Difference between revisions of "God"

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{{quote | text={{Bible verse|Genesis|1|1|lang=WEB}}   [[Genesis 1:1]]}}
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{{Infobox_Contents |  
 
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   topic_name = God |
{{Infobox Greek deity|
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  subtopics = [[Character of God]] - [[God is the creator]], [[God is love]], [[God is holy]], [[God is forgiving]]
| Image  = Statue of Zeus.jpg
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* [[Trinity]] - [[God the Father]], [[Jesus Christ]], [[Holy Spirit]]
| Caption = The [[Statue of Zeus at Olympia|Statue of Zeus]] at [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]]<br/>[[Phidias]] created the 12&nbsp;m (40&nbsp;ft) tall [[statue]] of '''''Zeus''''' at Olympia about [[435 BC]]. The statue was perhaps the most famous [[sculpture]] in [[Ancient Greece]], imagined here in a [[16th century]] [[engraving]]
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* [[Names of God]] |
| Name    = Zeus 
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   opinion_pieces = {{short_opinions}}
| God_of  = '''King of the gods''' <br/>'''God of the Sky and Thunder'''
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* {{ebd}}
| Abode   = [[Mount Olympus]]  
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* Sermon: [[Luke 15 - What is God like? (G.G.)]]
| Symbol  = [[Thunderbolt]], [[Eagle]], [[Bull]] and [[Oak]] 
 
| Consort = [[Hera]]    
 
| Parents = [[Cronus]] and [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]]
 
| Siblings = [[Poseidon]], [[Hades]], [[Demeter]], [[Hestia]], [[Hera]]
 
| Children = [[Ares]], [[Athena]], [[Apollo]], [[Artemis]], [[Aphrodite]], [[Dionysus]], [[Hebe (mythology)|Hebe]], [[Hermes]], [[Heracles]], [[Helen]], [[Hephaestus]], [[Perseus]], [[Minos]], the [[Muse]]s
 
| Mount   =  
 
| Roman_equivalent = [[Jupiter]]
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
'''Zeus''' ({{IPAEng|zjuːs}}; in [[Greek language|Greek]]: [[nominative case|nominative]]: {{Polytonic|Ζεύς}} ''Zeús'' {{IPA|/zdeús/}}, [[genitive case|genitive]]: {{Polytonic|Διός}} ''Diós''; Modern Greek /'zefs/) in [[Greek mythology]] is the [[king of the gods]], the ruler of [[Mount Olympus (Mountain)|Mount Olympus]] and the god of the [[sky father|sky]] and [[List of thunder gods|thunder]]. His symbols are the [[thunderbolt]], [[eagle]], [[bull (mythology)|bull]], and [[oak]]. In addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical "cloud-gatherer" also derives certain iconographic traits from the cultures of the [[ancient Near East]], such as the [[scepter]].  Zeus is frequently depicted by Greek artists in one of two poses: standing, striding forward, with a thunderbolt leveled in his raised right hand, or seated in majesty.
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God is the central being of all existence. He is eternal in that he has no beginning and no end. In the [[Genesis 1|first chapter of the first book]] of [[Bible]] an account is given of God creating the universe and the earth and creating people in his own image. The Bible also reveals that God is full of [[God is forgiving|mercy]] and [[God is love|love]] (for example [[1 John 4:8]]. Millions of people in the world trust in God as their master and Lord and also their saviour. He is a personal being, who is three in one - [[God the Father|Father]], [[Jesus Christ|Son]] and [[Holy Spirit]]. the Bible also reveals that God stands ready to come into any person's life when that person acknowledges him and repents of having not lived his way - this is when a person is [[born again]].
 
 
Zeus was the child of [[Cronus]] and [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]], and the youngest of his siblings. In most traditions he was married to [[Hera]], although, at the oracle of [[Dodona]], his consort was [[Dione (mythology)|Dione]]: according to the ''[[Iliad]]'', he is the father of [[Aphrodite]] by Dione. He is known for his erotic escapades. These resulted in many godly and heroic offspring, including [[Athena]], [[Apollo]] and [[Artemis]], [[Hermes]], [[Persephone]] (by [[Demeter]]), [[Dionysus]], [[Perseus]], [[Heracles]], [[Helen]], [[Minos]], and the [[Muse]]s (by [[Mnemosyne]]); by Hera, he is usually said to have fathered [[Ares]], [[Hebe (mythology)|Hebe]] and [[Hephaestus]].
 
 
 
His [[Roman mythology|Roman]] counterpart was [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] and his [[Etruscan mythology|Etruscan]] counterpart [[Tinia]]. In [[Hindu|Hindu mythology]] his counterpart was [[Indra]] with ever common weapon as [[thunderbolt]].
 
 
 
==Cult of Zeus==
 
===Panhellenic cults of Zeus===
 
The major center where all Greeks converged to pay honor to their chief god was [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]]. Their quadrennial [[festival]] featured the famous Games. There was also an altar to Zeus made not of stone, but of ash, from the accumulated remains of many centuries' worth of animals sacrificed there.
 
 
 
Outside of the major inter-[[polis]] sanctuaries, there were no modes of worshipping Zeus precisely shared across the Greek world. Most of the titles listed below, for instance, could be found at any number of [[Greek temple]]s from [[Asia Minor]] to [[Sicily]]. Certain modes of ritual were held in common as well: sacrificing a white animal over a raised altar, for instance.
 
 
 
[[Image:Statue of Zeus dsc02611-.jpg|thumb|300px|Colossal seated [[Dagon|Marnas]] from [[Gaza]] portrayed in the style of Zeus.
 
