Editing Divinity (section)

{{short description|Related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity}}
{{redirect|Divine|other uses|Divinity (disambiguation)|and|Divine (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Isaac Oliver Elizabeth I and the Three Goddesses.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|''Elizabeth I and the Three Goddesses'' ([[Juno (mythology)|Juno]], [[Minerva]], and [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]]), by [[Isaac Oliver]], {{circa|1558}}]]
{{Spirituality sidebar}}
'''Divinity''' (from Latin {{lang|la|divinitas}}) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is '''divine'''—a term that, before the rise of [[monotheism]], evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the [[Classical antiquity|ancient world]], divinity was not limited to a single [[deity]] or abstract ideal but was recognized in multiple forms: as a [[Divine radiance|radiant]] attribute possessed by gods, as a [[vital force]] pervading [[nature]], and even as a quality glimpsed in extraordinary humans, laws, or acts. The Latin {{lang|la|divinitas}} and its Greek counterparts ({{lang|grc|theiotēs}}, {{lang|grc|theion}}) conveyed something both immanent and awe-inspiring: a presence that could be felt in [[List of thunder deities#Greco-Roman|thunder]], [[Dike (mythology)|justice]], [[Ecstasy (emotion)|ecstasy]], [[Moirai|fate]], or [[List of beauty deities#Greek|beauty]].

Among the [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] and [[Ancient Rome|Romans]], divinity was not confined to a rigid theological system. Gods, heroes, and even emperors might be described as partaking in divinity, just as natural forces or [[Virtus|virtue]] could be seen as expressions of '''divine essence'''. Philosophers such as [[Plato]] and the [[Stoics]] used the term to refer to the [[Anima mundi|soul of the cosmos]] or the [[Logos|rational order]] of the universe, while ritual and myth depicted the divine in vivid ways. To call something divine was not always to worship it as a god, but to acknowledge its participation in a higher, sacred order.

[[Early Christianity]] inherited this language but dramatically reshaped it. With the rise of theological monotheism, divinity came increasingly to denote the singular and absolute nature of [[God in Christianity|God]]. The Christianization of the term narrowed its field: what had once described a quality diffused across nature, fate, and [[Polytheism|multiple gods]] was now claimed exclusively for the creator God and, later, extended to Christ and the [[Holy Spirit]] through doctrines of the [[Trinity]]. Over time, this led to a sharper boundary between the divine and the human, the sacred and the profane.

In contemporary usage, divinity most commonly refers either to a deity (especially in monotheistic traditions) or to a transcendent power associated with [[sacredness]], [[Artistic inspiration|inspiration]], or spiritual authority. The term may describe the essential nature of God, as well as [[religious experience]]s, beings, or principles considered beyond ordinary human life. Outside formal religion, divinity is sometimes used in philosophical or metaphorical contexts, where it retains associations with elevated or ultimate significance.