I'm sorry, causticus, but I dispute the premise. Every pagan pantheon I'm aware of has a big-G god, too: Zeus (to say nothing of Kronos or Uranus!), Odin, Plato's Demiurge, Plotinus' World Soul (to say nothing of the Intellect!), etc. For example, doesn't the Iliad say somewhere that Zeus is stronger than all the other gods put together? If that's not big-G, I don't know what is!
Rather, this really seems to me to be trying to fit all religions into an Abrahamic mold (or, conversely, to try to fit Abrahamic religions into a pagan mold, which works as poorly). "God," to a Jew or Christian, is not a term with the same definition as "god" to a Greek polytheist, or "kami" to a Shintoist, etc. To consider them comparable at all is to fundamentally undermine either one or the other. They have fundamentally different world models that are, in many ways, irreconcilable (though, of course, this hasn't stopped people from trying).
I remember reading a Wikipedia article years ago that included the (hilarious) line, "Arguments for or against the existence of god have been complicated by the fact that there is no widely agreed upon definition of god." I think that's the fundamental issue, that you're trying to impose a definition of god. But there is no one-size-fits-all definition of god. Indeed, Plotinus could tell you that as soon as you try to define divine realities, you've lost what you are trying to define! They're above definition.
no subject
Rather, this really seems to me to be trying to fit all religions into an Abrahamic mold (or, conversely, to try to fit Abrahamic religions into a pagan mold, which works as poorly). "God," to a Jew or Christian, is not a term with the same definition as "god" to a Greek polytheist, or "kami" to a Shintoist, etc. To consider them comparable at all is to fundamentally undermine either one or the other. They have fundamentally different world models that are, in many ways, irreconcilable (though, of course, this hasn't stopped people from trying).
I remember reading a Wikipedia article years ago that included the (hilarious) line, "Arguments for or against the existence of god have been complicated by the fact that there is no widely agreed upon definition of god." I think that's the fundamental issue, that you're trying to impose a definition of god. But there is no one-size-fits-all definition of god. Indeed, Plotinus could tell you that as soon as you try to define divine realities, you've lost what you are trying to define! They're above definition.