Is There 12 gods?

One new claim against Christianity is that the Bible claims there are 12 gods. As Matthew writes: "And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel," (Matthew 19:28 NASB1995). As Matthew notes, some will sit upon twelve thrones. The claim goes that these twelve must be gods; however, this is a misreading of the text.

If we read the verse before, we read: "Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel," (Matthew 19:27-28 NASB1995). Jesus is speaking to the apostles here, not gods.

As Paul also says: "Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts?" (1 Corinthians 6:2 NASB1995). The saints will judge the world.

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