[khorboth]

In two of my settings, there have been clear dividing lines:

In my homebrew fantasy setting, gods grant divine spellcasting. Demons can grant other powers, but unless you can grant spells, you aren't a god. Demons may occasionally set themselves up as one, but they're on the wrong side of the line.

In my version of Greek myth, I created a system where sacrifices gave the gods power. Many beings including gods could grant powers to mortals. But, if you didn't get power from mortals making sacrifices in your name, you weren't a god.

More generally, if one wishes to define what it may take to be a god in a philosophical sense, I've given that thought as well. I have a few requirements:

1) It must be a higher form of being.
2) It must care about the things we do.
3) It must have some power over us in either the current or future life.

1 eliminates "dude with gun" but leaves open ancestors, ascended people, etc. It's very vague, but basically it can't just be some lady with a magic ring. 2 eliminates the disinterested creator. It's a question of relevancy rather than reality. 3 eliminates the powerless observer. A machine which is then trapped by his creation or has since died.

This leaves a VERY wide range.

Consider Charon from Greek myth. He's not human. He cares if we give him a coin after death. He has the power to take us over a river. Not real big on power, but still qualifies.

By contrast, there's Iluvatar from Middle Earth. He created everything. He directed everything that ever happened. The entire fate of the world from the tinyist detail was planned from before the Valar (lesser gods) were created. Gandalf even alludes to this in the book talking about the coincidences which brought the Fellowship together. Clearly not human having created them later. He cares deeply about the fates of his creations despite maintaining distance, and the afterlife is one where all of the Men are brought home to him. So, again it meets the qualifications.