False god

Paganism (from Latin paganus 'rural, rustic', later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the Roman Empire, individuals fell into the pagan class either because they were increasingly rural and provincial relative to the Christian population, or because they were not milites Christi (soldiers of Christ). Alternative terms used in Christian texts were hellene, gentile, and heathen. Ritual sacrifice was an integral part of ancient Greco-Roman religion and was regarded as an indication of whether a person was pagan or Christian. Paganism has broadly connoted the "religion of the peasantry".

During and after the Middle Ages, the term paganism was applied to any non-Christian religion, and the term presumed a belief in false gods. The origin of the application of the term "pagan" to polytheism is debated. In the 19th century, paganism was adopted as a self-descriptor by members of various artistic groups inspired by the ancient world. In the 20th century, it came to be applied as a self-descriptor by practitioners of modern paganism, modern pagan movements and polytheistic reconstructionists. Modern pagan traditions often incorporate beliefs or practices, such as nature worship, that are different from those of the largest world religions.

Idolatry is the worship of an idol as though it were a deity. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Abrahamic God as if it were God. In these monotheistic religions, idolatry has been considered as the "worship of false gods" and is forbidden by texts such as the Ten Commandments. Other monotheistic religions may apply similar rules.

For instance, the phrase false god is a derogatory term used in Abrahamic religions to indicate cult images or deities of non-Abrahamic Pagan religions, as well as other competing entities or objects to which particular importance is attributed. Conversely, followers of animistic and polytheistic religions may regard the gods of various monotheistic religions as "false gods" because they do not believe that any real deity possesses the properties ascribed by monotheists to their sole deity. Atheists, who do not believe in any deities, do not usually use the term false god even though that would encompass all deities from the atheist viewpoint. Usage of this term is generally limited to theists, who choose to worship some deity or deities, but not others.

A daeva (Avestan: 𐬛𐬀𐬉𐬎𐬎𐬀 daēuua) is a Zoroastrian supernatural entity with disagreeable characteristics. In the Gathas, the oldest texts of the Zoroastrian canon, the daevas are "gods that are (to be) rejected". This meaning is – subject to interpretation – perhaps also evident in the Old Persian "daiva inscription" of the 5th century BC. In the Younger Avesta, the daevas are divinities that promote chaos and disorder. In later tradition and folklore, the dēws (Zoroastrian Middle Persian; New Persian divs) are personifications of every imaginable evil. Over time, the Daeva myth as Div became integrated to Persian mythology.

Daeva, the Iranian language term, shares the same origin of "Deva" of Hinduism, which is a cognate with Latin deus ("god") and Greek Zeus. While the word for the Vedic spirits and the word for the Zoroastrian entities are etymologically related, their function and thematic development is altogether different. Originally, the term was used to denote beings of cultural folklore which predate use in scripture.

Wadd (Arabic: وَدّ) (Ancient South Arabian script: 𐩥𐩵) or Ved, if translated to English, was the national god of the Kingdom of Ma'in, inhabited by the Minaean peoples, in modern-day South Arabia.

Wadd is mentioned once in the Quran as part of a list of five false gods worshipped by the people of Noah. In the Islamic era, it was believed that Wadd was worshipped by a tribe known as the Banu Kalb, with a central idol being stored at the city of Dumat al-Jandal, which is in northwestern Arabia. Accordingly, this idol is said to have been destroyed by the early general Khalid ibn al-Walid.

Enji (Albanian: [ɛɲi]) is the old name of the fire god in the Albanian pagan mythology evidently contained in the weekday name that was dedicated to him – e enjte – the Albanian word for Thursday. The Fire – Zjarri – is deified in Albanian tradition as releaser of light and heat with the power to ward off darkness and evil, affect cosmic phenomena and give strength to the Sun (Dielli, who is worshiped as the god of light, sky and weather, giver of life, health and energy, and all-seeing eye), and as sustainer of the continuity between life and afterlife and between the generations. The divine power of Fire is used for the hearth and the rituals, including calendar fires, sacrificial offerings, divination, purification, and protection from big storms and other potentially harmful events. Fire worship and rituals are associated with the cult of the Sun (Dielli), the cult of the hearth (vatër) and the ancestor, and the cult of fertility in agriculture and animal husbandry. Fire rituals that are commonly found among Indo-European peoples, including the Albanians, have been firstly attested by the Vedas, with hymns dedicated to the fire god Agni. Described in written sources since 1482, the Albanian fire rituals have been historically fought by the Christian clergy, without success. The cult of the mystic fire and the fire ritual practices have played a prominent role in the lives of all the Albanian people until the 20th century, and in rural areas they continue to be important for Albanian traditional customs even in the present days.

The theonym from which Thursday was named in Albanian is considered to have been attested in antiquity in Illyrian theophoric names with the Latin spelling En(n)-. He was presumably worshiped by the Illyrians in antiquity and he may have been the most prominent god of the Albanian pantheon in Roman times by interpreting Jupiter, when weekday names were formed in the Albanian language. The belief in a prominent fire and wind god, who was referred to as I Verbti ("the blind one"), and who was often regarded more powerful than the Christian God, survived in northern Albania until recent times. Under Christianization the god of fire was demonized and considered a false god, and it was spread about that anyone who invoked him would be blinded by fire. The purifying power of fire underlies the Albanian folk belief according to which the fire god is the enemy of uncleanliness and the opponent of filth.

Yaldabaoth, otherwise known as Jaldabaoth or Ialdabaoth (/ˌjɑːldəˈbeɪɒθ/; Koine Greek: Ιαλδαβαώθ, romanized: Ialdabaóth; Latin: Ialdabaoth; Coptic: ⲒⲀⲖⲦⲀⲂⲀⲰⲐ Ialtabaôth), is a malevolent god and demiurge (creator of the material world) according to various Gnostic sects, represented sometimes as a theriomorphic, lion-headed serpent. He is identified as a false god who keeps souls trapped in physical bodies, imprisoned in the material universe.