God

Few concepts in human history have generated as much fascination, intense longing, rapturous devotion, somber contemplation, and endless debate as the topic of God. In the English language , the term God, when capitalized and singular (as a proper noun), is typically used to refer to the sole Divine Being in monotheistic religions, and more broadly to Ultimate Reality in many other faiths. An uncapitalized spelling (both singular and plural) has generally been used to refer to an individual deity found in a polytheistic or henotheistic pantheon (such as in ancient Vedic and Greco-Roman religion ). The word God comes from the Old English/Germanic terms god ( guþ, gudis in Gothic, gud in modern Scandinavian and Gott in modern German). The original meaning and etymology of the Germanic word god has been widely disputed, though most agree it takes root in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European word khutóm . Khutóm is a passive perfect participle from the root khu- , which likely meant "libation" or "sacrifice." Evidence for this theory is provided by comparisons of the Sanskrit hu- ("to sacrifice"), the Greek khu- , kheu- ("to pour") as well as the Common Germanic strong verb geutan (Anglo-Saxon gēotan ) "to pour," and the English in-got . The connection between these terms likely derives from the meaning "pour a libation." The word God was first used in the Gothic translation of the New Testament by Ulfilas to represent the Greek term Theos , (Latin Deus ) in translations of the Bible. Both polytheism and henotheism seem to have been the predominant conceptions of divinity throughout most of the ancient world. Although their expressions varied considerably from culture to culture, some common characteristics of these conceptions can be identified. The gods of polytheistic and henotheistic belief systems have independent and individual personalities with specific skills, needs and desires. Although often lacking material form, they could (on occasion) assume physical bodies. They are seen to possess a high level of relevance to human life, as they can intervene in human affairs. They can do so by their own volition, or worshipers can encourage them by way of rituals and sacrifices . The gods are generally conceived to be immortal. They are often portrayed as similar to humans in their personality traits, failings and vices, but with additional supernatural powers and abilities. Some have jurisdiction or governance over a large area, as the "patron god(s)" of a geographical region, town, mountain or clan. In many civilizations , the pantheons grew over time as the patron gods of various cities and places were collected together as empires extended over larger territories. In others cases, the various gods may have arisen due to a perceived "division of labor," with each having dominion or authority over specified elements in the human and natural worlds. Many of the earliest conceptualizations of divinity were actually goddesses . Both carved figures and paintings of pregnant women were the dominant foci of worship during the Paleolithic times (35,000-10,000 B.C.E.). These depictions typically emphasized the reproductive parts of the female anatomy, such as large breasts, the pregnant womb, and the vulva, which presumably represented women's creative , maternal, nourishing, and embracing traits. The female was symbolically linked to the earth , maintaining the life cycle, representing fertility and the creation of new life. Excavations from Catal Huyuk in what is now Turkey suggest that settlements existing between 6500 and 5500 B.C.E. also held the goddess in highest esteem, and artifacts recovered form the Indus Valley Civilization suggest that goddess worship was also the earliest form of religious practice in India . The ancient Greek gods provide the best example of henotheism that is most familiar to Western scholarship. Their extensive mythological tales (preserved in plays, visual art, and epic poems) show that the anci