Marnas<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06399c.htm Catholic Encyclopedia > Gaza] ; [http://www.plekos.uni-muenchen.de/2004/rhahn.html Johannes Hahn: Gewalt und religiöser Konflikt] ; [http://philologos.org/__eb-thlatb/chap08.htm#mosue The Holy Land and the Bible]</ref> was the chief divinity of Gaza. Roman period [[Istanbul Archaeology Museum]])]]
 
[[Image:Bust of Zeus.jpg|thumb|right|Bust of Zeus in the [[British Museum]]]]
 
 
 
===History===
 
Zeus, poetically referred to by the [[vocative]] ''Zeu pater'' ("O, father Zeus"), is a continuation of *[[Dyeus|{{PIE|Di̯ēus}}]], the [[Proto-Indo-European religion|Proto-Indo-European]] god of the daytime sky, also called *{{PIE|Dyeus ph<sub>2</sub>tēr}} ("Sky Father").<ref name="Zeus">{{cite web| url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/25/Z0012500.html| title=American Heritage® Dictionary: Zeus| accessdate=2006-07-03}}</ref> The god is known under this name in [[Rig-Veda|Sanskrit]] (cf. ''[[Dyaus Pita|Dyaus/Dyaus Pita]]''), [[Latin]] (cf. ''[[Jupiter (god)|Jupiter]]'', from ''Iuppiter'', deriving from the [[PIE]] vocative *{{PIE|dyeu-ph<sub>2</sub>tēr}}<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Jupiter| title=Online Etymology Dictionary: Jupiter| accessdate=2006-07-03}}</ref>), deriving from the basic form *''dyeu''- ("to shine", and in its many derivatives, "sky, heaven, god").<ref name="Zeus">{{cite web| url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/25/Z0012500.html| title=American Heritage® Dictionary: Zeus| accessdate=2006-07-03}}</ref> And in [[Germanic mythology|Germanic]] and [[Norse mythology]] (cf. *''[[tiwaz|Tīwaz]]'' > [[Old High German language|OHG]] ''Ziu'', [[Old Norse|ON]] ''[[Tyr|Týr]]''), together with Latin ''deus'', ''dīvus'' and ''Dis''(a variation of ''dīves''<ref name="Dyeus">{{cite web| url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE117.html| title=American Heritage® Dictionary: dyeu| accessdate=2006-07-03}}</ref>), from the related noun *''deiwos''.<ref name="Dyeus">{{cite web| url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE117.html| title=American Heritage® Dictionary: dyeu| accessdate=2006-07-03}}</ref> To the Greeks and Romans, the god of the sky was also the supreme god, whereas this function was filled out by [[Odin]] among the [[Germanic tribes]]. Accordingly, they did not identify Zeus/Jupiter with either Tyr or Odin, but with [[Thor]] ({{Unicode|Þórr}}). Zeus is the only deity in the Olympic pantheon whose name has such a transparent Indo-European etymology.<ref>{{cite book|last=Burkert|title=Greek Religion| year=1985| pages= 321}}</ref>
 
 
 
===Role and epithets===
 
Zeus played a  dominant role, presiding over the [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] Olympian pantheon. He fathered many of the heroes <!--"and heroines" was sweetly motivated, but can we name even one sired by Zeus?--> and was featured in many of their [[Cult (religion)|local cults]]. Though the Homeric "cloud collector" was the god of the sky and thunder like his Near-Eastern counterparts, he was also the supreme cultural artifact; in some senses, he was the embodiment of Greek [[religion|religious]] beliefs and the [[archetype|archetypal]] Greek deity.
 
 
 
Aside from local epithets that simply designated the Zeus to doing something random at some particular place, the [[epithet]]s or titles applied to Zeus emphasized different aspects of his wide-ranging authority: 
 
*'''Zeus Olympios''' emphasized Zeus's kingship over both the gods in addition to his specific presence at the Panhellenic festival at [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]]. 
 
* A related title was '''Zeus Panhellenios''' ('Zeus of all the Hellenes'), to whom [[Aeacus]]' famous temple on [[Aegina]] was dedicated. 
 
*As '''Zeus Xenios''', Zeus was the patron of hospitality and guests, ready to avenge any wrong done to a stranger. 
 
*As '''Zeus Horkios''', he was the keeper of oaths. Exposed liars were made to dedicate a [[sculpture|statue]] to Zeus, often at the sanctuary of Olympia. 
 
*As '''Zeus [[Agoraeus]]''', Zeus watched over business at the [[agora]] and punished dishonest traders.
 
*As '''Zeus Aegiduchos''' or '''Aegiochos''' he was the bearer of the [[Aegis]] with which he strikes terror into the impious and his enemies.<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' i. 202, ii. 157, 375, &c.</ref><ref>[[Pindar]], ''Isthmian Odes'' iv. 99</ref><ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Poetical Astronomy'' ii. 13</ref>  Others derive this epithet from {{polytonic|αίξ}} ("goat") and {{polytonic|οχή}} and take it as an allusion to the legend of Zeus' suckling at the breast of [[Amalthea (mythology)|Amalthea]].<ref>Spanh. ''ad Callim. hymn. in Jov'', 49</ref><ref>{{Citation
 
  | last = Schmitz
 
  | first = Leonhard
 
  | author-link =
 
  | contribution = Aegiduchos
 
  | editor-last = Smith
 
  | editor-first = William
 
  | title = [[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]
 
  | volume = 1
 
  | pages = 26
 
  | publisher =
 
  | place = Boston
 
  | year = 1867
 
  | contribution-url = http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0035.html }}</ref>
 
*As '''Zeus Meilichios''', "Easy-to-be-entreated", he subsumed an archaic chthonic ''[[daimon]]'' propitiated in Athens, [[Meilichios]].
 
 
 
===Some local Zeus-cults===
 
 
 
In addition to the Panhellenic titles and conceptions listed above, local cults maintained their own idiosyncratic ideas about the king of gods and men.  With the epithet '''Zeus Aetnaeus''' he was worshiped on [[Mount Etna|Mount Aetna]], where there was a statue of him, and a local festival called the Aetnaea in his honor.<ref>Schol. ''ad Pind. Ol.'' vi. 162</ref>  Other examples are listed below.
 
*As '''Zeus Aeneius''' or '''Aenesius''', he was worshiped in the island of [[Kefalonia|Cephalenia]], where he had a temple on [[Mount Ainos|Mount Aenos]].<ref>Hes. ''ap. Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod.'' ii. 297</ref>
 
*As '''[[Agamemnon (Zeus)|Zeus Agamemnon]]''' he was worshipped at [[Sparta]].
 
