Ch.250250. Theology (1)

# Theology (神學)

A discipline that explains gods and faith, and clarifies the relationship between gods and humans.

What we commonly call theology (神學) is constructed through activities such as discussing gods and divinity, forming theories about them, and examining the relationship between gods and nature.

Then, in this world where gods actually exist, how does theology perceive gods?

“A god is either a specific concept that has become one with a mortal, or a concept that has gained self-awareness!”

The mainstream theory in human theology is that gods are beings that originate from a relationship with some ‘concept.’

According to their claims, Jephthah of the Golden Hand is a being where the concepts of light and justice merged with the mortal Jephthah, while gods who were never mortals are dismissed as beings that were born when concepts accidentally gained self-awareness.

At the same time, they also argue that since gods’ existence is bound by concepts, gods remain immortal eternally as long as the concept itself doesn’t perish, but…

To state the conclusion first, this is somewhat correct but fundamentally based on wrong premises.

Divine nature, or what humans call “concepts,” is distinctly separate from gods themselves.

To use an analogy, divine nature is merely like stock that grants rights to exercise authority over a particular concept. No matter how much stock one owns, a human can never become one with the stock, can they?

Of course, there are some cases where souls and divine nature have almost completely assimilated, but that doesn’t mean all gods are beings unified with divine nature as humans claim.

After all, gods in this world are closer to a state that even mortals can potentially reach.

“Gods are non-material beings evoked by emotions harbored by mortals!!”

Meanwhile, according to the opinion held by most High Elves and some human minorities, gods are essentially not much different from demons or spirits, just with a positive orientation.

Just as natural energy clusters to form spirits, and emotional residues fuse to create demons, elves who have mastered magic observe that most of their gods are thought complexes, concluding that gods are ultimately massive emotional clusters formed around specific souls or divine natures.

In human nations, where religious colors are so strong, this opinion—proposed by some individuals whose necks aren’t worth saving—is, surprisingly, infinitely close to the truth, as expected from elves who, regardless of their character, possess genuine ability.

Gods of the thought complex type are born when thoughts related to specific concepts gather in the soul realm around masterless divine nature, while in the case of ascended gods of mortal origin, they establish their existence as gods after obtaining divine nature and gathering thoughts or faith.

Therefore, this opinion, regardless of public opinion, is infinitely close to the truth…

Here lies a question that every theologian should contemplate:

Why, then, do these gods form relationships with humans?

No, why do they make worthless mortals worship them?

“Children, the magnificent gods of the pantheon love us mortals. Did you know that?”

“Yes, yes, Priest!”

According to what priests teach the public in common sense textbooks, the benevolent gods of the pantheon dedicate themselves to humanity because they love them so much.

Meanwhile, evil gods are bad, vicious, and basically garbage who see humanity as toys and treat them as playthings and tools to be manipulated… This opinion, while somewhat generalizing, isn’t entirely wrong.

In fact, the reality is much uglier.

In short, the struggle between good gods, evil gods, and neutral gods is, metaphorically speaking, a fight over food bowls.

The more concepts like peace, order, and justice spread throughout the world, the stronger the good gods who draw power from such concepts become, and the more evil concepts governed by evil gods flourish in the world, the stronger the evil gods become.

And going into more detail, it’s impossible to simply dichotomize the dispositions of gods.

Therefore, the Theological Research Institute of the Empire of Humanity classified gods’ dispositions into nine categories, using the axes of lawful-neutral-chaotic and good-neutral-evil.

First, lawful-good. Gods of this type, similar to heroic figures or virtuous rulers depicted in classical media, are like saints humanity has admired, pursuing good without compromising with evil.

They firmly condemn norms that can never be accepted as good by universal standards, and when the directions of good and order differ, they agonize between them before ultimately choosing the right path.

Just hearing this makes one wonder if such strictness and superhuman goodness is possible, which is why lawful-good gods are quite rare…

Yet these gods, who pursue values that humanity secretly admires, either break before they grow or become significant figures if they don’t break.

On the other hand, neutral-good gods are closer to what we typically think of as benevolent gods.

Gods who truly love humanity with pure hearts, cherish them, and care for them.

A representative example is the Goddess of Life, Debona, who leads in medical service more than anyone else.

Therefore, temples serving neutral-good gods often follow the archetype of what we consider “excellent temples,” making this disposition the easiest to gather followers in ordinary nations.

Chaotic-good. Gods of this type, definable as revolutionaries or righteous outlaws, may not become mainstream in society but enjoy considerable popular support.

They primarily engage in activities condemning wrong social orders, a direction that even social leaders, though disapproving, tend to tolerate.

A society where this type of god gains popularity implies that there are some irrational aspects within it, and their activities at least guide that society in the right direction.

Next is lawful-neutral. This disposition, to which gods of law and rules/norms typically belong, is close to loyal subjects or judges who prioritize specific order above all else.

They judge the world dichotomously according to the order they believe in, and argue that “even bad laws are laws,” using them as absolute criteria for judgment.

Because of this, this type, which surprisingly includes some war gods of the pantheon, is also a category of gods favored by national leadership.

Positively speaking, they are straightforward and don’t succumb to temptation, but negatively speaking, they’re simply stubborn.

Neutral-neutral. While this could be considered the value system of ordinary humans, for gods who are each extraordinary, gods of this type usually represent specific aspects of nature.

They possess divine natures of rain, mountains, rivers, fields, grass, trees, and various animals.

From the perspective of human society, they are beings that are neither good nor evil, so nature gods are classified as neutral because there’s no particular way to categorize them.

Meanwhile, the chaotic-neutral disposition is divided into various subcategories.

To summarize briefly, it can be categorized into gods of specific natural phenomena, libertarians, and survival-of-the-fittest gods.

Natural phenomenon gods classified as chaotic-neutral include weather gods or sea gods.

Gods that are close to natural disasters themselves, not targeting specific objects with malice; gods that are violent and move according to their own will but cannot be classified as ‘evil.’

Libertarian gods are like anarchists or hedonists, outlaws who move as they please.

And survival-of-the-fittest gods are often bestial gods or war gods who believe that the only concept existing in this world is survival of the fittest.

Of course, this survival of the fittest must be by animal standards to be classified as chaotic-neutral; if one genuinely advocates for survival of the fittest in human society, it’s treated as an evil disposition.

Lawful-evil. This type can be classified most diversely, ranging from those who are evil but strictly follow their own rules to those who use order for evil purposes.

However, as gods, the lawful-evil disposition corresponds to charismatic bosses of large criminal organizations or tyrants who commit evil for their own order.

At first glance, they might seem to be on the side of good, but looking at their essence clearly reveals them to be evil gods.

Neutral-evil. This disposition, to which most evil gods belong, can be summarized as the typical “evil god” who commits all kinds of wicked acts for personal gain.

Greedy gods who are faithful to their desires and don’t care what happens to others as long as they benefit themselves.

Gods with the same disposition as countless human criminals are nothing but useless trash gods and cults in this world.

Finally, chaotic-evil.

Unlike neutral-evil, whose purpose is to gain benefits through evil acts, these are truly insane beings whose evil acts themselves are both the purpose and motivation.

So much so that none of the Seven Great Evil Gods are classified as this type, and even in evil god councils, there’s a strong opinion to avoid chaotic-evil gods.

If neutral-evil gods are like regular coffee, chaotic-evil would be TOP (a strong Korean energy drink).

Then, one might wonder and ask:

To which category does the God of Vengeance, Marduk, belong?