How many are gods?

Answer 1

INTRODUCTION:

According to Wikipedia, the definition of a god is: "supernatural creator and overseer of the universe". Included here in this definition are all deities, goddesses and supernatural beings. Arbitrary distinction between old mythology gods and modern gods is simply unjustifiable from a factual and historical point of view. From an impartial point of view, all gods are equal and none of them have presence over any others. From a partial point of view, there is only 1 valid and unique god (monotheistic), or 1 valid group of gods (polytheistic). From this partial point of view, all gods other than the preferred one are considered false, invalid, nonexistent gods. The provided answer that follows is obviously strictly based on an impartial, factual and historical point of view.

ANSWER:

Since the beginning of recorded history, which is defined by the invention of writing by the Sumerians around 6000 years ago, we have cataloged over 3700 supernatural beings, of which 2870 are considered deities. Those numbers are most probably a very conservative estimate because we have no accurate information before 4000 B.C. and human civilization goes back 8 000 to 10 000 years ago. For the first trace of modern humans, Homo sapiens sapiens, we have to go a lot further back to 195 000 years ago. That means we have no direct evidence, or accurate information, about a believe system, if any, for 97% of the existence of the human species on Earth. We do have some indirect evidence from funeral rite performed as far back as 350 000 years ago which may imply the believe of some sort of after life and/or 1 or many supernatural beings.

Those supernatural beings are regrouped in the following subcategories:

AFRICAN GODS

AUSTRALIAN GODS

AZTEC GODS

CARIBBEAN GODS

CELTIC GODS

CHINESE GODS

EGYPTIAN GODS

FINNISH GODS

GREEK GODS

INCAN GODS

INDIAN GODS

JAPANESE GODS

MAYAN GODS

MESOPOTAMIAN GODS

MIDDLE-EASTERN GODS

NATIVE AMERICAN GODS

NORSE GODS

OCEANIC GODS

ROMAN GODS

SLAVIC and BALTIC GODS

SOUTH AMERICAN GODS

SOUTH-EAST ASIAN GODS

TIBETAN GODS

And the Abrahamic gods, which includes the Jewish, Christian and Muslim god.

REFERENCES:

http://www.godchecker.com

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2885663.stm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_deities

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Written_history

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilisation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrahamic_god#The_Supreme_Deity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_sapiens_sapiens

Answer 2

The concept of gods varies across cultures and religions, so there is no definitive number. Different belief systems may have many gods, a single god, or none at all. It ultimately depends on individual beliefs and perspectives.