 
 
====Cretan Zeus====
 
 
 
On [[Crete]], Zeus was worshipped at a number of caves at [[Knossos]], [[Ida]] and [[Palaikastro]]. The stories of [[Minos]] and [[Epimenides]] suggest that these caves were once used for [[Incubation (ritual)|incubatory]] divination by kings and priests. The dramatic setting of [[Plato]]'s ''Laws'' is along the pilgrimage-route to one such site, emphasizing archaic Cretan knowledge. On Crete, Zeus was represented in art as a long-haired youth rather than a mature adult, and hymned as ''ho megas kouros'' "the great youth". With the [[Kouretes]], a band of ecstatic armed dancers, he presided over the rigorous military-athletic training and secret rites of the Cretan ''[[paideia]]''.
 
 
 
The Hellenistic writer [[Euhemerus]] apparently proposed a theory that Zeus had actually been a great king of [[Crete]] and that posthumously his glory had slowly turned him into a deity. The works of Euhemerus himself have not survived, but Christian patristic writers took up the suggestion with enthusiasm.
 
 
 
====Zeus Lykaios in Arcadia====
 
{{details|Lykaia}}
 
The epithet ''Lykaios'' ("wolf-Zeus") is assumed by Zeus only in connection with the archaic festival of the [[Lykaia]] on the slopes of [[Lycaeus|Mount Lykaion]] ("Wolf Mountain"), the tallest peak in rustic [[Arcadia]]; Zeus had only a formal connection<ref>In the founding myth of [[Lycaon (mythology)|Lycaon]]'s banquet for the gods that included the flesh of a human sacrifice, perhaps one of his sons, [[Nyctimus]] or [[Arcas]]Zeus overturned the table and struck the house of Lyceus with a thunderbolt; his patronage at the Lykaia can have been little more than a formula.</ref> with the rituals and myths of this primitive [[rite of passage]] with an ancient threat of [[cannibalism]] and the possibility of a [[werewolf]] transformation for the [[ephebe]]s who were the participants.<ref>A morphological  connection to ''lyke'' "brightness" may be merely fortuitous.</ref> Near the ancient ash-heap where the sacrifices took place<ref>Modern archaeologists have found no trace of human remains among the sacrificial detritus, [[Walter Burkert]], "Lykaia and Lykaion", ''Homo Necans'', tr. by Peter Bing (University of California) 1983, p. 90.</ref> was a forbidden precinct in which, allegedly, no shadows were ever cast.<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] 8.38.</ref>  According to [[Plato]] (''Republic'' 565d-e), a particular clan would gather on the mountain to make a sacrifice every nine years to Zeus Lykaios, and a single morsel of human entrails would be intermingled with the animal's. Whoever ate the human flesh was said to turn into a wolf, and could only regain human form if he did not eat again of human flesh until the next nine-year cycle had ended. There were games associated with the Lykaia, removed in the fourth century to the first urbanization of Arcadia, [[Megalopolis, Greece|Megalopolis]]; there the major temple was dedicated to Zeus Lykaios.
 
 
 
Apollo, too had an archaic wolf-form, ''Apollo Lycaeus'', worshipped in Athens at the Lykeion, or [[Lyceum]], which was made memorable as the site where [[Aristotle]] walked and taught.
 
 
 
====Subterranean Zeus====
 
 
 
Although etymology indicates that Zeus was originally a sky god, many Greek cities honored a local Zeus who lived underground. Athenians and Sicilians honored Zeus ''Meilichios'' ("kindly" or "honeyed") while other cities had Zeus ''Chthonios'' ("earthy"), ''Katachthonios'' ("under-the-earth) and ''Plousios'' ("wealth-bringing"). These deities might be represented as snakes or in human form in visual art, or, for emphasis as both together in one image. They also received offerings of black animal victims sacrificed into sunken pits, as did [[chthonic]] deities like [[Persephone]] and [[Demeter]], and also the [[hero]]es at their tombs. Olympian gods, by contrast, usually received white victims sacrificed upon raised altars.
 
 
 
In some cases, cities were not entirely sure whether the ''daimon'' to whom they sacrificed was a hero or an underground Zeus. Thus the shrine at Lebadaea in [[Boeotia]] might belong to the hero [[Trophonius]] or to Zeus ''Trephonius'' ("the nurturing"), depending on whether you believe [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], or [[Strabo]]. The hero [[Amphiaraus]] was honored as ''Zeus Amphiaraus'' at Oropus outside of [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]], and the Spartans even had a shrine to ''Zeus [[Agamemnon]]''.
 
 
 
===Oracles of Zeus===
 
Although most oracle sites were usually dedicated to [[Apollo]], the [[hero]]es, or various [[goddess]]es like [[Themis]], a few oracular sites were dedicated to Zeus.
 
 
 
====The Oracle at Dodona====
 
The cult of Zeus at [[Dodona]] in [[Epirus (region)|Epirus]], where there is evidence of religious activity from the second millennium BC onward, centered around a sacred oak. When the [[Odyssey]] was composed (circa [[750s BC|750 BC]]), divination was done there by barefoot priests called ''Selloi'', who lay on the ground and observed the rustling of the leaves and branches (''Odyssey'' 14.326-7).  By the time [[Herodotus]] wrote about Dodona, female priestesses called [[peleiades]] ("doves") had replaced the male priests.
 
  
Zeus' consort at Dodona was not [[Hera]], but the goddess [[Dione (mythology)|Dione]] &mdash; whose name is a feminine form of "Zeus". Her status as a [[Titan (mythology)|titaness]] suggests to some that she may have been a more powerful pre-Hellenic deity, and perhaps the original occupant of the oracle.
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===[[Character of God]]===
  
====The Oracle at Siwa====
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Although the mere existence of God can be deduced by natural reason his nature is beyond our understanding. He gives life to all and he is the author of love and forgiveness. [[John 1:4]] describes this beautifully:
The oracle of [[Amun|Ammon]] at the [[Siwa Oasis|oasis of Siwa]] in the Western Desert of [[Egypt]] did not lie within the bounds of the Greek world before [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]]'s day, but it already loomed large in the Greek mind during the archaic era: [[Herodotus]] mentions consultations with Zeus Ammon in his account of the [[Greco-Persian Wars|Persian War]]. Zeus Ammon was especially favored at [[Sparta]], where a temple to him existed by the time of the [[Peloponnesian War]]<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] 3.18.</ref>
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: ''{{Bible verse|John|1|4|lang=WEB}}''
  
After Alexander made a trek into the desert to consult the oracle at Siwa, the figure arose of a [[Libyan Sibyl]].
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God is also completely holy and without any evil.  
  
