Can There be Multiple gods?
Surprising Quranic reasoning on the impossibility of a pantheon of deities
Winter was everywhere, never ending, bringing the end of humanity with it.
At least for the Greeks.
After Hades, the god of the Underworld, abducted Persephone to take her as a bride, her mother, Demeter, goddess of the Harvest, was filled with rage.
The seasons then halted; the earth became barren. Winter would not cease, and soon enough it felt like all living beings were destined to die.
And for a while, no one, not even the gods of Olympus, could change Demeter’s mind.
Eventually, Zeus had to mediate between the gods to prevent the extinction of all life on Earth.
The Greeks, as you may know, subscribed to a polytheistic belief built around a Pantheon of 12 major gods, but also believed in minor gods, demigods, divine heroes and other beings that orchestrated how the world operated.
There are many religions that subscribe to the idea of a plurality of gods, including the one the original recipients of the Quran adhered to, the tribe of Quraysh.
So how does the Quran address polytheism as a belief?
A person familiar with the Quran would know that many verses communicate directly with polytheists.
In this edition of The Green Pill, we are going to explore a verse in particular that lays out the logical implications of polytheism as a thought exercise:
“لَوْ كَانَ فِيهِمَا آلِهَةٌ إِلَّا اللَّهُ لَفَسَدَتَا”
Translation: Had there been any gods in the heavens and the earth apart from Allah, the order of both the heavens and the earth would have gone to ruins. [21:22]
The main assumption thus being, if there were multiple gods, then the Heavens and the Earth would end up in Chaos.
How so?
Let’s imagine that there are two gods, equal in power, omnipotent, independent and sovereign in being and thought.
What would happen if they disagreed?
Both of their wills cannot take place at the same time, since it is a logical impossibility for two opposite decisions to happen concurrently.
Thus conflict must arise between them, with each trying to force his will on the other, and at some point, the harmony and order of the Universe must break to reflect such a conflict, which ultimately leads to chaos.
The argument then becomes: Since the harmony of the Universe is still intact today, and order is maintained, it is logically impossible, according to this line of thought, for there to be a multitude of gods.
Let’s explore this in detail, as multiple scenarios arise from a disagreement between gods.
To do this, let’s illustrate it with a basic example:
What if one god willed a person to die, and the other wanted to keep him alive?
Both of their wills prevail:
Which is an impossible scenario, since it requires the existence of contraries.In our case for example, one person cannot be alive or dead simultaneously, unless the Natural Order breaks apart.
Another very simple example: If a car has two drivers with two steering wheels, and one wants to go left and the other right, what direction would the car go into?
One will prevails over the other:
Then the one whose will prevailed is a true god, and the one who couldn’t implement his will is not.So if the person remains alive, then the god who wanted him to live is the true god, and if the person dies, then the god who wanted him dead is the true god.
None of their wills prevails:
Then both of them are not really gods: They are not omnipotent and all-powerful, and chaos will run within the Universe as both try to fight each other for dominion.
Well what if there are two gods, but they never disagreed?
That is a logical impossibility.
Two independent beings, as aligned as they are, must disagree at some point, and the impact of their disagreement will be felt in the world, as explained above.
More importantly, their disagreement will be destructive in nature, and not creative.
If they never disagree, ever, at any point in time, then are they really two independent beings?
What about events like storms or earthquakes, wouldn’t this qualify as a break in the Natural Order?
No.
Although they are violent and seemingly abrupt as events, they are part and parcel of the way the Universe works, inherent to the Natural Order and regulated by the rules set in it.
Part of how the crust of the Earth works includes earthquakes. Part of how the weather operates includes thunderstorms.
For a break to truly happen in the Universe, we must see something like in the example of Demeter above: A phenomenon that completely breaks with how the Cosmos works today.
And that is something people already knew, even in ancient times.
Polytheistic mythology across cultures is rife with stories of conflicts between the gods, whose impact is cruelly felt by Humanity, and that breaks at the harmony of the World.
We see this in many instances of Greek mythology, in the conflict between Seth and Horus for power in Egyptian mythology, in the battles between the Jade Emperor and demons and evil spirits in Chinese mythology, to only name a few.
What if there are two gods, but they divide the Universe amongst each other and rule separately?
Then each part of the world would function with a different set of laws and rules compared to the other parts.
Since we know there is one consistent set of natural laws that govern the entire Cosmos, then there cannot be a multitude of gods.
The argument then concludes:
For life to flourish on Earth, for the Universe to remain balanced and in order, then it can only be when Harmony is maintained, and this Harmony can only exist if the Universe is manifested by a single Being.
The fact that the world functions perfectly with a unified set of rules, that binds and forces proportion and harmony onto all entities is a direct indication that a single Being is its Originator, or else it would break, with different beings fighting for power and influence.
To re-iterate the verse:
“لَوْ كَانَ فِيهِمَا آلِهَةٌ إِلَّا اللَّهُ لَفَسَدَتَا”
Translation: Had there been any gods in the heavens and the earth apart from Allah, the order of both the heavens and the earth would have gone to ruins. [21:22]
In short, there cannot be a House with two Masters.
Be well,
Majd
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Sources
Al Aqeeda al Tahawiya, Commentary by Ibn Abi Al-Izz
Notes from Majd
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