Local gods and the Supreme Gods

Celsus was a pagan who became at least partially informed of the beliefs and situation of the early Christian community. He wrote a critique. Origen responded in several volumes to the arguments that Celsus made. In one of these arguments Celsus assumes that it is only natural that the many different communities and nations that were at that time under the Roman Empire should keep their own local customs. the reasons for this were that local deities ruled over various areas and each had their own demands and expectations. The traditions in each place had been established in antiquity and were meant to keep the local deity complacent. Because of this each locality was expected to keep their own traditions, even if those same beliefs and customs would be considered forbidden in the neighboring countries. The results of this was a split of morality and ethics. Some believed that crocodiles were to be worships while others thought of them as food.

In Christian thought and in most modern religious beliefs, there is only one God. A being that is supreme and rules over the entire world. Once this is accepted, the arguments of Celsus break down. Once the vast number of gods are exiled, so to must the relativistic beliefs of each community be exiled. With one deity there can only be one set of rules or rather beliefs that are right. This truth is strangely different from our modern views. Religious tolerance and the idea of each to his own are prevalent in our modern society. Yet almost all of us believe in a universal God. If this is so, then it follow that everyone should be subject to that God and his morality.