===Zeus and foreign gods===
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===[[Trinity]]===
Zeus was equivalent to the [[Roman mythology|Roman]] god [[Jupiter (god)|Jupiter]] and associated in the syncretic classical imagination (see ''[[interpretatio graeca]]'') with various other deities, such as the [[Egyptian mythology|Egyptian]] [[Amun|Ammon]] and the [[Etruscan mythology|Etruscan]] [[Tinia]]. He (along with [[Dionysus]]) absorbed the role of the chief [[Phrygia]]n god [[Sabazios]] in the [[Syncretism|syncretic]] deity known in Rome as [[Sabazius]].
 
  
==Zeus in myth==
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The Trinity is the Christian [[doctrine]] (or teaching) that describes the three-in-one (triune) nature of God. Although impossible to fully grasp, the Bible reveals that God is there is one and only one God, and also that the [[God the Father|Father]] is God, and yet [[Jesus]] the Son is God, and also the [[Holy Spirit]] is God. That is, there is one God who eternally exists in three distinct persons.
[[Image:The Chariot of Zeus - Project Gutenberg eText 14994.png|thumbnail|250px|right|The Chariot of Zeus, from an 1879 ''Stories from the Greek Tragedians'' by Alfred Church]]
 
  
===Birth===
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{{stub}}
[[Cronus]] sired several children by [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]]: [[Hestia]], [[Demeter]], [[Hera]], [[Hades]], and [[Poseidon]], but swallowed them all as soon as they were born, since he had learned from [[Gaia]] and [[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]] that he was destined to be overcome by his own son as he had overthrown his own father— an oracle that Zeus was to hear and avert. But when Zeus was about to be born, Rhea sought Gaia to devise a plan to save him, so that Cronus would get his retribution for his acts against Uranus and his own children.  Rhea gave birth to Zeus in Crete, handing Cronus a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes, which he promptly swallowed.
 
  
===Infancy===
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==Quotes==
Rhea hid Zeus in a cave on [[Mount Ida]] in Crete.  According to varying versions of the story:
 
# He was then raised by [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]].
 
# He was raised by a [[goat]] named [[Amalthea (mythology)|Amalthea]], while a company of [[Kouretes]]&mdash; soldiers, or smaller gods&mdash; danced, shouted and clashed their spears against their shields so that Cronus would not hear the baby's cry. (See [[cornucopia]].)
 
# He was raised by a [[nymph]] named [[Adamanthea]]. Since Cronus ruled over the [[Earth]], the [[heaven]]s and the [[sea]], she hid him by dangling him on a [[rope]] from a [[tree]] so he was suspended between earth, sea and sky and thus, invisible to his father.
 
# He was raised by a [[nymph]] named [[Cynosura]]. In gratitude, Zeus [[Catasterismi|placed her among the stars]].
 
# He was raised by [[Melissa]], who  nursed him with [[goat]]'s-milk and honey.
 
# He was raised by a shepherd family under the promise that their sheep would be saved from wolves.
 
  
===Zeus becomes king of the gods===
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Sri Aurobindo, in ''Thoughts and Aphorisms''
After reaching manhood, Zeus forced Cronus to disgorge first the stone (which was set down at [[Pytho]] under the glens of [[Parnassus]] to be a sign to mortal men, the [[Omphalos]]) then his siblings in reverse order of swallowing. In some versions, [[Metis (mythology)|Metis]] gave Cronus an [[emetic]] to force him to disgorge the babies, or Zeus cut Cronus' [[stomach]] open. Then Zeus released the brothers of Cronus, the [[Gigantes]], the [[Hecatonchires]] and the [[Cyclopes]], from their dungeon in [[Tartarus]] (The [[Titans]]; he killed their guard, [[Campe]]. As gratitude, the Cyclopes gave him [[thunder]] and the thunderbolt, or [[lightning]], which had previously been hidden by Gaia.) Together, Zeus and his brothers and sisters, along with the Gigantes, Hecatonchires and Cyclopes overthrew Cronus and the other Titans, in the combat called the [[Titanomachy]]. The defeated Titans were then cast into a shadowy underworld region known as Tartarus. Atlas, one of the titans that fought against Zeus, was punished by having to hold up the sky.
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: A God who cannot smile could not have created this humorous universe.
  
After the battle with the Titans, Zeus shared the world with his elder brothers, [[Poseidon]] and [[Hades]], by drawing lots: Zeus got the sky and air, Poseidon the waters, and Hades the world of the dead (the underworld). The ancient Earth, [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]], could not be claimed; she was left to all three, each according to their capabilities, which explains why Poseidon was the "earth-shaker" (the god of earthquakes) and Hades claimed the humans that died.  (See also: [[Penthus]])
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Robertson Davies in ''Conversations''
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: A man who recognizes no God is probably placing an inordinate value on himself.  
  
Gaia resented the way Zeus had treated the Titans, because they were her children. Soon after taking the throne as king of the gods, Zeus had to fight some of Gaia's other children, the [[monster]]s [[Typhon]] and [[Echidna (mythology)|Echidna]]. He vanquished Typhon and trapped him under a mountain, but left Echidna and her children alive.
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Albert Einstein
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: Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish
  
===Zeus and Hera===
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Benjamin Franklin
{{Main|Hera}}
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: God heals, and the doctor takes the fee.  
Zeus was brother and consort of [[Hera]]. By Hera, Zeus sired [[Ares]], [[Hebe (mythology)|Hebe]] and [[Hephaestus]], though some accounts say that Hera produced these offspring alone. Some also include [[Ilithyia|Eileithyia]] and [[Eris (mythology)|Eris]] as their daughters. The conquests of Zeus among [[nymph]]s and the mythic mortal progenitors of [[Greeks|Hellenic]] dynasties are famous. Olympian mythography even credits him with unions with [[Leto]], [[Demeter]], [[Dione (mythology)|Dione]] and [[Maia (mythology)|Maia]].  
 
