Two or more gods

Grand Archdruid John Michael Greer is a self-professed history geek. Falling somewhere between carrying out impeccable research and possessing an encyclopedia knowledge of world history, Greer includes countless historical examples to infer parallels with the present in his blog, The Archdruid Report. But if Greer is so smart and knows so much history, why is he a polytheist?

Growing up, what I learned about polytheism is what I think most of us Westerners learn about it: A long time ago most people were polytheists, but eventually they grew up and became monotheists or atheists. How then can someone both intelligent and knowledgeable choose to believe in multiple gods? Where have they been since Plato and Epicurus?

As part of my ongoing effort to learn about topics I know little or nothing about, I've begun reading Greer's book, A World Full of Gods: An Inquiry into Polytheism. As I expected, it's no wishy-washy, touchy-feely account of polytheism; it's a hard, logical case for the existence of multiple gods. To correct a lesson I learned long ago: Polytheism is grown up, or at least as grown up as any of the religions I know—including my own.

Though I'm not yet halfway through the book, it has inspired me with today's post. But firstly, I apologize to those who think it's distasteful to discuss religion in mixed company. And secondly, I'll state my bias: I'm an atheist. I've been an atheist most of my life, from the moment I was born, with only some teenage experimentation as the exception. And now, with my disclosure over (along with any chance of me ever being elected to public office), here's something I've learned about polytheism.

In general, the core difference between a polytheist and a monotheist is that the polytheist draws his theology from religious experience while the monotheist judges religious experience using his theology. Which you rank as more fundamental—theology or religious experience—dictates how many gods you believe in. As Greer writes, “religious experience is inherently polytheistic” because different people experience different gods. If you take everyone's religious experiences at face value then you must be polytheist. Therefore, those of us who are either monotheist or atheist do not take all religious experiences at face value. We rank something else more fundamental than religious experience alone.