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Men Sought to Be "god's" in the Ancient World Just as They Do Today

Writer's picture: Andy McIlvainAndy McIlvain

"He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him." Daniel 2:21-22


On any given day all of us are puffed up and prideful!

We arrogantly make decisions without prayer or counsel.

We also make life altering decisons in sin and rebellion and pay the price of discipline from God and through our own actions.

Since the Fall men have sought to be God or be like God.


Sinful natural men will self-destruct in their quest for power and wealth. History then shows us countless examples of men given great gifts by God that they used for evil.

Aleander the Great was one such man.

He like all of us owe our breath each day to the mercy and grace of God!

The video below from Wrestlibg with God gives us some excellent historical understanding of men trying to become god and the aftermath.


Alexander and Jesus | God Men | Divinity and Hellenism

Video from Wrestling with God


Men Sought to Be "god's" in the Ancient World Just as They Do Today

"Hellenistic Culture and the influence of Greek language, philosophy and culture on Jews and early Christians. Hellenism, refers to the spread of Greek culture that had begun after the conquest of Alexander the Great in the fourth century, B.C.E.The conquest by Alexander, which brought Greek culture to the middle eastern territories. And then, subsequent to that, the Roman imperial expansion. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl...

Suetonius reports that when the Roman Emperor Vespasian was dying he said, "Vae, puto deus fio" which can be translated "Woe is me. I think I'm turning into a god." John Dominic Crossan :"Why did we call Jesus 'lord'? In the Roman world, Caesar was lord, so if you call Jesus lord, Caesar ain't, and it becomes high treason. What was the alternative vision for the world that Jesus and Paul had, and why did it get them killed?" John Dominic Crossan was originally drawn to the priesthood because "God had the most interesting game in town". Augustus deposited his will at the House of the Vestals in Rome. He died on August 19, and on September 17 the Senate enrolled him among the gods of the Roman state. Roman religion had many gods and spirits and Augustus was keen to join their number as a god himself. This was not unusual: turning political leaders into gods was an old tradition around the Mediterranean. There was also precedent in Roman history – Aeneas and Romulus, who had helped found Rome, were already worshipped as gods. Having fought his way into power, Augustus used religion as a tool to protect his position and promote his political agenda. A piece of heaven An important part of this strategy involved religion. The Emperor of Rome was already the most powerful man on earth, but this wasn’t enough. Augustus wanted a piece of heaven too: he was determined that his people would see him as their supreme spiritual leader. At his death, Augustus, the ‘son of a god’, was himself declared a god. His strategy had worked. Early in his reign, Halley’s Comet passed over Rome. Augustus claimed it was the spirit of Julius Caesar entering heaven. If Caesar was a god then, as his heir, Augustus was the son of a god and he made sure that everybody knew it.In Plutarch's version, Alexander was welcomed to the Temple by the high priest "on the god's behalf as a father greeting his son" Curtius also says the high priest greeted Alexander as son, and explained to him that this designation was given by his father Jupiter (Zeus)" Alexander's relationship with the ancient deity known as Zeus-Ammon is one of the great mysteries of his life. Zeus was considered the ruler of the Olympian gods in ancient Greece and Macedon. Amun, called "Ammon" in Greece, was the parallel "king of the gods" in the religion of ancient Egypt. By Alexander's time, Zeus-Ammon was a well-known deity in Greece - basically a hybrid of these two chief gods. Read more here: http://ancientheroes.net/blog/alexand... The Divinity of Hellenistic Rulers Incarnation was not invented by Christianity. Caesar and Alexander before him were Sons of God. The Jesus as God theology was a revolution not by a man as a Son of God but what TYPE of man could be a son of God. It was also a counter narrative to what type of man could be a Messiah for the Jews. Alexander and Jesus both had later claims that their Fathers were God. Alexander and Jesus also died around the same age, one as an Imperial King in Babylon and the other as a usurper against the Roman empire in Jerusalem. A son of God who was not a conquering King. A messiah who was not a man of power but a man of suffering and tragedy. This was the counter narrative of Christianity to the incarnation theology in the ancient world. [3.3.2] Alexander wanted to rival Perseus and Heracles, since he was descended from them both, and was also seeking to trace his birth back to Ammon, just as mythology traces that of Heracles and Perseus to Zeus. He therefore set out for Ammon in this frame of mind, with the intention of finding out more exactly about his origins, or of claiming he had found out. “The divine origins of Jesus are, to be sure, just as fictional or mythological as those of Octavius. But to claim them for Octavius surprised nobody in that first century. What was incredible was that anyone at all claimed them for Jesus.” — John Dominic Crossan Soldier, Priest, and God: A Life of Alexander the Great Whatever we may think of Alexander--whether Great or only lucky, a civilizer or a sociopath--most people do not regard him as a religious leader. And yet religion permeated all aspects of his career. When he used religion astutely, he and his army prospered. In Egypt, he performed the ceremonies needed to be pharaoh, and thus became a god as well as a priest. Babylon surrendered to him partly because he agreed to become a sacred king. Alexander the great documentary - When men were gods Divine men in history" from video introduction


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