  
Among the mortals: [[Semele]], [[Io (mythology)|Io]], [[Europa (mythology)|Europa]] and [[Leda (mythology)|Leda]]. (For more details, see  below).
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[[C.S. Lewis]]
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: God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.
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: God will look to every soul like its first love because He is its first love.
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: If God thinks this state of war in the universe a price worth paying for free will...then we may take it it is worth paying.  
  
Many myths renders Hera as jealous of his amorous conquests and a consistent enemy of Zeus' mistresses and their children by him. For a time, a [[nymph]] named [[Echo (mythology)|Echo]] had the job of distracting Hera from his affairs by incessantly talking: when Hera discovered the deception, she cursed Echo to repeat the words of others.
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Galileo Galilei (1564 ~ 1642)
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: I do not think it is necessary to believe that the same God who has given us our senses, reason, and intelligence wished us to abandon their use, giving us by some other means the information that we could gain through them.  
  
===Consorts and children===
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Yiddish proverb,
{{MultiCol}}
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: If God lived on earth, people would break his windows.
====By divine mothers====
 
{| border="1" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; width:25%; height:200px"
 
|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center"
 
| <center>'''Mother''' || <center>'''Children'''
 
|- style="height:60px"
 
|  [[Ananke (mythology)|Ananke]]<nowiki>*</nowiki>
 
|
 
#  [[Moirae]] ([[Fates]])<nowiki>*</nowiki>
 
##  [[Atropos]]
 
##  [[Clotho]]
 
##  [[Lachesis]]
 
|-
 
|  [[Demeter]]
 
|
 
# [[Persephone]]
 
# [[Zagreus]]
 
|-
 
|  [[Dione (mythology)|Dione]]
 
|
 
#[[Aphrodite]]
 
|-
 
| [[Thalassa]]
 
| [[Aphrodite]]
 
|-
 
| [[Gaia]]†
 
| [[Orion (mythology)|Orion]]
 
|-
 
| [[Hera]]
 
|
 
# [[Ares]]
 
# [[Eileithyia]]
 
# [[Eris (mythology)|Eris]]
 
# [[Hebe (mythology)|Hebe]]
 
|-
 
| [[Eos]]
 
|
 
#[[Ersa]]
 
# Carae
 
|-
 
| [[Eris (mythology)|Eris]]
 
|
 
#[[Limos (mythology)|Limos]] (aka Limus)
 
|-
 
|-
 
|  [[Leto]]
 
|
 
# [[Apollo]]
 
# [[Artemis]]
 
|-
 
|  [[Maia (mythology)|Maia]]
 
 
# [[Hermes]]
 
|-
 
|  [[Metis (mythology)|Metis]]
 
|
 
# [[Athena]]
 
|-
 
|  [[Mnemosyne]]
 
|
 
#  [[Muses]] (Original three)
 
## [[Aoide]]
 
## [[Melete]]
 
## [[Mneme]]
 
#  [[Muses]] (Later nine)
 
##  [[Calliope]]
 
##  [[Clio]]
 
##  [[Erato]]
 
##  [[Euterpe (mythology)|Euterpe]]
 
##  [[Melpomene]]
 
##  [[Polyhymnia]]
 
##  [[Terpsichore]]
 
##  [[Thalia]]
 
##  [[Urania]]
 
|-
 
| [[Persephone]]
 
|
 
# [[Zagreus]]
 
# [[Melinoe]]
 
|-
 
| [[Selene]]
 
|
 
# [[Ersa]]
 
# [[Nemean Lion]]
 
# [[Pandia]]
 
|-
 
|  [[Themis]]
 
|
 
# [[Astraea (mythology)|Astraea]]
 
# [[Nemesis (mythology)|Nemesis]]
 
# [[Horae]]
 
## First Generation
 
### [[Auxo]]
 
### [[Carpo]]
 
### [[Thallo]]
 
## Second Generation
 
### [[Dike (goddess)|Dike]]
 
### [[Eirene (Greek goddess)|Eirene]]
 
### [[Eunomia (goddess)|Eunomia]]
 
## Third generation
 
### [[Pherusa]]
 
### [[Euporie]]
 
### [[Orthosie]]
 
#  [[Moirae]] ([[Fates]])<nowiki>*</nowiki>
 
##  [[Atropos]]
 
##  [[Clotho]]
 
##  [[Lachesis]]
 
|}
 
  
{{ColBreak}}
+
J.R.R. Tolkien
 +
: If you do not believe in a personal God the question: `What is the purpose of life?' is unaskable and unanswerable.
  
====Mortal/nymph/other mother====
+
Thomas Jefferson
 +
: It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.
  
{| border="1" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; width:25%; height:200px"
+
Immanuel Kant
|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center"
+
: Reason can never prove the existence of God.
| <center>'''Mother''' || <center>'''Children'''
 
|- style="height:60px"
 
|-
 
|  [[Aegina (mythology)|Aegina]]
 
|  [[Aeacus]]
 
|-
 
|  [[Alcmene]]
 
|  [[Heracles]] ([[Hercules]])
 
|-
 
|  [[Antiope (mother of Amphion)|Antiope]]
 
|
 
# [[Amphion]]
 
# [[Zethus]]
 
|-
 
|  [[Callisto the Greek myth|Callisto]]
 
|  [[Arcas]]
 
|-
 
|  [[Carme (mythology)|Carme]]
 
|  [[Britomartis]]
 
|-
 
|  [[Danaë]]
 
|  [[Perseus (mythology)|Perseus]]
 
|-
 
| [[Elara (mythology)|Elara]]
 
|
 
# [[Tityas]]
 
|-
 
|  [[Electra (Pleiad)|Electra]]
 
|
 
# [[Dardanus]]
 
# [[Iasion]]
 
|-
 
|  [[Europa (mythology)|Europa]]
 
|
 
# [[Minos]]
 
# [[Rhadamanthys]]
 
# [[Sarpedon]]
 
|-
 
|  [[Eurynome]]
 
| [[Charites]]([[Graces]])
 
