ImportMaster at 19:18, 28 July 2022

2022-07-28T19:18:39Z

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{{Short description|Guardian deity of an ethnic group}}
{{refimprove|date=October 2015}}
{{Nationalism sidebar|Development}}
A '''national god''' is a [[Tutelary deity|guardian divinity]] whose special concern is the safety and well-being of an ethnic group (''[[nation]]''), and of that group's leaders. This is contrasted with other guardian figures such as family gods responsible for the well-being of individual clans or professions, or personal gods who are responsible for the well-being of individuals.

==Ancient gods==
In antiquity (and to some extent continuing today), religion was a characteristic of regional culture, together with language, customs, traditions, etc. Many of these ethnic religions included national god(s) in their pantheons, such as 
* [[Amaterasu]] of the Japanese;<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nakamura|first=Konoyu|date=2013|title=Goddess Politics: Analytical Psychology and Japanese Myth|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ppi.1307|journal=Psychotherapy and Politics International|language=en|volume=11|issue=3|pages=234–250|doi=10.1002/ppi.1307|issn=1556-9195}}</ref>
* [[Amun]], Amun-Ra<ref>{{Cite book|last=LaFontaine|first=Bruce|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ujTBokb5ssC&dq=national+god&pg=PP8|title=Gods of ancient Egypt|date=2002|publisher=Dover Publications|isbn=0-486-42088-4|location=Mineola, NY|oclc=54772442}}</ref> and [[Horus]] for the Egyptians;
* [[Apollo]] for the people of [[Troy]];
* [[Aramazd]] for Armenians
* eponymous [[Ashur (god)|Assur]] for the Assyrians;<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nguyen|first=Trung|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x6CgCgAAQBAJ&q=%22national+god%22|title=Is There a God?|date=2015-09-29|publisher=EnCognitive.com|isbn=978-1-927091-16-6|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Lurker|first=Manfred|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P7e5CAAAQBAJ&q=%22national+god%22|title=A Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons|date=2015-04-29|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-10628-6|language=en}}</ref>
* [[Astarte|Ashtoret]] for the Sidonians;
* the eponymous [[Athena|Athena-Mykene]] for the Athenians and Mycenaeans;
* [[Baal]] for the [[Phoenicians]];<ref name="PaganYahwism">{{cite journal|last=Stern|first=Ephraim|year=2001|title=Pagan Yahwism: The folk religion of ancient Israel|url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/214913086|journal=Biblical Archaeology Review|edition=3|location=Washington|volume=27|issn=0098-9444|id={{ProQuest|214913086}}|pages=20–29}}</ref>
* [[Bathala]] of the [[Tagalog people|Tagalogs]];
* [[Chemosh]] for the Moabites;<ref name="PaganYahwism" /><ref>{{Citation|last=Smelik|first=Klaas A. D.|title=Chemosh|date=2013-01-24|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah24051|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Ancient History|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc.|language=en|doi=10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah24051|isbn=978-1-4443-3838-6|access-date=2021-05-09}}</ref>
* [[Dagon]] for [[Philistia]];<ref name="PaganYahwism" />
* [[Gaut]] for the [[Geats]];<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bhattacharyya|first=Tarapada|date=1970|title=THE AVESTA, ṚGVEDA AND BRAHMĀ CULT|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41688672|journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute|volume=51|issue=1/4|pages=31–50|jstor=41688672|issn=0378-1143}}</ref>
* [[Huitzilopochtli]] of the Tenochtitlan Aztecs;
* [[Indra]] for the [[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic]] Indians;<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dandekar|first=R. N.|date=1950|title=VṚTRAHĀ INDRA|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44028390|journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute|volume=31|issue=1/4|pages=1–55|jstor=44028390|issn=0378-1143}}</ref>
* [[Inti]] for the Incas;
* [[Itzamna]] for the Mayas;<ref name=":0" />
* [[Jade Emperor]] for the Chinese;
* [[Kataragama deviyo]] for [[Sri Lanka]];<ref name=":0" />
*[[Ông Trời]] for the Vietnamese;
* [[Lugh]] (Gaulish Mercury, Lugus, Lleu) for the ancient [[Celts]];
* [[Marduk]] for the Babylonians;
* [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]] and eponymous [[Romulus]]-[[Quirinus]] for the Romans;
* [[Milcom]] for the [[Ammon]]ites;<ref name="PaganYahwism" />
* [[Perun]] for the ancient [[Slavs]];
* [[Qos (deity)|Qos]] for the Edomites;<ref name="PaganYahwism" />
* [[Phra Siam Devadhiraj|Siam Devadhiraj]] for the [[Thai people|Thais]];
* the [[Sovereignty goddess]] and eponymous [[Ériu]] for [[Ireland]];
* [[Tengri]] for the Turks and Mongols;
* [[Teshub]] for the Hittites;<ref name="A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology">{{Cite book|last=Leick|first=Dr Gwendolyn|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_pqEAgAAQBAJ&dq=national+god+of+the+hittites&pg=PA164|title=A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology|date=2002-09-11|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-64102-4|language=en}}</ref>
* [[Wadd]] for the [[Kingdom of Awsan]];<ref>{{Cite journal|last=RYCKMANS|first=JACQUES|date=1989|title=LE PANTHÉON DE L'ARABIE DU SUD PRÉISLAMIQUE: Etat des problèmes et brève synthèse|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23670844|journal=Revue de l'histoire des religions|language=fr|volume=206|issue=2|pages=151–169|doi=10.3406/rhr.1989.1830|jstor=23670844|issn=0035-1423}}</ref>
* [[Yahweh]] for the [[Israelites]];<ref name="PaganYahwism" />
* [[Zalmoxis]] for the [[Dacians]].

