But Jewish apocalyptic convictions, such as Paul expresses to his communities, represent an extreme attitude toward foreign gods and thus are by definition exceptional. On a day-to-day basis, for Jews as well as for others, what mattered was deciding how to deal with the gods of outsiders while dealing with their humans as well. This was a practical question: Any god by definition was more powerful than any human, and gods as a group tended to be incensed when slighted. In general, most people opted for a sensible display of courtesy, showing and (perhaps just as important) being seen to show respect. Such courtesy went a long way toward establishing concord both with other gods (who, if angered, could be dangerous) and with their equally sensitive humans.—pages 10-11
<idle musing>
Sort of like avoiding breaking a mirror, or not letting a black cat cross your path, or...you know the kinds of things I'm talking about. Rule 1: Don't tick off the gods. Rule 2: If you do, get it right, now! Or you might not be around to find out why they got mad.
</idle musing>
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