#  [[Aglaea]]
 
#  [[Euphrosyne (mythology)|Euphrosyne]]
 
#  [[Thalia]]
 
|-
 
| [[Himalia (mythology)|Himalia]]
 
|
 
#  Kronios
 
#  Spartaios
 
#  Kytos
 
|-
 
|  [[Iodame]]
 
| [[Thebe (mythology)|Thebe]]
 
|-
 
|  [[Io (mythology)|Io]]
 
|  [[Epaphus]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
|-
 
| [[Lamia]]
 
|-
 
| [[Laodamia]]
 
| [[Sarpedon]]
 
|-
 
|  [[Leda (mythology)|Leda]]
 
|
 
# [[Castor and Polydeuces|Polydeuces]] ([[Pollux (mythology)|Pollux]])
 
# [[Castor and Polydeuces|Castor]]
 
# [[Helen]] [[Sparta|of Sparta]] ([[Troy|of Troy]])
 
|-
 
| [[Maera]]
 
| [[Locrus]]
 
|-
 
|  [[Niobe]]
 
|
 
# [[Argus]]
 
# [[Pelasgus]]
 
|-
 
|  [[Olympias]]
 
|  [[Alexander the Great|Alexander III]] [[Macedon|of Macedon]]
 
|-
 
|  [[Plouto]]
 
|  [[Tantalus]]
 
|-
 
|  [[Podarge]]
 
|
 
# [[Balius]]
 
# [[Xanthus]]
 
|-
 
| [[Pyrrha]]
 
| [[Hellen]]
 
|-
 
|  [[Semele]]
 
|  [[Dionysus]]
 
|-
 
|  [[Taygete]]
 
|  [[Lacedaemon]]
 
|-
 
| [[Thalia]]
 
| [[Palici]]
 
|-
 
| Unknown mother
 
| [[Litae]]
 
|-
 
| Unknown mother
 
| [[Tyche]]
 
|-
 
| Unknown mother
 
| [[Ate]]
 
|}
 
{{EndMultiCol}}
 
  
<nowiki>*</nowiki>The Greeks variously claimed that the Fates were the daughters of Zeus and the Titaness [[Themis]] or of primordial beings like [[Nyx (mythology)|Nyx]], [[Chaos (mythology)|Chaos]] or [[Ananke (mythology)|Anake]].
+
Emily Dickinson
 +
: They say that God is everywhere, and yet we always think of Him as somewhat of a recluse.  
  
<nowiki>†</nowiki>[[Hermes]] and [[Poseidon]] also played a part in Orion's conception and are also biological fathers of him. He is described as being "Earth-born" and was gestated buried beneath the ground; this is Gaia's domain, though she had no direct involvement in his birth or development. Other versions of his parentage include a version of the former excluding Poseidon and one with solely Poseidon and [[Euryale]] as his parents.
+
Catherine Doherty
 +
: With God, every moment is the moment of beginning again.  
  
===Zeus miscellany===
+
Unknown source
<!--this needs to be less jejune and judgmental: *Though Zeus could be petty and malicious, he also had a righteous element, perhaps best exemplified in his aid on behalf of [[Atreus]] and his murder of [[Capaneus]] for unbridled arrogance. He was also the protector of strangers and travelers against those who might seek to victimize them.-->
+
: You can live without God, but you better not die without him.  
*Zeus turned [[Pandareus]] to stone for stealing the golden [[dog]] which had guarded him as an infant in the holy Dictaeon Cave of [[Crete]].
 
*Zeus killed [[Salmoneus]] with a thunderbolt for attempting to impersonate him, riding around in a [[bronze]] [[chariot]] and loudly imitating [[thunder]].
 
*Zeus turned [[Periphas]] into an [[eagle]] after his [[death]], as a reward for being righteous and just.
 
*At the marriage of Zeus and Hera, a nymph named [[Chelone (Greek mythology)|Chelone]] refused to attend. Zeus transformed her into a tortoise (chelone in Greek).
 
*Zeus, with Hera, turned King [[Haemus]] and [[Queen Rhodope]] into [[mountain]]s (the [[Balkan mountains]], or Stara Planina, and [[Rhodope mountains]], respectively) for their vanity.
 
*Zeus condemned [[Tantalus]] to eternal torture in Tartarus for trying to trick the gods into eating the flesh of his butchered son.
 
*Zeus condemned [[Ixion]] to be tied to a fiery wheel for eternity as punishment for attempting to violate Hera.
 
*Zeus sunk the [[Telchines]] beneath the sea for blighting the earth with their fell magics.
 
*Zeus blinded the seer [[Phineus]] and sent the [[Harpies]] to plague him as punishment for revealing the secrets of the gods.
 
*Zeus rewarded [[Tiresias]] with a life three times the norm as reward for ruling in his favour when he and Hera contested which of the sexes gained the most pleasure from the act of love.
 
*Zeus punished [[Hera]] by having her hung upside down from the sky when she attempted to drown Heracles in a storm.
 
*Of all the children Zeus spawned, [[Heracles]] was often described as his favorite. Indeed, Heracles was often called by various gods and people as "the favorite son of Zeus", Zeus and Heracles were very close and in one story, where a tribe of earth-born Giants threatened Olympus and the Oracle at Delphi decreed that only the combined efforts of a lone god and mortal could stop the creature, Zeus chose Heracles to fight by his side. They proceeded to defeat the monsters.
 
*[[Athena]] has at times been called his favorite daughter.
 
*His sacred bird was the golden eagle, which he kept by his side at all times. Like him, the eagle was a symbol of strength, courage, and justice.
 
*His favourite tree was the [[oak]], symbol of strength. [[Olive tree]]s were also sacred to him.
 
*[[Zelus]], [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]], [[Cratos]] and [[Bia (mythology)|Bia]] were Zeus' [[retinue]].
 
*Zeus condemmed [[Prometheus]] to having his liver eaten by a giant eagle for giving the Flames of Olympus to the mortals.
 