==In antiquity==
In antiquity, each ethnic group (''[[nation]]'') had its own pantheon, which may or may not have [[Religious syncretism|overlapped]] with that of neighbouring groups. Many of these religions had guardian figures, which then sometimes included national gods, who were considered responsible for the safety and well-being of the nation and of its people, with a special concern for the nation's ruler and guardian. These national gods stood alongside the personal gods (that is, the patron gods who took a special interest in an individual's personal well-being). Additionally, there were the family gods associated with the care of a clan or profession, as well as gods associated with specific situations or the protection thereof (fertility, health, war, contracts and so on).

This perception of divinity was common in the ancient world. Deities were often geographically localized by association to their main cult centers, and in the Ancient Near East were often [[tutelary deity|tutelary deities]] of their respective [[cities of the Ancient Near East|city-states]]. Many of the individual ethnic groups also considered itself the progeny of its national gods. For example, in the region that is now Yemen, the [[Sabaeans]], the [[Minaeans]] and the [[Himyar]] each perceived themselves to be the children of respectively [[Almaqah]], [[Wadd]] and [[Shamash]].<ref>{{citation|editor-last=Doniger|editor-first=Wendy|chapter=Arabian religions|title=Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of World Religions|year=1999|isbn=978-0-87779-044-0|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877790440}}.</ref> Similarly, in [[Canaanite religion|Canaan]], [[Milcom]] held that role for the [[Ammon]]ites, while [[Chemosh]] did so for the [[Moab]].

[[Yahweh]]'s role as god of the [[Kingdom of Judah]] and the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]] is a key reason for that figure's adoption as the [[monism|monist]] figure by the [[Deuteronomic reform|Yahweh-only movement]] of the 7th-century BC.{{fact|date=September 2019}} Yahweh's subsequent exaltation as a supreme figure occurred not because national gods were necessarily heads of their pantheons (this was certainly not the case for the national gods of the peoples surrounding Israel),<ref name="DDD" /> but as a reaction to the changing political landscape, in which other national gods had previously become exalted in that fashion.<ref name="Smith_2008" /> Because peoples were perceived to effectively worship the same gods, merely by different names (Smith (2008)<ref name="Smith_2008" /> terms this "translatability"), Yahweh's function as a national god had previously automatically equated him with other national gods. Thus, with the rise of the multi-cultural [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Assyrian Empire]] in the 10th century BC, the concomitant rise of the Assyrian's nation god Assur to inter-cultural prominence influenced how national gods were generally perceived. Moreover, the political unification of the fractured nation-states under a single supreme head of state encouraged the idea of a multi-national "one-god" worldview as well.<ref name="Smith_2008" /> By the 7th-century BC however, Assyria was in decline and the smaller nation-states began to reassert their independence. In this context, the development of a "one-god" worldview in 7th century BC [[Kingdom of Judah]] can be perceived as a response to the diminishing claims to cultural hegemony of the Assyrian "one-god" ideology of the time.<ref name="Smith_2008">{{citation|last=Smith|first=Mark S.|title=God in Translation: Deities in Cross-cultural Discourse in the Biblical World|series=Forschungen zum Alten Testament, vol. 57|location=Tübingen|publisher=Mohr Siebeck|year=2008|isbn=978-3-16-149543-4|page=19}}.</ref> The process is evident in some parts of the [[Torah]] which predate the 6th century BC and thus preserve vestiges of the theology centered on a national god during the 10th-century BC [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|monarchic period]].<ref name="Smith_2003">{{citation|last=Smith|first=Mark S.|title=The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2003|isbn=978-0-19-516768-9|pages=155–163}}.</ref> "The OT {{bracket|{{=}}[[Old Testament]]}} is still conscious of the fact that Yhwh, the national god of Israel, originally was one of the gods in the council of El." (''Deut'' 32:8-9*)<ref name="DDD">{{citation|editor-last=van der Toorn|editor-first=K.|editor2-last=Becking|editor2-first=Bob|editor3-last=van der Horst|editor3-first=Pieter Willem|chapter=King|title=Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible|year=1999|isbn=978-90-04-11119-6|page=485}}.</ref>

