.’.” – Psalm 82:1, 6
• “You should never speak badly of your gods (elohim/theoi) or say bad things about the rulers of your people”. – Exodus 22:28

So, when the Bible says the word “god” in any shape or form to refer to a being that is not Almighty God YHWH, it is not to be automatically assumed they are a “false god” or “false deity”, but instead, god purely means “divine mighty being”, and that Yah God is not the only being that is “divine”, because the definition of divine does not at all mean “deity”, nor does it refer to the “quality” or “substance” of a deity. “Divinity” in the Bible’s language simply means “powerful” in a general sense.

“Angels” or “gods”?

Based on what we’ve already learned, we know anything from Heaven, as well as any man on Earth who is powerful, is a “god”, whilst Yah alone is “God Almighty”, the “strongest god”. So, in that case, what is the Biblical meaning of the word “angel”?

Whilst commonly today the word angel refers to the “creature”, or the “being” that is an angel of Heaven, again many will be surprised to know that this is not what the Bible teaches.

A Role, Not A Creature

The term “angel” is an ancient word stemming from both Hebrew and Greek; “malak” and “aggelos” (respectively). According to all the language concordances and lexicons, these words mean “messenger” or “ambassador”.

In the scriptures, both men and gods (spirits of Heaven) have been called “angels” (messengers).

• “The two angels (malak) arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground”. Genesis 19:1
• “Jacob sent messengers (malak) ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom”. – Genesis 32:3
• “But after he had pondered these things, an angel (aggelos) of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to embrace Mary as your wife, for the One conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit”. – Matthew 1:20
• “As John’s disciples were leaving, Yeshua began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind? Otherwise, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? Look, those who wear fine clothing are found in kings’ palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: ‘Behold, I will send my messenger (aggelos) ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You'”. – Matthew 11:7-10

So, we can see “angel” doesn’t refer to a creature at all, but rather the ‘title’, ‘position’ or ‘activity’ of the creature. Thus, if God gave me something to say today, and I went out to inform someone else, or if He told me to carry out an action, and I went and did it, I would be acting as His representative or ambassador, and thus I would be rightly called an “angel” in Biblical terminology.

However, though the term “angel” is not the name a type of creature, spirit or god, we are indeed actually provided with unique terms which refer to specific kinds of gods (spirit creatures) besides God Almighty in Heaven; “Seraphim”, “Cherubim” and “Ophanim” (Isaiah 6, Genesis 3:24, Ezekiel 1:15–21). Meanwhile other non-biblical Jewish texts also mention other spirit types such as “Erelim”, “Hashmallim”, “Ishim” and others.

One might also bring up the “Archangel” as seen in scriptures such as Jude 1:9, but this term simply renders again a mere position, a “chief messenger” or “head ambassador”, as opposed to a “type of creature”.

When did “angel” substitute “god”?

So the big question which may be on the mind; “when and why did the word “god(s)” become substituted with the word “angel”?

Well there are a couple of reasons. One is natural evolution of language. In that, when reading the Bible over time, and translating certain words into different languages, the original intent and meaning can become lost, and take upon its very own unique meaning.

For example, because the word “angel” meaning messenger is so often used to refer to messengers from Heaven, that word in itself through society would eventually come to commonly mean “Heavenly messenger”, and thus the term, though also referring to human messengers also in the Bible, purely because it’s more often used to refer to these divine beings from above, becomes a term all in itself to mean “Heavenly being”, which in turn results in the multi-definition of words and translations of those words both in order for the modern reader of the time to grasp what is on the written page.

