When Christians open their Bibles, they expect to encounter the one true God—the Creator of heaven and earth, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We are taught that He alone is to be worshipped, and that all other “gods” are false—either lifeless idols or deceptive spirits masquerading as divine. This foundational doctrine of monotheism is repeated throughout the Bible. Yet, within its pages—especially when examined in the original Greek—we find curious echoes of ancient mythology. Surprisingly, some of the names and concepts associated with Greek gods appear, not as mythological remnants, but embedded within the very text of Scripture.
Could it be that the Bible, especially the New Testament, makes subtle but significant references to Greek deities? Is it possible that early Christians were aware of these mythologies and engaged with them in their writings? Or, even more provocatively, could certain divine or cosmic figures in Scripture have been intentionally framed as a critique of, or response to, the prevailing pantheon of the Greco-Roman world?
This exploration might just change how you read some of the most familiar verses in the Bible.
The Old Testament: A War Against Other Gods?
Before we dive into the Greek connections, we must first acknowledge the recurring motif of divine rivalry throughout the Old Testament. God consistently commands the Israelites not to worship “other gods,” a directive repeated so frequently that one must wonder: were these other gods real entities in some sense?
Exodus 20:3 (NASB)
“You shall have no other gods before Me.”
Deuteronomy 6:14 (NASB)
“You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you.”
Exodus 23:13 (NASB)
“Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips.”
These warnings presuppose that the ancient Israelites were frequently tempted by, or even in dialogue with, the surrounding nations’ deities—figures like Baal, Molech, and Asherah. These weren’t mere figments of imagination. They were spiritual competitors for the loyalty of God’s people.
Asherah for example, is even suggested in some archaeological findings and early texts to have been considered a consort to Yahweh by some Israelites, making clear that ancient Semitic religion was more theologically complex than we often assume.
Enter the New Testament: A Clash of Cosmic Powers?
Now let’s move into the New Testament, particularly the book of Revelation. It’s here that the Greek language reveals fascinating layers—ones that are obscured in most English translations.
Take, for instance, Revelation 20:11–15, a climactic passage describing the final judgment before the “Great White Throne”:
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth (γῆ) and heaven (οὐρανός) fled, and no place was found for them… The sea (θάλασσα) gave up the dead, and Death (θάνατος) and Hades (ᾅδης) gave up the dead which were in them.”
In English, this sounds like metaphor. But in Greek? These are not just poetic descriptions. They are names—the same names as several Greek deities:
- Ge (γῆ) is the Greek name for Gaia, the Earth goddess.
- Ouranos (οὐρανός) is the primordial Greek god of the sky.
- Thalassa (θάλασσα) is the sea goddess, the very embodiment of oceanic power.
- Thanatos (θάνατος) is the personification of Death.
- Hades (ᾅδης), left untranslated in many versions, is both the god of the underworld and the name of the realm of the dead.
These are not random overlaps. These are the exact names used in Greek mythology to represent powerful, divine forces. In this scene of judgment, each is portrayed as submitting to the authority of the Christian God. The Earth flees. The Sea surrenders its dead. Death and Hades are stripped of their captives and finally thrown into the lake of fire.
What’s happening here is not merely theological. It’s polemical. The author of Revelation is, intentionally or not, staging a cosmic showdown: the God of Christianity asserting dominance over the very figures of the Greek mythos that once ruled the pagan imagination.
Why Would Greek Gods Be in a Christian Text?
It’s tempting to assume this is a coincidence, or simply metaphorical language. But when we remember that early Christianity developed within the Roman Empire—a culture saturated with Greek philosophy, literature, and religion—it becomes easier to understand. Greek gods were not dead ideas; they were alive in the culture, temples, statues, and stories of the time. When Christians preached the Gospel, they were often doing so in contrast to the Olympian worldview.
This phenomenon, where Christianity adapted local religious symbols or languages, is not unique. Consider:
- Día de los Muertos in Mexico, a Catholic celebration with clear roots in pre-Christian ancestor veneration.
- Christmas and Easter, with their incorporation of pagan solstice and fertility symbolism.
- Early Christian art, which often borrows from Roman and Greek iconography.
What’s more, Revelation was one of the most contested books in the early Church. It was not accepted into the Christian canon until the Council of Carthage in 419 AD—centuries after many other New Testament books were canonized. Its apocalyptic imagery, its ambiguity, and perhaps its mythological intertextuality all contributed to this hesitation.
Hades: A Name That Endured
It’s also significant that among all these names, Hades is the only one not translated. In most English Bibles, “Ge” becomes “earth,” “Ouranos” becomes “heaven,” and “Thalassa” becomes “sea.” But Hades is left untouched—or in later English versions, mistranslated as “hell,” erasing both the name and the nuance.
In classical Greek belief, Hades is both the god and the place—the underworld that includes both torment and peace. In Scripture, he appears not only in Revelation, but also in other key New Testament verses:
Luke 16:23 – “In Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far away.”
Acts 2:27 – “You will not abandon my soul to Hades.”
1 Corinthians 15:55 – “O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”
Again, we find a mixture of place and person—a duality that modern theology often flattens. This blending of Greek concepts into Christian cosmology may not have been an endorsement, but it was undoubtedly a method of subversion. The gospel didn’t ignore these figures. It dethroned them.
A Message of Supremacy, Not Syncretism
So what are we to make of all this?
Rather than viewing the Greek gods in the Bible as evidence of polytheism or compromise, a more accurate reading is to see them as part of a grand narrative of divine conquest. The God of Scripture is not merely another god among many. He is the One before whom even the most ancient and revered deities must bow.
Revelation offers more than visions of the end times. It presents a dramatic reversal: the gods of old, once worshipped across the Mediterranean, now surrender their authority. They give up their dead. They are cast into the lake of fire. They are not just defeated; they are unmade.
This, perhaps more than anything else, reveals the boldness of early Christian writers. They did not shy away from the myths of the world around them. Instead, they reframed them—turning former gods into defeated enemies, their names remembered only to underscore their final demise.
