Some Motives For Belief In Many Gods – St. Thomas Aquinas

There are four motives which have led men to believe in a number of gods. First; The dullness of  the human intellect. Dull men, not capable of going beyond sensible things, did not believe anything existed except physical bodies. Hence, they held that the world is disposed and ruled by those bodies that seem most beautiful, and most valuable in this world. And to things such as the sun, moon and stars, they attributed and gave a divine worship. Such men are like to one who, going to a royal court to see the king, believes that whoever is sumptiously dressed or of official position is the king! Second Motive; Human Adulation. Some men, wishing to fawn upon kings and rulers, obey and subject themselves to them and show them honour which is due to God alone. After the death of these rulers, sometimes men make them gods, and sometimes this is done whilst they are living. Third Motive; Human Affection for sons and relatives. Some, because of the excessive love which they had for their family, caused statues of them to be erected after their death, and gradually a divine honour was attached to these statues. Fourth Motive; The Malice of the devil. The devil wished from the beginning to be equal to God…he still entertains this desire. His entire purpose is to bring about that man adore him and offer sacrifices to him; not that he takes delight in dog or cat that is offered to him, he does relish the fact that thereby irreverence is shown to God. Thus he Spoke to Christ: “All these will I give Thee, if falling down, Thou wilt adore me.”

St. Thomas Aquinas, Ora Pro Nobis.