Another reason could be that one may claim the Bible itself uses the terms “angels and gods” interchangeably, for example we see in these few verses where they are referred to in a non-messenger context it would seem:

• “Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels (aggelos) fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back”. – Revelation 12:7
• “For to which of the angels (aggelos) did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father”? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son?”. – Hebrews 1:5
• “Hallelujah! Praise YHWH from the heavens; praise Him in the highest places. Praise Him, all His angels (malak); praise Him, all His heavenly hosts”. – Psalm 148:1-2

However, the above reason may not be so clean cut and dry… There are in fact possibly far more deeper reasons over why the word “angels” came to replace the word “gods”. I came to such knowledge recently (in the time of writing this article) when I discovered a debate over what some consider a translation error of Psalm 8:5 and Hebrews 2:7:

• “What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him? You made him a little lower than the gods/God(?) (Elohim); You crowned him with glory and honor”. – Psalm 8:4-5
• “You made them a little lower than the angels/messengers (aggelos); you crowned them with glory and honor” – Hebrews 2:7

As we can see here, the book of Hebrews quotes the book of Psalms. However, there is a glaring difference in the words being used when it comes to “angels” versus “gods”.

If going by the Hebrew Masoretic texts of Psalm 8, by rights, Hebrews 2:7 should say “you made them a little lower than god/gods (theos)”, not “aggelos”. Many Bibles in English will translate the word “Elohim” in this single instance in Psalm 8 to say “angels”, not because elohim means angel, but merely to match the text in the book of Hebrews… but then we have to ask; “why does the book of Hebrews mistranslate the quote from Psalm?”.

The answer lies in the 3rd century B.C Bible manuscripts.

Before the world had access to some of the oldest Old Testament scrolls to date (the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in the 1940s and onward) the main sources for translation were the Greek copies of the Old Testament (known as the Septuagint) which were written roughly 300 years before Yeshua came to Earth.

In the 3rd century B.C Greek Septuagint, Psalm 8:5 was translated as “you made him a little lower than angels (aggelos)“. Upon this, Bibles for centuries then wrote the quote of this verse contained New Testament at Hebrews 2:7 in the same manner.

It’s unknown to me why these “errors” or changes made it into the Old Testament Greek texts, and in the later New Testament texts. One suggested reason by some, however, is that when the Hebrews translated their scriptures into Greek, they may not have wanted to confuse their native Gentile Greek readers into thinking they were polytheistic like they were – and hence, changed the term “gods” to “angels” (messengers) to ensure to better translate their cultural theology.

For the most part, the Greek Septuagint is however, typically more accurate and trustworthy than the later Hebrew Masoretic Texts, finding far more common ground with the Dead Sea Scrolls and Samaritan Pentateuch.

However, because we do have direct evidence of mistranslation from the original Hebrew, we do have precedence to believe that every single instance where the New Testament Bible speaks of “angels” in a non-messenger or non-ambassador context, but merely as “creatures”, should be translated to the word “gods” (theos) by ancient Judaic standards.

But what about other verses in the Old Testament texts, you may wonder? Are there not passages where the Hebrew also uses the terms “angel” and “gods” interchangeably? Let’s take a closer look at this…

There is only one instance where “angels” (malak) is seemingly used this way in the Hebrew Tanakh, and that’s at Psalm 148:1-2:

• Hallelujah! Praise YHWH from the heavens; praise Him in the highest places. Praise Him, all His angels (malak); praise Him, all His heavenly hosts” – Psalm 148:1-2

In this verse all of God’s creations are being praised, the following verses mention the sun, moon, stars, the Earth, etc. In this starting verse, the “malak” the messengers are told to praise God… but not only them, also “his Heavenly hosts”. Now why is there a distinction here? What are the “Heavenly hosts”?

According to the Hebrew, this word comes from the term “tsaba” which usually means “armies”. So we are being told that there are “heavenly armies” and “heavenly messengers”. For if the term “all his angels” referred to… well, “all his angels”, then that would ‘include’ the Heavenly hosts wouldn’t it? Now one might argue that it was a poetic repetition or parallel, however this is not the pattern seen in the rest of the text, as everything else is referenced in a singular yet “related” manner, for example;

• “…the sun and moon, stars of the heavens… highest heavens and waters above the heavens, young men and virgins, old men and children“.

Therefore, one can assume then that this is referring to the “relative roles” of the spirit beings compared next to each other just as the “sun and moon” are, the distinct roles of the “gods” of Heaven, and not what they ‘are’ as creatures. This would be consistent with both the language and pattern of this passage as a whole.