==Modern period==
===Philippine===
In search of a national culture and identity away from the Catholic religion imposed by Spain during its colonisation of the [[Philippines]], those who instigated the [[Philippine Revolution]] proposed to revive [[indigenous Philippine folk religions]] and make them the [[State religion|national religion]] of the entire country. The [[Katipunan]] opposed the religious teachings of the Spanish friars, saying that they "obscured rather than explained religious truths." After the revival of the Katipunan during the [[Spanish–American War]], an idealized form of the folk religions was proposed by some, with the worship of God under the ancient name ''[[Bathala]]'', which applies to all supreme deities under the many ethnic pantheons across the country. However, the re-vitalization process of the indigenous faiths of the Philippines did not progress further as the Filipino forces were defeated by the Americans in 1902, which led to the second Christian colonization of the archipelago.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25105201|title=The Katipunan of the Philippines|author=L. W. V. Kennon|journal=The North American Review|volume=17|issue=537|date=August 1901|pages=211, 214|publisher=University of Northern Iowa|jstor=25105201|via=[[Jstor]]}}</ref>

===Christianity===
[[Christian missionaries]] have repeatedly re-interpreted national gods in terms of the Christian God. This fact is reflected in the [[names of God]] in various languages of Christianized peoples, such as [[Shangdi]] or [[Shen (Chinese religion)|Shen]] among Chinese Christians, [[Ngai]] among a number of tribes of [[Kenya]], etc.

In a modern context, the term of a "national god" addresses the emergence of [[national church]]es within Christianity. {{citation needed|date=December 2020}} This tendency of "nationalizing" the Christian God, especially in the context of national churches sanctioning warfare against other Christian nations during [[World War I]], was denounced as heretical by [[Karl Barth]].<ref>Barth, ''Ethnics'', ed. Braun, transl. Bromiley, New York, 1981, p. 305.</ref>

===Germanic===
[[Carl Jung]] in his essay ''Wotan'' (1936) identifies the Germanic god of the storm (leader of the [[Wild Hunt]]), [[Wōden|Wotan]], as the national god of the [[German people]], and warns of the rise of [[German nationalism]] and ultimately the then-impending catastrophe of [[Nazism]] and [[World War II]] in terms of the re-awakening of this god:
:"But what is more than curious — indeed, piquant to a degree — is that an ancient god of storm and frenzy, the long quiescent Wotan, should awake, like an extinct volcano, to new activity, in a civilized country that had long been supposed to have outgrown the Middle Ages. [...] I venture the heretical suggestion that the unfathomable depths of Wotan's character explain more of National Socialism than all three reasonable factors [viz. economic, political, and psychological] put together. [...] This is a tragic experience and no disgrace. It has always been terrible to fall into the hands of a living god. [[Yahweh]] was no exception to this rule, and the Philistines, Edomites, Amorites and the rest, who were outside the Yahweh experience, must certainly have found it [[Biblical Canaanites|exceedingly disagreeable]]. The [[Arabs|Semitic]] experience of [[God in Islam|Allah]] was for a long time an extremely [[Islamic conquests|painful affair]] for the whole of Christendom. We who stand outside judge the Germans far too much, as if they were responsible agents, but perhaps it would be nearer the truth to regard them, also, as victims."<ref>First published in ''Neue Schweizer Rundschau'' (Zurich) (March, 1936), 657-69. Republished in ''Aufsätze zur Zeitgeschichte'' (Zurich, 1946), 1-23. English translation by Barbara Hannah, ''Essays on Contemporary Events'' (London, 1947).</ref>

===Hindu===
{{unreferenced section|date=September 2021}}
One of the primary ancient [[Vedic deity|Vedic deities]] in [[Hinduism]] is [[Indra]]. He is the king of ''[[Svarga]]'' (Heaven) and the [[Deva (Hinduism)|Deva]]s (gods). He is associated with lightning, thunder, storms, rains, river flows and war. Indra's mythology and powers are similar to other Indo-European deities such as Jupiter, Perun, Perkūnas, Zalmoxis, Taranis, Zeus, and Thor, suggesting a common origin in [[Proto-Indo-European mythology]]. Starting in the late late 19th century, [[Bharat Mata]], a divine personification of [[India]] ([[Names for India|Bharat]]), came into existence after the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]] against the British and is seen as the goddess of India and the [[Indian people]] by [[Hindus]], [[Jains]], and some [[Buddhist]].

==See also==
* [[Constitutional references to God]]
* [[Ethnic religion]]
* ''[[God and the State]]''
* [[Imperial cult]]
* [[National personification]]
* [[Religious exclusivism]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{national symbols}}
{{Nationalism}}
{{List of mythological figures by region}}

[[Category:Ethnic religion]]
[[Category:Polytheism]]

National god - Revision history

ImportMaster at 19:18, 28 July 2022