Gods In Modern Times

[Nihilium 7th]

Most fantasy stories are written in a medieval setting and thus have a very easy time having gods in their worlds. However using gods in a more modern day setting is not as easy. Between some of their exuberant use of power and flamboyant forms it would seem too out of place. Some writers deal with this by having the gods hide their powers until they find an area of privacy and others use flash backs. I would like to know how you guys would go about utilizing gods in a modern fantasy.

 

[Trick]

I have a WIP, which is on hold while I finish another, that deals with gods that were from all the most well known pantheons. Most are dead by the time of the book but a few live and there are people with the same powers as the gods. So far I've only addressed it with secrecy since anything else would cause a sh!t storm in our modern world. Some things will be revealed to the populace through events that can't be fully hidden but the mystery will not be solved by the news media, at least not in the first book.

One of the gods, who turns out to be the oldest and most powerful, runs a massive corporation and is globally powerful but everyone just thinks he's a Warren Buffet type, not what the ancient world called a god.

You might try reading American Gods by Neal Gaiman. It's very good and deals with this issue very well.

 

[TWErvin2]

Gods in a modern fantasy isn't something I've confronted in my writing.

However, for a solid example, you might consider checking out The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne. It has gods from many pantheons incorporated into the storyline, including Jesus.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

In our urban fantasy series we're actually going to be dealing with this a lot, as old gods return and an entire new pantheon is born. One of the new gods is a god of location, long the lines of a mountain god or a forest god. But in this modern age new needs call, so he's an urban god, a god of a specific city.

 

[Penpilot]

You might try reading American Gods by Neal Gaiman. It's very good and deals with this issue very well.

I second this and I'll add it's sequel, Anansi's Boys.

 

[Jabrosky]

I'd like to see how gods would interact with a society with modern or futuristic technology. For example, maybe there would be a god in charge of maintaining the electricity? Or maybe the resident god of war would bless the soldiers so that they don't run out of ammo?

Come to think of it, having gods or magic around might allow pre-industrial people to perform certain tasks that would require modern technology in our world. Would you need airplanes to get to the other side of the world if you had magic portals or gods who could whisk you away with a snap of their fingers?

 

[Trick]

This just came to me when reading Jabrosky's post: Q in Star Trek is basically the equivalent of a god in a futuristic society. So, it has sorta been done, though with a different label.

 

[Nihilium 7th]

My wip takes place in our modern times, (there are some fictional cities,countries and moments in history.). There are both historical and fictional pantheons as well a few classical and urban legends who have been blended into ancient history. My problem is this; the mythological beings are very active in both the public and underground societies and many people know they exist and there are even cults and religions built around them; how do I balance the two paradigms ( Zeus exist duh Zeus is a myth dummy) without damaging the plot?

 

[Devor]

My wip takes place in our modern times, (there are some fictional cities,countries and moments in history.). There are both historical and fictional pantheons as well a few classical and urban legends who have been blended into ancient history. My problem is this; the mythological beings are very active in both the public and underground societies and many people know they exist and there are even cults and religions built around them; how do I balance the two paradigms ( Zeus exist duh Zeus is a myth dummy) without damaging the plot?

Generally I find it's more interesting to just go with it, instead of fighting it. If the gods are real, just roll with it. Follow through with the consequences, instead of trying to keep things the way they are. For instance, think about a news segment. What would it look like?

"Lightning bolt strikes down a man during broad daylight. Was it an act of Zeus, Thor, or a fluke of nature? We've brought experts on both pantheons, and even a skeptic, to weigh in."

I find that more interesting than trying and trying and trying to make up bad excuses about why nobody knows the fantasy is real. Sometimes the real world is a darling that must be killed.

 

[Svrtnsse]

I've got a setting which is in many levels similar to the real world of today. The technological level is similar. The social and political levels are similar - it's roughly the same. The main difference is that it's really a fairly standard fantasy world, just evolved/progressed to be similar to today's real world.

Since it's a fantasy world, there are gods.
There are tons of gods.
There are also religions, and theologians and atheists.

The religions don't quite agree about the gods, the theologians don't agree about the gods and the atheists most certainly don't agree.
I guess the difference between religions and theologians is that the religions are devoted to the faith in single good or a group of gods, whereas the theologians are more interested in the "scientific" study of the gods and correlating them between different religions.
Example:

Anja
The IITA classifies Anja's aspects as Life and Peace. Anja is present under different names in the Mahradian Pantheon and in the anfylk pantheon, known as Ahanja and as Anna, Goddes of Lazy Afternoons and Other Simple Things. Anja is also present as a minor or lesser deity in a large number of polytheistic religions. However, it is only among the Mahradians and the anfylk that Anja is in an elevated position.

(Note: IITA stands for International Independent Theologian's Association.)

So, to begin with, gods are important to people; they matter. Some gods matter more, some less, and it varies from person to person. This is regardless of what the god actually does. The important part isn't what the god does for its worshipers but that the worshipers have a god to put their faith in - at least as far as day to day life goes for the majority of the population. Most people will go their entire lives without experiencing any actual divine interference in their lives. There may be divine interference, but if it is, chances are it goes by unnoticed.

Instead of taking direct actions the gods act through intermediaries. Officials within the church may now and then receive visions, signs or messages from their god or gods. Priests, monks, prophets and paladins all exist and all have their own functions within their god's faith/religion.

The paladins are the closest to a representative of the will of the god among the living. They perform the tasks the gods deem needed and they are stalwart fanatical followers of their god (imagine a mix of Paksenarrion and Gregor Eisenhorn).

The priests, monks and prophets are the ones who look after the followers of the gods. They try to communicate the will of the gods to the people and they help the followers out in spiritual matters.

Technically, the gods could intervene directly in the world and in the day to day affairs of the people, but they will almost always chose not to. The explanation a priest would give for this would be something along the lines of "our god gives us the tools to help ourselves" or "we must all carry our own burdens".
Essentially, the theory (from my end) is that if the gods get too involved in the affairs of their followers they will eventually get drawn in too deep and get too involved in mortal affairs. This would force other gods to get equally involved in order for their followers not to lag behind, which in turn would lead to more and more divine interventions until the gods would have to just carry their faithful around and hold their hand in everything they do. [I may be able to elaborate on this, but it might get quite involved and outside the scope of the discussion]
In short. The gods can intervene, but they chose not to.