"Indeed, even though there are so-called gods
in heaven and on earth
(there are, to be sure, many "gods" and many "lords"),
yet for us there is one God, the Father,
from whom all things are and for whom we exist,
and one Lord, Jesus Christ,
through whom all things are
and through whom we exist."
(1 Co 8:5-6)

The ancient gods of mythology and today's gods as such are no- gods but personifications of the forces of nature. They are the product of human longing for a personal encounter with God which can only be fully realized in Christ, the second person in God who became man. He is the image of the invisible God though whom we come to know God and love the Father as He wishes to be known and loved in the Spirit.

Heraclitus arrived at the idea of God as LOGOS meaning Reason as the source and fundamental order of the cosmos. The Stoic philosophers used the term to signify the divine animating principle pervading the universe. To the Jewish philosopher Philo Logos signified God's action in the world. St. John identifies the Logos with Jesus as the "Word made flesh". Christ is the Reason or the wisdom of God who is both God and Man.

Christ is the Tao (Way) Lao Tzu was searching for. The Tao is pervasive in the culture of China and Christ is the Way China is longing for. Christ himself confirmed this when he said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Jn 14:6)

To the Jews the "I Am" was revealed to them through Moses and now Christ told them,"Before Abraham came to be, I AM." (Jn 8:58) Those Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah, became his followers, therefore, Christians. Many Jews still long for the Messiah and will eventually recognize Jesus as the promised one.

Buddhist search for the unknown God in the recesses of their being by meditation and living according to the Eightfold Path as the way to purify their lives; they strongly desire Nirvana or Enlightenment. In Christ they will find him who said, "Blessed are the clean of heart for they will see God" (Mt 5:8) and again "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." In Him they will find forgiveness of sins and the Way to Heaven.

In and through Christ we glimpse at the inner life of God. He said, "The Father and I are one"(Jn 10:30) "The Father knows me and I know the Father" (Jn 10:15) and "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." (Jn 14:9) and again, "I tell you what I have seen in the Father's presence". (Jn 8:38) Through Christ we see into the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that is, God's inner life unknown in previous ages. In Christ mankind comes to understand the great love God has for us in sending his eternal Son in human nature to die for our sins so that we may enter into God's eternal glory in the life to come.

11. St. Augustine and the gods of Rome