  
== In Philosophy ==
+
[[Romans 5]]:7-8
In [[Neoplatonism]], Zeus' relation to the Gods familiar from mythology is taught as the [[Demiurge]] or Divine [[nous|Mind]]. Specifically within [[Plotinus]]' work the [[Enneads]] <ref>
+
: {{Bible verse|Romans|5|7|lang=WEB}} {{Bible verse|Romans|5|8|lang=WEB}}
In Fourth Tractate 'Problems of the Soul' The Demiurge is identified as [[Zeus]].10."When under the name of Zeus we are considering the Demiurge we must leave out all notions of stage and progress, and recognize one unchanging and timeless life."</ref>
 
  
== Other names/epithets ==
+
[[1 John 4:16]]
*''Ζήνων'', Zenon,
+
: God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
*''Δίας'', Dias
 
*Zeus Hospites- as a protector of guests
 
*Zeus Philoxenon- as a protector of foreigners
 
*Olumpios- the Olympian
 
*Astrapios- literally, "the lightninger"
 
*Brontios- the Thunderer
 
  
=== Spoken-word myths — audio files ===
+
[[1 John 1:5]]
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
+
: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  
|-
 
! style="background:#ffdead;" | Zeus Myths as told by story tellers
 
|-
 
|[[Media:Zeus and Tantalus, with Poseidon and Pelops - wiki.ogg|'''1. Zeus and Tantalus,''' (including Pelops and Poseidon episode), read by Timothy Carter]]
 
|-
 
|Bibliography of reconstruction: [[Homer]], ''Odyssey,'' 11.567 (7th c. BC); [[Pindar]], ''Olympian Odes,'' 1 (476 BC); [[Euripides]], ''[[Orestes (play)|Orestes]],'' 12–16 (408 BC); [[Apollodorus]], ''Epitomes'' 2: 1–9 (140 BC); [[Ovid]], ''Metamorphoses,'' VI: 213, 458 (AD 8); [[Hyginus]], ''Fables,'' 82: Tantalus; 83: Pelops (1st c. AD); [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Description of Greece,'' 2.22.3 (AD 160–76)
 
|-
 
|[[Media:02-Zeus and Ganymede 2qual.ogg|'''2. Zeus and Ganymede,''' read by Timothy Carter]]
 
|-
 
|Bibliography of reconstruction: [[Homer]], ''Iliad'' 5.265ff; 20.215–35 (700 BC); Anonymous, ''Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite'' 202ff. (7th c. BC); [[Sophocles]], ''The Colchian Women'' (after [[Athenaeus]], 602) (b. 495 – d. 406 BC); [[Euripides]], ''Iphigenia in Aulis'' (410 BC); [[Apollodorus]], ''Library and Epitome'' iii.12.2 (140 BC); [[Diodorus Siculus]], ''Histories'' 4.75.3 (1st c. BC); [[Virgil]], ''Aeneid'' 5. 252–60 (19 BC); [[Ovid]], ''Metamorphoses'' 10.155ff. (AD 1–8); [[Hyginus]], ''Poetica Astronomica''
 
|}
 
  
==See also==
+
[[Exodus 3:14]] (King James Version)
* [[Achaean Federation]]
+
: God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
* [[Deception of Zeus]]
 
* [[USS Zeus (ARB-4)|USS ''Zeus'' (ARB-4)]]
 
* [[Jupiter (mythology)]]
 
* [[Zeus (Planetarion)]]
 
  
==References==
+
[[Isaiah 45]]:5-7 (King James Version)
{{Refbegin}}
+
: I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.  
*Burkert, Walter, (1977) 1985. ''Greek Religion'', especially section III.ii.1 (Harvard University Press)
 
*[[Arthur Bernard Cook|Cook, Arthur Bernard]], ''Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion'', (3 volume set), (1914-1925). New York, Bibilo & Tannen: 1964.
 
**Volume 1: ''Zeus, God of the Bright Sky'', Biblo-Moser, June 1, 1964, ISBN 0-8196-0148-9 (reprint)
 
**Volume 2: ''Zeus, God of the Dark Sky (Thunder and Lightning)'', Biblo-Moser, June 1, 1964, ISBN 0-8196-0156-X
 
**Volume 3: ''Zeus, God of the Dark Sky (earthquakes, clouds, wind, dew, rain, meteorites)''
 
* [[Maurice Druon|Druon, Maurice]], ''The Memoirs of Zeus'', 1964, Charles Scribner's and Sons. (tr. Humphrey Hare)
 
* Farnell, Lewis Richard, ''Cults of the Greek States'' 5 vols. Oxford; Clarendon 1896-1909. Still the standard reference.
 
* Farnell, Lewis Richard, ''Greek Hero Cults and Ideas of Immortality, 1921.
 
* [[Robert Graves|Graves, Robert]]; ''[[The Greek Myths]]'', Penguin Books Ltd. (1960 edition)
 
* [[William Mitford|Mitford,William]], ''The History of Greece'', 1784. Cf. v.1, Chapter II, ''Religion of the Early Greeks''
 
* Moore, Clifford H., ''The Religious Thought of the Greeks, 1916.
 
* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/gpr/ Nilsson, Martin P., ''Greek Popular Religion'', 1940.]
 
* Nilsson, Martin P., ''History of Greek Religion'', 1949.
 
* [[Erwin Rohde|Rohde, Erwin]], ''Psyche: The Cult of Souls and Belief in Immortality among the Greeks'', 1925.
 
* [[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith, William]], ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'', 1870, [http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/], William Smith, ''Dictionary'': "Zeus" [http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/3655.html]
 
{{Refend}}
 
;Footnotes
 
{{Reflist}}
 
  
==External links==
+
Spike Milligan
{{commons|Zeus}}
+
: And God said, 'Let there be light' and there was light, but the Electricity Board said he would have to wait until Thursday to be connected.
*[http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/Zeus.html Greek Mythology Link, Zeus] stories of Zeus in myth
 
*[http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Zeus.html Theoi Project, Zeus] summary, stories, classical art
 
*[http://www.theoi.com/Cult/ZeusCult.html Theoi Project, Cult Of Zeus] cult and statues
 
*[http://www.everythingimportant.org/altarOfZeus Pictures of the Altar of Zeus and its meaning in Scripture]
 
*[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070122-pagans-athens.html Photo: Pagans Honor Zeus at Ancient Athens Temple] from National Geographic
 
  
{{Greek myth (Olympian)2}}
+
Woody Allen
 +
: If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name in a Swiss bank.
 +
: How can I believe in God when just last week I got my tongue caught in the roller of an electric typewriter?
  