From this assertion, all verses in the New Testament that mention angels in non-messenger or ambassador roles can be understood to be “theos”, “gods”.

For example, Revelation 12:7 could either most likely render; “Michael and his gods battled the Dragon and his gods“, or, “Michael and his hosts battled the Dragon and his hosts“, since in this context they are military armies, not mere messengers or ambassadors.

Sons of God

Another phrase of these spirits or gods of Heaven are also the “sons of God”. Especially so in the Hebrew versions (such as the Dead Sea Scrolls and later Masoretic).

We see this unambiguously in several places, such as the passages of Job which speak of them witnessing God’s creative works of the universe, as well as the positions of highly esteemed sons of God of the Divine Council, and again when one of God’s sons are standing amongst the three punished Hebrews in the fire:

• “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before YHWH, and the Opposer also came among them”. – Job 1:6 (Hebrew Versions)
• “…when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” – Job 38:7 (Hebrew Versions)
• “God presides in the divine assembly; He renders judgment among the gods… I have said, ‘You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High. Nevertheless, like men you shall die,.” – Psalm 82:1, 6-7
• “I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods“. – Daniel 3:25

Throughout scripture the phrase “son of God” has been applied to the Israelites, God’s adopted children of the New Covenant through the Gospel of Yeshua (Jesus), and of course, of the Lord Yeshua himself, as God’s “Only-Begotten” or “Unique” Son.

This term also being applied to the spirits of Heaven gives us insight to the divine status of what it means to be in God’s family, whether in flesh or in spirit.

Morning Stars

There is another term in scripture many people are not nearly as familiar with, which is also used to refer to spirit creatures in scripture, but interestingly, never God Almighty. It is the phrase “morning star”. This poetic description of spirits expresses the idea of spiritual beings being “bright” or “powerful”.

We see more than once, that all the “sons of God” are all referred to collectively as “morning stars”:

• “…when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” – Job 38:7
• “How you are fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart: ‘I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God‘”.- Isaiah 14:12
• “I, Yeshua…. am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” – Revelation 22:16

In fact because of this, the translators of certain Bibles, such as the King James Version, may have dishonestly rendered these phrases differently, to cover up the fact that both Satan, the sons of God, and Yeshua, are all called this phrase, most likely because it doesn’t jive too well with their theology. Thus giving Satan the term “Lucifer” to disguise that this ancient phrase is also used to refer to Yeshua and other spirit sons of God (though it is interesting they have not attempted to do this with Job 38:7).

• “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star“. – Revelation 22:16 (NKJV)
• “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!” – Isaiah 14:12 (NKJV)
  

Conclusion

So, coming to the finale. We are to understand that there is nothing really “wrong” with our modern terminologies, as they essentially are giving pretty much the same meaning. God is the Almighty, and angels are all the creatures who are not God.

However, looking into the Bible’s original definitions and meanings, this modern outlook, whilst isn’t “bad”, I would say lacks the original ‘nuance’.

Another problem it creates is that it also makes bumps in the road for people who are like myself in that they support Arianism (non-trinitarianism), for some of the most common arguments include fallacious and ignorant phrases like;

“If Yeshua is not God he is a false God“, and that “only God is divine so you are denying the divinity of Yeshua”…

When in actuality… the Bible teaches the very opposite of that, and in fact teaches that all Heavenly beings are “divine” and are to be called “gods” individually.

It’s a simple matter of the fact that “polytheism” is not believing in “more than one god”, at least in the Biblical definition, but is either ‘worshipping’ more than one god without the Almighty God’s permission, believing in other “uncreated” gods, or viewing the created gods as being equal to the uncreated Almighty God is what ‘real’ Biblical polytheism is.

To make the matter simple, comparatively to our modern terms, the Bible teaches:

God = The Almighty uncreated god
Angel = A created god, a morning star, often acting as a messenger
Demon = A fallen or evil created god
False God = A created god being wrongly worshipped or wrongly acts as an uncreated God