Bible Connections 10: Elohim Clarity

Paul says an idol has no real existence. In the same breath he says there are many gods and many lords - and he means it.
The Bible's spiritual vocabulary is wider than our categories. The shema itself is worded so as not to deny that other elohim exist; it declares who Yahweh is to Israel. When Paul writes of so-called gods, the phrase is a put-down, not a denial of existence.
And the test of that reading is two chapters later. If the beings in 1 Corinthians 8 are imaginary, then the demons Paul fears in chapter 10 are imaginary too, and his warning is theatre.
Scripture links:
- Psalm 89:5-7 - the assembly of the holy ones, where none among the heavenly beings is like the Lord.
- Job 1:6 - the sons of God present themselves before the Lord.
- 1 Corinthians 8:4-6 - many so-called gods, yet for us one God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ.
One God, in a class of his own, in a populated unseen world. Scripture holds both without flinching.