Discourse on the Angels or Spirits of Empires

Whoever among you has ears to hear, let him hear how it was said: You shall have no other gods besides me. Quoting Exodus 20:3, the first of the Ten Commandments. If he had said, "There are no gods besides me," the statement would seem more absolute. But because he says now, "You shall have no foreign gods besides me," he did not deny that they exist; rather, he forbade that they should be gods to the person to whom these commandments are given. From this, I believe the Apostle Paul took what he wrote to the Corinthians, saying: For even if there are those who are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth. Quoting 1 Corinthians 8:5. And he adds: And as there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is one God the Father, from whom are all things, and we through him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him. Quoting 1 Corinthians 8:5-6.

But you will also find "gods" named in many other places of Scripture, just as it says elsewhere: For the Lord is the most high, the terrible, and a great king over all gods. Quoting Psalm 47:2. And: The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken. Quoting Psalm 50:1. And: But in the midst he judges the gods. Quoting Psalm 82:1. Regarding the "Lords," the same Apostle says: Whether thrones, or dominions, or powers, all things were created through him and in him. Quoting Colossians 1:16. Now, "dominions" dominationes; from the Latin word for lordship or rule are nothing other than a certain order and multitude of lords.

In this (as it seems to me), the Apostle Paul made the meaning of the Law clearer. For what he says is this: although there may be many lords who rule over other nations, and many gods who are worshiped by others; yet for us, there is one God, one Lord. Now, as to what the reason is for these many gods or many lords—if you listen intently and patiently—Scripture itself will be able to teach us. For the same Moses says in the Song of Deuteronomy: When the Most High divided the nations, he says, and scattered the sons of Adam, he established the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God, etc. Quoting Deuteronomy 32:8 from the Septuagint version, which refers to the "angels of God" rather than the "sons of Israel."

Therefore, it is established that the angels to whom the Most High committed the nations to be governed are called either "gods" or "lords." They are "gods" original: "Deos" as if given by God, and "lords" original: "dominos" as if they received their power by lot from the Lord. Whence the Lord also said to the angels who did not keep their own principality: I have said, you are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High; but you shall die like men, and