[[Category:Zeus| ]]
+
==Links==
[[Category:Deities in the Iliad]]
+
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God Wikipedia - God]
[[Category:Greek gods]]
+
* [http://www.theopedia.com/God Theopedia - God]
[[Category:Greek mythology]]
 
[[Category:Twelve Olympians]]
 
[[Category:Mythological kings]]
 
[[Category:Pederastic heroes and deities]]
 
[[Category:Savior gods]]
 
[[Category:Sky and weather gods]]
 
[[Category:Thunder gods]]
 
[[Category:Oracular gods]]
 
  
[[als:Zeus]]
+
{{returnto}} [[Christianity]]
[[ar:زيوس]]
 
[[ast:Zeus]]
 
[[az:Zevs]]
 
[[bn:জিউস]]
 
[[be:Зеўс]]
 
[[bar:Zeus]]
 
[[bs:Zeus]]
 
[[br:Zeus]]
 
[[bg:Зевс]]
 
[[ca:Zeus]]
 
[[cs:Zeus]]
 
[[cy:Iau (duw)]]
 
[[da:Zeus]]
 
[[de:Zeus]]
 
[[et:Zeus]]
 
[[el:Δίας (μυθολογία)]]
 
[[es:Zeus]]
 
[[eo:Zeŭso]]
 
[[eu:Zeus]]
 
[[fa:زئوس]]
 
[[fr:Zeus]]
 
[[gl:Zeus]]
 
[[ko:제우스]]
 
[[hi:ज़्यूस]]
 
[[hr:Zeus]]
 
[[id:Zeus]]
 
[[ia:Zeus]]
 
[[is:Seifur]]
 
[[it:Zeus]]
 
[[he:זאוס]]
 
[[ka:ზევსი]]
 
[[la:Zeus]]
 
[[lv:Zevs]]
 
[[lb:Zeus]]
 
[[lt:Dzeusas]]
 
[[hu:Zeusz]]
 
[[mk:Зевс]]
 
[[mt:Żews]]
 
[[mr:झ्यूस]]
 
[[nl:Zeus]]
 
[[ja:ゼウス]]
 
[[no:Zevs]]
 
[[nn:Zevs]]
 
[[oc:Zeus]]
 
[[nds:Zeus]]
 
[[pl:Zeus]]
 
[[pt:Zeus]]
 
[[ro:Zeus]]
 
[[ru:Зевс]]
 
[[simple:Zeus]]
 
[[sk:Zeus]]
 
[[sl:Zevs]]
 
[[sr:Зевс]]
 
[[sh:Zeus]]
 
[[fi:Zeus]]
 
[[sv:Zeus]]
 
[[tl:Zeus]]
 
[[ta:சூசு]]
 
[[th:ซุส]]
 
[[vi:Zeus]]
 
[[tg:Зевс]]
 
[[tr:Zeus]]
 
[[uk:Зевс]]
 
[[yi:זעאוס]]
 
[[zh:宙斯]]
 

Revision as of 05:46, 21 September 2008

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1

God
RELATED TOPICS
SERMONS, ESSAYS AND OPINIONS
CONTENTS

God is the central being of all existence. He is eternal in that he has no beginning and no end. In the first chapter of the first book of Bible an account is given of God creating the universe and the earth and creating people in his own image. The Bible also reveals that God is full of mercy and love (for example 1 John 4:8. Millions of people in the world trust in God as their master and Lord and also their saviour. He is a personal being, who is three in one - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. the Bible also reveals that God stands ready to come into any person's life when that person acknowledges him and repents of having not lived his way - this is when a person is born again.

Character of God

Although the mere existence of God can be deduced by natural reason his nature is beyond our understanding. He gives life to all and he is the author of love and forgiveness. John 1:4 describes this beautifully:

In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

God is also completely holy and without any evil.

Trinity

The Trinity is the Christian doctrine (or teaching) that describes the three-in-one (triune) nature of God. Although impossible to fully grasp, the Bible reveals that God is there is one and only one God, and also that the Father is God, and yet Jesus the Son is God, and also the Holy Spirit is God. That is, there is one God who eternally exists in three distinct persons.

This article is a stub. You can help WikiChristian by expanding it. For help please read the WikiChristian Tutorial and our writing guide.

Quotes

Sri Aurobindo, in Thoughts and Aphorisms

A God who cannot smile could not have created this humorous universe.

Robertson Davies in Conversations

A man who recognizes no God is probably placing an inordinate value on himself.

Albert Einstein

Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish

Benjamin Franklin

God heals, and the doctor takes the fee.

C.S. Lewis

God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.
God will look to every soul like its first love because He is its first love.
If God thinks this state of war in the universe a price worth paying for free will...then we may take it it is worth paying.

Galileo Galilei (1564 ~ 1642)

I do not think it is necessary to believe that the same God who has given us our senses, reason, and intelligence wished us to abandon their use, giving us by some other means the information that we could gain through them.

Yiddish proverb,

If God lived on earth, people would break his windows.

J.R.R. Tolkien

If you do not believe in a personal God the question: `What is the purpose of life?' is unaskable and unanswerable.

Thomas Jefferson

It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.

Immanuel Kant

Reason can never prove the existence of God.

Emily Dickinson

They say that God is everywhere, and yet we always think of Him as somewhat of a recluse.

Catherine Doherty

With God, every moment is the moment of beginning again.

Unknown source

You can live without God, but you better not die without him.

Romans 5:7-8

For one will hardly die for a righteous man. Yet perhaps for a righteous person someone would even dare to die. But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

1 John 4:16

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

1 John 1:5

God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

Exodus 3:14 (King James Version)

God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

Isaiah 45:5-7 (King James Version)

I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Spike Milligan

And God said, 'Let there be light' and there was light, but the Electricity Board said he would have to wait until Thursday to be connected.

Woody Allen

If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name in a Swiss bank.
How can I believe in God when just last week I got my tongue caught in the roller of an electric typewriter?

Links



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